CS 2330

It's an interesting course and Dugan does a great job at lecturing and making things enjoyable. Although the quizzes and sometimes hard exams and studios can be intimidating, this course over all is not a hard course at all. It is not difficult to get an A as long as you put in work. There are many chances to recover from bad quizzes and tests. For example, she only keeps the top 10 quiz scores but there are usually like 15-17 quizzes. So do not feel bad if you bombed a quiz. The same goes for the exams: she allows the final to replace the average of the 3 exams if they are higher. So just make sure you stay on top of things, don't fall behind and put in the work you are supposed to put in and you are good for an A.

This is an interesting and overall pretty easy course taught by a fantastic professor who knows how to teach this class instinctively by now. The workload is manageable and quite consistent, so you can definitely plan for the same amount of work each week. The material is easy but it builds on itself. If you keep up and make sure you understand each part as you go along, the material will never get hard. Really it all fits together perfectly and the class itself just makes sense.

Your grade consists of labs which are straightforward gimme points, three midterms which aren't hard per say, but she only gives you 50 minutes so there isn't exactly time to check over your work, a final that can replace all of the midterms (which I thought was easy), weekly quizzes which were kind of a pain, and then in class assignments. This does sound like a lot but it is very manageable. I'm a BACs and took this class because I heard so many good things and don't regret it at all. Dugan claims that DLD is the best class in the Eschool and after taking it, I can say that while I disagree, she definitely has a solid case.

Dugan is the best. The course seems really easy at first, but will ramp up quickly. Make sure you get 10's on quizzes as early as possible, because the later quizzes are pretty difficult. However, there's a lot of fluff built into the course, and her own OH are pretty helpful. She also curves slightly at the end. Exams can be interpreted as relatively easy if you know the material, but most of them have few problems, with all or nothing credit, so watch out for that. In general though, she's a good teacher and its a good class, although i didn't really find the material that interesting

Dugan is the most fair professor I've had. You know exactly what she expects and she's always on point with her schedule. The class is extremely well organized on collab and you know how to prepare for every class. She records her lectures (audio and video) so you can review/catch up on the material. She loves to use technology in this way and she also assigns weekly studios to help you understand the material. She also makes the class interesting and fun. Overall, I highly recommend this class for ALL students including non-engineers (if you can get in the class). This is an Intro to Comp Engineering class, so don't worry about prereqs.

My Tips- Don't underestimate the class. It starts off easy, but once the element of time kicks in, the class gets much more difficult. She'll even tell you when the class gets significantly harder. Although it gets tricky, Dugan is a magnificent professor. She's a great teacher and she's there to help. The grading is extremely fair as well. We had about 15 quizzes in the semester and she let us drop 5 of them.... we dropped a few exploration grades.... AND her little dutch knockout rule really boosts your grades in the end. (If your final is higher than your test average, your grade on the final replaces your tests) My favorite class so far!!!

This is a fantastic course if you are interested in electrical or computer engineering. Professor Dugan is a very interesting lecturer, and has activities to keep you involved in the material. Everything is very organized and the objectives are always made clear. The work is regular, but not a ton. There are weekly "studios" (designing a logic circuit in software) and quizzes (on the previous weeks topics). There are also three midterms and a number of "explorations" (basically in class studios) which begin later in the semester. It can be challenging, but plenty of opportunities are given for extra credit, and a number of quizzes and explorations are dropped to help your grade.

This was my favorite class this semester! Prof. Dugan is a really great professor and manages to make the material very understandable. I recommend this class to anyone interested in CS as it's not difficult to grasp and it's really interesting to be able to break down a simple program into physical components. Stay on top of the concepts as you go, even if they seem easy, as the final topic (Processor Design) ties everything together. Lots of free points on studios and explorations even if you don't do as well as you'd like on the exams. Also, studios no longer involve an in-lab physical construction of any components (it's just modeling the solutions in Logism) -- no need to worry about faulty components, and you can leave pretty quickly after the lab session begins if you come in with the design completed.

This class is somewhat difficult, but Professor Dugan gives you many opportunities to make up points from assignments and quizzes. The labs can be rather difficult, especially when you need to work on physical circuits will old wires and chips. Overall, the class is pretty fun, however.

