Galen T. PickettAsst. ProfessorPhysics and AstronomyPH3-103
California State University Long Beach 1250 Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90840-3901 (562) 985-4934 vc (562) 985-7924 fax
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Enrollment for the course was 104 at the time of the final exam, and of those, roughly 1/2 had some written comment to make on the evaluation. Of these 56 comments, 19 mentioned that the course is paced too fast, and 13 had something to say about tranparencies vs. power point presentations vs. blackboard.
The feedback on the rate of the class is lower than that I recieve in Fall 1999, and certainly more than I recieved in Spring 2000. Without continual exposure to the demands of this course, I seem to lapse back into my preferred "breakneck" pace. When I teach this course next, I will pay particular attention to its pace.
On the other hand, given the feedback on the merits of using power-point vs. transparencies vs. blackboard, I think it is time to transfer my course lecture notes to Portable Document Format, and post them where they will be readily available. Coupled with an online "test-sample-question" practice page run through the internet, I will be able to close a real-time feedback loop between how students are dealing with the course content and what I need to focus on. Here's a
Written Comments from evaluations:
1. Professor Pickett was a good teacher.
I like how he really wanted the students to learn and made it possible
for each student to do well. I only have a couple of suggestions.
One is that some of the transparencies were
hard to read, due to the ink color or because they were written too small.
Also, I felt the first two exams were too long. Maybe cut down the
multiple choice to 15 questions if you are going to have an essay and earth/moon/sun
question. This was too much to do in only 50 minutes!
Overall very effective and thorough teacher - made information comprehendable.
2. Perhaps you
can talk about the lectures a little slower - so the students can
take in the information more readily.
Also give information and pages in the textbook
that specifically correlates with your lecture.
3. I thought the take home labs were the hardest
part of this class. I liked how Prof. Pickett allows for extra credit
points and time extensions to turn in all the experiments. This is
a tough course to pass!
4. Dr. Pickett: excellent teacher, but lectures
are very difficult for a 100 level class, and a nonscience/math major.
On exams so many calculation problems is difficult for a 50 minute class.
But, overall thank you for doing a great, student oriented lectures.
5. I appreciate the willingness to stay after
class to answer questions about the lecture. It was very useful and
made me feel less frustrated about the things I originally didn't
understand.
6. If possible, allow THExp to be turned in
until day of final if time to grade permits. I think it would be
really helpful. And maybe write down what was wrong on the THExp.
instead of just marking it wrong.
7. Good class, I actually learned something.
8. Earlier in the semester a calendar was
given showing test dates and assignment due dates. I found this to
be very helpful and would like to see a calendar the whole semester.
9. Although you
are very knowledgeable in the subject, your teaching methods are very abstract
and difficult to grasp. Try to use more of an outline form especially
with key formulas.
10. I think it
would be very useful if the class notes were available on the internet.
Also, I think that because there is so much
information to be covered in the class it should be an hour and 15 minute
class rather than only 50 minutes.
11. When lecturing
in class you need to go slower in explaining things that are difficult
to understand. Maybe you would want to explain these topics on the
board so students understand it better.
12. It would
be very cool if you could talk a little bit slower.
If you want, how about going over the actual
text and highlighting as a class the important information.
13. It was very helpful to have notes available
in the library. I have a hard time understanding science and things
related but having a number of resources to refer to helped me out.
14. I highly
reccommend that you use a power point presentation instead of the overhead.
15. I think that
you should slow down when you are presenting the lecture. We don't
have enough time to take notes, listen to the lecture. Maybe
writing the notes on the board would be a good idea. We might be
able to process the information better.
Great job overall.
16. You are a very good instructor who seems
to trully enjoy the subject you teach. Even though physical science
is not my strong point, I am glad you were the teacher and appreciate you
letting us turn in work late. Good luck in the future! :)
17. The instructor had the ability to explain
very well, relating experiments to everyday experiences.
18. Prof. Pickett was very helpful throughout
the semester. He was very fast in presenting
information but clear and also available when
I needed assistance. The use of transparencies
work well!
