MSTU named after Bauman, Computer Systems and Networks

    I bring to your attention a note about the Department of "Computer Systems and Networks" (IU6) MSTU. Bauman, which I graduated three years ago. He commented on the main subjects and the educational process as a whole. He told something that is not spoken about in the selection committee. There is no doubt that in Baumanka there are very strong teachers who keep up with the times, whose lectures are really interesting. But, unfortunately, for the department of IU6 this is a rarity ...


    Common subjects


    The fundamental base (mathematics, physics, theoretical foundations of electrical engineering, etc.) is given in full. It depends on the teacher, but in general, fundamental sciences are given at a high level.
    Two semesters of drawing. I agree that the future engineer should have a basic understanding of engineering graphics, but two semesters is too much.
    Basics of instrument design. Here, the device means a combination of gears and shafts. Forced to do homework on the calculations of these shafts. It has nothing to do with electronics and the specialty. It is not clear how this subject generally got into the program.
    It is very pleasing that there is no compromising materials, materials science and other subjects that are not necessary for IT-technician (at MSTU, compromising materials are taught in 90% of specialties).
    I don’t say anything about general humanitarian subjects, because the term “University” implies their study.

    Special items


    Algorithmic programming languages

    Two semesters.
    The first semester is Pascal. I liked everything: structured and understandable.
    Second semester - C. The teacher interfered with c and c ++ in one heap, talking about loops, functions, classes, virtual methods. The fact that there is a difference between the two languages, nothing was said. Testing knowledge is weak: the most difficult thing to do in the exam was to write a class A declaration code with two numeric fields, from which class B inherits with one additional field.
    I consider it a big mistake to teach the basics of programming and talk about classes, but to say nothing about the basic principles of OOP and design patterns. Other subjects that could give at least the foundation of OOP and a programming culture are not provided in the curriculum.
    There is not even the slightest hint of studying classical algorithms and data structures (lists, trees, etc.) in the curriculum.

    System Programming

    Learning x86 assembler is a very useful course, as gives an idea of ​​what is hidden behind each line of c / pascal code.

    Computer graphics

    The teacher gives each drawing a flat figure (a machine part in a section, for example) with dimensions. You need to write a script for AutoCAD on AutoLisp, which will draw this figure.
    For comparison: in the second year of VMK Moscow State University, students were then asked to write pattern recognition and rendering various scenes in direct ++ / openGL in C ++.

    Peripherals

    1) LABA: tape drive, write a few bytes of information, read these bytes, look at the signal from the magnetic head with a barely living oscilloscope, on which nothing is visible, draw the waveform in the report and "draw conclusions" - the final point that should be in any lab in every subject.
    2) at lectures, read fragments from last year’s selected student essays dictated, convinced us that we need to write down every word, because “British scientists have proven that with this approach it is better to remember”
    3) abstract. The content is almost not checked, the necessary and sufficient requirements: the presence of the title page, table of contents and list of references.

    Information Security

    1) 15 lectures at which the teacher gave dictations of excerpts from the legislation of the Russian Federation on the subject of commercial secrets, the creation of malware and other water, which is once searched in Google. There was not a word about the security and encryption algorithms.
    2) Laba. Choose an algorithm and write an encryption and decryption utility. The similarity of programs among students and the correctness of the work was not tested. Only paper was translated by printing reports with program texts.

    Scientific organization of engineering work

    Half of the lectures are guest reading under dictation and a regular reminder of how important it is to follow them. He especially killed the seminar, at which the teacher dictated for an hour and a half and showed examples of how to draw up a “list of used information sources” at the end of the course or homework.

    Computer design

    1) Lectures were held at a wild pace, complex drawings and formulas were drawn in half-boards about water cooling, calculation of loads, etc. ... The teacher spoke at 200 words per minute. Writing everything down is unrealistic, and sorting out the scraps is even more difficult. The list of recommended literature, in my opinion, was too large to have time to master it for the exam for 1 semester.
    2) Exam. You write the answer to the ticket, go to the teacher, he reads it in silence, then takes the grade and marks it. If the student understands what he wrote, but because of carelessness in the formula, missed the letter, then this is not important for the teacher - minus the point. On the top five you need to almost literally reproduce the lecture material. Fortunately, the bachelor program in this subject was offset. The exam was taken only by engineers. In my opinion, among those who did not cheat, everyone got a triple or lower. The only five in the stream received a notorious dvoechik: because the content of the spurs on this ticket was ideal.

