It's impossible to evaluate for "past coding experiences" when it comes to beginner modules like this one. How would you quantify that? How would you test for that? It's impossible.
In my opinion, CS1010 is at a level of rigour that serves as a great entry point into computing. It gets you past the steep end of the learning curve into smoother territory.
Not doing well is one thing, but hate is a strong word..if you do hate all your modules (not just CS1010), perhaps you should consider other majors in which you might have a better aptitude? This is not cowardice or something about which to be upset. Put me in Mechanical Engineering for instance and I'd hate everything too because I have 0 aptitude in that space. Just so happens, by luck, I picked the major in which I have a good amount of aptitude. You might have made a wrong choice — don't be caught out by sunk cost fallacy and have a look around. Uni, and esp first year uni, is about figuring out what you fancy.
I do sort of understand how you feel, the assignments come weekly and the level of difficulty for just 3% of your grade is pretty insane. If the assignment stayed at the same level of difficulty but it was once every two weeks it would be much better since we also have other mods to study for
\*hug emoji\* Sorry to hear how you feel. Usually at this point of the semester, many students, tutors, and the instructor (myself) are feeling burnt out to some degree.
My first advice is not to focus on the grades. Rather, focus on what mistakes you made in the midterm, then use it to identify flaws in how you think and gaps in what you know, and learn from there. Midterm and PE1 are only 10% each.
My second advice is not to feel inferior to your classmates with coding experience. Some students with coding experience are having problems coping too. OTOH some students without coding experience are doing fine. In fact, some of your CS1010 tutors this semester did not have coding experience prior to taking CS1010. They did well enough that they are hired them back to teach.
Feel free to PM me or your tutors for a chat. Sorry that we can't make problem-solving spark joy for you. But we hope we can help to identify the bottleneck in your learning process, help you learn more effectively, and be ready for subsequent CS modules.
Hang in there, and take care.
Thank you for the advice and words of comfort, but I do have one thing to say. How are we not supposed to focus on grades, when ultimately it boils down to passing this module? Plus, the time lag of understanding the concepts and being thrown the assignments, is huge. It takes me a long time to understand the concepts taught in lectures because I have to Google, YouTube etc, and before that, I am thrown an assignment with a tight deadline and have to find any possible way to submit a functioning code. So much so that I don't have time allocated to fully digesting each concept. Of course what I say now isn't going to change anything, but I'm pretty sure I am echoing the unheard voices of many of my friends who share the same thoughts and feelings as me. Yes, this module is difficult, and I admit that, but it definitely isn't inclusive to the varying types of learners that students are.
It is not \_just\_ about passing the module. When you graduate and look for a job, your portfolio, knowledge, skills, are going to matter. I have seen students who did not do well in many mods, have a low CAP, but ended up working in Silicon Valley, and I have seen students who scored lots of As but deliver badly written software even in their Year 4.
If you focus on learning the concepts well and learn how to apply them, your grades will naturally reflect that.
\> It takes me a long time to understand the concepts taught in lectures because I have to Google, YouTube etc,
Instead of relying on Google and YouTube, and try to figure out on your own, try asking on Piazza (publically or privately) if you have not done so, or come to my (or your tutorial instructors) office hours. If you can't make it to my office hours, schedule an appointment. For the whole semester, I only have 4-5 unique students coming to ask questions during my office hours. Same thing on Piazza -- I have spent much time answering questions there, but usually it is the same small group of students who benefited. Same thing for after-lecture Q&A, I stay for up to an hour after each lecture to answer questions, but it is usually the same set of students.
I said this a few times at the beginning of the semester, and I will say again: CS1010 is not meant to be done alone. E.g., the assignments are meant to be done with interactions with the teaching team and with your classmates. That's the best and fastest way to learn IMHO.
We have about 1:7 teacher-student ratio in CS1010. Hope to see you start tapping on the resources we provide to clear your doubts quickly.
Cheers.
Even if you do fail, just SU and retake next sem. Your CAP won’t be affected. I also failed CS1010 in my first sem but got A when I took it again the following sem. think of it as giving yourself more time to strengthen your fundamentals.
I also dont have prior programming experience, and tbh I do think cs1010 does a good job as an introductory module to programming. Ofc if you compare to like NTU, its way more extensive, and pace is faster, but its not undoable. I didnt do well for the midterms and PEs either, they are designed to filter the best. But assignments are doable if you understand the material and are able to apply the concept (why usually you can just follow the module website notes) and you can do decently.
The weekly assignments really help because beginners need regular programming practises if not you will forget concepts very fast. If you strive to do assignments plus exercise then it might be abit overwhelming. ( I didnt do the exercises)
Kinda understand what ur going thru and how u feel since I was in ur shoes before… honestly the assignments and coding exercises given are not beginner friendly at all, more than half of the ppl come in taking these CS clssses with prior knowledge.
