Summary of Midterm Student Feedback
MATH 124 and 125
Autumn 2003
This report presents a summary of the student perceptions gathered in the midterm feedback sessions facilitated for the Department of Mathematics by staff from the Center for Instructional Development and Research in October and November 2003. The feedback was gathered in MATH 124 and 125, in a total of 17 sections.
Midterm Feedback Session Process
Each feedback session was first introduced by the instructor, who explained to the students the two purposes for gathering feedback: (1) for the instructor to find out immediately student perceptions of their learning in the course, and (2) for the department to use in assessing the changes being made in the first two quarters of the calculus sequence. After the introduction, the instructor left the room, and the facilitator explained the process to the students and described how their feedback would be communicated first to the instructor and then to the department. Then students met in small groups to discuss and record responses to the questions on the feedback worksheet (see attached). After the students had worked in their small groups for approximately seven minutes, the facilitator led a full class discussion of responses to Questions A and B on the worksheet (“What’s helping you learn?” and “What’s not helping you learn? What suggestions do you have?”). Notes were taken on the overhead during the large group discussion. Question C was not discussed in the large group.
Instructor Feedback Report
The feedback from each section was compiled, categorized, and written up in an individual report for the instructor. The facilitator then met with the instructor to discuss the student feedback and possible strategies for responding to the feedback.
Summary Report
For this summary report, all feedback from each class – from the 10 sections of MATH 124 and the 6 sections of MATH 125 – was compiled, categorized and summarized. The report lists the main themes that emerged from the student feedback data. The number of groups commenting on each topic is included, and representative comments from the group worksheets are provided. Any reference to individual instructors, teaching assistants and sections is omitted.
Note: In MATH 124, feedback was also gathered in the one honors section. (Feedback was not gathered in the one evening section.) Because the honors section differs from the other sections in class size and structure, the feedback from this section is not included with the other MATH 124 data. Instead, a summary of comments related to the calculus changes is included as a separate section at the end of the other MATH 124 data.
Feedback gathered during Week 5 in
10 sections taught by 5 instructors
Total number of students
participating in feedback process = 613
Total number of groups = 145
Feedback also gathered in 1 honors
section (43 students, 10 groups)
A. What is helping you learn? (459 group comments)
RESOURCES (150
group comments)
Math Study Center
and Office Hours– can get help from TAs/Professor and from other students, also
CLUE and IC (97 groups, 10 sections)
“Math Study
Center – good help.”
“The Math Study
Center significantly helps us in completing and understanding the material. Our TA has office hours there and s/he helps
us as well.”
“Math Study
Center – working with other students and help from TAs at MSC and MSC tutors.”
“Math Study
Center and CLUE because you are surrounded by people with same problems and
have 1-on-1 time.”
“Availability of
TAs and teachers, office hours.”
Website – answers for homework, supplements,
practice tests/quizzes (39 groups, 9 sections)
“On-line
resources (homework hints, answers, review of concepts).”
“Web
materials: solutions to quiz and
homework, etc. See right answers,
knowing if you’re correct. (Practice
midterm really helped out.)”
“Math website
with answers to homework and practice midterms and quizzes.”
“Website –
answers to homework posted online gives you some chance at figuring out
difficult problems.”
Textbook (7 groups, 6 sections)
“Reading from
textbooks, learning from them.”
“The book
explains all steps on examples, making homework easier.”
Working with other students (7 groups, 3
sections)
“The FIG is
helpful for study partners.”
“Studying with
others in the class.”
LECTURE (88
group comments)
Examples – lots, step-by-step, related to HW
(40 groups, 9 sections)
“The example
problems the Prof. goes over. Helps you
understand how to do the problems.”
“When the professor
gives a lot of examples to explain a certain idea.”
“Clear lecture
examples, step-by-step work.”
“Class example
problems are relevant to midterm problems; they are very thorough.”
“Lecture –
professor gives good examples for the homework and sections learned in the
book.”
