Griffiths Computer labs

CruelCoin

Hi all.

Business graduate here, looking at studying computer science at Griffith.

My brother went to college there and has some lovely horror stories on the condition of the computer labs.

That was 3 odd years ago, but my question to any current students there is: Has this situation improved at all?

I understand there may be a difference between the public labs and class labs, but the thought of studying computer science with crappy and broken tech is less than appealing.

Any news on this?

Cheers,

CC.

dazberry

I was there in 2010 and again this year and in that time they have replaced all the computers in the labs that I have been in. The downside is that these are all all-in-one PCs, either Dells or dual boot Macs - so I can't plug my laptop into them and work off a larger screen like I did in 2010 - you can't please everyone but otherwise should be a good improvement.

D.

CruelCoin

dazberry wrote: »

I was there in 2010 and again this year and in that time they have replaced all the computers in the labs that I have been in. The downside is that these are all all-in-one PCs, either Dells or dual boot Macs - so I can't plug my laptop into them and work off a larger screen like I did in 2010 - you can't please everyone but otherwise should be a good improvement.

D.

Brilliant.

I know that tech moves on and those computers are likely a littkle sdated now, but glad to head they're in better nick that the stories would have me believe.

Cheers,

CC.

TimotiSt

We installed 100+ new Dell 9010 all-in-ones and MACs in the past 5 months, so I'd even say that they won't be outdated for the next 10-12 months...
This goes for the Dublin campus, not perfectly sure about Cork and Limerick at the moment, but they should be okay too.

Tamas

Brewie

For your own sake do not go to GCD for a computer science course.

Based on my experience there I wouldnt sent my worst enemy there.

I am 100% positive other colleges would provide a better service/education

TimotiSt

Brewie, could you give some specific reasons/experiences?

Brewie

- at least 3 of the 9 different lecturers were poor. Bad at lecturing, bad with feedback, bad with results of ca's
- numerous times the computer labs we used did not have the required program's installed. Often taking 2 or more weeks to be resolved
- head of the dept. would fob you off and not get back to you. The odd occasion he did was with some poor excuses
- course head wasn't much better.

There's a few reasons. The college are more than aware of all the issues my class encountered.
The computer degree was my second time at GCD. First time in a different dept in GCD was excellent.

Ps for clarity's sake, TimotiSt are you an employee or representative for Griffith.

TimotiSt

Sorry, I thought it was on my "about me" page.
Yes, I work in the IT dept of Griffith (not the Computing faculty). Officially I'm not a representative on Boards.ie.

Previous question was more private, as I'm also thinking about getting a degree in computing, and GCD would seem like a handy choice for that.

BULLER

Just finished first year. All the lecturers, including course co-ordinator, have been extremely helpful. The computers for lab sessions are new apple macs with windows 7 installed. Have had no issues and enjoying it more here more than I did in DCU.

Jamie2k9

BULLER wrote: »

Just finished first year. All the lecturers, including course co-ordinator, have been extremely helpful. The computers for lab sessions are new apple macs with windows 7 installed. Have had no issues and enjoying it more here more than I did in DCU.

Hi I am thinking about reapplying to CAO for computing and this collage is relay only in my points range, just wondered what the course is like and how hard is it etc

fl4pj4ck

Brewie wrote: »

- at least 3 of the 9 different lecturers were poor. Bad at lecturing, bad with feedback, bad with results of ca's
- numerous times the computer labs we used did not have the required program's installed. Often taking 2 or more weeks to be resolved
- head of the dept. would fob you off and not get back to you. The odd occasion he did was with some poor excuses
- course head wasn't much better.

There's a few reasons. The college are more than aware of all the issues my class encountered.
.

Pretty much my experience with Griffith in Limerick. Lecturers with no experience, education and absolutely clueless when it comes to lecturing (one of my 7 lecturers had any academic past), which led to subjects that relied on sitting 3 hours lecture and reading from the projector.
Notes uploaded to moodle week or so after the lecture. Assignments boosted with 20% "bonus" marks so nobody would fail the subject, etc.
Head of the department was a guy replacing the original head on maternity leave. Worried only about his job, not helpful at all, shoving problems under the carpet, etc.

I could continue for ages believe me. Or maybe I just sit one day and summarize all the time I spent there...