    Operating Systems

    1) The lectures are quite interesting, mainly from the book of Tanenbaum.
    2) Labs were associated with Win98, for example: configuring automatic installation of the system or studying the boot log (it was 2004).

    Electronics

    Fundamentals of semiconductor technology. How transistors, amplifiers, generators, etc. work. Earlier this course was three semesters, then the plan changed and the course became one semester. But the teacher did not reduce the amount of material, sent students to books. Questions for the exam, if memory serves, there were about two hundred. Even if you spend all your free time during the semester, you can still not have time to master.

    Circuitry

    The intermediate link between the transistor and the arithmetic-logic device. The material is read very accessible and understandable. By the way: electronics, circuitry and the basics of building computers are read by three different teachers.

    The basics of building a computer

    1) 30 years ago, in almost all blocks delay lines were used that have not been applied anywhere for a long time
    2) the exam requires a word for word, and the drawings should be isomorphic: if you came up with an “adder” better than what was said in the lecture - you get a deuce because “I haven’t told such a thing, you don’t know what an adder is !!!”
    3) a person who was developing firmware for large FPGAs went to this teacher to retake the exam several times.
    4) LABA: the task is given to write a program for the MK51 microcontroller, for example, calculating a * a + 3 * a + 5. It is carried out on the oldest stands, the program is driven into the microcontroller using hex codes. Those. it is required not only to write a program, but to translate it according to the table from assembler into command codes and enter it into the memory character by character. One mistake by negligence - nothing will work and everything needs to be done again.

    Microprocessor systems

    The material about microcontrollers is structured and understandable. Everyone’s course projects are different, they change almost every year, and they have a connection with reality. Labs, our stream passed on obsolete stands, but I heard that new generations passed these labs on freshly purchased design kit with AVR microcontrollers, which is much more interesting and pleasant.

    Parallel computing systems

    The idea is good to read such a course, but the implementation failed. It seemed that the lecturer who read this course did not understand the subject. I read it according to a manual written by another person, I was constantly mistaken. Material connectivity was weak. Students who were interested, sorted out themselves and corrected the teacher during the lecture. Assessment on the exam consisted of personal sympathy and attendance. There were people who were preparing for the exam, answered with dignity, and the teacher put three, saying: “You are not saying correctly, everything is really wrong!”

    Local and Global Networks

    Here it was necessary to sign on a visit sheet at lectures.
    Those who skipped half of the lectures, but all learned, passed this exam very hard. Even with the correct answer, the teacher shouted “no, wrong”, and when asked to explain why, he continued, “you don’t know anything at all, I won’t talk about this subject.”
    With those who visited, the matter was different. A real conversation between a teacher and a student who attended all lectures:
    P: what is the speed of Fast Ethernet?
    S: yyyy ... I don’t know
    P: what is the speed of Gigabit Ethernet?
    S: yyyy ... gigabit
    P: well done ... let's record, five

    Corporate Networks

    One of the few subjects where relevant material is taught. The volume is large, but this knowledge can really be useful to everyone. It was very useful to me when I set up a home network of 4 nodes, some of which were to go through a VPN with a British address.
    The exam has questions about how to configure various services (DHCP, DNS, Active Directory, etc.), and about the general principles of building corporate networks. You need to answer in writing and in detail, describing each step of the setting. Labs are interesting, you need to configure network services between several virtual machines.

    Digital signal processing

    Very interesting course. The lecturer runs a department that deals with very interesting things and high-performance systems based on DSP.
    Laboratory work takes place on modern design kit-s from Texas Instruments.

