- 202401-CMSC435-0101-SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (James Purtilo) - Instructor Report

202401-CMSC435-0101-SOFTWARE ENGINEERING (James Purtilo) - Instructor Report - Spring 2024

Project Title: University of Maryland Course Experiences Spring 2024

Number of Students Invited: 35
Number of Evaluations Submitted: 17
Response Rate: 49%

Report Comments This report presents feedback received from students for the course SOFTWARE ENGINEERING and for the Instructor James Purtilo in that course. Course means are calculated from all responses by all students in the unit (i.e., course section/lecture) on that item and exclude N/A (not applicable) responses.

Indication is provided below for the Report Group if there is one affiliated with this course section, otherwise it is blank. The Report Group will be the lead section of a grouped course (i.e. multi-section lecture) and/or the primary of cross-listed courses. Subsections are found in the Instructor Subgroup Report.

Semester: Spring 2024
College: College of Computer, Math & Natural Sciences
Department: CMNS-Computer Science
Course #: CMSC435
Section #: 0101
Course Title: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Report Group:

Instructor: James Purtilo

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University-Wide Course Items Applied to All Section Instructors
N/A responses have been excluded from the following calculations.

Campus Wide Course Questions

1. The content covered in the course was directly related to the course goals and objectives.

Graphs illustrating the information in the accessible table that should immediately follow it.

Table for [QTitle]-1. The content covered in the course was directly related to the course goals and objectives..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	2	12%
Strongly Agree	4	14	82%

Table for [QTitle]-1. The content covered in the course was directly related to the course goals and objectives.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.8
Standard Deviation	0.6

2. The assessments (e.g., tests, quizzes, papers) were directly related to what was covered/practiced in the course.

Table for [QTitle]-2. The assessments (e.g., tests, quizzes, papers) were directly related to what was covered/practiced in the course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	2	12%
Agree	3	5	29%
Strongly Agree	4	10	59%

Table for [QTitle]-2. The assessments (e.g., tests, quizzes, papers) were directly related to what was covered/practiced in the course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.5
Standard Deviation	0.7

3. The required texts (e.g., books, course packs, online resources) helped me learn course material.

Table for [QTitle]-3. The required texts (e.g., books, course packs, online resources) helped me learn course material..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	1	6%
Neutral	2	6	38%
Agree	3	4	25%
Strongly Agree	4	5	31%

Table for [QTitle]-3. The required texts (e.g., books, course packs, online resources) helped me learn course material.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	16
Mean	2.8
Standard Deviation	1.0

4. This course pushed and expanded my ability to think deeply about the subject.

Table for [QTitle]-4. This course pushed and expanded my ability to think deeply about the subject..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	0	0%
Agree	3	2	12%
Strongly Agree	4	15	88%

Table for [QTitle]-4. This course pushed and expanded my ability to think deeply about the subject.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.9
Standard Deviation	0.3

5. I believe the content of this course was a valuable part of my education.

Table for [QTitle]-5. I believe the content of this course was a valuable part of my education..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	0	0%
Strongly Agree	4	16	94%

Table for [QTitle]-5. I believe the content of this course was a valuable part of my education.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.9
Standard Deviation	0.5

6. I believe I learned a lot from this course.

Table for [QTitle]-6. I believe I learned a lot from this course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	1	6%
Strongly Agree	4	15	88%

Table for [QTitle]-6. I believe I learned a lot from this course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.8
Standard Deviation	0.5

On average, how many hours each week did you spend on this course (e.g., attending class, doing homework, studying, completing assignments)?

Table for [QTitle]-On average, how many hours each week did you spend on this course (e.g., attending class, doing homework, studying, completing assignments)?.
Options	Count	Percentage
Less than 3 hours	0	0%
3 up to 6 hours	0	0%
6 up to 9 hours	2	12%
9 up to 12 hours	3	18%
12 up to 15 hours	3	18%
15 hours or more	9	53%

Table for [QTitle]-On average, how many hours each week did you spend on this course (e.g., attending class, doing homework, studying, completing assignments)?-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17

How did this course fit into your academic plan and/or educational goals?

Table for [QTitle].
Options	Count
Required for program/major/minor/certificate, or as a prerequisite	11
Elective for program/major/minor/certificate	8
To satisfy an undergraduate General Education requirement	1
In preparation for research, employment, or future program/degree	10
Personal interest in content	10
Other/It doesn't	0

The counts above are based on a total of 17 responses to the survey.

Comment Items Applied to All Section Instructors

What about the course and/or instruction most enhanced your learning?

Table for [QTitle].

