How to cope with such large class size in CS courses (e.g. CS 61A ~1548 students)?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

Did some digging into the Berkeley Fall 2016 class schedule and cross reference with lecture hall/room seating capacity for those classes. From CS 61A up till (not including) those special topics CS courses, there will be 15 CS courses being offered in the coming Fall semester. All of them have only one class section for lecture.

2016 Fall 27034 COMPSCI 61A 1 LEC Str Interp Cmp Prgs 4.00 Pauley Ballroom MWF 14:00 14:59 DeNero,John S.

2016 Fall 27180 COMPSCI 61B 1 LEC Data Structures 4.00 Dwinelle 155 MWF 15:00 15:59 Hilfinger,Paul N
2016 Fall 26912 COMPSCI 61C 1 LEC Machine Structures 4.00 Pauley Ballroom TR 15:30 16:59 Boser,Bernhard E

2016 Fall 26831 COMPSCI 70 1 LEC Discrete Math&Prob 4.00 Pauley Ballroom MWF 13:00 13:59 Seshia,Sanjit Arunkumar

2016 Fall 26831 COMPSCI 70 1 LEC Discrete Math&Prob 4.00 Pauley Ballroom MWF 13:00 13:59 Walrand,Jean C

2016 Fall 31894 COMPSCI 152 1 LEC Comp Arch & Eng 4.00 Soda 306 TR 11:00 12:29 Wawrzynek,John

2016 Fall 27025 COMPSCI 160 1 LEC User Interfaces 4.00 Jacobs Hall 310 R 14:00 16:59
2016 Fall 26823 COMPSCI 161 1 LEC Computer Security 4.00 Dwinelle 155 TR 17:00 18:29 Popa,Raluca Ada

2016 Fall 27170 COMPSCI 162 1 LEC Op Sys And Sys Prog 4.00 Valley Life Sciences 2050 MW 17:00 18:29 Joseph,Anthony D

2016 Fall 27090 COMPSCI 168 1 LEC Internet Arch 4.00 Dwinelle 155 TR 14:00 15:29 Shenker,Scott J

2016 Fall 27090 COMPSCI 168 1 LEC Internet Arch 4.00 Dwinelle 155 TR 14:00 15:29 Ratnasamy,Sylvia
2016 Fall 27010 COMPSCI 169 1 LEC Software Engineer 4.00 Stanley 105 TR 9:30 10:59 Fox,Armando

2016 Fall 26905 COMPSCI 170 1 LEC Intro Cs Theory 4.00 Pimentel 1 TR 18:30 19:59 Trevisan,Luca

2016 Fall 26905 COMPSCI 170 1 LEC Intro Cs Theory 4.00 Pimentel 1 TR 18:30 19:59 Papadimitriou,Christos H

2016 Fall 26876 COMPSCI 176 1 LEC Algo For Comp Bio 4.00 Soda 306 TR 15:30 16:59 Yosef,Nir

2016 Fall 33586 COMPSCI 184 1 LEC Computer Graphics 4.00 Soda 306 MW 14:30 15:59 O’Brien,James

2016 Fall 26832 COMPSCI 188 1 LEC Artif Intelligence 4.00 Dwinelle 155 TR 9:30 10:59 Hug,Joshua A.

2016 Fall 26793 COMPSCI 189 1 LEC Intro Machine Learn 4.00 Li Ka Shing 245 TR 12:30 13:59 Malik,Jitendra

2016 Fall 26793 COMPSCI 189 1 LEC Intro Machine Learn 4.00 Li Ka Shing 245 TR 12:30 13:59 Recht,Benjamin

Hall/Room: Seating capacity
Pauley Ballroom: 900
Pimentel 1: 524
Dwinelle 155: 481
Valley Life Sciences 2050: 408
Stanley 105: 300
Li Ka Shing 245: 297
Jacobs Hall 310: 120
Soda 306: 98

Would having such large class size in all the CS courses make learning more challenging for CS students. The much smaller size Lab/Discussion section will offer some help but they only meets one time a week. I know the CS department post recorded lecture videos online. Is it only for some CS courses? Is it going to be a swim or sink environment for CS students? Are there other means/venues for students can get help? Can someone offer advise on how to prepare for and do well in CS 61A, 61B and CS 70?

2

I’ve been a uGSI for two of the intro CS classes (meaning I taught a lab and discussion section): CS 61A and CS 8.

It is true that lectures are very large, especially in the 61 series. However, I don’t think that that makes the environment any worse. I’ll try to hit a couple of your concerns separately:

  • Would having such large class size in all the CS courses make learning more challenging for CS students.

I’m assuming that this is worrying about whether students can get to know their professors in such large classes (a valid concern). In my experience, even with the large class sizes, professors tend to be very available. Frankly, most students don’t take the time to go to office hours and get to know them. If you hit their office hours every week, then any professor will know you by name by the end of the semester, even in the massive 61 series.

  • The much smaller size Lab/Discussion section will offer some help but they only meets one time a week.

Lab and discussion will definitely help: your TA is really your personal tutor, and the vast majority of Cal CS students like their TAs. Many professors I’ve spoken to have said that they consider undergraduate TAs to be one of the best features of Berkeley CS, as it allows students to have someone who’s still close to them in experience helping them through the course. Also remember, in 61A/B/C, lab and discussion combined meet for 3 hours a week - just as long as the lecture.

  • I know the CS department post recorded lecture videos online. Is it only for some CS courses?

This depends on the course, but the vast majority of professors do post videos online. The only exceptions I’ve encountered were professors who took attendance via i-clicker questions (in which case students generally have to come to class). Thinking back over 10 CS classes: in 6, professors posted videos, in 2 they posted slides, and in 2 they required attendance.

  • Is it going to be a swim or sink environment for CS students?

Berkeley CS is quite hard, so I hesitate to say no outright. But, I think that the atmosphere is quite collaborative, especially in the upper-division classes, where students tend to work in groups on problem sets and projects are assigned to groups of 4+. In 61A, I would recommend finding 3 or 4 friends to work with - most people I knew back in foothill worked with their suitemates, since so many foothillers are in CS, and I assume that people in the units could work with other people on their floor.

  • Are there other means/venues for students can get help?

There are tons. In addition to tutoring provided by the course staff of most courses, there is also tutoring through CSM (http://csmentors.berkeley.edu/), review sessions provided by CS student groups, and all-day office hours (a benefit of the large course size). Most of my students have said that they were never at a lack for help.

I know I love to push Cal CS, so I will admit to the following: the courses are very hard for many students. But I think that we’ve got an amazing support system to allow you to do your best in those courses.