3.1
Quality2.7
Difficulty34%
Would Retake112
Reviews34%
Would Retake
112
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
25
4
30
3
23
2
14
1
20
What Students Say
“It will be the death of you”
CPSC101 - 1.0 rating“The final was even harder”
CPSC1010 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
66%
Textbook Required
68%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.62 avg changeRatings by Course
120
5.0
(1)CS120
5.0
(1)CPSC291
5.0
(1)CPSC120
4.1
(45)COMPSCI120
4.0
(5)Difficulty by Course
215
5.0
CPSC1020
4.3
CPSC2150
4.0
CPSC1070
3.8
CPSC1010
3.7
Reviews (112)
She is a great teacher and I would recommend her to anyone.
Is specific with notes and clearly tells you what you need for the test.
No Comments
You would have to live under a rock to not know enough about computers to get an A in her class.
hard teacher and boring
class is soo boring and test questions can be confusing. just print out the notes, dont go to class...you'll do the same on the tests. she NEVER gives hw or graded quizzes, and she passes around an attendance sheet but doesnt record it or anything
class is so easy. i had an 89.1 and she didn't make me take the final and gave me an A. class is boring, but you can skip and get an easy A.
I think she got reprimanded by the Department and her Spring 2004 class was ALOT harder than the fall. Be careful b/c she is known to be easy and now she has gotten a lot more difficult!! She could slack up again but it was TOUGH in Spring 2004
Much harder than I expected for sure. You are expected to know more than you think. Tests were difficult but if you study you can do fine.Everyone said it was a breeze but it wasn't this semester
This class in general is easy. She is good teacher. Easy A
The class is extremely boring. Don't go to class, she takes roll but I dont think she actually does anything with it. If you print out the slides, and study the night before you will do fine. I got an A and I barely did anything.
This class is so easy, if you know anything about computers you'll do well, but make sure you still go to class. She doesn't take role so its ok to skip on occasion, but some things she goes over in class are on the test and not on the power points that she posts or in the book. Get her if you can!
This class was boring but really easy. She let us out early all the time and cancelled class occasionally. Take her if you can!
very easy A, very boring class. just study the slides, you'll do fine. she's pretty clear on what you need to know for the tests. extra credit on all tests. class isn't mandatory, so don't go unless you know absolutely nothing about computers. very nice teacher!
Somewhat easy class. She lets you out early and class is cancelled a lot
This is a pretty easy class, especially since there are only 4 tests and no homework. However, I did have to study for her tests. (if you count studying the morning of) I would recommend reading/skimming the chapters in the book in addition to going over the class notes and you should do fine.
Hochrine is an easy teacher...no quizzes, assignments, and attendance does not count. The tests are hard if you don't study or pay attention in class. Very nice lady! I would recommend her!
All the notes were online and attendance was not required. I went to class anyways. Helpful and informitive b/c she always sent emails. Class was canceled often and plus she wants students to babysit. Study for tests and you will have an A!
Harder than most people make it out to be. It should be an A class, but it definately is harder class than it was last year. I think it because she got in trouble for such high grades and an easy curriculm. But you do need to look over the slides, and the book is a little helpful.
very easy - she lets out class early and even cancels it a good bit, and she reads straight from the slides so if you miss class you can catch up by reading them. studying for about an hour or so the night before a test guarantees an A. class is boring, but she's a good, easy teacher!
Get an A and you exempt the final. Her A's go to an 89. Attendance not required but she does say stuff in class that aren't in notes.
don't buy the book or go to the class, both are a waste of time. just look at the powerpoints and the review sheets that are online and you'll be fine. very easy tests and you can exempt the final. i never got below a 100 on her tests and i rarely went to class and never opened the book
easy class, you dont even have to go
Laid back teacher and will help you out, but she was not easy. Definitely the teacher to get for CPSC 120. Good luck!
No Comments
Great teacher!
Extremely easy A. She puts all the lecture notes online, and even though she passes around the attendance sheet every day, she doesn't even look at it. Don't buy the book, you won't use it. She's a great teacher, and she works really hard for her students to get A's. Def the teacher to get for 120.
Not an easy A like comp science should be, but you deffinately can still get an A if you wanted to. You never have to go to class, and dont have to take the final even if you have a B, just as long as you're happy with whatever grade you have. You can take it to make the grade better though.