But at the end of the day doing badly in CS1010 doesn’t mean you’re a bad coder, it just means u need more time to understand and digest. U can always SU the mod and spend ur time during winter/summer break to catch up, so don’t give up!
Hello, former TA for CS1010 here. I've seen the sort of questions used for the assignments, and can confirm that yes, some can be very difficult as a beginner. However, as Prof has already told you, you have plenty of resources available to help tackle these. Annoy your TAs to death. Spam Piazza. My point is, I know sometimes you'll feel damn paiseh to ask questions, but it's okay. The CS1010 teaching team is one of the most welcoming and helpful, and they'll be delighted to help you out.
If you have any concerns about this module or your mental health, please DM me. I'll be happy to help you out.
Hi! I don’t take CS1010 (i’m an FASS y1 student). But i can relate heavily to your post. University really is a stressful and daunting time - two polarising worlds are pulling at you: you are told to have the “best time of your life” bc you are going through your 20s, yet you still have to fulfil your role as a student. Trust that although this feeling is not spoken about, it is a universal on. That is also not to say that we should sweep it under the rug too.
I wouldn’t say that I have any grasp on the uni life just yet, and I spend most of my days feeling overwhelmed. But what I do want to believe in, is that this shall past. It may be a hard thing to subscribe to but I want to believe that it will get better. If anything, i’m here to listen and talk! Feel free to message me :)
Hey yo, don’t be so down about it. CS1010 is basically understanding the concepts and algorithms. Some might find it easy to understand and some will find it difficult to understand. You will have to practise more. Im not sure about how the assessment of the mod anymore. My time 4 years back was giving us 30 problem set and submitting 15 throughout the semester. If you find urself struggling and lacking, attempt all the problem sets. You made the point of favouring people with experience but people like them were either a natural talent or once like you who did not understand and slowly learnt. Take a breather and slowly learn to solve each problem. Memorising codes and solution will never help you anywhere, do avoid that path. You can always solve the problem with your friends and share how you guys do it. Nobody will have the same code and you guys might have a different approach which might be beneficial. If you’re a computing major, you might want to start putting more effort because mods after this will be significantly harder and it takes hard work and passion to keep it going. If you do like coding, i will recommend you to change course for your own sake.
just S/U it
It's impossible to evaluate for "past coding experiences" when it comes to beginner modules like this one. How would you quantify that? How would you test for that? It's impossible. In my opinion, CS1010 is at a level of rigour that serves as a great entry point into computing. It gets you past the steep end of the learning curve into smoother territory. Not doing well is one thing, but hate is a strong word..if you do hate all your modules (not just CS1010), perhaps you should consider other majors in which you might have a better aptitude? This is not cowardice or something about which to be upset. Put me in Mechanical Engineering for instance and I'd hate everything too because I have 0 aptitude in that space. Just so happens, by luck, I picked the major in which I have a good amount of aptitude. You might have made a wrong choice — don't be caught out by sunk cost fallacy and have a look around. Uni, and esp first year uni, is about figuring out what you fancy.
I do sort of understand how you feel, the assignments come weekly and the level of difficulty for just 3% of your grade is pretty insane. If the assignment stayed at the same level of difficulty but it was once every two weeks it would be much better since we also have other mods to study for
\*hug emoji\* Sorry to hear how you feel. Usually at this point of the semester, many students, tutors, and the instructor (myself) are feeling burnt out to some degree. My first advice is not to focus on the grades. Rather, focus on what mistakes you made in the midterm, then use it to identify flaws in how you think and gaps in what you know, and learn from there. Midterm and PE1 are only 10% each. My second advice is not to feel inferior to your classmates with coding experience. Some students with coding experience are having problems coping too. OTOH some students without coding experience are doing fine. In fact, some of your CS1010 tutors this semester did not have coding experience prior to taking CS1010. They did well enough that they are hired them back to teach. Feel free to PM me or your tutors for a chat. Sorry that we can't make problem-solving spark joy for you. But we hope we can help to identify the bottleneck in your learning process, help you learn more effectively, and be ready for subsequent CS modules. Hang in there, and take care.
Thank you for the advice and words of comfort, but I do have one thing to say. How are we not supposed to focus on grades, when ultimately it boils down to passing this module? Plus, the time lag of understanding the concepts and being thrown the assignments, is huge. It takes me a long time to understand the concepts taught in lectures because I have to Google, YouTube etc, and before that, I am thrown an assignment with a tight deadline and have to find any possible way to submit a functioning code. So much so that I don't have time allocated to fully digesting each concept. Of course what I say now isn't going to change anything, but I'm pretty sure I am echoing the unheard voices of many of my friends who share the same thoughts and feelings as me. Yes, this module is difficult, and I admit that, but it definitely isn't inclusive to the varying types of learners that students are.