Dugan is a wonderful professor. She can seem kind of dry, but she teaches very well and is extremely kind and helpful during Office Hours. The class is relatively easy; it can start to get confusing for the last 3rd or so of it, but other than that if you go to class and pay attention and do the labs you should be fine. There are 5-6 labs, every two weeks, that can be frustrating as you work with real circuits but if you put some time into planning it can be done without any problems. Highly recommend this class as it is both very educational but can be pretty fun and interesting as well.

Dugan is cool although you have to meet her outside of class. the subject matter can seem dry but gets challenging very quickly

A great introduction to Digital Logic and circuits. By the end of the class, I gained an understanding of how a basic computer works and was able to break down all components to an understanding of how they worked with logic gates. Professor Dugan is phenomenal and sets up the class to be very forgiving. She only takes the top 10 quiz grades, allows dropped "explorations" (in-class assignments), and allows the final to replace all midterm grades. The lab for this class is at times needlessly difficult: construction of physical circuits sometimes did not work due to faulty chips which led to grade deductions. That being said, she leaves a lot of room to make up for grade hits.

From my experience, this is a very polarizing class in terms of perception of difficulty. Some people pick up the concepts very quickly and other take a lot longer.
Office hours are helpful.
Concepts build up so be sure not to miss too many lectures.

Keys to success:
1) Go to every class, especially on Fridays
2) For prelabs, knowing where to place wires on the breadboard before lab was quite helpful
3) Study for the midterms; while they are fair, the final is incredibly difficult, and it is easier to do better on the three midterms than the final
4) Go to office hours or TA hours if you don't understand even the smallest concept. All of the material in this class is cumulative, and getting behind is deceptively easy

1) Dugan is generally regarded as a great teacher.
2) This is a hard class that is deceptively simple at the beginning. Go to class. Be mentally present. Missing one class means you'll be lost and confused the next class.
3) Tests and exams are fair. I found that I was not prepared in time for the weekly quizzes, but was prepared in time for the tests.
4) The final exam is hard, probably because it focuses on the last portion of the class, which is the harder material.
5) Labs are pretty straightforward and this is one class where they significantly solidify your understanding of the material.

Conclusion: A worthwhile class. If you honestly work hard, you'll have a decent grade to show for it. If you try scraping by, you'll be fine in the beginning but will struggle towards the end of the semester. And it will show in your grade since the final focuses on the last parts of class.

Firstly, THIS CLASS IS NOT EASY. I'M WARNING YOU RIGHT NOW. The first half of the class is a cakewalk - don't let this fool you. However by the last 1/3 of the semester, the pace picks up fast, so you better be paying attention. This class is doable - but by the end, it gets pretty difficult to understand both the high and low levels of computing systems.

Joanne is great professor - very eloquent, nice, and will happily answer questions. She does go a bit fast, which made me kind of relearn some of the things on my own to actually internalize them. Her notes are based off what she does in lecture, and might seem disorganized - but they make sense during the time she does them.

Chances are, you're going to have this class early, and it's going to be pretty tough showing up to lecture sometimes - always go to class as there may be an attendance quiz.

This class is fair - tests, quizzes, in-class explorations, labs - these are all doable given that you stay with the class. She'll drop a few quizzes and explorations, but don't get lazy because of this.

Think critically for the quizzes though, it's a bit difficult sometimes. Labs are easy, no sweat (lab 5 is time consuming). Tests are alright in terms of difficulty. The final is HARD, so don't rely on the dutch knockout (where the final replaces you're test averages if it's higher than it).

Professor Dugan is a sweetheart. She honestly cares so much for her students and held office hours Tuesday through Friday (almost every single day) and she often didn't leave right when her scheduled office hours ended. THIS CLASS IS NOT EASY, so don't take it lightly. I thought that I could breeze through it, get the assignments done and be fine. It worked for the first exam and for all the labs but not for the 2nd/3rd/final exams. The material isn't SUPER difficult but you have to learn it (preferably BEFORE the exams and quizzes rather than after....awk). She only takes the ten highest quizzes so you think it'll be fine if you don't really study for them and it'll all work out but STUDY FOR THE QUIZZES. They're not super intuitive or easy but if you study for an hour or so, you can definitely get a 10/10 on all of them, then you won't have to stress once you get your 10 10's. Take advantage of the TA hours (mostly Chris because he knows what he's talking about more than everyone else, except Dugan). They help clarify so many things and help connect the dots between various concepts. The labs aren't difficult and the first three are hardware ones while the last three are in Logisim. Get to lab a little early so you can definitely finish the hardware ones because if you don't, you'll get a 10-15 point deduction. This class is interesting but I honestly only liked it BECAUSE of Professor Dugan and her passion for teaching it. Take it if you must, don't if you don't have to (i.e. if you're a BACS).