Great teacher, easy A, no attendance policy
Easy teacher. Tests are not easy! Many questions on the tests are from what she says in class, so go to class most of the time. Not as easy as some people say, but get an A and you are exempt from the exam. Exam is optional for any grade you have.
I can't say much about the lady because I never once showed up for class! The tests are NOT particularly easy, but all the notes are online and a bit of studying coupled with a joke of a lab should be enough to push you into a fairly easy A. Can't go wrong here...
A lot harder than I expected, but the exam was optional and would replace your lowest test grade!!
not too bad
about her teaching i have no idea. easiest class in history if you know anything whatsoever about computers. i didnt attend a single lecture, or study for a test for over 45 mins the night before and i didnt make below a 92 on a test. use online notes
No Comments
very easy! kind of boring! but is very good about attendance so that's a plus!!
Nice teacher, pretty boring class, but if you ever need help, she is nice and tells you what will most likely be on the test. I was getting b's and c's on the test, then after i talked with her after class to get extra info about the test i got a 97%. She also is nice about attendance, so you don't have to worry about coming to every class.
Great teacher! If you go to class and study before the test it's an easy A! She's really sweet and funny and you don't have to go to class if you don't want! She is willing to help you out and do everything she can for you to do well!
Weird class is general. She doesn't make class fun but does her best to help us out with our final grades. Tests are harder than what ppl think but the lab is a joke. Cathy is ok....
I barely went to any of the classes because they weren't mandatory. This hurt my grade as I got mostly C's on the tests by studying her notes. If I went to all the classes I'm sure I could get an easy A. She sends too many emails.
Ok as a person, but BORING. She reads directly from the notes every day in the most monotone voice. Cancels class a lot, which is a plus.
She's a really nice person, but she reads directly from the notes every class, so class can get boring at times. Tests are much harder than you would expect them to be. Once I figured out what was tested on the exams, I was able to make an A for the class. Lab is a JOKE!
def not an easy class! i had to study a lot cuz i am not a computer genious. i got a B and i worked hard. Lab is a waste of time... it is so easy but time just time consuming. Boring class... if ur good w/ computers u'll have no prob at all.
Known as a joke class but tests are harder than expected. Cathy is nice but only reads from the notes every day. If you memorize ALL of the notes, you can make an A on the tests. Class doesn't help much unless she happens to drop a hint about what will be on the test (which she often does). Easy A if willing to cram the night before the test.
nice teacher. boring class and tests are hard, you actually have to study.
SHES NOT TOO BAD, STUDY THE SLIDES THE NIGHT BEFORE AND YOULL DO FINE. EVERY QUIZ IS BASICALLY THE SAME. HELPS WITH YOUR LAPTOP
Extremely easy teacher! Study the slides night before and you'll make an easy A on all the tests! She gives lots of extra credit on each one to help you do better!! Lab is easy, just do it before you go and you'll only have to stay there for 5 minutes at the most! Highly reccommend this class!!
She's really boring and her tests aren't that easy. You have to listen to her lectures and read the book to do well.
The class is a piece of cake. Everyday I just sit on my laptop doing whatever. I look up every once and awhile to make sure the class is still going on. If you know anything about computers her tests are easy, and if not you can easily study for them in no more than an hour or two. She is a very nice lady who makes assignments easy as possible.
This class is a total piece of cake, and she may make it even easier. Class is rather pointless, and the lab that goes with the class is even less pointless. However, it's an easy A if you study the guides before the test. I usually study a lot the night before, and I do well on the tests. Take this class if you're looking for a good GPA boost.
Her tests are pretty easy if you study a bit the night before. She is really unclear on assignments though. Said news articles were extra credit, then I had a 50 for not doing any. Never announced when discussion questions were up, you just had to check her webpage.
Easy class and nice lady. Grade pretty much consists of ~5 quizzes (which are technically tests) that you take 'at home', 3 articles (easy) and your lab grade. Lab is easy but time consuming; do the lab beforehand, email to self, and just show up to turn in. Do NOT try and cheat in lab though by using someone else's, person got caught. Take her!
