Feedback from GRDSCH 630 Students, Winter 2001

At the end of the quarter we asked students for their feedback on the course. Students provided numerical student ratings and also responded to open-ended feedback questions.

• Numerical Ratings
• Open-ended Feedback Questions
• Who takes this class?
• Feedback from Other Quarters

Numerical Student Ratings

We asked students to rate, on a scale of zero (strongly disagree) to five (strongly agree), whether the course helped them in five specific areas. We also asked them to rate the value of the course as a whole. Here are students' ratings of the course in those areas:

How to more effectively help students learn

How to respond to the diverse backgrounds, interests, and abilities of students

Relevant resources for improving teaching and learning

What to do next to continue developing as a teacher

How to represent my teaching as a form of scholarly work

Open-ended Feedback

We also asked students a series of open-ended feedback questions. Here are examples of students' answers, and our responses to their feedback:

Question 1: What parts of the class should we keep?

Response to feedback from Question 1

 

Question 2: What parts of the class should we change?

Response to feedback from Question 2

 

Question 3: Other comments

Response to students' other comments

Question 1: What parts of the class should we keep?

The projects were great, and well-integrated. They built up slowly toward the portfolio, which is a really cool thing to have a first draft of at this early stage!

The focus on assessing student learning was extremely useful.

The assignments were very helpful -- writing, philosophy, project, annotation; discussing our assignments was helpful, and seeing other people's projects was great -- maybe the most helpful aspect; like work, it was very helpful to talk with an instructor about my project.

I think the electronic feedback is a great way of expanding the limited class time and elaborating on the issues beyond the class.

Emphasize practice; appreciate disciplinary differences in relation to teaching and learning.

Writing assignments at the end of class; class discussion (guided).

Response to feedback from Question 1:

We're pleased that the projects, class activities, and interactions seemed to work well together and were useful to the students in the course. We plan to repeat these features in Winter 2002.

Question 2: What parts of the class should we change?

I'm still not overly sure of how to respond to diversity issues, but that may just be the nature of the topic. Also, perhaps you could include some more practical aspects like how to deal with problem students, for example.

I think the syllabus development section was weak. I wouldn't have wanted to spend more time on it and less on something else, so maybe just leave it out.

I would have preferred slightly less "small group" discussion and slightly more "full group" discussion. I liked when we talked in small groups first, but then came back as one full group to see what other groups learned. Otherwise, I felt as if I might be missing out on another group's insight.

More concrete examples of lesson plans, strategies for being an effective teaching assistant.

More examples of portfolios would be very helpful. It's hard to know how to present things if you've never seen examples.

More class discussion (as opposed to small groups)

Response to feedback from Question 2:

We appreciate students' constructive feedback on the course. We are trying to find more ways to balance and integrate discussion of teaching skills (such as syllabus development and classroom strategies) in relation to broader issues of teaching and learning in higher education, and it remains a challenge to know what to prioritize in a single quarter. One thing we will be sure to incorporate again this year is midterm student feedback, so that we can use information from the students in the course so that we can develop the course as we go in response to students' perceptions of what's helping them learn.

Question 3: Other comments about the class

Thank you!

Overall, I feel I have a lot to think in preparing for the next time I teach and this is a GOOD THING

Thanks for your feedback throughout the course!

Great model of team teaching -- it can be tricky, but seemed rather seamless for you two!

None. Thanks for all the effort you put into the course. It was an awesome and door-opening experience.

The class was great overall! One thing I would have liked, though, is to have more opportunities to "troubleshoot" challenges we face as instructors or TAs.

This course helped me prepare for my own course from instructional points of view.

Response to students' other comments:

It has been a pleasure for us to work with students who are interested, highly motivated, and willing to put so much effort into developing themselves as teaching scholars.

Departments represented in the course, Winter 2001

Here is a list of departments represented in GRDSCH 630 during Winter 2001:

• Anthropology
• Art History
• Chemisty
• Communications
• Economics
• Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
• Environmental Studies
• History
• International Studies
• Microbiology
• Nursing
• Oceanography
• Pathology
• Physics
• Speech Communication
• Sociology
• Urban Design and Planning
• Women Studies
• Zoology

206.543.6588 (phone)
206.685.1213 (fax)
email: cidr@u.washington.edu
web: http://depts.washington.edu/cidrweb/