Professor: Geman Course format: Lecture	Number of respondents: 17 Total Enrollment: 26
Class Composition: Froshs: 0 Sophs: 1 Jrs: 1 Srs: 6 Concs: 2 Non-Concs: 12 Don't Know: 0

Instructor Average: 1.34 Course Average: 1.45

Want to know more about those wondrous mp3's that are all the rage with kids these days? They are in fact a type of data compression, as "Information Theory" will tell you. This is a course geared towards advanced undergraduate students interested in studying the limits of information transfer and storage. Topics include different types of data compression. A prerequisite for this course would be basic knowledge of probability and statistics, such as Applied Math 165. This implies basic background in calculus as well.

Students had little commentary about the instructor, Professor Geman, but everything they did say was positive. Survey respondents pointed out that he was very organized with his delivery of the lecture material, and gave clear explanations. He gave an outline at the beginning of class each day detailing exactly where he was going to go so students could be prepared ahead of time. Some said he also did a good job with meeting the needs of individual students as well. In all, they decided that he was a good all-around teacher, and no one had any problems with the way that he relayed the material.

There were weekly optional problem sets for the course. However, they were necessary as preparation for the exams. Everyone did them for this reason. There was one three-hour midterm, and a final. The book was considered a bit dense, but still helpful as a reference for the lecture topics.

Reviewers spent an average of four hours per week outside of class working on the material. This fell in line with the expectations of most people. In the end, students felt that the effort was worth it. Some said that Professor Geman helped to make it so. If you have an interest in the material studied (and who doesn't want to learn about mp3's?), then this might be a good course to take.

View AM/0171 in the Brown Online Course Announcement.