Organization and
pace – writes on board/overhead, writes down everything, good page (22 groups,
9 sections)
“Well-organized
lectures. Ex: no time is wasted and gets
point across.”
“Draws pictures
and graphs to illustrate main points.”
“Professor
writes down everything.”
“Good pace,
doesn’t move too fast, explains things really well.”
Explanations – thorough, clear (18 groups, 10
sections)
“Prof.
thoroughly explains problems and principles, the concepts are much clearer.”
“Is especially
careful to ensure we understand – willing to go over examples again to
clarify.”
“Lectures have
been clear to understand and new ideas are approached well.”
Other (8 groups)
QUIZ SECTION AND
TAs (71 group comments)
Q & A – can ask questions, get help, no
quizzes = more Q & A time (23 groups, 7 sections)
“Being able to
ask TAs for help – specific homework questions.”
“The TA helps a
lot answering HW questions and giving examples, helping us prepare for midterms
and quizzes.”
“TA’s sections –
a chance to ask questions and get one-on-one help.”
“No quizzes
gives us more time for questions.”
TA explaining problems and reviewing (16 groups, 6
sections)
“The TA sessions
(Tuesday and Thursday) à S/he helps explain the material in great detail and gives
more examples.”
“The longer
TA/quiz section is valuable in helping us work through the more difficult
homework problems.”
“TA section on
Thursdays with problem reviews.”
TA (13 groups, 7 sections)
“Our TA, when
s/he goes over homework, quizzes, midterms, etc.”
“Our TA is
really good at explaining and helping us figure out problems.”
“TAs
good/helpful.”
Smaller setting – more help, interaction (12
groups, 8 sections)
“TA sections
provide a more comfortable environment to ask questions about the material.”
“We like the
small sections because we get to ask questions and get answers/help.”
“The
Tuesday/Thursday class help because they’re smaller and we get more one-on-one
help.”
“The quiz
sections because the class size is smaller and we are more able to interact
with each other and the TA.”
Other (7 groups)
WORKSHEETS (54
group comments)
Working in groups – can discuss with and
learn from others (24 groups, 8 sections)
“The worksheets
are helpful because it’s a group effort and you can learn from each other.”
“Working
together: worksheets. Helps to discuss
the different concepts with other students and ask for help.”
“Worksheet
sessions: work with others, see how others work out problems, taste of material
with help of TA.”
“The worksheets
are helpful because of interaction with other students and it allows us to ask
questions and get our questions answered during quiz section.”
General comments (12 groups, 5 sections)
“Worksheets on
Tuesdays.”
“Worksheets in
quiz section are very helpful.”
Content – helps us understand upcoming
concepts, step-by-step (11 groups, 7 sections)
“Worksheets are
helpful: (1) we get a chance to apply
theory, and (2) in a collaborative manner of learning, we get a chance to make
our understanding ‘concrete’.”
“The worksheets,
because they introduce upcoming topics and group works helps solidify the
subject matter.”
“The worksheets
because they introduce us to new concepts without being graded.”
Can work on problems with TA available for
questions (7 groups, 4 sections)
“The worksheets
are helpful because you can work with your peers and get immediate feedback
from the TA.”
“The worksheets
help to interact with TAs and ensure that you have few or no questions on
homework.”
COURSE STRUCTURE
AND SIZE (30 group comments)
Size – smaller, can ask questions in lecture,
more interaction (22 groups, 8 sections)
“Small class /
quiz sections.”
“Smaller groups,
easier to ask questions.”
“Lecture class
size is small – more 1-on-1 action, makes learning interactive.”
“Smaller lecture
classes makes it easier to ask questions.”
Structure – organization, common homework,
lecture + quiz section (8 groups, 6 sections)
“The class is
organized; it sticks to the syllabus.”
“Common homework
throughout all the classes. Helps to
meet new people, have more people to work with.”
“We like how the
class alternates between lecture and quiz section. The amount of time for the quiz section is
perfect.
HOMEWORK (21
group comments)
Practice – doing the problems (8 groups, 5
sections)
“Homework –
practicing problems.”