Comments

I would say the scrimmages and exercises. The scrimmages were a good introduction to things I feel. And the exercises allowed us to practice what we learned from the lectures.
The CDR deadline was also good, as I felt that the remaining time was enough to do acceptance testing. Also, I think the peer mentoring worked well. Also, the constant talk about tickets was very helpful.

Professor Purtilo truly does want you to leave with a changed mindset about not only software engineering, but your work ethic as well. This class truly does try to push you to your limits and Purtilo ensure that you are able to push past that and even fail in a controlled environment.

The professor was very passionate about the learning of the students. He emphasized the skills we need to be successful on a professional level.

Learning on my own

Ticketing became something like a diary every time I did something. At first, I was writing tickets to prove to myself that something was happening, and maybe to save myself on the final exam as they had warned, but as we began making real progress, I found the tickets were a way for each step to be consciously reflect upon and digested in my brain so the progress wasn't wasted. Ticketing helped me become comfortable with how many minutes there are in many consecutive hours. It taught me that it is more important to document your forward and backward progress rather than just the forward progress as is done naturally in commit messages. When I look back on the ticketing, I see things that don't even exist anymore, but they needed to exist for a reason. When on Saturday night, I look at the amount of tickets I would have in the business week compared to how many the last 24hrs held, and I would feel motivated to continue moving forward at the high speed I'd been on. So, from that, I learned how easy it is to let your motivation slip away when you don't need to set an alarm.

Another part of the course that I feel had a particularly significant impact on me is the team status updates for each project at the beginning of every class. At the end of the day, I really don't care if another team's project goes haywire, or they have a nightmare catastrophe in the code, or anything else. But, I do like to see where everyone else is, how hard they are working, how much time they are putting in, their trials and tribulations, etc. It is a great metric to be able to learn from example of 7 students just like me working on the same big–picture challenges.

The weight of responsibility this class brings really pushes you to do your best. Between Prof. Purtilo's investment into your success and the responsibility of making the client's happy, this class pushes you to do well.

He cares. It's that simple, he has a vested interest in everybody's success. He loves to talk one on one, and help you with your personal development

What most enhanced my learning in this class was how available Purtilo was when asked for a meeting. He was always prompt when answering emails, always kept people included during class, and made the class laugh. He also brought real–world knowledge and experience to the table and shared it with us. He genuinely cares about his students.

The overall structure of the project being told what to do but not how to do it and having to figure out how to tackle the problems was very unique and important to this course. The start–to–finish project helped you learn what you did well and where your mistakes were.

Where do I even begin. This is the only time a UMD course has given me deeply valuable experience in my field before graduation. I am kicking myself that I did not take this last year, I think I could have gotten into the masters program if I did

Dr. Purtilo clearly cares about educating students and is a great mentor as well as teacher.

With this being a capstone based course, I felt that the learning was done through the doing. This class was a rare example of a course where open–ended instruction and direction was not to the detriment of the students.

Learning the process of software development so that I can apply it and be knowledgable about it when going into my full–time career. I know that this knowledge will give me a significant upper hand in my field of work.

Working on a project in the way that it would be in the real industry world. Having to work with different types of people from the beginning to end of the product.

This was and will be the most beneficial course you take at UMD. If you put in the work you will learn unparalleled amounts of knowlege about software engineering, leadership, working in teams, and how to operate in the commercial world.
Dr. Purtilo is extermely knowledgable, easy to approach, and a joy to work with. The course is layed out logically and effieciently with clear goals and objectives.

I really liked how he was readily available to help us at any time. He also had very quick responses to emails sent to him.

What about the course and/or instruction can be improved the next time it is offered?

Table for [QTitle].

Comments

I think next time, it would be good if there are projects related to game development (if possible).

I think that most people who apply to the CS major aspire to get employment in the tech industry as a software engineer. It astounds me as to why the University does not have a software engineering concentration for these people. I believe that the University should introduce such a concentration or more courses related to this for those who want to pursue this discipline.

Maybe an explanation or template on how the tickets are supposed to be

Less work

More seats in the class. This class should be mandatory if the department wants to create people prepared for high performance software engineering which is what most computer science students are here for. Also, I think making this course worth more than 3 credits is also a reasonable choice. I think 6 or more would make sense for the amount of engagement it takes to fulfill your full potential in this course. Alternatively, I think it would make sense to require a companion lab class to be taken alongside cmsc435, as much of this class is research and development education.

Honestly, I think the course was everything I expected and it was perfect. If you tried your best in this class, you will get the most out of it

My only comment, which I don't know if would be implemented, is that we are able to see our team members tickets. It helps understand who is working and who isn't

I believe that this course needs to be a 4 or 5 credit course for the amount of time that it takes. There is so much to learn from this course and devoting enough time to it is necessary if you want to take something out of it.

please make it a 4 credit class its a lot of work (necessary and useful work) but a lot of work more than any other class I've had.