Very easy class, lab is time consuming but if you do it before hand and turn it in to your TA the day its due it isnt too bad. Professor Hochrine cancels class a lot and the videos and articles she shows you in class will show up on the quizzes you take at the end of the module. Not a bad class at all! Take Her!
the lecture was by far the easiest class of my life. no studying involved whatsoever. she cancels class a lot and you also get three skips. the lab is time consuming but you will make a 100.
good teacher
Great teacher. Enthusiastic. Missed a lot of classes and we ended up taking less quizzes than originally planned. She puts powerpoints up on Blackboard, but you still need to go to class and take notes on her lectures.
TERRIBLE. The only reason she has a good rating is because people who have programmed before found her class easy. If you don't know anything about programming, don't take this class. It will be the death of you. She is so unorganized.
She's very helpful and will walk you through problems you're having. She's very easily reached through her email and is usually very direct as to what she wants you to do, there isn't many surprises.
This class was a joke. I barely went to class and still got an A. She cancels class very often and posts all the powerpoints online with notes that will end up word for word on the exams which are all online. the labs take forever so i suggest finding someone who previously took it. she's a very nice person though.
Extremely helpful, you'll learn a lot and she's always willing to stay after class to help with your programs.
The course felt very scattered at times. I went in thinking it was Intro to Comp Sci, but we discussed things like texting while driving and sexting. These subjects just don't seem necessary for a college curriculum. The tests were supposed to be online, but someone complained of cheating, so we had to take them in class (Thanks, whoever did that).
Good teacher. Class is pointless and the lab does not correspond with the class and you have a TA, but if you at least go to class you will most likely get an A. It is a discussion based class and you have 2 presentations. Easy.
She's an ok teacher. She messes up a lot, and does a lot of trial and error, but she does try. She responds quickly to emails as well. But overall, she doesn't know the course content the best, and her assignments are pretty hard. She tries to explain it, and sometimes does well, but other times the concept is too hard to be explained in her style.
Great person, ok teacher. Reads material from book off of PDF's on the projector. As long as you read the book and do the examples, you'll be fine. She's pretty helpful if you go by her office as well.
She has no ratings for 215 so far in which I am surprised. The midterm and final are 60% of your grade! She is not comfortable teaching Java as she does not know it well. Also, labs are graded on a 1 point scale where the only option is 0, 0.5, or 1. Do labs before hand or you will suffer from lack of time!
Not organized, has no idea what she's talking about, can't answer questions that are outside of her class material, which is in and of itself incomplete and unhelpful.
not very prepared for class, makes a lot of mistakes, cant answer questions. read the book and teach yourself.
she's awesome
doesn't answer emails, talks in monotonous voice so it's hard to stay awake, stumbles through examples in class & teaches in a way that leaves someone without prior programming experience lost. i think she's pretty nice and she tries to ask if anyone has questions but a lot of times i was too lost to even know what to ask her
Ok professor. If you've never coded before, you will have to teach yourself. She reads from PDF files and can be hard to follow. Quizzes are hard, projects are ok. Doesn't teach in a way that's easy for people without coding experience to understand. Read the book! Helps you more than the class!!!
She is hardly ever prepared and makes a lot of mistakes. Most questions she can't answer.
Awful class, unremarkable profressor. Design patterns suck, and formal verification is almost useless. Her attempts at organizing the class don't help. Given how superficial the class is, you'd expect her to be a bit lenient on grading, but you'd be wrong. She expects you to recite her boring powerpoints on the test in exactly her words.
For the first month the class held together, but by the midterm the majority of the class had dropped (myself included). It became evident about a week into the course that the professor didn't understand the topic she was trying to teach us. Add to that incomprehensible grading criteria. I have never dropped a class before, but I do not regret it.
TO BE FAIR, it was her first semester teaching the class in awhile. That said: She was basically useless in lecture--she just read off of slides for the majority of our lectures, and when she did do examples, she tended to get them WRONG the first time. Having her as a teacher made the class harder than it had to be. Don't recommend.
Definitely not a beginner friendly course. Her lectures can get pretty boring and the quizzes she gives out so often are on the most trivial things. If you do not have experience in coding, this class can be pretty tough and you'll most likely have to teach yourself a lot of things.
Her teaching style is unusual, because she is hard and tricky for the beginners. Some notes are not helpful for exams. Unorganized notes are confusing. The assignments and quizzes are hard. She uses the textbook, so some examples may be on quizzes. Make sure to do your worksheets. She is helpful and nice; she quickly responds to emails.
