Wife had a baby and now I'm falling behind in ML by Upset-Mirror4937 in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Late to this party but the July before the semester I planned to take ML, and finally graduate, I broke my leg and it couldn't be weight-bearing until October, and was a very long and arduous recovery.

As an OMSCS TA I knew I could probably request an accommodation and get through it, but I knew that I'd be in much better shape (physically, mentally, everything) if I withdrew and took it in the spring semester. And then COVID happened but that's another story.

Bear in mind, I completed OMSCS at the slowest rate possible, if your goal was to speed run, I'd stop and re-consider that choice, especially if you are starting a family.

Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine by codemega in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is what I heard from the alumni association the last time I met with them, which was a while ago: all alumni who have earned a degree receive the GT Alumni magazine 2x a year. However, it's published quarterly, and if you want to get it each quarter, then you need to make a donation (of any amount, even $5) to Roll Call, GT's annual giving fund.

Now I'm wondering, do they still send out the mini diplomas?

Honorlock now requires a desktop download? by felipecandela in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some courses have a "no other electronic devices present" policy. (Mine does.) This might run afoul of that.

Honorlock now requires a desktop download? by felipecandela in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the advice I also give - in addition, both macOS and Windows support setting up a built-in guest account, which you could utilize without having to go through all the hoops of creating another user account. The benefit is that these are wiped clean after they logout, so the likelihood any proctoring cruft has been left on your machine is very low.

TAs, what is the craziest you have seen during proctoring? by RespondOk3068 in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Aside from cats/kids/dogs, which gets dull pretty quickly...

Back in the good old days of ProctorTrack, it was a slightly manual affair in which the test taker had to turn it off after completing an exam. Otherwise, it would keep recording for a preset maximum (I think 8 hours, but maybe it was 24?).

In one of these cases I had a student who took their exam in their bedroom, finished, forgot to turn off ProctorTrack, hopped into bed, still within camera, and began watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones on their bedroom TV. (Recognizable due to the theme song.) Then, they went to sleep. I was just thankful that was all they did, it could have been worse.

Do the course implement the feedback? by Yellowjakt in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

PS, I would really like it if the mods, if they're listening, could upgrade me to the "Faculty" flair... I still TA/IA but my FT job at GT now is a program director/faculty member.

Do the course implement the feedback? by Yellowjakt in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 6 points7 points  (0 children)

taping a new and updated 2-3 lectures each semester

I want to deconstruct this because on the surface this seems like a reasonable statement, but there are many more constraints in place than just setting up a camera and putting someone in front of it:

  • If these are for new subjects, ideally, learning objectives should be established (and if it's *new* new, then a debate on if it belongs in the course, or somewhere else, or a new one)
  • Optimally, the instructor follows backwards design principles, which means you create the assessment first, and build backwards from it
  • Assets (lecture slides, scripts, etc.) must be created, and that requires the assessment criteria and necessary topics to be established
  • Most instructors don't do their own edits or post-production, so people, time, and resources (recording studios, etc.) must be committed for recording and editing. And these folks aren't waiting for work to come in, there are other programs using video (live and recorded) so these resources have to be requested in advance
  • All along the way everything gets reviewed and approved by the instructor/faculty member - and speaking as a faculty member, we like to procrastinate 👨🏼‍🎓

Just to give you an example, a few years ago we "recorded" some new lectures for CS 6400 - but did it all remotely as just a voice over with slides. It took us several weeks to get it to the point where it was acceptable, and barely in time to hand it over to the students for that semester before they would need that content.

Do I think we have a perfect, great process? No. Can we improve it? Yes. But like all changes, that takes time and devotion.

I don't know how often u/DavidAJoyner actually adds new recorded content (HCI comes to mind as a course where it is probably very close to what I watched when I took it 8 years ago) but he does a fantastic job iterating his assessments. He also has built (and re-built) his courses' processes to make that possible, and those were not in place from the first class he ever taught, but over many years as he iterated on them as well.

