ENGI E1006

Monthly psets that look exactly like the midterms + 3 midterms + 2-3 projects.

We had seven programming assignments, a midterm, and a final, which were each all take-home and had equal weighting at the time. Again, we were granted extensions when we asked for it (and even then, the homework wasn't too intensive). I will note that I speak from the perspective of having had a small amount of programming experience in Java prior to taking the course.

I didn’t spend that much time, I didn’t even go to class too often because he had a zoom option and his notes were always great.

Bauer is a very sweet guy, and I highly recommend his office hours. However, he is not the best lecturer, though it's understandable since it's pretty hard to lecture python. He teaches through application, working through example problems rather than teaching topics, which can be quite confusing to connect the dots between in order to understand syntax. It is likely not possible to get an A unless you already know python, since a good portion of the class already does and is forced to take it. However, it is hard to get less than a B since he CUURVES. 3 of my friends dropped his class out of fear of failing, but I got a B after ending the semester with all my midterms being 40-50%. Basically everyone gets 90-100% on projects and homeworks are not graded on accuracy. While only around 20 people end up consistently going to his lectures due to quality, you will never fail this class unless you are actively trying to.

I took Intro to Computing for EAS Spring 2022, and I thought I had a good experience. It served as a nice precursor to programming (in Python, specifically) and I appreciated the opportunities we had to learn about different concepts about the language and its accompanying libraries. The policies for the course were also very lenient. I got two extensions on my assignments since I was busy with work from other classes. I would recommend this course as an elective if you’re not a SEAS major (since I understand it’s required for SEAS students). Admittedly, Professor Paine could have been more engaging in the lectures, as I often found myself not attending since the content was relatively simple for me to grasp, and I didn’t enjoy sitting in for the lectures much.

I took this class because it started off so easily. I love Jan, he is such a kind soul and so patient and really helpful. He’s a great teacher and can easily break down concepts and make it more digestible. His office hours are where he really shines. He is a bit too soft spoken and at times not a very dynamic lecturer like Blaer for example. But he can out teach Jae, and Blaer.

Grading is very generous - even if you screw up badly on one exam you can get an A- or even an A depending on how you do. Homeworks are a 100% as long as you complete all problems and there are a lot of help sessions. Projects are also a 100% if you follow directions, your code runs, and you can explain it. Exams are really where your grade is made. Personally, the class was meh because I thought the tests were a bit annoying to study for and not particularly applicable to coding in general. Even if you are a good coder, it is possible to get a poor grade if you don't study the in class examples. A lot of it is niche examples and the questions on syntax were irritating because if you didn't know what that example meant, you couldn't get any points. I went into the class with some Python experience and I didn't find it interesting nor useful. I'm sure it would be different if you didn't have any experience at all. Note that there are a lot of people with some experience, so grades for exams are typically in the high 80 range for mean/median. Curve was: C >= 60, B >= 70, B+ >= 80, A- >= 85, A >= 89, A+ >= 96.5 for Fall 25, but it changes a bit semester to semester.

7 HW assignments, 2 midterms, 1 final Grades are DEFLATED: - 95-100 = A - 94-95 = A- - 93-94 = B+

Introductory Python, coding, errors, etc. Basic stuff.

Recently, I had the nightmare of taking "Intro to Python" by Timothy Paine. I can't believe I wasted an entire semester's worth of time on such a disaster of a course, and it is beyond me how anyone could teach a course and call it “education”. Going into this course, I thought that it would be an easy A. Past reviews of this course had said the same thing, except for one little detail: that Paine was NOT the professor. Paine’s organizational skills and lectures are all over the place. One minute, you’re learning about basic syntax, and the next you’re asked to create an AI program to detect and predict future medical diagnostics. It’s like Paine threw together random topics and created his syllabus by asking ChatGPT “What should I teach in a Python course?”. Spoiler alert: it’s a complete disaster. About Paine himself: this person is the perfect example of boring and clueless. His teaching style is so dull and lifeless — it feels like he’s trying to put the entire class to sleep. There’s no passion, no engagement, nothing. It’s like he actully couldn’t care less about actually teaching the class. I find more excitement in cleaning my room than attending his lectures. No wonder less than 10 people in a 300 person lecture show up to class… At the beginning of the course, no grading details were posted on the syllabus. The same thing for the middle and at the end of the semester…