Terrible professor. Monotone and has no idea about the subject she is teaching. ALWAYS gets confused when "teaching" and gets lost in the department's notes (since she doesn't use/make her own). She is incompetent, and does not care about her students. Examples make no sense ever. Another tenured professor that just "teaches" for a paycheck.
Sweet lady. Be sure to ask her EXACTLY what she is looking for in programming assignments. will save you from losing points. Tests are kinda hard but assignments aren't that bad.
Just your average Computer Ethics class. You will have to write a resume and cover letter, give a presentation on a pretty simple topic and do a lot of reading. The entire course is based on "Gift of Fire" as long as you read you can get an easy A! Cathy doesn't really do much, just facilitates the reading. Side note: she's really nice.
Overall, this wasn't a bad Intro to C class. The programming assignments had a clear rubric and were not extremely difficult. The tests, however, were much harder than the "Jeopardy" review she posted and the final was awful. Final exam dropped my A+ to a B. She's nice, though, and wasn't super strict on attendance.
I never do the readings. Honestly, you can get an A by not reading. Just study the quizzes and find a PDF version of the Gift of Fire and look up the answers when you are taking the quizzes. Hochrine is a very lenient grader for presentation.
Her exams are way harder than you would expect, she gives simple reviews with simple answers yet her exams are way harder. The final was even harder. I had a B in there all year until the final which was impossible. She also grades all the projects ridiculously strict, taking off majorly for the slightest errors and even not tabbing entirely right.
For one credit hour you have to work a lot. There is online quizzes whose answers are easy to find online and there is inclass quizzes for which you will have to study for. Also there is presentation which is 20% of your grade and top of all that a FINAL!
Personally, this class really is not that difficult with just the $20 optional textbook, I've learned more from the textbook than anything said in class. She understands what she is doing but is not the best at communicating this to her class. This aside her tests are very easy as well as her projects that make up most of the grade.
Her lectures were so boring, but all the powerpoints are online. The exams are taken straight from the powerpoints, but it's a lot of information to learn and she usually tries to trick you. Some of the projects are really difficult but Cathy and the TA's are really helpful if you go to them.
Disrespectful to students and extremely unaccommodating. Her lectures were basically a reading of unorganized powerpoints with little to no inflection or interest in the material. There was too much C review and a sloppy introduction to actual C++. Labs horribly coordinated. Very little practice and application. Its a hard class with her.
Cathrine KittelStad is just so bad at what she is doing. She does not lecture at all, and she only does poll questions during class. I do not blame her for her poor teaching style because she has no control over it. However, she should make attendance voluntary if she is conscious of herself.
If you can avoid taking her for an intro class, please do. I had never done anything coding related before and this class broke me every week. She teaches like you know the material already and it's just review. Her lectures are monotone and she does nothing but glaze over the slides and sometimes does examples. Prepare to really study to do well.
Teachings are solely power point based and all polling questions like youre supposed to know the material already. I got a 100 in the lab and on all the homework and barely got a B because the test are all trick question based and have nothing to do with the actual material. I would avoid taking this professor at all cost.
Monotone lecturer and unapologetically boring. Expects you to know the material beforehand. Gives little to no homework to reinforce concepts. Doesn't code live examples unlike many professors.
She is not as bad as people say she is. Her lectures can be incredibly boring, but she will help you with office hours if you need help. She posts plenty of resources in the Canvas modules which can be used to help study. Overall, she's not that bad.
Never came to class prepared, only read off PowerPoint slides that sounded like she typed them up this morning. We were expected to study about 9 hours per week for the class per her syllabus yet she gave us almost no actual practice to work on.
I was extremely optimistic about taking proffesor Kittelstad. At first, she seemed like a nice, knowledgeable lady. And well, she is. That being said she is an awful professor. She is awful at explaining things and expects her class to understand everything on their own. I am a great student and I am STRUGGLING to pass her class. Avoid her!
Took Dr. Kittelstad in the Fall of 2022. Her lectures are pretty average, and sometimes she skips over parts, but all of her lecture notes are posted on Canvas, and she is very accessible and willing to answer questions outside of class. She posts clear rubrics for the projects and provides descriptive study guides for the exams.
Overall, I would say Prof. Kittelstad is a decent instructor. If you try your best you should easily pass her course. I didn't do any of the readings, had no prior experience with C, and passed with an A. Her lectures can seem disorganized but if you ask questions she will make clarifications. She is caring and wants you to succeed.