“Doing the
homework – working on problems helps us learn.”
Content – covers everything, problems
well-chosen (8 groups, 4 sections)
“Homework that
covers everything taught.”
“Homework helps
us learn – like the mix of bookwork and additional problems.”
“Homework –
problems are well chosen.”
Structure – weekly assignment (5 groups, 3
sections)
“Having a week
to go through and complete homework and having the answers to check work.”
“Homework on
Tuesday. You get to work on it over the
weekend and ask questions on Monday before you turn it in.”
“The homework –
working through problems WEEKLY.”
PROFESSOR (21
group comments)
Engaging (11 groups, 5 sections)
“Professor makes
the class fun. Asks questions to
students with keeps us awake.”
“The lectures –
lectures are fun and interesting, energetic and not boring to listen to, always
smiling.”
“Many students
look forward to attending lectures due to professor’s witty anecdotes.”
“Jokes and
stories in class help lighten the learning environment.”
Willing to help, approachable (6 groups, 5
sections)
“Professor is
willing to help, helpful and very approachable.”
“Professor is
helpful with one-on-one questions.”
“Listening and
responding to emails and questions (i.e. quizzes).”
“Professor
answers questions after lecture and doesn’t leave right away.”
Enthusiastic (4 groups, 3 sections)
“Enthusiastic
professor, very approachable.”
“Professor’s
good attitude and excitement to teach is a plus.”
TESTS AND
QUIZZES (15 group comments)
Practice midterms – going over in class,
review sessions (10 groups, 4 sections)
“Practice exam –
good in preparing and getting students used to the format and type of questions
on the midterm.”
“Going over
previous test in preparation for midterm.”
“Review session
for test.”
Clear expectations for quizzes/tests (5
groups, 4 sections)
“Prepares us for
quizzes by giving what sections will be on it.”
“We like that
the professor outlines the test and quiz to let us have an idea on what to
prepare for.”
OTHER (9 group
comments)
Prior calculus exposure (4 groups, 3
sections)
“Prior knowledge
– Math/Calculus from before.”
Other comments (5 groups, 3 sections)
B. What is not helping you learn? What suggestions? (337 group comments)
LECTURE (78
group comments)
Presentation – hard to see, too fast/slow (29
groups, 9 sections)
“The blackboard
is hard to read, especially when professor erases things and writes over
it. Either using the overhead or
something else would be better.”
“Set-up of
classroom. Hard to see board or problems
being worked out on board. (Perhaps use
overhead.)”
“Lecture
(volume, project, clarity).”
“Some people
find the pace slightly slow due to an excess of examples.”
“The professor
moves too fast and you don’t have time to write everything and listen at the
same time.”
Explanations/examples – more explanation (24
groups, 8 sections)
“Professor
should say the concept that the example is showing.”
“Professor’s
teaching is vague, fast-paced. We feel
we need more clarification.”
“Professor is
not very clear with the lecture. Not a
thorough explanation of what s/he’s doing.”
“Professor
should have more examples other than those in the book.”
“We need more
example problems and explanation (rather than proving equations).”
Organization – explanation, summary (14 groups,
8 sections)
“The prof. could
be a bit more organized with the notes.”
“Improve
uniformity in notation, i.e.: teach correct notation for writing definitions,
domains, etc.”
“Lectures lack
structure and are hard to follow.”
“When you go off
on tangents.”
Other (11 groups)
QUIZ SECTION AND
TAs (56 group comments)
TA – explanations unclear, needs better
preparation, hard to understand (23 groups, 6 sections)
“Our TA makes
things more complicated than they should be and s/he doesn’t really answer our
questions.”
“Teacher
assistants need to prepare better for the review session (so they can help
us?)”
“Sometimes some
TAs are difficult to understand.”
Structure (14 groups, 6 sections)
“Thursday: needs
to have more structure or another lecture day.
Feel like not much comes out of this day.”
