Teaching Evaluations
(For Professor William Sethares)

Here are all the student comments from ECE436 in Fall 2002


A very practical way of receiver design.

This course has been a pleasant change from the way I was learning communication. The stress on practicality through the course is very important and useful as well. The approach of the instructor towards the subject has certainly helped me in improving my knowledge and performance on the subject.

I have really enjoyed how communication systems worked beyond just a basic understanding. He (prof) is very excited about the class and gives real life examples that aid in my understanding of this class.

I have learned a whole hell of a lot about communications and matlab. Helped by being a laid back instructor that facilitates an open classroom environment.

I feel I have a basic understanding of communicaiton systems. I think this course was a good stepping stone. Prof Sethares is very animated and enthusiastic teachedr. I appreciate this very much. There were times, however, that I wa lost in lecture due to not following the prof thought process or not being able to understand what was written on the board.

The material covered in the course has been extremely beneficial to my overall education. The focus on a definite design goal kept the course i perspective.

Yes, communication theory as well as prcatical communications are clearer to me now. Your lectures were great. They stimulated my interest because math was not the central focus, concepts and understanding were as well. I think you did an excellent job. Keep fighting the power of *just* math in communications.

Perhaps blackboard writing could be more legible.

Very useful for communication system knowledge. Very unstructured, always willing to help. Excellent course with excellent instructor.

Excellent course material, the textbook is very good. I learned a lot.

I have learned a lot in this course, about communications in general and how things are done in the real world. Prof likes to go off on tangents a lot, can distract from main idea, but also gives insight to many similar ideas.

Useful. Very good in general. Should write larger printing.

Gave me a working knowledge of communications systems which was great. Helped by offering help for walk-in hours. It would have been immensely helpful if you had taken 5 minutes each lecture to walk us through the matlab code. It was a good classroom experience.

The course has given me a totally new insight into what communication system details involve. His attention to key points of the system has made me appreciate the work involved in designing a system.

The course has taught me Matlab and also how receivers are built. Since the instructor wrote the book, he knows everything about it and cen tell you exactly where to find the answer. I once emailed the professor at midnight on a friday night and had a response within 10 minutes. Thanks a lot!

The course created interest and clearly explained complicated concepts. It is very educational and instructive. He explains things well and from many different angles if need be. Poses and answers questions well to keep class interesting. Highly recommend the instructor of this class.

I really liked the practical structure of the course. Always having a well defined goal made it easy to see how all the pieces we learned throughout the semester would fit into the big picture.

Use of matlab is great. It allows you to see results without building actual receivers and transmitters.

The book was very well written and extremely helpful (not to mention inexpensive in comparison to similar books). The amount of material, difficulty, and pace are all very good. Would recommend this course to any electrical engineer.

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