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What are three ways that the UH ICS program could improve?

If you can think of more than three things, then please limit your response to your top three!

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1) As Jolie Ching mentioned, the lack of tutors on campus can hinder someones learning experience. Some few learn better being taught a different way and I feel like that's what tutors are for.

2) Taking classes that is not at all related to the program. It's not like I don't like the classes that isn't related to programming or algorithms. I just think having requirements fulfilled by taking classes more related to the field will benefit more in the long run. 

3) Lack of resource outside of class. 

1.Certain mandatory courses have only one teacher and time option for taking that class which limits how many students can take it.

2. 2 years of language degree requirement.

3. The labs and resources available to students are very limited and could be improved so that students would have more tools to assist them on their path to graduation. 

  1. Some required ICS courses are only offered late in the afternoon or at night. While these time slots ensure that most students will not have a time conflict, some earlier sections would fit in better overall with most students' schedules.
  2. There are not many ICS courses with a focus, such as the writing intensive or oral communication requirements. More ICS courses that satisfy these would allow students to take the non-ICS electives that are relevant to their interests and/or career focus, rather than the same few ones which fulfill the most graduation requirements.
  3. Some ICS courses seem to be over capacity, with overrides being required to fit extra students in every semester.

Three negatives are:

1) Coming from the engineering department, we tend to stick mainly to C and C++ with some Python sprinkled in between. As a result, I have little to no knowledge and experience in Java, JavaScript, HTML, etc. Therefore it's harder to keep up with my peers who already have some experience.

2) Unfamiliarity with ICS department resources. Again, coming from the engineering department, I'm unaware of what resources are available and if I'm allowed to use them.

3) Difficulty with class registration as pointed out by Felix. Not having the lower ICS courses in our STAR record makes getting overrides a necessity. 

1. The graduation rate is low compared to other majors at UH. 
2. There are not many options for online or summer courses.
3. The program requires high quality laptops for school work.

With my little exposure to the ICS program as a Computer Engineer, three ways I think that the UH ICS program could improve are:

1. A lot of the learning is actually spent outside of class and on your own time. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, it does mean that more out of school hours must be allocated to the class to learn the material.

2. Few available courses/times which fill out quickly, which can be a nuisance as I am required to get an override for any ICS course.

3. The ICS department could get new and/or updated hardware/software so that students aren't completely forced to do all work on personal computers. This could be a problem as some students may not have the funds required to buy a computer that meets the specifications of the course. 

Three Negatives of being an ICS student: 

1) It's pretty much a Hunger Games situation when it comes to registering for ICS courses. For example, there may be only one class offered on that specific semester, so the amount of credits puts you at an advantage. 

2) Some ICS courses are offered in the afternoon/evening. It would be really help if the ICS courses were earlier in the day. 

3) Need more resources outside of the classroom. The TAs office hours tend to not match with the students schedules, so there should be a place like a study center with tutors where you can go to get help. 

1. A lot of independent work with the flipped classroom style

2. Many late classes which is exhausting 

3. Like John said, having to take classes that aren't related to ICS seems counter productive, and aiming for a BA in compute science is looked down upon. 

3 ways UH could improve their ICS curriculum:

  1. Implement mock interviews. Though ICS 314 does encourage us to utilize resources like LinkedIn and TechHui, it can be overwhelming to balance assignments, projects, work, and job applications, especially for those of us in our final year. For me, it seems like LinkedIn works on the premise that one can just set up a professional profile, and then wait for a phone call from a potential employer for an interview, which is great, but what happens during an interview? I just feel like there should be something in the curriculum that would help us prepare for interviews and not risk embarrassing ourselves, especially with companies that are seeking a specific skillset.
  2. Emphasize on specializations and expanding skillsets that are current to industry standards.
  3. More project-based classes.

1. Increasing the number of class sections for courses that get filled quickly, also to help avoid time conflicts with other courses

2. Incorporating more writing intensive courses into the computer science program plan

3. Providing more materials to make sure students can fully understand material, primarily the courses that rely on online lectures for students to learn

  1. Maybe change some of the class curriculum's to include WI, O, ETH within the class so students don't have to take irrelevant classes that don't go with their major.
  2. A tutoring center specially tailored for ICS students to help with coding problems and such.
  3. I like that their is a space for ICS students to hang out and collaborate with each other, but it is not a big enough room for a lot of ICS students to come study sessions or have space to work in general.

The three things that I think are bad about being an ICS student are:

1. you need to get a good laptop to code with. Some students might not have enough money for a laptop. Perhaps there's a way to get a discount on laptops at the UH Manoa bookstore.

2. Coding takes up a lot of time. Determining how to make your code work can take hours, and you may have to do homework for other classes as well. Perhaps we can have study sessions to make coding a little bit easier.

3. Coding can be confusing. People who are new to coding may need more practice. Maybe there could be a list of sites that people could use to enhance their coding skills.

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