This course taught me how to think about problems in different ways. If I could improve the course, I would want to spend more time learning python in class, it was difficult to learn outside with my partner.
The instructor was very open to questions and encourages us to challenge his ideas, which I really enjoyed as I knew very little on the subject matter going into the course. My only suggestion to the course would be to have a bit more organization to it, as we covered a lot of topics and ideas quickly. I am fine with learning a lot, but there wasn't really a book or resource to work from when I was confused, and the assignments were almost entirely creative and self-taught at times.
Prof Shasha gave us immediate feedback on our code. Even if it worked, he suggest ways we could improve our algorithm and become a better programmer. He also gave us multiple chances to fix our assignment if it didn't work. This allowed us to learn regardless of the deadlines. I think we could have programming assignmnets that more utilized what we learned in class.
Dennis is a wonderful professor who's love for the subject is transmitted to those around him. The only improvement would be to have this class more than once a week
Professor Shasha was always very accessible and would answer questions students had in an email that would cc the entire class. The brevity in the description of assignments allowed for great creativity in program design and made us truly and deeply learn how to code, but at the same time the class could become quite disorganized. The schedule did not adhere to the syllabus, but there was still a vague structure and a routine in the seminar.
Shasha was incredible. One of the best teachers I've ever had, and he made me much more enthusiastic about computer science. I loved everything from the content to the assignments to the subjects of lectures in the class. It could be a little bit more organized, but overall was excellent.
Professor Shasha thinks we are as capable as students on any level. He challenged us, but also was understanding if we couldn't grasp something. I love that he puts faith in his students and values their education over the grades they receive. Wonderful teacher. To improve the course I think it would be interesting to go deeper into the various problem solving techniques we learned in class. We learned about many heuristics, but I feel that in my programming I didn't always implement techniques we learned in class into my code. In some assignments it was hard to translate what we learned in class into a more efficient program.