19. Mr. Pickett does an excellent job of explaining
class material. But, sometimes he over-explains things. That
makes me confused sometimes.
20. I think that you provide the students
with a lot of information and opportunities to improve our grades.
Thank you.
21. The textbook is really bad - there are
grammar errors right and left and there is no glossary defining terms.
Personally, I think this instructor did an excellent job! He made
the material seem easier and there was a lot of material to cover in this
class.
22. I think he is doing an excellent job.
The success rate for this class and others like it just depends on student
effort (reading!). Thank you.
23. Pickett's teaching style was great and
I learned a lot. I really appreciate the availability he had to students
and dedication to us to understand the content of the course. Advice:
study sheet provided on exam date (the one attatched to the exam) should
be handed out on day of review of the exam because then we could know what
to spend more time on when studying.
24. Although I was dreading this class, Pickett
was a very good teacher. I like the way we were able to turn in our
assignments for regrades, this really helped me to learn the concepts.
He spoke a little too fast so it was hard
to actually see what he was explaining. There were a lot of notes
so I felt as though I was doing more writing than actually learning.
Overall, the class was very interesting and
he was an excellent teacher.
25. I think you do a really good job teaching
this class! I really like that we can use notes on the exams and
that you're always willing to help us whenever we need it. I usually
don't like science, but I think I have learned a lot from your class.
26. The professor is very student friendly.
He has designed a course that is very hard to fail. He has made himself
and notes accessible to the students. My
only suggestion is to find a way to slow lecture down just a little so
that the note takers can keep up. Thanks.
:)
27. I found this class very difficult.
I found the material was very boring with the exclusion of the moon and
stars experiments. I think the book could be re-done, maybe consider
those who have never taken physics before. I did like the open notes
for the test. I think the instructor means well, but I really haven't
learned anything that I will use again. I'm so glad this course is
over. I hated it!!
28. --slow down
during lecture, its hard to keep up since there is so much information
to learn in this course.
29. You did a great job in presenting the
material. You go a little fast with
the notes, but they were available in the
library. Good job!
30. number order
the tranparencies in the library because they are so out of order that
I can't tell which is which.
31. More class
time for lecture.
32. Personally, I am not a huge fan of science.
Prof. Pickett made this class interesting and I felt as if science was
learnable. I actually enjoyed coming to class and Prof. Pickett is
a wonderful, accomodating teacher. It was an enjoyable experience.
Thank you.
33. The class was taught in an effective manner,
however the only suggestion I have is to keep
the transparencies up a bit longer so we can get all the information down
in our notes.
34. The instructor
went too fast in explaining the material.
The class' test average was 60% which should tell the instructor he maybe
needs to change it a little.
35. This is the best science class I've taken.
Prof. Pickett does not expect you to be a rocket scientist to understand
his information. The extra credit really helpes a lot and helps you
comprehend the material. I wish he taught biology so I could take
that with him also.
36. His style of teaching was very effective
and took advice from the students. Overall, he did a great job.
37. The class was presented well and the instructor
was very willing to help. At times I felt some of the concepts were
hard and just a little more time needed to
be spent on them.
38. Great instructor, great course, taught
well.
39. I had a very negative experience in this
class because the material was not presented in a way that was accessible
to everybody. The class is too math/equation oriented in explaination.
It needs to be simplified. I think the book is not useful at all,
its too confusing, not to the point, and you have no references, like a
glossary, etc. The labs are overcomplicated and too advanced to make
a point. Overall, this physical science is 20 times harder than it
has to be to understand fairly simple concepts.
40. This class was awesome. Your enthusiasm
for science shines through. My only concern for this class was the
book we are required to use. honestly, it is not well written, there
are sooooo... many mistakes and I really didn't refer to it that often.
I felt as if the book was a part of a different class (?) Your lectures
provided much more detail than the book. It seems extremely abstract.
I am sure that if it wasn't written by a CSULB professor it wouldn't be
used.
41. Mr. Pickett is an excellent professor.
I like the way you make it open book for tests and are lenient on due dates.
We still really learn a lot but there is less pressure. Thank you
for giving us such a positive learning environment and experience.
One suggestion: Date or number the transparencies
in the library. They get really mixed up.
Thank you!
42. I felt that Prof. Pickett is very helpful
and reasonable in teaching physical sciences 112. He was able to
help outside of class. I do feel that the material was a waste of
time and the textbook did not help at all in learning the material.
As a liberal studies major I feel that this class should be dropped from
the core and should be replaced with material that we as elementary teachers
can actually use. Prof. Pickett is great and he should be teaching
a more meaningful course.
43. I do not enjoy science. I was dreading
this class. I was so pleased that I was proved wrong. This
class and lab made me enjoy science. I looked forward to lab each
week -- the experiments were fun and interesting and helped me to really
understand what was going on in lecture. I could not have asked for
a more understanding or more fair lecture class. I think it is so
kind and generous to allow us to use our books and notes on tests.
Each time I thought this class couldn't get any better, Prof. Pickett
suprised me. The coversheets for the exams, review sessions, allowing
us to resubmit our homework, extra credit -- I appreciate it all so
much. I wouldn't change a thing. Prof. Pickett gives so much
to his students without asking for half as much in return. I want
to thank him for making me enjoy this class and being such a great instructor.
:)
44. Professor Pickett is an excellent science
professor for these reasons: 1) He simlified a hard to grasp material for
us to understand. 2) Always willing to help after class and during office
hours. 3) He has a very effective method of teaching using
overhead and keeping notes in the library.
4) He is very enthusiastic about his field and he cares if his students
understand the material. 5) His is extremely fair and conscientious.
45. I found this class difficult but being
able to meet the professor in his office hours really helped. He
really explained things well during office
hours and with much more time and at a slower pace.
46. This instructor is extremely supportive
and makes every effort to assure the success of his students. He
goes out of his way to be avaiable to assist, he finds alternate means
to explain the point. I am a student with a learning disability.
Without Professor Pickett's patience and support I may not have succeeded.
He is definitely an asset to CSULB. I would highly recommend him
to my peers. Suggestions: needs to slow
down his speech more He still talks extremely too fast at times.
47. This class was not meant for a forum class.
It's better off in a classroom format. Mr. Pickett himself seems
like a caring individual who takes time our for his students. He
is very gifted and I think his talents are better served in a classroom
format instead of a forum.
48. Don't change anything.
49. Professor,
I think that you should slow down when you are lecturing because you go
quite fast.
50. Dr. Pickett is the best science teacher
that I have had so far in the university system. He is flexible with
the students, and does everything that he can to help us succeed.
That gives me the extra desire to excel in his class.
I would suggest the power-point notes because that would make it easier
to listen and
not worry about trying to get all the notes down.
It would be more convenient to get the notes on the internet than in the
library. But, I also suggest whatever is easiest for you. This
is only a 100 level class and I think you do a lot already for us.
Tranparencies and power point are equally efficient. Again- thank
you for everything. I really enjoyed this class- even through it
was at 8 am. Good luck in all you do!
51. The only thing that I would suggest to
make your class perfect is sample an practice
multiple choice questions. Because I have observed that all the questions
require a really deep understanding of the concepts and for some students
it would take a shorter period of time to answer such questions if one
would have practice. This will help
the brain become acquainted with the steps that it needs to make to rationalize
a question, or apply a concept to a real situation.
52. The teacher
went too quick with his projector sheets and should have allowed more time
to copy and then listen to what he had to say.
53. Professor Pickett was always available
to answer any questions. He was always willing to help.
54. I think the instructor was very devoted
to the students and trying to promote understanding, but the course was
like learning a new language.
55. Overall the class was good. The
couple of things that I would recommend is to put
the test examples on reserve in the library as well as using powerpoint
and putting those on blackboard.
56. Professor Pickett is trully exceptional.
He went above and beyond to help his students understand this quite challenging
material. He trully holds the best interests for his students. Certainly
our university needs more teachers like Prof. Pickett.
last updated: Feb. 14, 2002