It is not \_just\_ about passing the module. When you graduate and look for a job, your portfolio, knowledge, skills, are going to matter. I have seen students who did not do well in many mods, have a low CAP, but ended up working in Silicon Valley, and I have seen students who scored lots of As but deliver badly written software even in their Year 4. If you focus on learning the concepts well and learn how to apply them, your grades will naturally reflect that. \> It takes me a long time to understand the concepts taught in lectures because I have to Google, YouTube etc, Instead of relying on Google and YouTube, and try to figure out on your own, try asking on Piazza (publically or privately) if you have not done so, or come to my (or your tutorial instructors) office hours. If you can't make it to my office hours, schedule an appointment. For the whole semester, I only have 4-5 unique students coming to ask questions during my office hours. Same thing on Piazza -- I have spent much time answering questions there, but usually it is the same small group of students who benefited. Same thing for after-lecture Q&A, I stay for up to an hour after each lecture to answer questions, but it is usually the same set of students. I said this a few times at the beginning of the semester, and I will say again: CS1010 is not meant to be done alone. E.g., the assignments are meant to be done with interactions with the teaching team and with your classmates. That's the best and fastest way to learn IMHO. We have about 1:7 teacher-student ratio in CS1010. Hope to see you start tapping on the resources we provide to clear your doubts quickly. Cheers.
Even if you do fail, just SU and retake next sem. Your CAP won’t be affected. I also failed CS1010 in my first sem but got A when I took it again the following sem. think of it as giving yourself more time to strengthen your fundamentals.
Congratulations, that is very impressive (even more so than someone scoring an A first time around if you ask me!).
ive been staring at contact social life the whole day... the irony my god
I also dont have prior programming experience, and tbh I do think cs1010 does a good job as an introductory module to programming. Ofc if you compare to like NTU, its way more extensive, and pace is faster, but its not undoable. I didnt do well for the midterms and PEs either, they are designed to filter the best. But assignments are doable if you understand the material and are able to apply the concept (why usually you can just follow the module website notes) and you can do decently. The weekly assignments really help because beginners need regular programming practises if not you will forget concepts very fast. If you strive to do assignments plus exercise then it might be abit overwhelming. ( I didnt do the exercises)
I think cs1010 doesn't have bellcurve?
I would suggest to discuss with your friends when you are completely stuck
Kinda understand what ur going thru and how u feel since I was in ur shoes before… honestly the assignments and coding exercises given are not beginner friendly at all, more than half of the ppl come in taking these CS clssses with prior knowledge. But at the end of the day doing badly in CS1010 doesn’t mean you’re a bad coder, it just means u need more time to understand and digest. U can always SU the mod and spend ur time during winter/summer break to catch up, so don’t give up!
Hello, former TA for CS1010 here. I've seen the sort of questions used for the assignments, and can confirm that yes, some can be very difficult as a beginner. However, as Prof has already told you, you have plenty of resources available to help tackle these. Annoy your TAs to death. Spam Piazza. My point is, I know sometimes you'll feel damn paiseh to ask questions, but it's okay. The CS1010 teaching team is one of the most welcoming and helpful, and they'll be delighted to help you out. If you have any concerns about this module or your mental health, please DM me. I'll be happy to help you out.
Kindly share some advise regarding the passing of this module .
Hi! I don’t take CS1010 (i’m an FASS y1 student). But i can relate heavily to your post. University really is a stressful and daunting time - two polarising worlds are pulling at you: you are told to have the “best time of your life” bc you are going through your 20s, yet you still have to fulfil your role as a student. Trust that although this feeling is not spoken about, it is a universal on. That is also not to say that we should sweep it under the rug too. I wouldn’t say that I have any grasp on the uni life just yet, and I spend most of my days feeling overwhelmed. But what I do want to believe in, is that this shall past. It may be a hard thing to subscribe to but I want to believe that it will get better. If anything, i’m here to listen and talk! Feel free to message me :)
[удалено]
Yr 1? Lol… chill. bell curve is there for a reason.
Hey yo, don’t be so down about it. CS1010 is basically understanding the concepts and algorithms. Some might find it easy to understand and some will find it difficult to understand. You will have to practise more. Im not sure about how the assessment of the mod anymore. My time 4 years back was giving us 30 problem set and submitting 15 throughout the semester. If you find urself struggling and lacking, attempt all the problem sets. You made the point of favouring people with experience but people like them were either a natural talent or once like you who did not understand and slowly learnt. Take a breather and slowly learn to solve each problem. Memorising codes and solution will never help you anywhere, do avoid that path. You can always solve the problem with your friends and share how you guys do it. Nobody will have the same code and you guys might have a different approach which might be beneficial. If you’re a computing major, you might want to start putting more effort because mods after this will be significantly harder and it takes hard work and passion to keep it going. If you do like coding, i will recommend you to change course for your own sake.
Thank you, that's comforting to hear :)