Final Course and Instructor Evaluations CHEM-342 - Introduction to Biochemistry - Spring 2011 Instructor: Harold B. White, III The following are the responses of all 34 registered students to the University of Delaware’s on-line course evaluations conducted during the last week of classes. Question Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree Total (34) Mean Std. Dev 1 2 3 4 5 The course was well organized. 0 0 0 13 20 33 4.61 0.50 The course textbook was very useful. 0 0 16 7 8 31 3.71 0.86 The course examinations emphasized understanding of the material. 0 0 1 8 24 33 4.70 0.53 The course emphasized understanding of the material rather than memorization. 0 0 0 6 27 33 4.82 0.39 The process-oriented guided inquiry (POGIL) activities (e.g. several examples given) should be used in future offerings of the course. 0 0 0 10 23 33 4.70 0.47 I preferred my group’s first tutor to the one we had after Spring Break. 2 7 14 5 5 33 3.12 1.11 I think m group functioned better after Spring Break than before. 2 5 15 6 5 33 3.21 1.08 Overall, I learned a great deal in this course, including factual knowledge, principles of behavior, or skills. 0 0 0 12 21 33 4.64 0.49 It would be a good idea to form new groups after midterm. 8 11 5 7 2 33 2.52 1.25 Peer evaluation of student performance within groups was a worthwhile activity 0 1 10 16 6 33 3.82 0.77 My group would have done fine without a tutor-facilitator. 9 20 4 0 0 33 1.85 0.62 I think examinations in CHEM-342 should focus more on factual information and less on problem solving. 1 18 12 1 1 33 2.48 0.76 The assignments I turned in were graded and returned promptly. 0 0 0 0 33 33 5.00 0 A considerable amount of the material in CHEM-342 reviewed material I had studied in other courses. 3 6 5 15 4 33 3.33 1.19 It was a bad idea to change tutor-facilitators after Spring Break. 5 9 13 5 1 33 2.64 1.03 My jigsaw group's concept map reflected mostly the efforts of one or two group members. 5 18 2 3 5 33 2.55 1.30CHEM-342 Final Course and Instructor Evaluations - Spring 2011 2 Question Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree Strongly Agree Total (25) Mean Std. Dev 1 2 3 4 5 I think grades in CHEM-342 should be based solely on individual performance. 2 21 5 4 1 33 2.42 0.90 I talked about subjects and issues arising in this course with people not enrolled in the course. 0 1 17 11 4 33 3.55 0.75 I feel that I can apply the general principles I learned in CHEM-342 to problems in other courses. 0 0 2 18 12 32 4.31 0.59 I found the hemoglobinopathy assignment worthwhile. 0 3 2 17 11 33 4.09 0.88 As a result of this class my ability to find, read, and analyze information has improved. 0 0 4 14 15 33 4.33 0.69 I feel confident that I can read and understand research articles. 0 0 2 16 15 33 4.39 0.61 I am comfortable working in groups. 0 0 2 18 13 33 4.33 0.60 I feel comfortable sharing information. 0 1 0 17 15 33 4.39 0.66 I feel comfortable asking help from others. 0 4 3 15 11 33 4.00 0.97 I feel comfortable in relying on information obtained from others. 0 3 9 17 4 33 3.67 0.82 Given the opportunity, I would like to take another class designed like this one. 0 2 9 17 4 33 3.91 0.95 Discussion of the mystery molecules helped me make connections to things I had learned in other chemistry courses. 0 1 7 21 4 33 3.85 0.67 I found the course web-site to be a useful resource. 0 0 1 18 14 33 4.39 0.56 I found the quotations on the board thought provoking. 0 0 8 15 10 33 4.06 0.75 I enjoyed working in the jigsaw group for one week. 2 7 4 10 10 33 3.58 1.30 My group made use of the classroom library 1 10 6 14 2 33 3.18 1.04 I found the scratch-off group-quiz format a useful learning activity. 1 0 2 17 13 33 4.24 0.83 Having a group outing at the beginning of the course helped my group to work well together. 0 3 10 17 3 33 3.61 0.79CHEM-342 Final Course and Instructor Evaluations - Spring 2011 3 Question Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Good Very Good Excellent Total (25) Mean Std. Dev 1 2 3 4 5 Overall, I would rate this class: 0 0 1 13 19 33 4.55 0.56 Question 1 - 0 3 - 2 5 - 4 7 - 6 8 or more Total (34) On the average, the number of hours per week I spend working on this course outside of class is: 0 4 10 10 9 33 Essay Responses for CHEM-342 Comment on the course. Responses (25 of 34) - I love the PBL style. In my opinion it is a much more effective style of teaching than lecture. My father teaches people getting their Master's degree in education how to be effective teachers and is ecstatic with the fact that I finally had a course where I wasn't just lectured at the entire time. It required a lot of work every night but I enjoyed doing the research and didn't want to let my group down. I wish more chem courses were this style. - course was very interesting, and taught in a well structure way. - Good course, didn't overload with work but still had a little to do for every class. - I enjoyed taking this course a lot. It really teaches you how to think about what you read, ask questions, and make sure you thoroughly understand the material. - Coming into the course, I thought I was going to hate problem based learning, because of the constant work required to keep up in the class rather than being able to pace myself through each exam. This requirement completely changed my study habits in all my classes, as I used to procrastinate until the last few days to learn a month’s worth of material and then forget it right about the exam. Now, I'm ahead in all my classes and often find myself with nothing to do the night before an exam, instead of staying up all night cramming. - It is well designed to force us to think and explore to find the answers, rather than us just being given everything we need to know. - This course is different from courses I have taken in the past. The freedom that the student are given is both beneficial and detrimental. Overall it was an interesting experience. - The course requires a lot of work. It can be frustrating at times to spend hours researching things but it is worth it in the long run. This course brought together all my prerequisite math and science courses and made me see and understand the relevance. - The …