on this page Numerical Survey Analysis Student comments

Galen T. Pickett Asst. Professor Physics and Astronomy PH3-103 California State University Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90840-3901 (562) 985-4934 vc    (562) 985-7924 fax gpickett@csulb.edu

 
 
 

1. Clearly stated grading  and course objectives	Strongly agree =5 4 3 2 Strongly disagree=1 N/A 34 15 3 1 3 0	Course Average:4.35 College Average:4.35
2. Consistent grading.	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 40 11 2 0 3 0	Course Average:4.51 College Average: 4.43
3. Provided useful assignments	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 29 16 7 1 3 0	Course Average:4.19 College Average:4.20
4. Reasonable expectations	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 36 13 4 0 3 0	Course Average:4.41 College Average:4.28
5. Instructor well prepared	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 42 9 2 0 3 0	Course Average:4.55 College Average:4.43
6. Instructor presented material effectively	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 25 17 9 1 4 0	Course Average:4.03 College Average:4.11
7. Instructor was available	SA=5 4 3 2 SD=1 NA 37 6 1 0 3 9	Course Average:4.57 College Average:4.54
8. Overall teaching effectiveness	Excellent=5 4 3 2 Very poor=1 NA 28 18 5 2 3 0	Course Average:4.17 College Average4.20

Analysis of written comments:

Enrollment for the course was 94 at the time of the final exam, and of those, roughly 1/3 had some written comment to make on the evaluation.  Of these 30 or so comments, the most common was that the course was paced too fast.  I will quote comment #31 below because this student puts the case as well as it can be put:
"32.  Dr. Pickett taught this class well as he clearly presented the various topics within the course.  HOWEVER, Physical Science is undoubtedly a very difficult course.  I have not met a student who did not say this was an extremely difficult topic (no fault of Dr. Pickett).  We students would get so much more knowledge and satisfaction from Physical Science 112 if more time could be spent per chapter.  What is the point of rushing through a challenging and interesting subject?  I'm planning on becoming an elementary school teacher, but so much of this class was difficult and rushed.  Please allow us to absorb and appreciate this subject. Please slow down and cut back."
Roughly half of the comments below state that the course was too fast.  Roughly one in five students agreed explicitly in their comments, so I can assume that this is the single most pressing issue in the course.  Other themes from the comments indicate that the presentation needs more demonstrations, and that I need to avoid my characteristic "um, um, um" style of reaching for just the right words.