“Having homework
due on Tuesdays – having it due Thursdays would give us more time to ask
questions and complete the assignment.
Quizzes should be Tuesday during the quiz section.”
“Go over
questions Tuesday and turn in HW Thursday.”
Use of time – need more time for
questions/homework (12 groups, 6 sections)
“Rather small
amount of time for homework questions, would like more.”
“Need more time
in section to ask questions about homework problems.”
“Some TAs don’t
go over the problems that need to be covered.”
Other (7 groups)
TESTS AND
GRADING (49 group comments)
Grading – explanation, summary (17 groups, 3
sections)
“Award partial
credit to students who demonstrate an understanding of the concepts.”
“Consider giving
partial credit to multiple-step problems.”
Expectations/preparation (13 groups, 7
sections)
“Not knowing
what to expect on quizzes and tests. You
need to be more specific about what you expect us to know for a test (not just
telling us what sections to study for.)”
“The practice
exam did not create an accurate representation of the actual midterm.”
“Review more
before quiz/midterm.”
Tests – difficult, more time (12 groups, 6
sections)
“Give more time
or shorten the midterm. All of us ran
out of time.”
“The test was
extremely difficult. All the definitions
and odd wording of questions is tricky.”
Quizzes – not having them (mixed opinions) (7
groups, 4 sections)
“No quizzes,
more time with TAs.”
“Other ways to
help grade besides HW and tests.”
“Have a few
quizzes to help better prepare for midterms and know what to expect.”
LINKS AMONG
COURSE COMPONENTS (31 group comments)
Homework ßà lecture link – difficulty level of problems/examples,
sequence (19 groups, 9 sections)
“Lectures should
be more relevant to homework.”
“Professor is
good at giving problems and examples, but they don’t pertain to homework
questions.”
“The level of
difficulty of in class problems vs. homework.
It would be nice to cover some more challenging problems in class.”
“More example problems
that correlate to the homework difficulty.”
“We don’t learn
all the material we need for the homework until the day before it’s due.”
HW ßà quizzes/tests link – not consistent (9 groups, 5 sections)
“The homework
should be more reflective of the tests, not completely different, and we should
have more indication of what tests will be like.”
“Homework and
quizzes don’t really seem to be consistent.”
“The homework
doesn’t reflect/prepare us for the quizzes or especially the midterm.”
Other (3 groups)
WORKSHEETS (30
group comments)
Content – not relevant to other aspects of
course, too easy, relationship to lecture (12 groups, 6 sections)
“The worksheets,
they don’t reflect the difficulty level of the homework and the tests.”
“We don’t like
the worksheets because a lot of times it doesn’t relate to the homework.”
“Worksheets
should be a little more complex. It is
better for us to focus on problems that can closely compare to problems on the
exam.”
“Having lectures
for worksheets after we do the worksheets.”
Use of time – would rather time for questions
(11 groups, 7 sections)
“The quiz
section worksheet feels like a waste of time.
We would rather spend that time going over the homework or other
examples.”
“Go over
homework or general problems instead of worksheets in TA section.”
“The time for
worksheets should be less so that we have more time to ask for help on homework
problems.”
Facilitation (5 groups, 3 sections)
“Group
worksheets – people only do part or work by themselves, thus not really discussing
the problems as a group.”
“Unconclusive
finish to worksheets. We should have
class discussions at the end of class to evaluate what we learned.”
“When students
in section do worksheet ahead of time.”
General comments (2 groups, 2 sections)
“Worksheets –
don’t really seem to help.”
COURSE STRUCTURE
(28 group comments)
Consistency with other 124 sections (14
groups, 4 sections)
“Our tests and
quizzes are not like the HW or worksheets.
The other students in the department have tests similar to the
final. We will not have seen that format
before.”
“Not
consistent with other classes. Such as
time limit and using notes.”
“Variation in TA
and Prof. – Not the same from class to class; some may get better explanation,
easier test, etc.”
Communication between TAs and Professor (14
groups, 4 sections)
“Need more
communication between TA and professor – they often repeat each other (ex: both
went over practice midterm answers).”
