Professor: Bisshopp Course format: Lecture Number of respondents: 9 Total Enrollment: 18 Class Composition: Froshs: 9 Sophs: 1 Jrs: 4 Srs: 4 Concs: 4 Non-Concs: 3 Don't Know: 2

Instructor Average: 2.57 Course Average: 2.26

"Introduction to Modeling" can be described as an introduction to applied mathematics, as well as an introduction to the use of MATLAB to model mathematical problems. Although there are no formal prerequisites to this course, an understanding of linear algebra, partial differentiation, and programming is helpful.

Althought the lectures were often too advanced for the students in the class, Professor Bisshopp was very approachable and, in general, students found the conferences in office hours to be fantastic. Unless these office hours were taken advantage of, though, students thought the professor"s feedback was inadequate until the major assignments were due.

The assignments consisted of four 8-10 page papers, and no exams. Therefore, work was minimal until the time surrounding the papers. Students soon discovered that it was almost essential to attend office hours in order to obtain the pertinant information to complete them. However, the consensus was that this was an easy class, requiring an average of 4 hours a week outside class.

Students were generally conclusive in stating that this class would have been more appropriate as a computer programming class, because the majority of the work was devoted to MATLAB. Many respondants said fulfilling concentration requirements was their primary reason for taking the class.

"Introduction to Modeling" can be summarized as a course about MATLAB, with an approachable professor and difficult lectures. If you enjoy learning on your own, this could be a class for you.

View AM/0010 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.