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Comments - Week of 8 November

Comments?

what happens if we go to the afternoon lecture but are registered for the morning class? how will that effect the prs score?


Favorite phrase of the week:
Study hard, play hard!
I don't understand the current comments in the Soapbox, about being in 4452 and "not lose 5% of your grade" and "Or go to class, and gat an easy 5% of your grade, not to mention how much more you'll learn while you are there." Huh? Do you really think that using PRS gets in the way of your learning? That you'd learn better without it? Or that PRS is so hard that it would actually hurt your grade? I'm just not understanding the point of the poster. Mark Guzdial

i think he means that if you dont go to class you will lose 5% of your grade to the PRS quizes. I assume that cs4452 does not have the PRS factored into their grade and that is why it would be nicer to be in that class.
Therefore, if you're not going to go to class, it's better to be enrolled in CS4452? Another option is just to go to class. Mark Guzdial
Wow, Mark. All that sarcasm was unprofessional. Someone will knock you off your high horse one day. Not everyone can write a book on this stuff you know. I actually think it is hard...horrors!
My comments have nothing to do with being an author, and everything to do with being a teacher. Why not actually come to class and press your PRS buttons occasionally and thus get your 5%? Mark Guzdial
I really would like to see a CS class that is dedicated to teaching something that would actually be of use to me when I go out to get a job. I'm not inclined to add to my resume that I can write in "java-based python computer code"...because it is, yet again, a made up language. I really have a hard time understanding why this god-forsaken school insists that everyone learn a computer language that does not exist except within the walls of GA Tech. I'm a management major who will be continuing working in the banking industry after graduation. I do not need to learn made up computer languages, I need to learn the ins and outs of MS Excel, Access, Power Point and Word and maybe even some database management. In my 4 years of working with a bank, classes that would teach me everything there is to know about the above programs would be more beneficial to furthering my career. I feel like I've wasted my time and money in this class.
Python is a real language, that is actively used in business – see http://www.python-in-business.org/. People are hired based on their ability to program in Python http://www.python.org/Jobs.html. Google, in fact, values being able to program Python as highly as being able to program in any other language – http://www.google.com/jobs/eng/sw.html. If you didn't know that Python was a real language, then perhaps you didn't attend class – and then, yes, you did waste your time and money in the class. If you're looking for classes in Excel, Access, Powerpoint, and Word, perhaps you should be considering some classes at DeVry or University of Phoenix. Mark Guzdial

Let me approach this from a different direction. I am married to a finance major who has worked in insurance and property management. Yes he uses Excel for budgets, and Word and Powerpoint for reports and presentations. However, he has also been responsible for working with (and sometimes managing) the IT department (welcome to the world of small companies). He has also worked with (numerous) software developers responsible for developing the financial and accounting software for the company. And using Excel, he has developed numerous reports himself or had to "debug" reports created by someone else. In other words, he uses the ideas taught in computing all the time. So it is highly likely that you will see the ideas taught in this computing course at some point in your future.

I think you are missing a big point here (at least as I see it)....computing is so much more than just hacking code in some language you've never heard of (Java, Python, C, etc). You've learned that writing functions is about capturing process (remember that breakout lecture?). There is process in everything...business, architecture, engineering, math, english, etc. You will use functions and subfunctions again even in Excel. And when you communicate information to your customers/managers/etc via powerpoint, you may consider the best representation (or encoding) of the data is not just that old bar chart you get in Excel. The way technology is advancing and as more companies do business on-line, I believe the more you understand about networking and web pages and how they work with databases will be quite useful. So try to step back and see the bigger picture. Tech is one of THE best schools in the country and there is a reason they want you to have a course in computing....because you will need this (the basic ideas and fundamentals) in the future. That is, if you plan to be a leader in your field. Margaret Loper
i agree, wasted money on a stupid prs. why should i attend class every day, when, excluding the prs, i have an A average? and by the way, what happens if my prs is missing? it seems to have left my bookbag
Jython is not a made up language. It is used in the real world. Just becuase you write it in an environment that was made for this class does not mean that you can't write the language without the enviroment. You can also write pure python with what you've learned in this class, which is also used in the real world. If you go on to 1316, then you'll learn JAVA which you can also use in the real world. There are very few schools that teach C or JAVA as an into language. There is a reason for this. You would hate this class much more if we had. MS Excel, Access, Power Point and Word are things that you can and should teach yourself. If you came to Georgia Tech to learn those things, you came to the wrong school. Try a community college.
Most schools start introductory computing in C++ and Java. Most schools have triple the failure rate that we have in CS1315. Mark Guzdial
actually, CS 1371 uses java.
How are the PRS quizzes going to factor into our grade? I have been to every lecture and have answered each question, but have gotten a lot of them wrong.
CS 1371 also uses Matlab, and they teach matlab first. But, if you'd like, go take 1371 and cry becuase if you can't do this, then you won't be able to do that either.
ok kiddies, let play nice now

regarding the PRS question: full credit if you answer correctly, partial credit for getting it incorrect, and no credit (i.e., you weren't in class then) if you don't answer at all...basically, you get participation points for at least attempting the PRS questions and participation plus a little extra if you get the PRS questions correct...p.s., geez, there are some up-tight people in this class...everyone needs to chill out...

ok, no one answered my question as to what happens if you cant find your prs?

get a new one, and then let the professor know so that he can put the new number in the prs software so you can get credit Kelly Lyons

Thanks for extending the deadline for HW 5! I have so many tests this week, so the extension is just what I needed.

Why are so many people so uptight about this P.R.S. thingy?? Why can't you guys just instead focus more on how to learn coding and programming and practical issues as such? AND, go to class! YOU LEARN FROM YOUR PROFESSOR!
i dont want to get a B because of the PRS. maybe i have gone to class a 1/4 of time... this might be bad :(
Generally 5% of your grade shouldn't be the deciding factor between letter grades (although it is possibly if you have done VERY few of the quizzes), I would be more concerned about your homeworks, midterms, etc. However, if you are concerned about your PRS grade, that would be a good reason to try to attend the remainder of the class (and take the PRS quizzes while you're there). Summer McWilliams
none prs comment...
what's the correct website address for hw6?
The one that exists! Try going to both of them and you will see that http://news.com.com is the one that is a technology based news website! Summer McWilliams
"Generally 5% of your grade shouldn't be the deciding factor between letter grades" ... oh it is very possible :(
I have issues with the PRS simply because it doesn't always work. I have been to the class during almost every session, and there are quite a few times that my answer wouldn't register. I know this has happened to a lot of people, and it's very frustrating. I don't think it's fair to have part of our grade determined by technology that's not always working 100% correctly. There are many class sessions that I was able to answer one question, but not the other two. Are you going to go back through and check to see if someone answered any question on that day? Because that shows that we were there in class, and I think we should get some credit for the other missing answers that were missing because the system's not working right. Also, the entire beginning of class had PRS quizzes at the beginning of class, and all of the people (including myself) coming from tech square missed them everytime. We came in right as they were going over the answers. Now they're during the middle and end of class as well, but we have no way of making up the first month or so of questions.
My PRS doesn't work all the time either, but I always tell someone (ie prof. or TA) at the end of class and write down my gt# for them so that they know I was in fact there. I totally agree that its annoying that the PRSs don't always work though.


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