If you care about becoming a programmer. Beware of this professor, her labs and lectures are inconsistent.
Everything except exams is straightforward, labs, homework, etc. Her exams are all over the place but she does curve.
She is very inconsistent when it comes to labs and lectures. The labs she assigns are asynchronous to the lectures, labs are only 10% of your grade, so if you do poorly on exams and PA assignments, you'll have a harder time recovering because there is not enough content to recover with. I would not recommend taking her 1010 course.
I came into this class with a few years of experience with C. The quizzes and exams are mostly trick questions, which really tripped me up despite doing well with labs and paper homework. I would not take this class again. If it's hard for someone who already thoroughly knows the language, I can't imagine how hard it would be for a beginner.
If you're reading the reviews because she's the only prof teaching the class, don't worry!! Start practicing from day 1 and go to office hours. Open notes quizzes, exams have questions similar to quizzes so look over them! Bunch of outside resources available. I had 0 coding experience before, and I'll be passing with an A hopefully.
If you have no prior experience with coding, do not take this class under any circumstance. Most of the kids in the class have been coding for years, and struggle to pass the exams. She is a disorganized teacher who's lectures don't cover any of the exam material. Also, when the class average is a 50 on the exam, she curves it one point.
Please do not take her class, she will squash every bit of interest you had in programming. Her tests are just trick questions and I cannot believe she still has a job as a professor, as the ONLY teacher for an intro course. Her name before marriage was Hochrine so you can go look at that page and see how great her reviews are. DO NOT TAKE.
Worst professor I've ever had. She doesn't care to help students and NEVER shows up to lab. Her tests are ridiculously hard and feel impossible to prepare for. The only saving grace is that the assignments are doable—if you have a good TA to guide you. Would not recommend taking her class if you have other options.
FOR CPSC 2200/2201 Worst professor I've ever had. She doesn't care to help students and NEVER shows up to lab. Her tests are ridiculously hard and feel impossible to prepare for. The only saving grace is that the assignments are doable—if you have a good TA to guide you. Would not recommend taking her class if you have other options.
I took this class with no prior coding experience and Prof. Kittlestad was very kind. Pay attention to lectures, ask questions, watch her recommended youtube videos and look at weekly quizzes to prepare for the exams! Make sure to practice practice practice ur coding skills and you'll be fine.
She is very nice, but the lectures are not very helpful. You have to use your outside sources to be able to understand the class material. The tests are weighted really heavily, and are tough, and there is a time crunch. Overall, she is really nice and does care about your success. Make sure you go to her office hours and participate in class.
Prof. Kittlestad is kind and understanding, but the class is objectively really difficult, especially if you're new to coding. I took it to explore a CPSC minor but it discouraged me. Her teaching style didn't work for me, and the exams are tough with trick/complex questions. Be prepared to study and practice A LOT outside of class.
Rushes through things and doesnt explain anything. Know C before you take this class or else you'll fail (unless you somehow learn in 3 seconds)
I have genuinely never despised a professor in my life. Kittelstad became the first. She talks in circles, the students correct her, she adds questions in the quiz from units we have not learned yet, and reads off her slides, which do not provide enough information. Good luck, soldiers. You need it.
I knew going into this class it was going to be a tough class but her teaching style doesn't help! Reads off of slides that are sometimes right and sometimes just straight up missing information. She also doesn't let you know what is on the quizzes until last minute. Labs have nothing to do with the class itself, and you will fight gradescope.
This did not feel like an intro class. We get stuff that we never learned before, and we're expected to just know it. Her lectures are not helpful, like at all. The first exam average was basically failing. Oh, and she doesn't respond to emails. 0/10 would recommend.
Honestly, this class is easy for me. The quizzes can be challenging at times, but if you understand all the slides she posted, you should do really well. The most important thing is to practice coding on your own. Doing it only for grades will not help you learn or succeed.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
66%
Textbook Required
68%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.62 avg changeRatings by Course
120
5.0
(1)CS120
5.0
(1)CPSC291
5.0
(1)CPSC120
4.1
(45)COMPSCI120
4.0
(5)Difficulty by Course
215
5.0
CPSC1020
4.3
CPSC2150
4.0
CPSC1070
3.8
CPSC1010
3.7