“There doesn’t
seem to be a lot of contact between the TA and the teacher.”
“TA should know
how professor is doing problems. TA
doesn’t always know how to do the problem the way the prof does it.”
RESOURCES (26
group comments)
Math Study Center– sometimes crowded (12
groups, 8 sections)
“Math Study
Center – sometimes when it’s really crowded, it takes a really long time to get
help. (It doesn’t not help, sometimes it
can just be frustrating – we still like it and use it.)”
“More TAs in the
Math Study Center for more one-on-one time and less of a waiting period.”
Website – some
answers wrong, tests different from our professor’s, post all solutions (11
groups, 6 sections)
“Website
practice tests don’t reflect on actual tests (from other professors at least).”
“Online answers
are helpful, but some answers are wrong so it throws you off.”
“Have solutions
all past quizzes and midterm/finals on the Math 124 archive (website).”
Other (3 groups)
HOMEWORK (19
group comments)
Amount – too much, gets repetitive (7 groups,
6 sections)
“Homework – it’s
a bit too much sometime. L”
“Too much
homework – becomes tedious with repetition.”
“Too much HW,
not enough time to understand concepts because too busy trying to finish it.”
Structure – get HW back to study for
quizzes/exams, more feedback (4 groups, 4 sections)
“Sometimes we
don’t get homework back before quizzes and midterms.”
“Don’t get
enough feedback with the homework.”
Non-book homework – too hard (3 groups, 1
section)
“The story
problems in the book (a-g problems) that will never be on any exam.”
“Non-book
homework is too difficult many times.”
Other (5 groups)
OTHER (20 group
comments)
Nothing/everything’s fine (6 groups, 4
sections)
“None. Nothing is hindering our learning.”
“Everything is
good. J”
Miscellaneous (14 groups, 7 sections)
C. Other comments
In Section C on the worksheet,
groups tend to write general comments about the class or comments that
reiterate feedback already written in Sections A and B. In this section, there were a total of 66
group comments. Representative comments
related to calculus changes are included below.
Tests and quizzes
“Time limit on
tests is too short and no notes are allowed on the tests.”
“Need more time
for quizzes.”
Consistency with other 124 sections
“2.0 mean while
other classes have 3.0. Inconsistent
with other sections.”
“A number of
students are concerned that we will have a difficult time with the final since
the problems we cover are not similar”
Links among course components
“TA and Prof
NEED to be consistent.”
“The class
lecture does not relate to quizzes or midterms.”
“The tests don’t
seem to relate to homework and worksheets.”
Worksheets
“The worksheets
seem to be nice preparation for the homework, but it might be better to work on
the homework in small groups instead.”
“Worksheets
don’t really reflect class material.”
“The sections
would better serve us as students if perhaps instead of worksheets, we
discussed and reiterated what the professor went over in class.”
D. Integrated Math Question
In all sections
of 124, students were asked to indicate on the back of the group worksheet
whether or not they had the Integrated Math Curriculum in high school.
a) Question:
Did you have the Integrated Math
(I, II, and III) curriculum in high school?
Results:
190 students, out of a total of 610 responding, indicated that they had
the Integrated Math Curriculum in high school.
b) In
addition, in four of the sections,
individual students were asked to respond to a second question:
On a scale of 0
to 5 (5 being “very prepared”), indicate how prepared you felt for the
trigonometry section at the beginning of Math 124.
Results:
|
|
|
How students who DID NOT have Integrated Math rated their
preparation |
How students who DID have Integrated Math rated their
preparation |
|
|
N |
158 |
77 |
|
|
Mean |
3.7 |
3.6 |
|
|
Median |
4.0 |
4.0 |
Feedback gathered during Week 5 in
1 honors section
Total number of students
participating in feedback process = 43
Total number of groups = 10
Below is a summary of the honors
section feedback related to the calculus changes.
WHAT’S HELPING?
Homework
(2 group comments)
“Book work from
Stewart on homework.”
