Bill Crum - Purdue University - West Lafayette

Professor: Bill Crum

Department: TBD

College: Purdue University - West Lafayette

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The programming assignments aren't too difficult. You can usually figure out the direction to go in thanks to google. Don't rip off of google though, take ideas and create new code. Now the tests and quizzes, awful. I got a 90 on every homework, lab, and lab exam and am getting a C thanks to how awful the tests and quizzes are.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Bro did not need to go that hard on the homework assignments...

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Horrible

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Crum is a fine lecturer. Very clear, laid out presentations make learning the C language easy. He sometimes can ramble about specifics. The course is harsh and unforgiving when grading, using an autograder only. If unimportant output lines (i.e. symbolic boxes) in the code aren't EXACTLY as in examples, you'll get an 80 on the assignment.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS156
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Crum's lectures were really useful and I learned a ton in his class. The structure of the class is a bit different than what people would expect from a programming class ie not learning recursion until later in the semester than expected, but the structure helps reenforce the concepts. He is great to talk to and always helps out if needed.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Paradoxically Crum is best if you've never programmed before; if you have you'll have to adjust to his peculiarities in how he refers to things and how he codes because he will NOT tolerate any variation. The course is exam-heavy (60%+ exam grades) and those exams are based around being a human compiler and memorizing how Crum refers to things.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

As an FYE student that had some CS experience (& hated it) before college, this class surprised me & I actually liked it. Course is structured a little funny-more experienced coders are the ones that have issues with CS159. Prof. Crum is EXCELLENT at lecturing. They were thorough and clear. TA's are VERY helpful-seek help from them outside of class

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

In my opinion, Crum is a great lecturer who really does care about his students doing well. However, the lab quizzes and exams are definitely sucker punches in comparison to the work done on homework and lab assignments. CS159 is one of my favorite FYE courses, just try your hardest because there really is no curve.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Chill guy. Don't expect to learn much from lecture. The HW and labs is where you learn the most. Tests are hard because he tests your theory knowledge as well as coding literacy.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good op Bill Crum makes tests all about how to read bad code instead of writing good code. Homeworks and labs arent bad but the tests will bore a hole through your confidence. Beware :/

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures and lecture book are both helpful in learning the material. Being someone who had never programmed before, I found the exams difficult. In my opinion, doing the homework didn't help with the exams. By the end I got the hang of it and managed a good score on the final.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

As a professor, he is all you could ask for, but as a course I think CS159 needs some improvement. He knows everything there is to know about C and the lectures are probably the most useful of any class I've ever taken. As for the course, the exams just test your human compiling skills and the labs/hw take too long for how little they are worth.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class requires a lot of time. I had no previous experience with coding, but I found his class manageable as long as I put in lots of time. His tests are difficult, but become reasonable if you review and practice the concepts in the homework/labs. Don't buy the textbook. He mostly relies on lecture information.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

great lectures and a great intro to programming class for someone who has never programmed before

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

does a good job of explaining, but very work-heavy course (seems a lot like busy work)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The class should be renamed "Class to test who can compiled code in their head the fastest". Absolutely doesn't test on how well someone can code, rather who can compile insanely difficult/tricky codes in their head for 3 points out of 100/150 on an exam. HW's are worth 5 points, yet take hours to complete,grade depends on tests mostly, never again

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He gets a bad wrap, but I didn't have a problem with him. I wasn't doing so well in this class, and I went to office hours to get some pointers on how to improve. He was very helpful and nice and helped me get a plan. The class itself is difficult. The exams don't match the homework's or labs at all, and if you've never coded before, good luck.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He knows his stuff and is very nice during his office hours.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The Bill Crum of the past that you hear about from students who had him in the mid 2000s is not the one you will get these days. Guy seems to have mellowed out something fierce, and is one of my better professors this semester. Very approachable during office hours and is an excellent and enthusiastic lecturer as well. Respect his rubrics though!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CS159
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Crum is not a bad professor, he knows his concepts well and is prepared for class. Having said that, I wanted to fall asleep during his lectures. He is so boring! The exams are also very hard and don't reflect your coding skills at all.