Jalal Kawash - University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Professor: Jalal Kawash

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CPSC471
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No exams. Online quizzes, assignments, in-class GGAs & project each worth 25% so nothing has too much weight which is nice. Other than GGAs you can get away with not attending lectures, because no tests & he has good slides. I didn't like the course itself (there's no programming at all outside the project), but Jalal himself is chill and easygoing

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CPSC471
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Start earlier on the programming of the project than you think you need to. There is no coding taught in lectures, so if you don't know how to set up a website or an app there will be a harder learning curve and time crunch. No exams, but the quizzes and group quizzes were tougher than they should've been. Pretty dry class but useful material.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

A work heavy class but not necessarily hard; just be prepared to stay long hours in that lab crunching out code that is very finicky for assignments. Tests are not hard at all - you get to bring in any notes you want.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CPSC457
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Unlike his 359 class, there is no cool grad student designed project to save this course. You have to deal with KOS, a shrunken Linux kernel. They don't give you the man-pages and no doc exists for it. I averaged A+ on the assignments and learned little. They took way too long. For his exams, he's just out to trick you. In class group quiz are ez

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Jalal is a nice prof, but start working on his assignments as soon as you get them. He cares more about the class curve then he does about the students, which is pretty sad because he always wants to keep it around 60% or so it seems like. His tests are meant to trick you. Not helpful during office hours. Avoid if you can.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CPSC457
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: No
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He's okay. It's easy to understand him and he communicates the material well. However, his exams are brutal. His exam questions are vague and hard to understand. Assignments are tough too and don't add much to your knowledge.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Sad - gets rated harshly - lazy kids r upset cuz bomb the asgs - leave them to last minute. They expect answers handed to them. Gives way more than needed to finish the asgs and yet ppl whine about the lack of info? Quiet kids ask dumb questions that are barely audible - of course he doesn't understand. Come on kids, time to grow up. Amazing prof.!

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Disorganized and not clear when describing concepts. He seems like a decent dude but his teaching is difficult to appreciate.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Although attendance isn't mandatory, it is extremely helpful. He makes the class unnecessarily hard, but still within the fair range. (You gotta work for what you earn).

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If this course allowed you to work from home, it would be multitudes easier, but because you have to spend so much time in the special lab, your marks and productivity will suffer as such. Do yourself a favour and BUY THE EQUIPMENT NEEDED TO BUILD THE Pi SYSTEM AT HOME. Work on assignments yourself, partners are likely to slow you down.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Great professor and a great guy, however the assignments in this class are brutal. You are essentially forced to stay at the lab (yes, only one small lab) for ridiculous hours and the language used is INCREDIBLY finicky. Not a bad class, just be ready for a lot of work and remember to use your time wisely.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CPSC457
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The assignment portion is 100% unrelated to the lectures and is taught by incompetent TAs who will flat out refuse to help you. "don't email me for clarification." The tutorials lack even the most basic information that you need to do the assignments. 90% is finding this information You cannot pass the course without passing the assignment portion

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Each of J-Laws midterm questions were worth 2 of your final grade, so get 3 wrong and drop a letter grade, which is a lot. He knows his priorities which are his family and pleasing the department's bell curve, so he's a good prof but not an above and beyond one. Nice guy ,would be fun to hang with.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Really seems to care about his students. He writes very good slides and is very clear when he explains things. I also like all the top hat questions he does. This course is a ton of work though so prepare yourself. I had to take it twice.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Amazing prof, funny and tries his best to keep the dry material engaging. Really knows his stuff and the division of the course into non-cumulative modules is nice, also the use of the raspberry-pi in this course is cool too. Only complaints I have are that his tests can be a bit rough and the pi lab does not have enough computers.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He was a really outstanding prof . He was really nice and kind prof . I loved him so much .

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Kawash is awesome, very clear when teaching course material and what he wants in assignments, also helpful if you visit his office. My biggest complaint is the lab doesn't have enough PCs so get started early on assignments or you might finish late. Also, I wish if we had a proper textbook for reference since all we had was had was his slides.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Main advice is once the really long video game programming assignment is assigned, DO NOT leave it to last minute because: 1) You actually won't get it done no matter how smart you think you are 2) You won't get seating in the lab

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Pretty cool fella, great taker of feedback. tophat questions are on point. Would recommend. Don't buy textbook, expect to stay in pi labs over night and also fight over seating.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CPSC359
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Kawash is probably the best professor at U of C for machine level stuff. His lectures are clear and powerpoints are posted. The tophat actually helps you learn the content. The assignments are time consuming but not too bad. The tests are open book but contain tricks so they are not to be taken likely. I would take a class with him again.