WHAT’S NOT
HELPING? SUGGESTIONS?
Homework
and worksheets (5 group comments)
“Homework,
lectures, and worksheets aren’t very well integrated.”
“Irrelevant problems,
especially the in-class worksheet.”
“Quiz section
timing is off. Worksheets don’t
help. Don’t explain concepts well.”
“Eliminate
normal homework, but assign homework that is relevant to honors class, such as
proofs and faster pace. The homework should
be more difficult than the upcoming test problems. This would make the tests less stressful.”
INTEGRATED MATH QUESTION
On the back of the worksheet, individual students
were asked to respond to two questions about their high school mathematics:
1. On
a scale of 0 to 5 (5 being “very prepared”), indicate how prepared you felt for
the trigonometry section at the beginning of Math 124.
2. Did you have the
Integrated Math (I, II, and III) curriculum in high school?
|
|
|
How students who DID NOT have Integrated Math rated their preparation |
How students who DID have Integrated Math rated their preparation |
|
|
N |
33 |
10 |
|
|
Mean |
3.7 |
4.0 |
|
|
Median |
4.0 |
4.0 |
Feedback gathered during Week 6 in
6 sections taught by 4 instructors
Total number of students
participating in feedback process = 357
Total number of groups = 78
A. What is helping you learn? (220 group comments)
LECTURE (57
group comments)
Examples/explanations – many, worked through
in class, step-by-step (39 groups, 6 sections)
“Examples done
all the way through in lecture because we can see method.”
“Examples,
worked out in class, helps to understand steps needed to solve problems.”
“Example
problems in lecture. Step-by-step
illustrations on how to answer specific types of problems.”
“Professor does
a lot of helpful examples.”
“Providing
numerous examples and explain the method of how to solve problems.”
Organization/presentation – review,
board/overhead use, voice (7 groups, 5 sections)
“Recaps previous
lecture.”
“Two overheads,
helps to see whole problem.”
“Having more
chalkboards that gives us more examples at the same time, and have time to copy
them.”
“Clear
speaking.”
Q & A – asking HW questions in lecture (5
groups, 2 sections)
“Q & A about
homework problems at the beginning of lecture.”
“Homework helps
a great deal when homework questions are addressed in lectures and quiz
sections.”
General comments (6 groups, 4 sections)
“Professor is a
good lecturer.”
RESOURCES (51
group comments)
Math Study Center (and IC and CLUE) (26
groups, 6 sections)
“The Math Study
Center – TAs and atmosphere are helpful.”
“Going to the
Math Study Center helps with harder problems that the teacher might not be able
to go over.”
“Math Study
Center and CLUE sessions are helpful.”
Website – old quizzes/tests on line, answers
(10 groups, 3 sections)
“Like sample
quizzes and midterms with answers available online.”
“Selected
answers online.”
“Online quizzes
help students test their knowledge on what they’ve learned and what they’ll
need to know in class.”
Textbook and solutions manual (9 groups, 3
sections)
“Reading text,
reviewing solutions manual.”
“Book,
homework.”
“Solutions guide
– helps to be able to see all the steps.”
Other students (3 groups, 2 sections)
“Study partners -- help me learn!”
“Out of class
unofficial peer tutoring, working together.”
Office hours (3 groups, 3 sections)
“Office hours –
one-on-one interaction.”
QUIZ SECTIONS
AND TAs (34 group comments)
Q & A – time to ask questions about
homework (10 groups, 5 sections)
“Asking
questions during quiz section.”
“Answering
specific homework questions, in section and in class.”
“Quiz section
with an opportunity to ask homework questions.”
TA – helpful, knowledgeable, set up website
(10 groups, 5 sections)
“TAs are very
willing to help and are prepared to answer questions.”
“Our TA is very
helpful because s/he teaches us in a smaller section, makes us feel comfortable
asking questions and thoroughly explains our questions.”
“Good TAs à knowledgeable,
good at explaining, ready to help.”
