Student course feedback 2014/15

Reports from student surveys, lecturer responses, and short introductory videos

Archive page

This is a record of student feedback from 2014/15. Please see current pages for more recent information.

Student course feedback

This page presents feedback from students about their experience on Informatics courses, to help future students in their course choices. There are also responses from the lecturers and many short introductory videos for individual courses. Please note that lecturers regularly revise course content and presentation from year to year — often directly in response to exactly this feedback.

Do not redistribute or reuse this material without permission. If you would like another format or want to use it in your own publication then please contact the Informatics Teaching Organisation.

Student feedback

The tables below summarise 726 individual submissions from students who took Informatics courses during 2014/15. These were gathered through an online survey at the end of each semester. Each lecturer was invited write a response to the student feedback, and these often set out changes made following the survey.

This was the third year we used this online survey; response in Semester 1 was high, with 501 student submissions, dropping to 225 in Semester 2. Even so, some courses have a very low number of responses and results may not be representative. A few lecturers also distributed paper surveys during their course, and that information does not appear here.

The published reports include responses to all multiple-choice questions and free-text feedback on Q6: "What would you say to students considering this course?". Each lecturer receives an extended report including responses to Q5 ("Changes which would improve this course") and Q7 ("Any other comments"). This full report is also read by the relevant Year Organiser and the Director of Teaching.

Each year we check to filter out responses that contain offensive language directed at individuals. There were no such cases in 2014/2015. One response to COMN mentioned by name the wrong staff; we assume this was intended for a different course. There is no censorship or other selection of results before publication.

Notes on the tables

The word (new) after a lecturer name indicates that a new lecturer has taken over the course.

Courses are grouped by "normal year taken". Many courses are available to students across more than one year --- for example, Year 4 Level 11 courses are also open to MSc students.

Viewing the course feedback report itself requires DICE authentication: you must have an School of Informatics user account to log in and download these.

We provide the introductory videos in both MP4 (MPEG) and OGV (Ogg) formats for different browsers.

Year 1 (level 8) courses

Course Name 15/16 Lecturer 14/15 Survey(pdf)/Lecturer Lecturer Response MP4 (2010) OGV (2010)
Computer Programming Bradfield/Cryan report (Bradfield/Cryan)      
Data, Design and Society Klein NEW COURSE      
Inf 1 - Cognitive Science Lapata/Lucas (new)/Shillcock report (Lapata/Shillcock) response Video (52MB) Video (52MB)
Inf 1 - Computation and Logic Fourman report (Fourman) response    
Inf 1 - Data and Analysis Stark report (Stark)      
Inf1 - Functional Programming Sannella report (Sannella) response Video (52MB) Video (52MB)
Inf 1 - Object-Oriented Programming Stevens report (Stevens) response Video('13) Video('13)

Year 2 (level 8) courses

Course Name 15/16 Lecturer 14/15 Survey(pdf)/Lecturer Lecturer Response MP4 (2010) OGV (2010)
Inf 2A - Processing Formal and Natural Languages Cohen (new)/Longley report (Longley/Simpson)   Video (23MB) Video (23MB)
Inf 2B - Algorithms, Data Structures, Learning Kalorkoti/Shimodaira report (Kalorkoti/Shimodaira)   Video (42MB) Video (42MB)
Inf 2C - Introduction to Computer Systems Grot report (Grot) response Video (39MB) Video (39MB)
Inf 2C - Introduction to Software Engineering Jackson (new) report (Rajan)      
Inf 2D - Reasoning and Agents Rovatsos/Lascarides report (Fleuriot/Lascarides)      
Discrete Mathematics and Mathematical Reasoning Arapinis/Etessami (new)/Stirling report (Arapinis/Stirling) response    

Year 3 (level 9) courses

Course Name 15/16 Lecturer 14/15 Survey(pdf)/Lecturers Lecturer Response MP4 (2010) OGV (2010)
Agent Based Systems (level 10) Rovatsos report (Rovatsos) response Video (46MB) Video (46MB)
Algorithms and Data Structures (level 10) Cryan report (Cryan) response Video (45MB) Video (45MB)
AI Large Practical S. Anderson (new) report (Klein)   Video (52MB) Video (52MB)
Computer Architecture Grot/Nagarajan report (Grot/Nagarajan)   Video (42MB) Video (42MB)
Computational Cognitive Science (level 10) Keller report (Keller)   Video (56MB) Video (56MB)
Computer Communications and Networks M.Lee (new) report (Marina)   Video (20MB) Video (20MB)
Computer Design Topham report (Topham) response    
Computer Security (level 10) Arapinis/Vaniea (new) report (Arapinis) response Video (31MB) Video (31MB)
CS Large Practical Patras report (Patras) response    
Compiling Techniques (level 10) Dubach report (Dubach) response Video (35MB) Video (35MB)
Database Systems (level 10) Guagliardo (new) report (Libkin)   Video (39MB) Video (39MB)
Enterprise Computing NOT RUNNING report (Gilmore) response    
Elements of Programming Languages Cheney (new) NEW COURSE      
Foundations of Natural Language Processing Goldwater/Webber (new) report (Lascarides)   Video (41MB) Video (41MB)
Introductory Applied Machine Learning Goddard report (Goddard/Lavrenko)   Video (59MB) Video (59MB)
Introduction to Theoretical Computer Science (level 10) Bradfield report (Bradfield)      
Introduction to Vision and Robotics Fallon (new)/Herrmann report (Fisher/Herrmann) response Video (23MB) Video (23MB)
Logic Programming Smaill (new) NO RESPONSES (Cheney/Mayr)   Video (27MB) Video (27MB)
Operating Systems O'Boyle (new) report (M.Lee) response    
Professional Issues Fourman/Wadler report (Anderson/Fourman/Wadler) response    
SE Large Practical UNKNOWN report (Clark)      
Software Engineering with Objects and Components Stevens report (Stevens) response Video('12) (13MB) Video('12) (13MB)
Software Testing Rajan (new) report (Anderson)      
System Design Project Thompson report (Thompson)   Video (25MB) Video (25MB)
Undergraduate Research Practical various report      

Year 4 courses

This list contains all courses which have "normal year taken"=4. These are mostly level 11, but the list also includes the level 10 course SLIP. Note that 4th year students may take some "normal year taken" = 3 courses if they are level 10 - hence students may want to look at the year-3 list to see if there is something of interest that they missed in 3rd year.

Course Name 15/16 Lecturer 14/15 Survey(pdf)/Lecturer Lecturer Response MP4 (2010) OGV (2010)
Advanced Databases NOT RUNNING report (Viglas)   Video (44MB) Video (44MB)
Algorithmic Game Theory and its Applications Etessami (new) report (Mayr)      
Adaptive Learning Environments 1 Pain report (Pain)      
Advances in Programming Languages NOT RUNNING report (Stark)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Automated Reasoning Fleuriot/Jackson (new) report (Atkey)   Video (32MB) Video (32MB)
Automatic Speech Recognition Renals/Shimodaira report (Renals/Shimodaira)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Advanced Vision Fisher report (Fisher) response Video (35MB) Video (35MB)
Computer Algebra Kalorkoti NO RESPONSES   Video (44MB) Video (44MB)
Computer Animation and Visualisation Komura NO RESPONSES      
Computer Graphics Thorne report (Thorne) response    
Computational Complexity Diakonikolas NO RESPONSES   Video (40MB) Video (40MB)
Computer Networking Marina report (Marina)   Video (24MB) Video (24MB)
Computational Neuroscience of Vision NOT RUNNING report (Bednar)   Video('13) Video('13)
Communication and Concurrency NOT RUNNING NO RESPONSES   Video (12MB) Video (12MB)
Compiler Optimization Leather report (Leather)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Data Integration and Exchange NOT RUNNING report (Libkin)      
Distributed Systems Franke (new)/Sarkar report (Sarkar)      
Embedded Systems Franke/O'Boyle report (Franke/O'Boyle 2013/14)   Video (22MB) Video (22MB)
Extreme Computing Heafield (new) report (Viglas) response    
Human-Computer Interaction Arvind (new) report (Arvind)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Intelligent Autonomous Robotics Webb report (Webb 2013/14)   Video ('12) (41MB) Video ('12) (41MB)
Introduction to Quantum Computation Wallden (new) report (Wallden)      
Information Theory NOT RUNNING report (Murray) response Video (33MB) Video (33MB)
Machine Learning Practical Renals (new) NEW COURSE      
Machine Learning & Pattern Recognition Murray/Williams report (Murray/Williams) response    
Machine Translation Lopez report (various)      
Natural Language Understanding Keller/Lapata report (Keller/Lapata)      
Parallel Architectures Nagarajan report (Nagarajan)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Performance Modelling NOT RUNNING report (Hillston)   Video (MB) Video (MB)
Parallel Programming Languages and Systems Cole report (Cole) response Video (MB) Video (MB)
Querying and Storing XML NOT RUNNING report (Fan)      
Randomness and Computation NOT RUNNING report (Diakonikolas)      
Software Architecture, Process, and Management S.Anderson (new) report (Clark)   Video ('12) (38MB) Video ('12) (38MB)
System Level Integration Practical Arvind report (Arvind)   Video (36MB) Video (36MB)
Secure Programming Aspinall report (Aspinall 2013/14) response    
Social and Technological Networks Sarkar (new) NEW COURSE      
Semantic Web Systems Fleuriot (new) report (Manataki)      
Topics in Cognitive Modelling J.Lee/Lucas report (J.Lee/Lucas)   Video (58MB) Video (58MB)
Topics in Natural Language Processing Cohen report (Cohen) response    
Types and Semantics for Programming Languages Wadler report (Wadler 2013/14) response Video ('13) Video ('13)
Text Technologies for Data Science NOT RUNNING report      

Year 5 (level 11) courses

These courses are taken by MSc students and year-5 MInf students. The list below contains all level-11 taught courses within the school, plus IJP, a level-9 course specific to MSc students. Note that the regulations for most MSc programmes allow students to take up to 3 level-9/10 courses; hence students may want to consider the year-3 lists in case there is something of interest there; and also may want to look at the level 10 courses in the year-4 list (ABS, SLIP).

