CS 2120

This course was pretty easy and a good introduction to logical math. I really recommend Professor Brunelle. Very good dude and makes learning the content very easy. The class structure is very forgiving. There are four quizzes per unit, with four units. At the end of each unit, you can take another quiz to replace all of the grades for the unit if you didn't do well the first time. And if you don't like that grade, the final is optional and it's just retaking any of the unit grades that you don't like. Overall, would recommend the course.

Prof. Brunelle is one of the best lecturers I've ever had. He's super passionate about what he teaches, and his enthusiasm is almost infectious. Discrete math is a very logic-based subject and can sometimes get a quite confusing (I'm looking at you, Module 2), but Brunelle's articulate and concise method of explaining made understanding challenging topics much easier.

When I took this class in Fall 2021, the course material and structure was shared by both Brunelle and Orrico. The course was split into 4 main modules with a mini fifth module at the end, and each main module had 4 quizzes with the mini module having 2 quizzes (total of 18 quizzes). These 18 quizzes were what dictated your grade for the class. There was no homework, and the final exam was optional if you wanted to improve your grade. As a result, the amount of hours of work per week solely depended on the amount of effort you spent preparing for the quizzes.

The class used Discord, so asking questions outside of class and joining virtual office hours was made quite easy.

Overall, this class was definitely quite manageable. While some may have found the class boring, I personally really enjoyed learning the course material as it was unlike any other "math" class I've had. If you're into proofs and logic-based solving, this class is definitely for you! And even if you're not, don't worry! This class is designed to help you succeed :)

I would say definitely take this class with Brunelle or Orrico because the way they set up their class makes it really easy to succeed.

Lectures are boring as usual, but Brunelle goes over everything you need to do well on the tests. If you put in the time to do the practice questions, you will most likely get an A on all of the exams. There is usually one paper exam and one online exam over the weekend each week, and everything is open notes.

I found the course structure to be very straightforward and fair.

There are 5 modules/units, and there are two in-class paper quizzes and two online quizzes for each one. Depending on your comfort level with the content, I found it helpful to do the practice problems and talk through the concepts with classmates. There are also numerous opportunities to makeup/improve your grade, including the final, which you only have to take if you want to try to improve your grade for one of the earlier modules (e.g. you bombed modules 2 and 4, so you take the makeups for modules 2 and 4 only during the final exam period).

While they offered synchronous/recorded Zoom lectures, I personally attended lectures in-person whenever I could. Professor Brunelle's lectures are structured as him covering general topics related to the concept of the day, and he works through his thinking process audibly and visually via typing on Powerpoint slides. I found that to be really helpful, as I handwrote all of my notes and was able to amend my notes with steps for writing proofs, for example. He's also very friendly and approachable-- I would highly recommend finding a time to talk to him outside of class if possible.

Overall, while some of the online quizzes were somewhat tricky, I found the course to be relatively relaxed and an enjoyable experience. #tCFfall2021

This course has the best assessment structure of any course I've ever taken at UVA. It is extremely fair and sets you up for success. All CS classes should adopt a similar structure. I learned so much from this class and I believe the grade I got is the most representative of my knowledge compared to any other grade for any other class. Extremely impressed by the structure of this course and the professors' commitment to ensuring student wellbeing. The content is easy to grasp and if you learn at a slower pace there are 2 opportunities for making up your grade for each unit. Look for reviews of CS 2102 if you can't find any for CS 2120 because that's what the class used to be called, and the material is almost identical. The only new material, Finite State Machines, is one of the easiest units in the whole class. Great class overall, Brunelle is an excellent professor. #tCFfall2021