    State Examination of Bachelors


    Writing. Three subjects (operating systems, local area networks and circuitry). Tickets almost exactly repeated what was previously exams in these subjects (i.e., the amount of material in each subject has not decreased - in fact, three exams in one day). Tickets were issued in 10 days. Only two people (one of them I) decided to pass this exam without cheating. In one subject (network) I was given 3 points, because I wrote the answer in my own words, omitting things that are obvious to me. The appeal put everything in its place, but there was an unpleasant aftertaste. Those who found the correct answer in their spurs got fives.
    I wonder what the teachers expected from the students when they inform them of the triple exam in 10 days? What will they all take and learn, especially when they need to defend their diploma in two weeks?

    About the educational process as a whole


    - the teachers say “we teach you to learn, to acquire knowledge on your own”, although a significant part of the exams comes down to the fact that you need to literally reproduce the lecture material. If told in other words - you can get three.
    - it’s better to get a deuce, because the dean’s permission to retrieve the troika and four is only possible in exceptional cases: if in the last year you can see that a person could have a red diploma, but one triple gets in the way.
    - If you do your homework in good faith, it takes an insane amount of time, and there is almost no time left to study something interesting. Most of the proposed assignments and students do not learn much, except to go to the teacher several times and stand in line to show a draft.
    - as a rule, when passing the students and homework the teacher is most interested in the design, title page and the exact observance of the guests in the text, formulas and drawings. The guest on the design of text documents has changed three times over the past 20 years. Not every teacher followed the new guests, so often had to discuss with them on this topic, sometimes it was easier to do according to the old guests.
    - Teachers are very slanting, some even with hatred, look at working students, especially if they could not attend any of his lectures or make a course in time.
    - On many subjects, the students present sign on visit sheets. Those who have omissions in the paper (each lecturer has different, but on average three or more), the teacher deliberately knocks on the exam, even if a person independently has mastered two thick books and answers correctly.
    - most of the exams do not ask additional questions, a well-written answer to the ticket question is most likely 4 or 5. In other words, if the subject was not taught, but copied well and made a smart appearance in front of the teacher, you will get a good grade. Of the exceptions (where additional questions could drastically change the assessment) I remember only matan and the theoretical foundations of electrical engineering. I mean, the test of knowledge here, in my opinion, is weak. One of the teachers of our department says "I used to ask additional questions, but then I stopped, so as not to be upset once again."

    Curiosities in the dean's office


    - a classmate went on a two-year internship to France, after returning he had to finish his last year. When he returns from France, and comes to study in September, he will be surprised: according to the papers, two years ago, he left for the academy and did not return from it. Someone mixed up something in the dean’s office, working with pieces of paper. In the end, he managed to recover, but at the cost of an inconceivable number of nerves: running with a heap of pieces of paper from office to office and proving that it was not a camel, but the aunts were very nervous because they were torn from solitaire.
    - one student had a three in the first year, in the fourth he decided to retake it to get a red bachelor's diploma. Retook. He was given a diploma with red crusts, but with a triple in the insert.
    - another was told in the middle of the third year that they would not be allowed to attend the session, because he had allegedly still not passed the exam for the first year - just some piece of paper was lost.
    - I understand that people are not iron and no one in the dean’s office is safe from mistakes, but in my opinion, there were too many of them during our studies.

    Afterword


    In general, the article talks about the problems and disadvantages of the department of IU6, which, in my opinion, are much greater than the advantages.
    By no means do I want to offend Baumanka as a whole.
    Firstly, from conversations with students of the IU5 department, their curriculum seemed to me much more IT-friendly, in addition, there is only one semester of drawing, the course of calculating shafts and gears is thrown out and the guests do not read at lectures.
    Secondly, I have not the slightest doubt that engineering specialties are taught much better here than IT.
    If before entering I knew the truth about my department, I would not go there.
    But it all depends on the person: someone can independently learn programming by studying at the dairy technical school, and someone will not be able to take anything from what was given to him at Moscow State University.
    No institution will provide a complete set of skills for good work, this is impossible: in any case, you will have to retrain.
    I am not opposed to obsolete subjects, which are the basics, but I am convinced that the university should encourage the student’s desire to gain new knowledge and experience while working while studying, and not put obstacles in punishing for missing lectures with a bad grade.

    Also popular now: