What Students Say About the Course
Here’s a sampling of feedback provided anonymously by students in the official departmental end-of-course surveys for the University of Cambridge courses 4B25 (Embedded Systems) and GB3 (RISC-V Processor Design) from which this site evolved.
“Excellent and interesting material that is also challenging.”
“The lecture series featured in this module was really quite fantastic. In particular, the content was interesting and practical, highlighting obscure aspects about the field which one would otherwise require years of experience to unearth. The lecturing style was interactive and stimulating, with the lecturer facilitating and encouraged participation without making the student feel anxious about making an incorrect submission. ”
“Actual real engineering taught in a relevant way with many examples. Interesting content taught in an engaging way.”
“This was one of the most interesting modules. The care that has gone into it is really evident.”
“Very clear and informative lectures, really good handouts. ”
“The lectures are great - coursework is very hard.”
“It has obviously been a pretty hectic year, and thanks to all of you who’ve put in time to make these projects happen considering. I felt that in GB3 Phillip made a great effort at shifting this online. He was very present and available throughout much of the week on Microsoft Teams and he put a lot of time and effort into some greatly presented, and quite meticulous, videos. Phillip is great at answering questions very clearly and from different angles. He obviously puts a lot of thought into his responses which is great. ”
“Quite different to normal lecture style, enthusiastic lecturer”
“Very interesting module; useful knowledge (communication protocols, reading datasheet, memory structure); mini-projects very good idea. Provided mini-project ideas very interesting.”
“Good breadth and depth; concepts explained clearly and to the right level of detail.”
“informative, easy to follow lectures. Phillip is a good lecturer, interactive and at times funny.”
“Never had a lecturer able to get such a conversation or discussion in lectures, was great that people were made comfortable suggesting their intuition even if it was wrong.”
“I liked the question and answer style that allowed a more dynamic lecture.”
“clear fundamental explanations”
“This lecture course has been a refreshing change to the standard Cambridge (UK) approach to teaching. ”
“Lecturer was smart, friendly, funny but above all a good communicator. He put an enormous amount of effort into providing support tools and information for students. Brilliant!”
“Dr Stanley-Marbell makes a real effort to engage with every class member with lots of questions and taking the time to learn everyone’s names. This results in all class members being more actively involved with the lectures and made to think about the problems being posed as you cannot rely on not being asked. I also enjoyed Dr Stanley-Marbell’s enthusiasm about the subject material and how the relevance of it was explained.”
“Good pace and a really interesting mix of topics. I like how lectures give a high level overview which you can then read more about in the notes. The class also felt much more interactive due to questions and answers which was nice.”
“Lectures were very clear and actually taught a lot of useful things.”
“Very well presented, the best of any module Ive taken”
“The lecturer used a few different presentation techniques and I believe this really helped to maintain focus better (it’s normal for minds to wonder, but this was interesting enough to be more engaged)”
“They covered interesting topics and gave a good practical grounding in embedded system design. I thought the course- works were well designed and gave you an understanding of what was actually happening in the system (something all too rare in other modules coursework!)”
“The handouts were every well written and detailed, and explained concepts clearly. The lecturer is very knowledgeable and his presentation style is clear and easy to follow. I particularly liked the way he derived equations in his lectures, writing on the transparent board. Much easier to follow mathematical derivations when the lecturer is writing and explaining as they go.”
“Interactivity, clearly and concise information, worked examples”
“Well presented and professional prerecorded videos. I liked how we could submit questions / muddiest points through the survey anonymously.”
