Lytle, Charles  

Class is boring... his labs are extremely easy.. their is no way you can get anything lower than a B on each lab... Concepts are extremely easy since it is from the other programming classes, and what you have to do is extrememly basic.. the test are alright... Not too hard... but not too easy... You will have to read your book before you take it... The test are open book and open notes.... but you should read first... it will help you out greatly...

Lytle keeps it simple, and although he isn't the most exciting lecturer, he does get the job done. Although he didn't answer my e-mail...he was always available during office hours and seemed more than willing to help. I'd take Lytle again if a class with him fit my schedule, but otherwise I'd probably pass up the opportunity.

Lytle is a imposing teacher, but he really knows his stuff. I was a little scared by the way he presented himself during lecture, but he was very approchable both in and out of class, and was very fair at grading assignments. I would take him again without hesitation.

He is very laid back and mostly monotone with lectures. He basically gives you a perfect score on labs if they are completed. He never asked for homework nor assigned problems. Not very many did good on the midterm but he did adjust grades. He gave out homework before the final, in preparation. I actually learned most of the class by doing those problems. The final was much more straightforward. His does let you use anything you want during the two tests. He tended to leave class early and/or not even show up to lab. His nature is quite funny and you should be fine taking him, just ask for some review problems before the tests.

Finally a good 215 teacher. Very dry in lecture but gets the point across. Don't get behind in the beginning or you'd have troubles. Knows his stuff very well. I think we had 4 labs - the first two were okay, the last two were fairly difficult. Midterm and final, open books and notes. He realizes that when you write programs you have references and respects that on finals. I had taken Boche the quarter before (and actually passed) but didn't understand anything. Lytle cleared all that up. Would gladly take him for 315 or another course. Don't take Boche or even worse, Su or whatever his name is. No surprises with Lytle.

Prof. Lytle is a nice, easy-going guy. He can laugh at himself (and often with himself when he makes kinda lame dry-wit jokes), which makes him human despite his inhuman knowledge of computer architecture. This man knows computer hardware. It's scary. Unfortunately, I did not think he related the knowledge to his students that well. He shows overheads of diagrams taken from the textbook, and then drones on about what each diagram represents, rarely taking a breath. If he talks about a subject for which there are no overheads (e.g. importance of testing, RISC/CISC architecture), take notes. Otherwise, don't bother - he'll go too fast to keep up with. Just try to get the general feel of what he is talking about. The textbook is too large to read, but do the homework anyway - it helps for the exams. Also, the lab is not too difficult if you KEEP UP WITH IT. In fact, it can be pretty fun. But the minute your group decides, "Oh, this is easy...we'll do this the day before it's due in a half-hour, no sweat," YOU ARE TOAST. There is a LOT of testing involved. One last thing...Lytle grades kinda easy. I deserved a C on the midterm, but I got a low A. In the end, I'm not sure I learned much, but I got a decent grade. Decide for yourself.

I had Lytle for CPE 315 and 316. He completely embodies the Cal Poly learn by doing mantra. He is fresh out of the industry and brings a lot of experience to us from what's "out there." He is very effective lecturer for a few reasons: --He draws very readable diagrams to describe what happens inside a CPU. --He speaks like a real person. --You can usually just shout out a question and he'll answer it quickely. --He knows his shit. His labs go something like this: You get an assignment, and you teach yourself how to do it. It's never a really tough assignment, and you never have to be ashamed if you don't know where to start. He answers your questions and doesn't punish you if you have fallin behind and ask some elementary question--unlike some other profs. In 315 we had about 2 homework assignments. Tests were open book. 316 was the same except no homework. Actually, 316 really had no lecture--everyday we just worked on the lab (which takes the whole quarter; you build a computer from scratch). Take Lytle. He's awsome.

Lytle lectured for this class pretty well. It was clear that he has had experience in the field using microcontrollers and the class felt like he knew what he was talking about (compared to Tucker, who pretty much reads technical specification documents for lectures). His tests were fair and pretty much asked you to turn technical jargon into basic english. The labs are 80% of your grade and he doesn't grade the reports harshly. I'd definitely suggest taking Lytle for 336 and 316 (the classes are similar).

Lytle is a very straight forward and organized professor. He will tell you exactly what to expect. Also, his labs are worth a huge percentage of your grade, so you don't have to stress about the tests. Lytle respects his students, and is the most fair professor I've taken at Cal Poly.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.