Duane Szafron - University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Professor: Duane Szafron

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT174
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Great professor.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT174
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very good prof, very helpful, but speak so fast and not good for program beginner. Overall, amazing prof.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT174
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I would have sold my soul to not take this class. I hate computers and have no interest in programming. No choice :( But Dr. Szafron is seriously everything an instructor should be. Helpful, respectful, will spend as much time as you need to make you understand things, will explain concepts in different ways to make sure you get it. Amazing prof!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT174
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Amazing prof. Makes computing approachable. Great at rephrasing topics, drawing pictures for explanation. Labs were fun but hard, and mandatory to be with a partner. Spent a lot of time outside of lab time working on it. Prof was super quick to answer emails and online forum posts though. Super fun class, even with all the work. Tests were easy.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT174
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Innovative pedagogy, entertaining class, and amazing professor. I'll miss this class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Duane Szafron was a great professor. His lecture notes were clear, and he tried some in-class programming this year (which was really helpful). He clearly showed us our marks on the two midterms right away, what we did wrong, and how to fix the mistakes. I look forward to taking more classes with him in the future if possible.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Really passionate about his pedagogy and interested in making sure his students learn. The tests are pretty difficult, but they do genuinely test how well you know the material. If you have no experience with programming before this you'll probably have some trouble with the course but as long as you put in some effort you should be fine.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I'm going to miss this course. That should tell you something about how awesome it is.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Excellent Prof. Excellent explanations and does an example coding project at the end of classes to show how a full program comes together. Might have been useful for those with no programming experience if he had shown more code earlier in the classes but other than that no complaints. Very easy course if you have any experience writing code.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Duane is a FANTASTIC professor, really one of the few that actually cares. Don't know anything about comp sci or programming? Then I definitely recommend Duane. His first class he finished his rant with "/rant" That's an A+++ in my books. Take him

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Duane is great. He's very eager to help students. Course is very theory based and structured off the powerpoints, so I would say attendance is not a absolute must. Although, his explanations do make the material easier. Tests are extremely time constrained. Not mandatory but prior programming experience does help.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The prof was a really nice guy and helpful but the lectures were mostly theory based in that barely any programming was done to help the students understand the concepts.The Exams were really long and no one finished since the MC had 9 options to chose from. If you have no experience with programming prior to this class then DON'T take this class!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Only problem was all tests were ridiculously long. None of the students could finish on time. As for me, I understood all the material but the midterms basically tested on how fast you could write.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: COMP114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Friendly, helpful The class is clear. Exam is not very easy. (really depends on your level)

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very clear and thorough in class. He obviously cares about the students and wants them to succeed. Only complaint is that 2nd midterm was too long for the time limit; nobody was able to finish in time.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Excellent professor, spoke clearly and explained the concepts well. As this was my first intro to programming, I found it best to supplement his lectures with reading the textbook. Midterms and the exam were challenging, and made you think, so that's another plus. All in all, if you've never programmed before, his course is a great intro to it.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: COMP114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Maybe he's gone downhill since the last review because I couldn't stand the guy. Lectures were old powerpoints from another prof. filled with mistakes which he just read off of, exams were unreasonable (e.g. one was designed for students to not finish on time, multiple choice questions have up to 9 options) and so on. I wish I had the other guy.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very helpful. General concepts were explained in a manner consistent with concepts learned in later courses.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very nice professor!Just finding computer is so interesting! very kind to help students out. his lecture is very clear and well-orgenized. willing to answer questions in class and repeat quesion one more time to make every students know.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CMPUT114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: N/A
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Best prof in the department