Professor
Minh Pham
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Professor Pham is such an incredible and caring professor. I took the class in Winter 2021 online, so the circumstances may be different, but he does his best to cover the material thoroughly so that students understand all of the course material. The class is much easier with prior experience in coding (ie. Java, AP Comp Sci, etc.), but it also shouldn't be a problem if you're a brand new coder. Note: I took AP Comp Sci in HS, so I can't speak for everyone else in the class, but I also went to every lecture instead of watching the recordings (I think in the end, only about 20 students ever showed up to the live lectures). The grade distribution is as follows: 30% Homework, 20% Quizzes, 20% Midterm, 30% Final. The homework was a coding assignment due Sunday at 11:59pm each week (except the first 2 weeks) that consisted of 2-3 coding problems (increasing difficulty over time because of new concepts learned). They were too hard overall, but don't try to start last minute on the weekend (I recommend working on it throughout the week so you have time to ask questions during office hours). There were 3 quizzes administered on CCLE (about 5 multiple choice questions and 1-2 short answer questions). The third quiz was the hardest (as expected), but the first two were pretty easy imo. The midterm was available for 24 hours (because of COVID) and was designed to be a 1-hour exam (although it took me longer, maybe 2-3 hours). The exam had true/false questions, short answer questions, and coding problems, and the difficulty of the exam was around what I had expected (not too hard, but did take a while to complete). And lastly, the final was also available for 24 hours and was designed to be a 3-hour exam, but it took me about 10 hours (but I was also working on another exam that day), and it had the same format as the midterm. It was much harder than the midterm in terms of the coding problems, but it was definitely doable, so be prepared for this. Now, the exams and assessments seemed like a lot, but they really weren't. He drops the 2 lowest homework assignments. And because of COVID and looking at everyone's grades, he decided to give a bunch of extra credit (1% for Gradescope demo and 1% for instructor evaluations), and he also rounded your total score if you were within 1% of the next grading cutoff. The professor does a bunch of coding demos during the lecture, so make sure to pay attention to those, because (1) they're really helpful in understanding how to apply certain concepts or keywords and (2) he used some of the lecture demos in the final. He listed a textbook in the syllabus, but I never used it throughout the entire quarter because all of the material ever needed for the class was discussed pretty well in the lectures. I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND taking his class, because his grading is so incredibly nice (a bunch of extra credit + rounding), and he truly wants to help students get a good grade while understanding the material for the class. However, don't try to slack off, especially if you're new at coding, because the difficulty of material increases throughout the quarter. Also, if you ever need help, he is very nice and is willing to help you step-by-step during office hours.
Winter 2021 - Professor Pham is such an incredible and caring professor. I took the class in Winter 2021 online, so the circumstances may be different, but he does his best to cover the material thoroughly so that students understand all of the course material. The class is much easier with prior experience in coding (ie. Java, AP Comp Sci, etc.), but it also shouldn't be a problem if you're a brand new coder. Note: I took AP Comp Sci in HS, so I can't speak for everyone else in the class, but I also went to every lecture instead of watching the recordings (I think in the end, only about 20 students ever showed up to the live lectures). The grade distribution is as follows: 30% Homework, 20% Quizzes, 20% Midterm, 30% Final. The homework was a coding assignment due Sunday at 11:59pm each week (except the first 2 weeks) that consisted of 2-3 coding problems (increasing difficulty over time because of new concepts learned). They were too hard overall, but don't try to start last minute on the weekend (I recommend working on it throughout the week so you have time to ask questions during office hours). There were 3 quizzes administered on CCLE (about 5 multiple choice questions and 1-2 short answer questions). The third quiz was the hardest (as expected), but the first two were pretty easy imo. The midterm was available for 24 hours (because of COVID) and was designed to be a 1-hour exam (although it took me longer, maybe 2-3 hours). The exam had true/false questions, short answer questions, and coding problems, and the difficulty of the exam was around what I had expected (not too hard, but did take a while to complete). And lastly, the final was also available for 24 hours and was designed to be a 3-hour exam, but it took me about 10 hours (but I was also working on another exam that day), and it had the same format as the midterm. It was much harder than the midterm in terms of the coding problems, but it was definitely doable, so be prepared for this. Now, the exams and assessments seemed like a lot, but they really weren't. He drops the 2 lowest homework assignments. And because of COVID and looking at everyone's grades, he decided to give a bunch of extra credit (1% for Gradescope demo and 1% for instructor evaluations), and he also rounded your total score if you were within 1% of the next grading cutoff. The professor does a bunch of coding demos during the lecture, so make sure to pay attention to those, because (1) they're really helpful in understanding how to apply certain concepts or keywords and (2) he used some of the lecture demos in the final. He listed a textbook in the syllabus, but I never used it throughout the entire quarter because all of the material ever needed for the class was discussed pretty well in the lectures. I would DEFINITELY RECOMMEND taking his class, because his grading is so incredibly nice (a bunch of extra credit + rounding), and he truly wants to help students get a good grade while understanding the material for the class. However, don't try to slack off, especially if you're new at coding, because the difficulty of material increases throughout the quarter. Also, if you ever need help, he is very nice and is willing to help you step-by-step during office hours.
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - I took this course online during COVID with Professor Pham. The amount of material can be overwhelming, and homework projects (which were actually very interesting) can be hard but you can drop one of them I believe. If you take this class with Pham, you may expect to spend some time digesting the knowledge and doing the homework to do well. However, the material was generally explained well in lectures, and Pham was extremely helpful and responsive in answering students' questions posted on the CCLE forum. He actually encouraged students to ask questions and was willing to help, so as long as you participate, you will be fine. The midterm and final were 24 hours. The midterm was a bit tricky, but the final was more straightforward, though I did spend a long time on some questions. I recommend taking this course with Professor Pham if you do want to learn Java.
Spring 2021 - I took this course online during COVID with Professor Pham. The amount of material can be overwhelming, and homework projects (which were actually very interesting) can be hard but you can drop one of them I believe. If you take this class with Pham, you may expect to spend some time digesting the knowledge and doing the homework to do well. However, the material was generally explained well in lectures, and Pham was extremely helpful and responsive in answering students' questions posted on the CCLE forum. He actually encouraged students to ask questions and was willing to help, so as long as you participate, you will be fine. The midterm and final were 24 hours. The midterm was a bit tricky, but the final was more straightforward, though I did spend a long time on some questions. I recommend taking this course with Professor Pham if you do want to learn Java.
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