Professor Dugan is wonderful and teaches the DLD in a way that allows you to be capable of building a CPU by the end of the course. It's a great class and extremely useful, however, it should be taken seriously. Go to class, do the "optional homeworks" and understand absolutely everything to the point where you could put it in Logisim if asked. Take advantage of the TA Chris whose AMAZING, and all the resources provided. It's not hard, but it's not intuitive, so definitely give DLD the time it deserves.

Dugan's lectures aren't always the most interesting, but she's an excellent teacher in that she really cares about her students and wants you to do well. One caution is that the material can sneak up on you if you're not careful. It will seem very basic and kind of fun at first when you're dealing with ANDs and ORs, and you might be tempted to skip class or not bother with the homeworks, but the course gets very complicated by the end. Dugan is always eager to help students though and she's fair with grading quizzes and tests. But seriously, don't skip class.

Good class, easy and straightforward. Just make sure to not get behind because once you're behind, it's difficult to catch up.

BEST COURSE AND BEST PROFESSOR EVER!
I really like Prof. Dugan. I hope I can take embedded systems with her as well although I majoring in CS.

This class was great. Dugan is super chill and really helpful in office hours. She only takes the top ten quiz scores (out of about 20) and labs are pretty much automatic 100s so its not terribly hard to do well. Got an A without much effort. Plus the class is a lot of fun. Would definitely recommend.

This was an interesting class and Dugan was a fairly good teacher. The labs are only every other week and are pretty easy, and if you pay attention in class (and definitely go to class) then you'll have no problem on the midterms or the final.

If you can't wake up in time for this class (mine was at 9am), don't sign up for it. If you go to class, you'll do well. If you don't, you'll
a) miss all the quizzes which make up 15% of your grade, and
b) do poorly on the tests (that are based mostly off of her lectures and not the book) which are 55% of your grade.

Labs are easy regardless of going to class or not, and are an easy 100% for the 30% of your final grade they are.

Easily the best class I took this semester. Professor Dugan is fantastic and the course material is really, really interesting. Take this class.

Dugan is a fair professor. She gives 20 or so quizzes (about half were pop quizzes), and only takes the top ten grades. The material, however, was tedious, but if you understand the material, you will get a good grade, because her tests are fairly straightforward. She also posts all the in class notes online, so attendance is not necessary at all.

Her lectures are not very good at all. Often she gets lost in her own problems, many technical difficulties with the technology in rice and she is not very thorough in her explanations. Also it is almost impossible to hear her talk in class, might as well go home and turn up my computer volume to 100% and rewatch the lectures. That is something she does do well though- post all lectures and slides she went over in class. Also she counts 10 out of the 20+ quizzes we have in the class, so it is not too difficult to get decent grades in her class. Also she goes out of her way to try to help you understand the material, which is always nice. Work is standard e-school load. TAs are decent.

Class gets exponentially more boring as the semester progresses. Coincidentally, earlier material is easy but gets harder. Go to class, pay attention and you'll be fine.

I feel like this is definitely a class in which you can get an A if you go to class and pay attention. You will not be able to pass this class UNLESS you go to class and do so. That's because the professor doesn't really follow the book. Definitely a worthwhile class though- and Professor Dugan has great enthusiasm.

Professor is very helpful and is willing to help you in any way possible. If attendance is lacking she will throw in some pop quiz (easy stuff) so it pays to show up to class, as it will pay off in the end.

Prof Dugan is one of the best and most fair professors at UVA. Digital Logic Design, in general, is not very interesting; however, Dugan tries to make lectures fun. She certainly knows her stuff.

It is not very good to achieve a good grade in this class. Stay on top of the material and go to class and you'll be fine.

The labs are free grades and the weekly quizzes aren't bad if you take good notes in lecture. The midterms and final are largely based off of the quizzes so those didn't end up being too hard either. The book homework isn't required but it had a lot of quality practice problems so it was really helpful for studying

Dugan is a very good professor who cares about her class and students. While the material may be difficult at first/along the way, if you come to class/pay attention the quizzes and tests will almost certainly be stuff you have already seen. She also allowed your final to replace your midterms if you scored high enough, which is always awesome. The final was pretty tough but fair.

Quizes are hard - she doesn't tell you what will be on it - so you just have to guess and hope for the best.