Final Course Evaluations for CHEM-342, Introduction to Biochemistry, Spring 2005 Essay Responses for Instructor: WHITE, HAROLD B. Question: Comment on the instructor. A. Dr. White has a very innovative way of teaching. It promotes creativity which is greatly appreciated as a rarity in the sciences. B. Dr. White is a great teacher. He is helpful in office hours and is really interested in making you learn. C. Dr. White doesn't really do much instructing in Chem 342, most of the learning is left up to the individuals in each group, however this is the method of teaching he is trying to employ. D. Dr. White is extremely helpful outside and inside of class. He is a great teacher. E. Dr. White is a phenomenal professor. I thoroughly enjoyed this class and the way that it was taught. F. Dr. White was very helpful in both explaining important concepts, as well as leading us to find answers for ourselves. G. He seemed like he was very knowledgeable in the subject matter, but it was frustrating that he made us work more in groups instead of actually teaching. H. Dr. White makes learning very fun. I always enjoyed talking to him about anything. He is a great professor!!!! I. Prof. White possesses a wealth of knowledge and the understanding of how to apply that knowledge. I feel that the opportunity to assimilate and apply information is the greatest benefit that CHEM342 allows for. J. Prof. White is a very knowledgeable person especially in science. He tries to make you understand the subject matter but it is not always conveyed. I think a little more direction from him would help the learning and understanding better. K. I like the way PBL works. I feel as though I learn more than a regular lecture class. Dr. White tried to bring in as many visual things as possible. That was something I liked since I'm a visual person. L. He made the class interesting, however i do not like PBL, so i wouldnt recommend taking the course--Prof. White is a very good professor though. M. Dr. White does a great job. N. Dr. White facilitated learning by making his students formulate good questions, or "learning issues" about the articles we've read. This taught us how to identify our own problems, or things we didn't know. This also pointed us in the right direction to find the answers to our questions, so that we taught ourselves, or were taught by peers. O. He has a very wide span of knowledge and approaches the material in an interesting way. P. Horribly misguided in his approach of teaching.Final Course Evaluation for CHEM-342 Introduction to Biochemistry – Spring 2005 Page 2 Q. Dr. White's ideal about PBL is unique in facilitating learning. However, I feel there is progress to be made by standing on the shoulders of those who made these discoveries. Instead, it seems we start from scratch from 1864. I feel in a unique way, but the course was lacking more substance. For instance, the way I learned was mind expanding to a degree. However, I am motivated enough to learn this material anyway it was taught. I would have gained more from the course had there been more lecturing in addition to group work. R. Dr. White demonstrates thorough knowledge not only in biochemistry, but also in how to spark his students’ interests, thoughts, and curiosity. S. He strongly encourages everyone to generate questions about the topics and look up and learn everything you can. T. Dr. White is an interesting professor who goes out of his way to be creative. U. I had a very good lesson on Biochem this semester V. This course demonstrated a different style of teaching, one that involved much class participation and group work. Students were forced to learn the articles as a result. I feel that this method of teaching is very effective in not only teaching the material, but also introducing a new way to approach various problems. W. Dr. White was a good instructor. He was always ready to help us if we had questions about a topic. Sometimes though, his questions were so roundabout that I wasn't sure what he was asking and whether I was answering the right thing or inferring the right idea. X. Dr. White knew a lot about the course information, but I do not feel like I learned a lot because of the setup of the class. I think I would have learned more if it was a straight lecture instead of problem based. Y. Although I feel that I've learned a lot about problem based learning and how to succeed in Prof. White's class, I don't feel like I have a firm grasp on the topics we covered because there was not enough structure. Question: Identify or describe some thing(s) that Professor White does particularly well. A. He is very helpful although he rarely "gives out" answers. PBL is the most effective way of learning material, rather than memorizing it. B. Describing the processes of how things work or answering some of the questions we still have about the current article. C. His goal is to make you an independent thinker and to this end, he is quite successful. D. He is very good at forcing students to look for the answers from a source other than himself. He knows how to make students learn several new ideas from a single journal article.Final Course Evaluation for CHEM-342 Introduction to Biochemistry – Spring 2005 Page 3 E. I like the way class is run. I think students will participate more when they are in small groups. His idea of problem based learning helped me gain a better understanding of the material. F. He is so helpful with any question one may ask and instead of just giving you the answer he helps you to figure it out on your own. It's so much easier to remember the concept this way. G. Dr. White is good at identifying particularly difficult learning issues and then going over them in class. H. He helped to wrap up each article nicely and explained things that we were unable to figure out on our own. He was also good about coming around to each group and guide us in the right direction if we were struggling with something. I. I like how he makes you solve the problem yourself. In the end you learn more. Also the way the class is, helps you realize that you know more than you think. - allowing for and encouraging self discovery of knowledge and education. - when he does present information, Prof. White does so in an effective and easy-to-follow way. J. He lets us come to our own conclusions about things, while trying to steer us in the right direction. He also tries