Got an offer for CS with AI and a Year in Industry at York. I was wondering on how the course is (or just CS in general). I've heard that the teaching isn't great and wondered what others thought.
Hi there, just going to post some more detailed information about the teaching in the Department of Computer Science which will hopefully give you a bit more info as to what it's like to study computer science here.
At York the teaching is split into two semesters per academic year. In each semester a student studies 60 credits, which is broken down into three 20 credit modules. For each module a student will have a minimum of 4 face-to-face contact hours per week so at least 12 hours in total as well as additional support such as office hours with the module leaders.
We use a variety of teaching formats including lectures, problem classes, practical sessions in the software or hardware laboratories and smaller seminar or tutorial sessions.
An example that one of our lecturers gives for the delivery of his module is that he begins the week with a lecture outlining the topics to be covered that week, students are then given a chance to feedback on this content with questions and in the second session these questions are explored. Finally there is then a two hour practical lab session where what has been learnt that week is put into practice. Practical sessions are delivered by academic staff in the Department and further supported by graduate teaching assistants.
Between each of these sessions there are materials for students to read and work on independently. Of course the delivery of each module does vary slightly depending on the content of the module which may be more practical or theoretical. Some modules also involve group work which helps to develop the softer skills valued by employers and forms part of our course accreditation requirements as again such skills are valued by industry.
In addition to weekly timetabled teaching each student in Computer Science is provided supervisor who is a member of staff in the Department. Your supervisor is there to help and advise you on all aspects of life at university, including your course, the Department and the University of York.