Course Name 15/16 Lecturer 14/15 Survey(pdf)/Lecturer Lecturer Response MP4 (2010) OGV (2010)
Introduction to Java Programming (level 9) P.Anderson report (P.Anderson)      
Advanced Topics in Foundations of Databases Libkin (new) NEW COURSE      
Advanced Databases NOT RUNNING report (Viglas)   Video (44MB) Video (44MB)
Applied Databases Maneth (new) NEW COURSE      
Algorithmic Game Theory and its Applications Etessami (new) report (Mayr)      
Adaptive Learning Environments 1 Pain report (Pain)      
Accelerated Natural Language Processing Goldwater (new)/Thompson (new) report ("Advanced"NLP 14/15, Goldwater/Thompson) response    
Advances in Programming Languages NOT RUNNING report (Stark)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Automated Reasoning Fleuriot (new)/Jackson (new) report (Atkey)   Video (32MB) Video (32MB)
Automatic Speech Recognition Renals/Shimodaira report (Renals/Shimodaira)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Advanced Vision Fisher report (Fisher) response Video (35MB) Video (35MB)
Bioinformatics 1 Armstrong/Hennig report (Armstrong/Hennig) response Video (30MB) Video (30MB)
Bioinformatics 2 Armstrong/Hennig report (Armstrong/Hennig)      
Computer Algebra Kalorkoti NO RESPONSES   Video (44MB) Video (44MB)
Computer Animation and Visualisation Komura NO RESPONSES      
Computational Cognitive Neuroscience Series report (Series 13/14)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Case Studies in Design Informatics 1 Oberlander report (Oberlander)      
Case Studies in Design Informatics 2 Oberlander report (Oberlander)      
Computer Graphics Thorne report (Thorne) response    
Computational Complexity Diakonikolas NO RESPONSES   Video (40MB) Video (40MB)
Computer Networking Marina report (Marina)   Video (24MB) Video (24MB)
Computational Neuroscience of Vision NOT RUNNING report (Bednar)   Video('13) Video('13)
Communication and Concurrency NOT RUNNING NO RESPONSES   Video (12MB) Video (12MB)
Compiler Optimization Leather report (Leather)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Data Integration and Exchange NOT RUNNING report (Libkin)      
Data Mining and Exploration NOT RUNNING report (Goddard)   Video (34MB) Video (34MB)
Decision Making in Robots and Autonomous Agents NOT RUNNING NO RESPONSES (Ramamoorthy)   Video (17MB) Video (17MB)
Distributed Systems Franke (new)/Sarkar report (Sarkar)      
Embedded Systems Franke/O'Boyle report (Franke/O'Boyle 2013/14)   Video (22MB) Video (22MB)
Extreme Computing Heafield (new) report (Viglas) response    
Human-Computer Interaction Arvind (new) report (Arvind)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Intelligent Autonomous Robotics Webb report (Webb 2013/14)   Video ('12) (41MB) Video ('12) (41MB)
Introduction to Quantum Computation Wallden (new) report (Wallden)      
Introduction to Research in Data Science Sutton (Organiser) NO RESPONSES (Sutton)      
Informatics Research Review van Rossum (Organiser) report (van Rossum)      
Informatics Research Proposal van Rossum (Organiser) report (van Rossum)      
Information Theory NOT RUNNING report (Murray) response Video (33MB) Video (33MB)
Music Informatics Smaill report (Smaill 13/14)      
Machine Learning Practical Renals (new) NEW COURSE      
Machine Learning & Pattern Recognition Murray/Williams report (Murray/Williams) response    
Machine Translation Lopez report (Lopez)      
Neural Computation Van Rossum report (Van Rossum)   Video (36MB) Video (36MB)
Neural Information Processing Hennig (new)/van Rossum NO RESPONSES (van Rossum)   Video (28MB) Video (28MB)
Natural Language Understanding Keller/Lapata report (Keller/Lapata)      
Parallel Architectures Nagarajan report (Nagarajan)   Video (43MB) Video (43MB)
Performance Modelling NOT RUNNING report (Hillston)   Video (MB) Video (MB)
Probabilistic Modelling and Reasoning Storkey report (Storkey)   Video (30MB) Video (30MB)
Pervasive Parallelism Cole report (Cole) response    
Parallel Programming Languages and Systems Cole report (Cole) response Video (MB) Video (MB)
Querying and Storing XML NOT RUNNING report (Fan)      
Randomness and Computation NOT RUNNING report (Diakonikolas)      
Reinforcement Learning Herrmann report (Herrmann) response Video ('12) (31MB) Video ('12) (31MB)
Robot Learning and Sensorimotor Control Vijayakumar NO RESPONSES      
Robotics: Science and Systems Ramamoorthy/Vijayakumar/Williams report (R/V/W) response    
Software Architecture, Process, and Management S.Anderson (new) report (Clark)   Video ('12) (38MB) Video ('12) (38MB)
System Level Integration Practical Arvind report (Arvind)   Video (36MB) Video (36MB)
Secure Programming Aspinall report (Aspinall 2013/14) response    
Social and Technological Networks Sarkar (new) NEW COURSE      
Semantic Web Systems Fleuriot (new) report (Manataki)      
Topics in Cognitive Modelling J.Lee/Lucas report (J.Lee/Lucas)   Video (58MB) Video (58MB)
Topics in Distributed Databases NOT RUNNING report (Fan)      
Topics in Natural Language Processing Cohen report (Cohen) response    
Types and Semantics for Programming Languages Wadler report (Wadler 2013/14) response Video ('13) Video ('13)
Text Technologies for Data Science NOT RUNNING report