“The section
leaders – TA’s website has a lot of helpful hints.”
Explanations/examples – TA works through problems (8
groups, 4 sections)
“Quiz sections
help reinforce stuff learned in class.”
“Quiz sections
are really helpful. TAs going over
homework problems.”
“TAs go over
quiz problems.”
Other (6 groups)
WORKSHEETS (19
group comments)
Process – working together with other
students (8 groups, 5 sections)
“Collaboration
with classmates like in section when we do the worksheets.”
“Worksheet days
allow you to learn with other students and makes problems solving easier.”
“Working in
groups (worksheets) is helpful because it is easier to ask questions.”
General comments (6 groups, 4 sections)
“The section
worksheet is helpful.”
“Worksheets in
quiz section.”
Content – step-by-step, reinforce material (5
groups, 2 sections)
“Worksheets
(help with new material – go step-by-step.)”
“Thursday quiz
section worksheets –prepare for homework in the next few days. Group input.”
HOMEWORK (16
group comments)
Doing the problems, repetition (9 groups, 4
sections)
“Homework
repetition is useful.”
“The homework
because it forces you to do the problems.”
“Homework has a
good range of difficulty (easy and hard) and there aren’t problems that are
impossible, or take far too long.”
General comments (4 groups, 4 sections)
“Homework.”
HW problems on quiz (3 groups, 1 section)
“Not having to
turn in homework but being able to use it on quizzes. Being able to use notes on quizzes.”
QUIZZES AND
TESTS (16 group comments)
Quizzes – keep us on track, good preparation
for midterms (9 groups, 6 sections)
“Quizzes are
harder than actual tests, and reflect knowledge.”
“Quizzes – help
students learn the material and study chapter/week.”
“Periodic quizzes
to keep students on track with homework and up-to-date on current topics.”
Test reviews and expectations (4 groups, 3
sections)
“Pre-midterm
review session was helpful.”
“We like knowing
what is on the quizzes and tests and we feel prepared for them.”
“When we’re
warned about what will be on the quizzes.”
Other (3 groups)
PROFESSOR (15
group comments)
Available, willing to help (7 groups, 3
sections)
“Available and
willing to assist during office hours.”
“We can email
professor our questions and the professor directly goes over that specific
problem.”
“Professor is
very approachable and is always willing to help, which makes the class seem
more relaxed.”
Energy, enthusiasm (5 groups, 3 sections)
“Professor’s
energy – very enthusiastic.”
“Professor’s
jokes. We like it because they help make
the material more interesting.”
Other (3 groups)
STRUCTURE AND
SIZE OF CLASS (12 group comments)
Lecture and quiz section size (7 groups, 5
sections)
“Meeting in
smaller quiz sections twice a week and being given more one-on-one time is
helpful.”
“Relatively
small class size.”
“Smaller lecture
size; being able to ask questions in class.”
Structure of class – long Thursday section
for questions and tests (5 groups, 3 sections)
“Length of
Thursday’s quiz section because you have time to check your answers on
midterms.”
“Extra time in
quiz sections where more questions are addressed.”
B. What is not helping you learn? What suggestions? (221 group comments)
LECTURE (73
group comments)
Examples and
explanation – need more explanation of examples, examples different from
quiz/homework (30 groups, 5 sections)
“Too many
examples, prefer more thorough work through things.”
“Examples are
provided without conceptual methods that help to set up the mathematics involved.”
“More
explanation, rather than examples. More
in-depth examples. Too fast.”
“A little too
much time spent on homework examples, not enough spent on the new lesson’s
concepts. Suggestion: delegate some of
the homework examples to the TAs in quiz section because we rarely use up all
the time in the sections.”
“When professor
starts an example and doesn’t work all the way through the problem, just gives
some steps and the answer.”
“Skipping steps
then explaining. It’s confusing.”
“Teacher should
show more varieties of problems that are more similar to homework
problems. Right now the homework
problems are way beyond the level of difficulties of the examples that the
professor shows.”
