Advice from other students on learning

• Start the homework early! If you are confused, you will have time to utilize office hours rather than guessing at problems at the last minute.

• It is challenging, but don't shy from the hard stuff. This class will change you for the better. Know that mistakes will be made, but if you do your best to learn from them, you will be grateful for it. No other class will turn you into a better thinker than this one with Han.

• Expect to go to office hours.

• Start the homework at least a few days before it is due. it does not seem like a lot of work but it is very [counter-]intuitive.

• It is important to ask questions and engage with the content, otherwise understanding can be a little difficult.

• It is a lot of hard work. Find a group to study with, and go to office hours to receive help. Work on the homework throughout the week, it almost always takes longer than expected.

• Start homework early. Don't miss class because it's easier to understand the material in lectures versus reading the notes afterwards.

• I would advise students to ask questions as often as possible. Professor Han is extremely helpful when it comes to answering questions, and always goes about answering your questions in a productive way.

• This is one course that you should study regularly for outside of class.

• Try to catch up every week, do not study at the last minute for exams. A lot of hard contents are covered in this class, but if you put in effort, go to office hours/tutors, pay attention to class, this is a manageable course.

• It's never to early to start on the homework. The homework assignments can be challenging but they are the best possible way to understand the application of concepts taught in class. Make use of office hours. Personally, the individual attention in office hours helped a lot with getting my concepts corrected.

• Start the homework once it is available because it takes lots time and patience.

• Be ready to think about math in a very different way. In Calculus II the answer is almost never in your face. You have to do a lot of digging to get to the answer.

• Do the homework, ask questions in class, come to class.

• Potentially take a physics course. Although you can take the class without one, taking a physics course would be beneficial. Go to office hours. Speak up if you are confused.

• This course requires rigor and drive, and you need to be focused and consistent to score well.

• Go to office hours! The homework is difficult but not impossible if you are willing to ask for some help.

• You may hear that Calc II is harder than this class but this class is easier than Calc II if you are great with visualizing graphs and are able to apply to 3-dimensions. Additionally, you should be able to make at least 12-14 hours for this class per week because the homework is very hard.

I have not got the chance to formally review this course yet. Reach out to students who have taken it and see what they say! (last time taught: Spring 2023)

• Always attend classes and don't be afraid to ask questions. Give yourself time to work on homework so you can work through difficulties on your own before asking for help, if needed.

• Talk to Han, he's very good at responding and wants to help you succeed.

• Spend a lot of time reading the textbook and going to office hours to completely understand the content.

• This class is very learn by yourself, but the professor is always there to answer questions. It forces you to try and fail and try more and fail more, and I loved that.

• Make sure that you ask plenty of questions and to start the homework early as you will likely have questions once the material further develops.

• Pay attention and type out the codes he goes through in class as he writes them. He posts his own on Blackboard but writing the code yourself is the best possible way to understand it.

• Make sure that [you] review ALL of the labs and homework assignments before a test. There is likely to be something seemingly small but important that [you] have forgotten or overlooked which will come up on the test.

• Go to the tutors as soon as possible in the course and don't be afraid to go and talk to him and let him explain things to you more in depth.

• Try your best to understand where you are losing points to prevent yourself from losing them in the [future]. If you are confused about a topic, understand it since the course build up on everything.

• Focus and get the labs and homework done.

• Do the assignments, start the homework early, show up to class! Also, ask a lot of questions if you're stuck!

• Make sure if you have a passion for computer science to put effort into this class.

• The internet is your friend. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude AI should NOT be used to write your code but to help you debug and generate ideas. You will get out of this class what you put into it. If you take the time to learn in class, attend office hours, and email your professor with questions, you can get a very rewarding skill in learning the syntax of C++ and developing problem solving skills.

• It feels like if you missed one class, your work miss a lot.

• Watch a lot of YouTube and website tutorials.

• Reading the textbook is not enough to do well in this class. Consider how you learn best, especially considering that this class requires patience and practice, and make the necessary steps to learn your best.

• Even though they aren't necessarily required, I would recommend writing algorithms for homework assignments as they make doing the homework much faster and simpler.

• Coding isn't as daunting as you may think it is. While you do have to learn technicalities of the language associated with the program you're writing, a lot of the homework assignments make use of creative problem solving. Almost every question presented to you in this course can be answered with simple logic -- you're just learning how to implement that logic in a program.

• Start your homework as early as you can because you will be confused at points. If you start on the due date, it is unlikely you'll be able to complete the program and you might lose points. However, if you give yourself time to work on it you will be able to work through the problems you are having with your code. If you are really stuck, reach out to Han!

• Look over the material after each class.

• Study. Even if it is a little bit everyday, studying the material will continue to develop your knowledge and prepare you for the exams. Office hours and tutors are your friend. Don't be afraid to go in and ask for help.

• Don't skip class. Ask professor question. Start working on assignments early and go to office hours when stuck.

• If you want to learn how to code and want to talk with professor outside classroom whenever you have questions, take Han's class. He will navigate you to the right way.

• Future students in this course need to be prepared that even though this class is an "intro" course, the content of the class is challenging at times. Therefore, students who plan to take this course need to be prepared for out-of-class learning times as the amount of time in class is not enough to understand the contents of this course. However, Han does want to see his students succeed and my best advice is to attend office hours when the time comes as Han will be better able to answer questions that may arise as class time is devoted to learning the content.

• Go to his office hours. Review the sample test before the midterms - they really help.

• Try not to be intimidated by Han. And don't be afraid to email him questions if you're scared to ask in person. He is really good about getting back to you quickly and helping you. Also start the homework early. I did that at the beginning of the semester but as the semester went on I got lazy. You will need to ask questions so give yourself time to do so.

• Go to office hours and don't procrastinate on the homework. Start it early and break it apart into smaller pieces. 

• This is not a class where work is best put off to last minute.

• Do the assignments on time and practice.

• Read the book. Start your homework early, and study often.

• Work hard on your coding and don't be afraid to go to office hours and tutoring sessions. Start the homeworks on the first day and do a little each day.

• Take Calc I and Calc II to further help your understanding of the topic. Also, attend office hours. Professor Han is extremely helpful in office hours settings.

• Prepare and study for the exam early. Ask question if you are confused. make sure you are comfortable with coding and CS 210.

• I would advise taking a linear algebra class would be beneficial also in the industry! Also that machine learning and AI is a lot of math, and you cannot expect it to be as easy as some of your other classes.

• Make sure to give yourself enough time for the course outside of class.

• As long as you put in the work and hours that Han tells you you need to you will do fine!

• Begin the assignments early. They are no joke.

• Don't be scared and prepared for a little bit of math. Don't hate the math behind the topics but try to appreciate it and understand it because those concepts are hightly rewarding.

• If you have time, do the labs from scratch.

• Start the assignments when they are released.

• Start the hw as early as you can leave yourself time to get questions answered.

• You should take more math courses before taking this course. Also revise the previous topics in C++, basically the CS 210 class, to be good at this course.

• Start homework/programs early! You will not be able to finish them in time if you start even a few days before the deadline. Study well for the exams. This class involves a lot of math. Brush up on your calculus especially for the end of the semester.