When I began teaching in fall 2009, I had very limited experience. I had worked as a teaching assistant while doing my graduate work, but I had not independently taught a class.
The comments I received on student evaluations in my first years reflected my inexperience. I received comments like:
- “The course could be more structured.”
- “He did not convey concepts effectively, which made homework a nightmare.”
- “It seemed impossible to get an A.”
- “More variety in class.”
- “Be more enthusiastic, especially in a morning class.”
- “The instructor could be a little more prepared in some aspects.”
As a new teacher, my classes were stiff and unexciting. I did not convey my own enthusiasm to my students and so they reacted poorly to course content. I had not yet learned how to structure and pace a course. I tried to respond to these types of comments in following semesters, by changing the style and pacing of my classes and trying to connect more closely with students. I believe that this type of feedback was useful for me, showing me where I had opportunity for improvement.
Although there are still a few students who leave negative feedback in course evaluations, many of the recent comments are similar to these statements:
- “Homer is my favorite teacher he makes the course fun and interesting.He really tries to get us to work together and interact in class because it created a community within the class and in my major. If I have not mentioned Homer is my favorite.”
- “The best teacher I’ve had so far in the SITC department. Wasn’t afraid to be himself and have fun.”
- “The style in which you designed the class works very well. The timing of assignments was good. Lectures were informative and the pace was reasonable. Obviously we wouldn’t have taken this class if we didn’t take an interest in the material to begin with, but the class was also made interesting because of your obvious excitement about the topic. It is much easier to take a class when you know the professor really enjoys what they are teaching, so thank you for taking an interest in this topic as well as our success. Great class.”
- “Definitely one of the best professors I’ve had, really enjoy the classes he teaches and how he teaches them, even though this class is by far one of the hardest I’ve taken.”
All official course evaluation data since Spring 2015 is available here:
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Spring 2018 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Fall 2017 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Summer 2017 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Spring 2017 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Fall 2016 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Spring 2016 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Fall 2015 courses
- Quantitative responses and qualitative responses for Spring 2015 courses
All quantitative evaluation data for semesters in the range Fall 2009 – Fall 2015, until the university started using IDEA-CL, is available here.
In addition to the official student evaluation forms, I have also asked students in many of my courses to complete an optional survey about the course because I find that the official evaluations are not detailed enough in many cases. My surveys prompt students to answer course-specific questions about topics like the amount of homework, the number of exams, etc. My course survey for CS 120 from fall 2013 is available here as a sample. The results of these surveys have helped me to make low-level refinements to my courses over time.