A magical mystery tour to China!! Polymer Physics Seminar Series @ Penn State

Course Evaluation Plan

MatSE 447 Fall 2006

Polymer Rheology and Processing

Instructor:

Ralph Colby, 309 Steidle,

(814) 863-3457 rhc@plmsc.psu.edu

Teaching Assistant:

Wenjuan Liu, 316-B Steidle,

(814)404-4569 wzl113@psu.edu

MIDTERM COURSE EVALUATION

Using materials available through the Penn State’s Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, this questionnaire has been designed to help us learn about those aspects of my teaching that have been the most and the least useful to you thus far. Most of the questions are fairly open-ended, so please be as descriptive as possible. Thank you.

Overall Ratings (7=Highest, 1=Lowest)

Rate the overall quality of this course	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Rate the overall quality of the instructor	1	2	3	4	5	6	7

Instructor Effectiveness

1. Rating: Circle the number that best represents your opinion (5= Highest, 1= Lowest)

Rate the overall quality of the instructor	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the instructor in terms of his/her preparation for class	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the clarity of the instructor's presentations	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the instructor's willingness to help students make progress	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the instructor's skill creating a climate conducive to learning	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the adequacy of the instructor's knowledge of the subject matter	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the instructor's skill in encouraging students to think	1	2	3	4	5

2. How frequently do you interact with the instructor?

a. Once every two weeks

b. Once a week

c. 2 times per week

d. 4 times per week

e. 5 or more times per week

Do you feel that this amount of interaction is sufficient for your learning? Why? Could you interact more with you instructor if you wanted to? Do you feel that this limitation is set by the instructor or yourself? Why?

3. Do you feel that the instructor is honestly interested in your learning?

a. Always

b. Very often

c. Often or almost often

d. Occasionally

e. Rarely or never

What makes you feel that way?

4. Course Content and Organization

Rating: Circle the number that best represents your opinion (5= Highest, 1= Lowest)

Rate the overall quality of this course	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the organization of the course in terms of its logical arrangement of material and activities	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the level of difficulty of the course compared to others you have taken (5=Much more difficult, 3=Average difficulty, 1= Much easier)	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the extent to which interest in the subject matter was generated by this course	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the effectiveness of the instructor in demonstrating the significance of the subject matter	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the importance of the knowledge learned in this course	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the importance of the information learned in this course as compared to other courses you have taken	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the relevance the material presented to your career	1	2	3	4	5

5. The pace of this course is: (check one)

a. Too slow

b. Too fast

c. About right

If you checked either “too fast” or “too slow”, what would you like to see changed?

6. What is the topic that you enjoyed the most learning in class? Why do you feel that way?

7. What is the topic that is still especially unclear to you? Would you like to learn more about it?

8. Would you recommend another student to take this course? Why?

9. Grading and Evaluation

Rating: Circle the number that best represents your opinion (5= Highest, 1= Lowest)

Rate the clarity of the instructor's explanations of how grades would be derived in this course	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the correspondence between exams and the material discussed in class (5=Good correspondence, 1=No correspondence at all)	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the fairness of exams in terms of difficulty	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the effectiveness of the course in stimulating you to work harder	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the adequacy of the amount of time allotted to various course activities	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the effectiveness of homework and out-of-class assignments as contributing to the learning process	1	2	3	4	5
Rate the amount of work associated with this course compared to others you have taken	1	2	3	4	5

10. What grade do you think you have earned so far in this course?

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

e. F

11. What grade do think you will earn in this course at the end the semester?

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

e. F

If your answers for above two questions are not the same, what do you think is going to make the difference?

12. On the average, about how many hours per week do you spend on this course?

a. Less than 4 hr

b. 4-7 hr

c. 8-10 hr

d. 11-15 hr

e. more than 15 hr

What do you feel about that amount of time? Is it about right? Excessive? Do you think you should ask more to yourself or less work from your instructor?

13. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT DEADLINES? Are they necessary? Do you think there should not be any deadlines at all?

14. Please comment on the course workload (exams/homework/assignments). Would you like to see any of it changed? How? Do you feel they help or hinder your learning process? How?

T.A. Evaluation

15. How accessible and helpful has been your T.A.? Please comment on TA involvement and his willingness to help your learning process. DO you have any suggestions or recommendations for him?

Final Thoughts

Please comment on the strengths and weaknesses of this course.

WEAKNESSES: What would you like to see changed in this course?

STRENGTHS: What would you like to see maintained in this course?