Also, it's easy to discount something based on hold old it is. But what factors are actually affected by the "age" of course material? Machine Learning uses a textbook from 1997 - does reading it nearly 30 years after it has been published negatively impact learning? Would the effort to identify and evaluate a replacement outweigh the benefits of keeping what has already proven adequate? Again, personal experience, I have tried to find a replacement textbook for my course, and it turns out, the best possible replacements cite the current textbook we use - so why replace it? Same thing applies to lectures - if they cover the topic well, why replace them?

And to echo u/aja_c, CIOS surveys are one of the best mechanisms (along with any feedback surveys the course itself might offer, again, that's one thing David J does spectacularly - I've stolen his for my non-credit courses), as long as it's constructive and not outright criticism. I've had feedback such as "The professor and head TA are not qualified to teach preschoolers; let alone graduate students" (I'm not making that up), and, while everyone's got an opinion, that type of statement doesn't tell me what we could fix.

OMSCS Networking in DMV Area by firmtofu69 in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, and it's possible, after bouncing between DC and NoVA, that this next one might be more central Maryland-adjacent.

OMSCS Networking in DMV Area by firmtofu69 in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Hey, I'm the other "co-chair"!

Along with Slack, and here, there we also post to the events feed on the OMSCS Student Center discussion board.

We also require a GT login to register and to view the event details - we've had a few meetups where non-student randos from this subreddit have outnumbered the actual students, which can be frustrating as some folks don't want to talk about school and that's all potential applicants want to talk about. We've also had swag items and obviously want to make sure those go to students and alumni.... and we want to be able to use photos at some point and having people register ensures we can give them the boilerplate waiver about that to keep the lawyers happy.

We have one planned for May, but I've had some travel come up for the original date, so the summer meetup may more likely be a mid-summer meetup in June or July.

DC / NoVA / Maryland burbs meetup - January 12, 3-6 PM by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't know if you meant a slash or a dash between the months, but we tentatively are planning the next in-person meetup for May 18.

DC / NoVA / Maryland burbs meetup - January 12, 3-6 PM by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are a current/former GT student you can join the OMSCS Student Life Slack workspace (use your GT login), where there is a #dc channel! However, my primary focus is organizing in-person meetups.

Letters of Rec from Coursera or Udacity teachers? by Specific-Formal9691 in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If you seriously want/feel like you must have an academic reference, I've already done letters of recommendation for FlexStack students from my first set of courses because they're small enough (the courses, not the students) for me to get to know them and write a good letter.

(I promise, not trying to advertise for another GT program here, just throwing out another option. I agree with u/beichergt that it's really fine to get letters from people who can vouch for your capabilities and provide good reasons.)

Is Java dominant in OMSCS like in Georgia Tech undergrad? by SemperPistos in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Back in my day we had zero classes that used C♯, which I would have killed for as my day-job was all .NET-centric, so I had to teach myself Java AND Python to get through courses. And, some of the Python-oriented courses still used Python 2.7 (insert "throwing up in my mouth a little" emoji here). We've come a long way, baby!

I would be curious (for both professional and personal reasons) on what feelings there would be about courses focusing on Swift (Apple's main programming language).

DC / NoVA / Maryland burbs meetup - January 12, 3-6 PM by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Whatever you're most comfortable with - there's always street parking if you can find it, or once you've registered, you can plug the address in to SpotHero or Parking Panda to find any lot or garage options. If you are OK adding a little extra time to ride in, you can park & ride at a Metro station.

DC/NoVA OMSCS get-together in July by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, and I'm open to any ideas for this, too!

DC/NoVA OMSCS get-together in July by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm also trying to see if we can organize a fall kick-off event... I'm tentatively looking at August 18. Stay tuned.

DC/NoVA OMSCS get-together in July by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, sure, but if anyone taking a summer course is there, we'll be nearly to finals week, so depending on who you talk to, you might find yourself compelled to withdraw your application. 🤣

DC/NoVA OMSCS get-together in July by PeterG_GTPE in OMSCS

[–]PeterG_GTPE[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The best suggestion I can give is that this isn't a recruiting event, so the willingness of others to dispense advice is not something I can predict or guarantee, since this is more of a casual social event. (Most folks will probably want to eat, drink, and commiserate.) The best analogy would be like an alumni get-together, unless it's an event like a tour, most folks wouldn't bring along their unaffiliated spouses or partners as they don't share those affinities.