20 students out of 31 in the class filled and submitted the online student feedback form providing additional comments concerned to lectures and tutorials for the course. These comments and the instructor's responses are displayed below. Thanks to all for suggestions and comments!
| Student's comments | The instructor's responses |
|---|---|
| Only suggestions are to give more numerical examples in lecture that relate to our homework and assigned problems. Perhaps an introductory tutorial on Matlab would be good for the first tutorial. Personally, I have never used Matlab and did not know the basics. | Introductory tutorial on Matlab is a good point! We missed it this year but we will implement it in the future courses. |
| The speed of the lecture is pretty fast. If the assignments can be discussed during the tutorial, i think it can let us have a better understanding on the materials. Moreover, on lectures, if the prof. can explain the examples in detail rather than skip steps and show all the steps on the board, this will be appreciated. | We changed the strategy for tutorials! The TA is now explaining 2-3 solutions to the problem from the list and is ready to answer any individual questions in the last 5-10 minutes. |
| Lectures are well-organized and concepts clearly explained. However lectures often run overtime and seem rushed during last 5 to 10 minutes. This makes following the material and taking notes difficult. | Point taken!.. It is now in practice that the lecture ends 1-2 minutes before the bell! |
| More examples and less theory I find always helps. I know that giving a bit of theory is necessary but I benefit from examples most! Prof. Pelinovsky is doing a good job. One final request? Could you please put the weekly homework assignments up at every lecture? Our previous professors used to do this and this way if you miss a class you can still get the homework the next lecture. Thanks! | Look at the other documents on the web! "Course program" covers topics of every lecture and gives sections of the textbook. "Problems for Tutorials" describes sets of problems for each covered sections of the textbook. If you missed a class, check what the last lecture was about and see what problems correspond to the lecture. |
| I find that there are not enough numerical examples for the class to work through together during the lectures. Maybe one relatively simple example could be provided for each new topic/section for the students to get a general idea of the material before more complex theories and examples are attempted. | Good suggestion! The lectures are now modified: the whole lecture is being constructed around one-two numerical examples. The theory is deduced as a simple generalization of the key examples. |
| One comment is, I think if questions from the text book be solved in full and placed on reserve or on your web page, they would help us with understanding the topics and doing other homework questions. Also it would be more helpful if example would relate to Civil engineering topics. | Are you suggesting me to write an instructor's manual for Kreyszig and make it available for all?.. What would be students learning in this case? Copying camera-ready answers from the manual to their test papers?.. |
| Try to slow down the teaching speed a little bit, so that we can copy the note n absorb at the same time. It would be improve our understanding more | The only problem of the speed is that speed of thinking is different for every individual! |
| Although the tutorials thus far have been very helpful in reviewing the week's work, and going over assigned homework questions, more computer application examples would be greatly benefited by all students. Having used MatLab, I realize the importance of not only understanding the theory behind the problems but other possible means of determining solutions, ie. Matlab. I found this computer application a very useful tool in solving problems, and simultaneously checking my solutions. It is also very important to understand the theory behind the mathematics which are solved so easily by Matlab. Therefore, I am pleased with the lectures so far, however the addition of computer based tutorials would be greatly appreciated. Thank you | Although there is no room for computer tutorials for this course, three optional computer assignments could be very useful in further sharpening of your computer skills. I suggest trying one of them! Another (more advanced) course (MATH 4Q03) could also be useful. This course is based solely on Matlab and numerical methods. |
| I feel that the speed of the lectures are little bit in past phase, however they are very clear, interesting, high quality and understandable. Personally, I do have very little background of Matlab, I accepted that I have learned a basic Matlab lesson while I was in first year, however the basic foundation that I have had not sufficiently enough to do the programming part. To be honest with you I do not have any friend or family member to get help. Lastly, I sincerely appreciate and thank you for the opportunity that you gave me to express my comment. | Thanks. Programming skills are skills that would be "nice to have". However, they are not required for this course. All assignments can be solved by using standard Matlab functions which are described during the lectures on numerical methods. Type "help [name of function]" in the Matlab command window for additional information. |
| It would be nice to have more practical examples. Many of the students do not have a strong background in this material and need to be taught the basics from scratch. Also, the tutorials would be more useful if there were more individual problems focused on. | If there are individual problems, the instructor is always available during the office hours or by appointment. The TA is also willing to help with individual problems in the last 5-10 minutes of the tutorial. |
| I first want to say that I am glad that this class has put some emphasis on assignments. previous math classes haven't had any assignments and thus homework doesn't tend to get completed. with assignments, this way you are forced to keep up with the work and you are better prepared for tests. my complaints are that,like others, a few more examples would be nice. also, if matlab is going to be used alot for this course maybe you could set up a tutorial or an optional class for people who need some more matlab help. the only other thing i want to say is that i really like how you have initiated this feedback form because it shows that you really do want to teach us. | Matlab is an optional package to use with this course. If you are more comfortable with Excel or Maple or MathCad or any other package, go ahead with them in doing problems. But you are right!.. We gonna need more Matlab support in future (next year) when a new course on mathematical computing will be released... |
| I feel that there is adequate number of examples, however more time should be spent to explain how answers/results were formulated. Answers to the examples are given, but how they were calculated is unclear. It would be better if steps taken to come to final answers were clearly explained and shown, instead of just giving the answers. | The main problem: how many intermediate steps need to be displayed for each problem? Shall we waste time discussing how to solve a system of two linear equations each time when we see a system of two linear equations? |
| I think that it is ok that there is a responsibility on behalf of the student to learn Matlab applications on their own, however I feel that there should be some guidance available for the program. Maybe some time could be allocated from the tutorial to go over Matlab questions and functions. Otherwise, the material appears to be appropriate for engineering uses and should be interesting to learn over the course of this term. | Good suggestion! There will be soon two tutorials on numerical methods for differential equations. The TA will be asked to explain in details how to code the Euler and Runge-Kutta methods by using Matlab. The instructor will also explain how to call standard Matlab functions for the Euler and Runge-Kutta methods. |
| The other thing that I would change would have to do with examples, and the actual working of them. In this I mean starting an example and going through the whole question, step by step, right to the end. Sometimes in lectures it's too hard to see where things are coming from. Also, maybe less theoretical examples would be more beneficial in class, i.e. questions like those from the text or assignments. | Problems with intermediate steps?.. Tell me which steps are unclear to get a better sense of the student's level. Also office hours can be used for individual consultations and filling the missed intermediate steps! |
| The professor seems to have a superior handle on the material. However general lecturing seems to be little above most students levels. More example could help! Upon request for further explanation Professor Pelinovsky is very friendly and helpful. His interest in student feedback is very refreshing. Overall, good job!!! | Thanks, and hope that the students' level will be up to the instructor's level after the course! |
| Thank you for putting your effort on course improvement. | Thanks and cheers to all! |