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Course Evaluation
CSCI 284 .80 : Cryptography
Instructor:
P. Vora
Survey for Term Spring 2007
(April 23
- May 6, 2007 )
Participation: Primary Course Shortened Set
Results: 24
out of 26 eligible students
evaluated this course.
About the course
About the instructor
[679]
8. Overall rating of the instructor
| (1) Poor
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
|
1 |
|
4% |
4% |
| (3)
|
2 |
|
8% |
8% |
| (4)
|
6 |
|
25% |
25% |
| (5) Excellent
|
15 |
|
63% |
63% |
[132]
9. Was knowledgeable about the subject and course material.
| (1) Not at all knowledgeable
[1]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
[2]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (3)
[3]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (4)
[4]
|
2 |
|
8% |
8% |
| (5) Very knowledgeable
[5]
|
22 |
|
92% |
92% |
| Not applicable / No opinion
[x]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| Mean: ** |
4.92
|
[134]
10. Accessibility outside of class.
| (1) Not at all accessible
[1]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
[2]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (3)
[3]
|
3 |
|
13% |
13% |
| (4)
[4]
|
7 |
|
29% |
30% |
| (5) Very accessible
[5]
|
11 |
|
46% |
48% |
| Not applicable / No opinion
[x]
|
2 |
|
8% |
9% |
| Mean: ** |
4.38
|
[133]
11. Enthusiasm for topic/subject.
| (1) Not at all enthusiastic
[1]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
[2]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (3)
[3]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (4)
[4]
|
5 |
|
21% |
21% |
| (5) Very enthusiastic
[5]
|
19 |
|
79% |
79% |
| Not applicable / No opinion
[x]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| Mean: ** |
4.79
|
[135]
12. Designed and used fair grading procedures.
| (1) Not at all fair
[1]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
[2]
|
1 |
|
4% |
4% |
| (3)
[3]
|
3 |
|
13% |
13% |
| (4)
[4]
|
6 |
|
25% |
25% |
| (5) Very fair
[5]
|
13 |
|
54% |
54% |
| Not applicable / No opinion
[x]
|
1 |
|
4% |
4% |
| Mean: ** |
4.35
|
[136]
13. Provided adequate feedback on exams/papers/performance.
| (1) Not adequate
[1]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| (2)
[2]
|
1 |
|
4% |
4% |
| (3)
[3]
|
2 |
|
8% |
8% |
| (4)
[4]
|
10 |
|
42% |
42% |
| (5) Very adequate
[5]
|
11 |
|
46% |
46% |
| Not applicable / No opinion
[x]
|
0 |
|
0% |
0% |
| Mean: ** |
4.29
|
[681]
14. Use this space for any comments you may have about the course, the instructor, readings, etc.
- This class required twice as much work as my other two classes put together. I would never recommend this class to any student taking other classes during the same semester.
- The class was very challenging and required a lot of work. However, i felt i gained a lot of knowledge and did enjoy the subject. i disagree with having to complete another set of homework while studying for finals. Having said that, i'm still glad i took the course for the knowledge gained.
- The answer keys we were given for quizzes was very helpful, but the feedback on test answers was lacking.
- I have mixed feeling about this course. Overall I felt it was challenging and I learned a great deal. However, the amount of homework, particularly the assignment of a programming assignment during the final lecture was a little excessive.
The learning curve in the beginning was VERY steep and I felt that the course focused too heavily on making students step through the mathematical proofs that supported the cryptography rather than the mechanics of the various cryptography systems studied.
Towards the end I felt I had learned a great deal but the effort required was not in line with what should be required. Additionally, the weight of the quizes was too heavy, while the homework, which was difficult and time consuming was not valued heavily enough. Each quiz was worth 2% of the final grade while the homework was only worth 4% each.
- This was the best class I've ever had at GW and Professor Vora was the best teacher I've had at GW.
- Dr. Vora is a very generous grader, given the difficult subject matter.
This is spoken as someone who will be receiving a grade in the bottom third of the grades awarded:
I'm sure that she has some type of department directive not to give grad students a "C", but it's a bit excessive that she confirmed for us that a "50%" is a B-. Talk about grade inflation. I realize it is probably beyond her control, but this type of grade inflation really waters down the curriculum and the degree itself.
Again, keep in mind that I am someone who benefited substantially from this inflation.
- Need more practice questions with solutions. I did not have suffiecient practice questions before teh first test. And we were short of 2 classes due to holidays. But the instructor did her level best.
- I thought this was an excellent class, but I think it could have been better organized. It would have been better to spend less time on the math behind the crypto, even if that meant some details had to be glossed over. I would have preferred to spend more time learning different algorithms in use today and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
- Exams were too difficult when compared to other assignments (homeworks, quizzes). A discrete math or number theory class should be a prerequisite for this class.
- great assignments and tests, really helped me learn the subject matter. good job explaining tought concepts.
Department-Specific Questions
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