CS:2820 Survey, Spring 2016

Purpose: The background of the students in this class is so diverse that we need to know what you know in order to plan the first few lectures. A summary results of this survey, minus personal information, will be posted on line on the class web page. Personal information is collected only to avoid taking roll and will be shredded.

Personal Information

Name: ________________________________________________
                    (As it appears on your University ID)

Section: 0A03 (9:30) __17__     0A01(10:30) __17__     0A02(11:30) __20__
                    (Check one)

Survey

Computer Support: What kind of computer do you routinely use?

Apple Mac

__31__

Linux

__7___

Windows

__47__

                    (Check all that apply)

CS/CLAS Linux Experience: Have you used linux.clas.uiowa.edu or linux.cs.uiowa.edu?

Yes

__21__

No

__31__

                    (Check one)

If yes, how did you access it?

	NoMachine	___8__
	PuTTY	__11__
	SecureCRT	___5__
	SSH	___6__
	FaxtX	___3__

                    (Check all that apply)

Shell Experience: Have you used the Linux or MacOS command shell?

Yes

__27__

No

__25__

                    (Check one)

Programming Languages: Which of these programming languages do you know pretty well?

	C	__12__
	C++	__12__
	C#	___4__
	Java	__49__
	Python	__42__
	Assembly	__11__

                    (Check all that apply)

Work Load:

	Credit hours of registration:	______	×3=	______
	Job hours per week:			______
	Total work load hours/week:		Sum	______		(should not exceed 50)

Distribution of credit hours of registration:

                                  X
                              X X X
                              X X X
                              X X X X
                              X X X X
                              X X X X X
                            X X X X X X X 
                            X X X X X X X 
                        X   X X X X X X X 
  __________X_X___X_____X___X_X_X_X_X_X_X_____
   0 . . . . 5 . . . . 10. . . . 15. . . . 20

Distribution of total work load:

                                            X
                                          X X         X
                                          X X         X
                                      X   X X     X   X
                                      X   X X X X X   X   X     X
      X                         X     X   X X X X X X X   X     X
  ____X___________X_____X_______X___X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X___X_______X___
   10. . . . 20. . . . 30. . . . 40. . . . 50. . . . 60. . . . 70. . . . 80

In general, students who take a 15-16 semester hour load every semester can graduate in 4 years without taking summer courses. This is the classical full-time load. To see 1/7 of the class taking more than this suggests trouble.

In general, only the most extraordinary students can handle total commitments (work plus 3×credit) over 60 hours per week during a normal semester, and average students rarely do well with loads over 50. Here, over 1/2 of the class has reported loads over 50 hours per week, close to 1/4 have loads over 60 hours, and 1/12 are attempting to handle over 70 hours.

Far too many students in this class have reported dangerously high loads. Overloaded students who do not cut back on paid work are extremely likely to be forced into dropping or failing courses. In general, unless your job pays a professional wage, cutting back on paid work costs significantly less than paying tuition for a course you drop or fail.