Mid-semester review

It's the end of week 5 and so it feels like the half-way point of the semester, even though it's not. So it seems like a good time to reflect on how the semester has been going, how I have been performing, and how the classes have been going.

I think I have been a bit grumpy this semester. I have been less tolerant of students than I have been in the past. I'm not sure if that is actually a good thing or a bad thing.


I was a bit put out that my teaching assignments changed around so much at the start of the semester. At one point I was teaching CMOD6001 to DNET/DCOM, ITS, and COM. In the end I ended up teaching only DNET/DCOM. I actually I think I was lucky to get the best of the three groups. But over the years I put a lot of effort into this module and it was disappointing to have my hours reduced.

For CMOD6001 this semester I have reduced the workload for students. I used to require them to do a presentation and an essay. Presentation skills and writing skills are very useful things that students will need later in their college and work careers. They will be huge factors in students' future successes. However in the past some students did not take these assignment seriously and failed the module as a result. It has become clear to me however that failure has consequences, not just for students, but for the lecturer that fails them. So I have essentially dumbed down this module. This semester I am even giving 10% for just turning up. Interestingly I have found that just as many good students rise to the challenge of a difficult module, so weak students drop down to the level of easy modules. I would not be surprised if the failure rate for this module is largely unchanged as a result.

I was neither surprised nor disappointed that the COMP6023 Web Publishing did not run this semester. It was offered last year and I think most of the students that wanted to do it, did it then. I was frustrated that my HoD did not take my advice and offer some other elective in place of this one. I was very keen to run the Computing Ethics module that I have been developing. I was also worried that my HoD seems to believe that the lack of interest this module is due to the fact that I was teaching it, and that students are avoiding my classes where possible. I'd be happy to take the Pepsi Challenge any day and subject myself to market forces with some decent elective modules that I'd like to develop and teach.

My web Application module business studies is going well. I have found it interesting how people from different disciplines do things in a different way and I haven't adapted as well as I should have. It has been an education. The bulk of the students are smart, keen, and interested. I didn't have much of a plan going into this module, but I am glad now because I would have had to tear it up. Next week's exam will tell a lot. I think overall it will be a success, and if the chance comes up I think I'd like to teach it again.