Shiva Ranabhat

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

Pretty much my experience with Griffith in Limerick. Lecturers with no experience, education and absolutely clueless when it comes to lecturing (one of my 7 lecturers had any academic past), which led to subjects that relied on sitting 3 hours lecture and reading from the projector.
Notes uploaded to moodle week or so after the lecture. Assignments boosted with 20% "bonus" marks so nobody would fail the subject, etc.
Head of the department was a guy replacing the original head on maternity leave. Worried only about his job, not helpful at all, shoving problems under the carpet, etc.

I could continue for ages believe me. Or maybe I just sit one day and summarize all the time I spent there...

Hi,
Its true that some of the lecturers WERE inexperienced, lecturing 3 hours from projector line to line, even though they claimed to be teaching in University of Limerick and other places, but there are some really good lecturers as well.

And its the course where you should be doing all your study at home and have discussions and learning in college. The lecturer is supposed to guide you and solve your problems only. Again the GCL is monitored by GCD and GCD is one of the reputed college in Dublin. The lecture notes, exams and assignments are all monitored by Griffith College Dublin. The college has changed now.
Right now, they are planing on running HONS degree in Limerick with work experience. So, its probably the best course to study.

BTW the department head is back and She is willing to help any students who are in problem. The head of the department guy is also a good lecturer although he seems to escape from the students problems.

CruelCoin

I've been in 9 seperate lectures thus far, and have to say i'm quite happy with it.

Very knowledgeable lecturers, great equipment, etc.

gctest50

dazberry wrote: »

I was there in 2010 and again this year and in that time they have replaced all the computers in the labs that I have been in. The downside is that these are all all-in-one PCs, either Dells or dual boot Macs - so I can't plug my laptop into them and work off a larger screen like I did in 2010 - you can't please everyone but otherwise should be a good improvement.

D.

You might be able to connect your laptop to the network and remote into it - save pulling your work over & back

fl4pj4ck

Shiva Ranabhat wrote: »

Hi,
And its the course where you should be doing all your study at home and have discussions and learning in college.

sorry, but there was no single class that facilitated "discussions" of any kind

The lecturer is supposed to guide you and solve your problems only.

to solve my problems? really?

Again the GCL is monitored by GCD and GCD is one of the reputed college in Dublin.

don't really know what you mean there, if let's say we assume there are 3 very good colleges in Dublin, would GCD be on the list? nope. 5? still nope. 10? 20?

The lecture notes, exams and assignments are all monitored by Griffith College Dublin. The college has changed now.

changed "now"? I didn't graduate 10 years ago, all my thoughts are from this year

Right now, they are planing on running HONS degree in Limerick with work experience. So, its probably the best course to study.

how does that have anything to do with previous posts?


something is telling me you're working for them

BTW the department head is back and She is willing to help any students who are in problem. The head of the department guy is also a good lecturer although he seems to escape from the students problems.

who cares?

TimotiSt

gctest50 wrote: »

You might be able to connect your laptop to the network and remote into it - save pulling your work over & back

(note: I work in the IT Dept of GCD)

Sorry, that's not really supported... Please don't unplug wired connections from the PCs (or at least plug them back after class, lets not make life harder for other students...), and rdesktop from wifi to wired is firewalled.

Dropbox, Skydrive, GDrive, etc. are our friends, and never keep stuff only on your laptop. The hard drive will die, and you can be sure it'll be on assignment week...

Tamas

Shiva Ranabhat

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

sorry, but there was no single class that facilitated "discussions" of any kind

do they used to say, "you're not supposed to talk in class.. etc?" when you start a discussion? or did you even try to have discussions in class among friends and lecturers.

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

don't really know what you mean there, if let's say we assume there are 3 very good colleges in Dublin, would GCD be on the list? nope. 5? still nope. 10? 20?

Yeah GCD is 20th within Ireland. Still higher than LIT and others. But if you compare the private colleges, its in the 3rd. Well it doesn't really matter where you learn, if you know everything that a student in Trinity knows, then you'll get a job. All depends on how much study you do.

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

changed "now"? I didn't graduate 10 years ago, all my thoughts are from this year

"now" i mean after summer holidays, the college moved, and lecturers are changed. As per the assignments now, they take exams each morning in the class.. fairly.. and the score you get is the continuous assessment and the big projects.

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

something is telling me you're working for them

well its same as saying " something is telling me you work for another competitor college"



Again didn't mean to start a conversation, its your decision, your life.. Apologies