CS 2330

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.