Not much tbh. Perhaps if the proposal was called "design document" instead we'd have seen people jump on it early. "Proposal" implies its just for the professor when in reality that spec was extremely valuable.

The major issue with this course is the time commitment. This course requires more than 3–4x more time than other three credit courses. It is especially of concern when working in a group project where people have varying levels of time to commit.

The main point here is that the slides shared by the instructor at the start of every class should also be provided to students. It is occasionally difficult to find due date, especially when the assignment is announced on the blog ahead of time, then is pushed down by future updates.

I think everything was great for the most part; only thing I think could be improved is explaining what information requires a ticket at the beginning of the semester.

I think something that could be improved is at the beginning of the semester having students who have project ideas, being able to pitch these as the projects they'd work on throughout the semester. I think this would give more power to students and have them really enjoy the course, since it's about a project they wanted to do.

Increasing the amout of credits for the class. This class should definelty be four credits, or have an externship attached to it to reward the students for teh amout of work they put in

Make some of the deadlines more clear

University-Wide Instructor James Purtilo Items
N/A responses have been excluded from the following calculations.

Campus Wide Instructor Questions

1. The instructor provided constructive feedback on my work that helped me to learn.

Table for [QTitle]-1. The instructor provided constructive feedback on my work that helped me to learn..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	0	0%
Agree	3	3	18%
Strongly Agree	4	14	82%

Table for [QTitle]-1. The instructor provided constructive feedback on my work that helped me to learn.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.8
Standard Deviation	0.4

2. The instructor provided feedback in the course in time to apply it.

Table for [QTitle]-2. The instructor provided feedback in the course in time to apply it..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	1	6%
Strongly Agree	4	15	88%

Table for [QTitle]-2. The instructor provided feedback in the course in time to apply it.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.8
Standard Deviation	0.5

3. The instructor clearly communicated grading criteria for my work throughout the course.

Table for [QTitle]-3. The instructor clearly communicated grading criteria for my work throughout the course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	2	12%
Neutral	2	2	12%
Agree	3	1	6%
Strongly Agree	4	12	71%

Table for [QTitle]-3. The instructor clearly communicated grading criteria for my work throughout the course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.4
Standard Deviation	1.1

4. The instructor clearly communicated the purpose, instructions, and deadlines for my graded work throughout the course.

Table for [QTitle]-4. The instructor clearly communicated the purpose, instructions, and deadlines for my graded work throughout the course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	1	6%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	2	12%
Strongly Agree	4	13	76%

Table for [QTitle]-4. The instructor clearly communicated the purpose, instructions, and deadlines for my graded work throughout the course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.6
Standard Deviation	0.9

5. The instructor helped me understand new content by connecting it to things I already knew.

Table for [QTitle]-5. The instructor helped me understand new content by connecting it to things I already knew..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	2	12%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	3	18%
Strongly Agree	4	11	65%

Table for [QTitle]-5. The instructor helped me understand new content by connecting it to things I already knew.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.4
Standard Deviation	1.1

6. The instructor created an inclusive environment where everyone belonged.

Table for [QTitle]-6. The instructor created an inclusive environment where everyone belonged..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	1	6%
Neutral	2	0	0%
Agree	3	3	18%
Strongly Agree	4	13	76%

Table for [QTitle]-6. The instructor created an inclusive environment where everyone belonged.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.6
Standard Deviation	0.8

7. The instructor demonstrated confidence in everyone's potential to succeed in the course.

Table for [QTitle]-7. The instructor demonstrated confidence in everyone's potential to succeed in the course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	2	12%
Strongly Agree	4	14	82%

Table for [QTitle]-7. The instructor demonstrated confidence in everyone's potential to succeed in the course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.8
Standard Deviation	0.6

8. I felt like the instructor cared about my learning in the course.

Table for [QTitle]-8. I felt like the instructor cared about my learning in the course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	0	0%
Agree	3	1	6%
Strongly Agree	4	16	94%

Table for [QTitle]-8. I felt like the instructor cared about my learning in the course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.9
Standard Deviation	0.2

Campus Wide Instructor Questions (continued)

9. I would recommend this instructor to other students for this course.

Table for [QTitle]-9. I would recommend this instructor to other students for this course..
Options	Score	Count	Percentage
Strongly Disagree	0	0	0%
Disagree	1	0	0%
Neutral	2	1	6%
Agree	3	0	0%
Strongly Agree	4	16	94%

Table for [QTitle]-9. I would recommend this instructor to other students for this course.-Statistics.
Statistics	Value
Response Count	17
Mean	3.9
Standard Deviation	0.5

End of Report