Three bad things about being an ICS student

[Philip Johnson]

What are three ways that the UH ICS program could improve?

If you can think of more than three things, then please limit your response to your top three!

[Alex Kan]

1. Course selection could use some major improvement. Offering courses only once a year or not at all because we lack the professors to teach it, that's pretty bad.

2. Course options could also use some improvement. Maybe add more 400 level classes with different focus.

3. We have many knowledgeable professors in this field but it's sometimes hard to grasp that knowledge due to their teaching methods.

[Dean Kim]

1. While I don’t discount the value of traditional on campus courses, I hope more online courses will be made available in the near future.
2. I worry about the recent and potential future state budget cuts. I’m hoping this won’t affect the quality of education by severely impacting the ICS department’s ability to retain and continue to attract good faculty and instructors.
3. I wish the department would offer graduate level courses during the summer term.

[Paul Galiza]

1. Carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. Just like everyone else, I would like to see more ICS courses so that students are able to pick courses based on the field they want to specialize in.
3. I would also like to see the department get their own dedicated computer lab for students.

[Alan Lee]

1. Internship/Coop type program required sort of like the TIM major that way we can have some real-world work experience earlier before graduation.

2. Offering a course every other Spring or so will cost us some time and money but I understand the shortage of staff and budget.

3. Better teaching standard of material content because I feel a lot of student do not want to major in Computer Science because they probably have no knowledge of programming at all.

[Kevin Chiogioji]

1. Offering more online classes would allow people who have scheduling conflicts, due work or other reasons, have an easier time taking classes.

2. Offer certain classes more than once a year so people have more scheduling options and won't miss out on classes they want to take.

3. Lower the cost of required textbooks. The availability to read online textbooks for free in this class really helps, especially when you're on a budget.

[Anthony Xu]

1. Cheaper books.
2. More classes/sections.
3. More WI courses.

[Nathaniel Ashe]

Three bad things about being an ICS student:

1. Programming is a time eater. When contructing a program and it doesn't work, you could take many hours to find the problem and it is just one little character.

2. If you fall behind on one small part in your studies. You could fall behind the rest of the semester.

3. There are plenty of textbooks to buy for one class.

[Anthony Xu]

1. Graduation requirements: While I understand that being a well rounded student is something that everyone will benefit from, the requirements of UH means less ICS courses that a student will take while pursuing their degree. I don't know if the ICS department can do much about this. There are a few ICS courses that integrate requirements like Ethics and Writing Intensive. If we get more of these, it would lessen the load of the graduation requirements and we could put more emphasis into courses that are more relevant to our degree.

2. More courses/sections: The department is currently dealing with budget issues, but I believe that more courses that deal with more apsects of ICS would be beneficial to the students. More disciplines would allow students to experience a larger amount of career options. Courses that are up to date with current trends would be great. I, for one, am interested in iPhone and facebook development. Also, more sections would allow more variation in scheduling. I have had a lot of scheduling conflicts prevent me from taking classes when I would like. I hope these things can be addressed when the budget allows.

3. Course structure: I haven't had any classes in ICS which is structured the way ICS 413 is. Even just after a couple weeks, I think this is something that other classes could use effectively. Most classes have you just going to a lecture and you don't get much interaction with other students. Watching lectures before class and using class time to work with others is a great way to collaborate with others. I feel that I am getting a lot more out of the class than just going to a lecture and working on the program at home. Classmates help a lot because they have gone through the same problems as you. They recognize the same mistakes and can give your first-hand advice. I am convinced that everyone in the class will become better programmers and I hope that other classes will employ this same system.

[Aaron Herres]

What are 3 ways that the UH ICS program could improve?

1. Uneven workload
Though many classes provide just the right amount of challenge, I find certain classes drastically undertarget or sidestep the level of depth expected of a graduate program.

2. Lack of diversity within the computer science field
Though the requirement of different areas forces students to diversify a bit, the limited selection of classes offered in a given semester sometimes leave me wishing I could take classes that I simply can't during my period of enrollment in UH.

3. Lack of inter-student involvment in classes
With the current class excluded, I often find that many graduate-level ICS programs fail to provide a means for meaninful student interaction in class.

[wing cheung ma]

Good point Kelly. There have been a lot of days where I've wished I had somewhere to study or do my homework without carrying around my 5-10lb laptop. If the ICS department had an open computer lab for students, students could be doing better. Believe it or not, I think there are still a few students in the ICS program that don't own laptops. They probably wait till last minute to do their work because they have to go home to start on it.

Kelli Sawai said:

1. Sometimes there are a limited number of classes available. It would be better if there was a wider selection of courses to choose from.
2. I would also like to be able to know when those courses would be offered. I have seen some courses listed that I was really interested of taking but they aren't being offered anymore and I don't know when and if they will be offered again.
3. I wish the ICS department had its own computer lab for the ICS students to use anytime. It would be a lot more convenient.

[Xu Yichi]

1) More class to choose. People always can find some subject that they are interested in.
2) More interaction. People should hang out together more often instead of working individually.
3) More hands-on. People learn faster when they do it in practice.

[Jim Thompson]

1) Java. Its a four-letter word, and its full of bile. 'nuff said. Eliminate it, substitute python.

2) Very little focus on the immediate future of the industry. Its obvious that multicore is coming on strong, and companies like Google are focused on how to leverage large numbers of machines via functional programming, yet the teaching is still serial algorithms. Relational databases are a dying technology, why ICS 321? UIs are exploding, mostly due to mobile (iPhone / Android), but very little is being taught in this area. Someone needs to develop a 5 and 10 year horizon.

3) The study area would be very nice.