Written Comments from evaluations:
1. More visual aids would make class time more interesting.
2. Teacher was fantastic and helpful.
3. I thought that Dr. Pickett would often go too fast during lectures and not leave information on the overhead long enough for the class to get it written down.
4. Enjoyed the lectures, the tests were great, keep up the good work.
5. Needs to go a little slower during lectures.
6. Thanks. :)
7. Dr. Pickett is obviously very dedicated to teaching and was always willing to help people with any question they might have.  The only complaint I had was sometimes he rushed through the lecture notes and it was difficult for me to keep up.
8. The only thing was he presented material very quick.  Taking notes was difficult because he was too fast.  The class was short, 50 minutes to learn all that material was difficult.
9.  Go slower on class lectures. Feel I can't catch up!  Very good teacher and good notes but may have to spend more time on explaining it.  Just like he explains during office hours.
10. Was a very nice and intelligent man, but rambled and made it hard to understand material.
11. The instructor needs to explain things in a simpler manner.
12. The study sheet for the final must also be done for the first two tests!  The tests need to be more explained.
13. Please work on your communication skills. "Uh, uh, uh..." is distracting.  Study sheets before exams would be good.  Great overheads.
14. I thought the instructor did a good job with teaching the class.  He said what needed to be said and I learned a lot.
15. Dr. Pickett has a lot of energy and presents the material in an entertaining manner.  He is extremely concerned with the welfare of his students which makes the class so much more enjoyable.  He is a wonderful teacher/instructor and I enjoyed the class.
16. Sometimes you were hard to follow because of the overheads.  They were great.  You had a lot of helpful information on them, but people were too worried about writing all the info fast enough before you took it down instead of really paying attention.  Having the notes in the library would be very helpful.
17. I felt as though we moved too quickly through the material, it was really hard to grasp, but other than that everything was great.
18.  He is a very good instructor, but I think it would be more beneficial if it was more exciting (somehow???) And also, he says "um" and "uh" a lot when he lectures and its kind of distracting.  He might think about recording one of his lectures and listen to it.  But other than that, its all good!!
19. I think you should slow down the lectures!  You didn't give us enough time to copy down the questions and examples.  Since the lectures were so hard for me to follow, it allowed me to not understand the material as well.
20. Maybe you should make the course more interesting by devising more experiments relating to subject to show the class.  Just straight-out lecture is boring for the class and students loose interest easily.  You should have little quizzes, maybe for extra credit.  I liked your grading procedure of taking the average of the class and curving it from that point.
21. This was a good class with a great prof.  He made it interesting and was always available to help.  Try having copies of overheads in the reference library because of speed of class.  Good job!
22. You went too fast with the overheads - I didn't have enough time to copy the info down.  I appreciate the fact that you realized this course was difficult for some of us and you graded accordingly.  It really helped that you were willing to answer any question before the test - it was up to the students to take the help - but it was always there.  Thank you!
23. Prof. Pickett is a highly intelligent man that really loves his job and shows it.  Strong points are that he was always available and always willing to help when students need it.  He always shows concerns in students getting and knowing information.  At times he went too fast, but in the amount of lecture time (short) did a good job overall!
24. Dr. Pickett was an awful experience and I was really disappointed with what I learned.
25.  Overall I would say that the course went well this semester.  I think Dr. Pickett did a really good job for it being the first time he taught.  The only things that I would say he should improve on are maybe talk a little louder and don't pace around so much.  It's hard to concentrate sometimes when you are all over the place.  Maybe you should also try to be a little more strict in your grading.  I feel a lot of people in this class did not put as much effort into this class as I did and wound up getting the same kind of grades!
26.  I felt the instructor went into different subjects very rapidly.  I think he should have concentrated on us knowing the subject before he moved into another subject.
27.  He did a great job.  He was very through and explanatory.  At some parts he did go a little fast, but he overall was a great teacher.  I really enjoyed this class.  He seemed to love lecturing and did it with enthusiasm that filled the room.  He was also very approachable.  I felt very comfortable talking to him and asking him questions.  I think other teachers should look to him as a model.  If we had more teachers that taught like him, more students would like learning.
28.  I thought Prof. Pickett was a very good professor.  I was able to understand the material.  I took the class before with another professor and got an F, but Prof. Pickett really helped me understand and I have gotten an A on both exams.  A wonderful professor.
29.  Overall, I enjoyed your teaching style.  I had tried to take this class earlier with another professor but ended up dropping because I couldn't understand the concepts.  You go into a little more detail than I personally need, but you definitely get your point across.  My only complaint ( a minor one) is that you take the transparencies off the screen when you are done discussing them, but we don't always have enough time to copy it all down and pay attention to your explanations.  Thanks.
30.  He does not teach.  He does much better when he gives "pretend" questions - that way we have some idea of what the concept is.  I could read the book and not go to class and I would learn just as much.  It was unfortunate, but I learned nothing and this class was a waste of my time.
31.  Instructor presented material sometimes in a complicated manner which is hard for students who don't have a science background.  I feel that after repeating this course for the second time, I don't feel I've learned that much new material or have a better understanding of physical science.  Not all of this can be blamed on the instructor.  I think the course needs to be better designed after all, it is a 100 level course.  It shouldn't be taught from a 300 level perspective.  It simply gives students who aren't strong in math and science no chance at successfully completing the course.
32.  Dr. Pickett taught this class well as he clearly presented the various topics within the course.  HOWEVER, Physical Science is undoubtedly a very difficult course.  I have not met a student who did not say this was an extremely difficult topic (no fault of Dr. Pickett).  We students would get so much more knowledge and satisfaction from Physical Science 112 if more time could be spent per chapter.  What is the point of rushing through a challenging and interesting subject?  I'm planning on becoming an elementary school teacher, but so much of this class was difficult and rushed.  Please allow us to absorb and appreciate this subject. Please slow down and cut back.

last updated: Aug. 7, 2000