Presentation/Organization– pace too fast,
handwriting hard to read (19 groups, 4 sections)
“The pace of
this class is way too fast; we move on before we understand the previous
concepts.”
“Going quickly
through examples in lecture.”
“Rapid speed of
lectures – hard to follow, only have time to write down what’s on board, unable
to grasp content.”
“We should pause
after examples and check for understanding more often.”
“Last 5 minutes
of class is too fast.”
“Writing on
overhead is kind of blurry. (Write
bigger.)”
Applications (8 groups, 2 sections)
“Sometimes
professor relates calc to physics too much – it can be confusing for people
without a physics background.”)
Interaction/questions about homework – need
time to ask questions in lecture (6 groups, 2 sections)
“Not enough
class interaction.”
“Time for
homework questions would be helpful.
Examples are nice, but it would be good if some of that time was for
specific homework problems.”
Other (10 groups)
WORKSHEETS (37
group comments)
Content – too basic, don’t reflect homework
(17 groups, 6 sections)
“Worksheets do
not reflect what we do in the homework.
They are too easy.”
“The worksheets
in quiz section don’t help, the questions are too simple compared to our actual
homework.”
“Worksheets –
they are either too easy or too hard meaning we get done 30 minutes early or
not at all.”
“Worksheets are
too generic and do not help with harder problems found in homework, quizzes and
midterms.”
“The worksheets
should be more relevant to the quizzes and homework.”
Use of time – rather spend time on homework
(9 groups, 5 sections)
“Worksheet time
could be better spent going over homework.”
“Instead of
dittos maybe use group time to help each other with the homework. We feel we learn better when we can help each
other and learn from each other.”
“In-class
worksheets are sometimes useful but usually homework questions answered are
more productive.”
“Having
worksheets on Thursday. They rarely have
as complex problems as homework. Could
use that time to do homework problems.”
Process – use of time, groups (7 groups, 6
sections)
“Quiz section
worksheets are kind of worthless because we just rush through them rather than
trying to understand. We should just ask
homework questions instead of doing worksheets.”
“If TAs had
better idea of how long worksheets would take, then could more efficiently
divide Thursday lecture time between answering quiz/homework questions and
completing worksheet.”
“Group learning
on Thursday, with the worksheets, is pointless.
The worksheets are much easier than the material covered in this
course. We are given an hour and a half
to complete a worksheet that generally takes 20 minutes to complete. Also, groupwork is pointless in math. If you have a questions, you should be encouraged
to ask it, but forced group activity is worthless. It promotes an environment where one student
in the group will do the ‘busy work’ worksheet whole the other 3 or 4 will
simply copy. Also, we are not allowed to
leave after finishing, so it is a waste of our time. We could be working on our homework which is
actually representative of the material in this course.”
General comments – explanation, summary (4
groups, 3 sections)
“Worksheets on
Thursdays.”
HOMEWORK (35
group comments)
Non-book problems – too difficult/long, need
to be discussed (13 groups, 4 sections)
“The HW
worksheet problems à too much work
that has to be done without any previous explanations.”
“Extra homework
problems on worksheet need to be discussed more, more feedback.”
“Unnecessarily
long and annoying/complex problems on the homework (i.e. problems that we have
to get help on but TAs can’t even do).”
Grading and feedback– no feedback, not
collected (8 groups, 4 sections)
“Not enough
feedback on incorrect homework problems – only two problems graded.”
“Non-graded
homework does not provide incentive to finish which hinders studying behavior.”
Amount – too much, repetitive (6 groups, 4
sections)
“Irrelevant
homework problems. Too many. Don’t remember much after completed.”
“The homework is
not beneficial because it takes a huge amount of work that seems to take away
from actually learning it.”
“Assignments are
too long and tedious. Shorten
assignments.”
Even-numbered problems – can’t check, post
solutions? (5 groups, 5 sections)
“Even problems
in homework should have solutions.”
“Even number
question answers online instead of buying separate book.”
“How even number
homework questions don’t allow students to cross-check their answers.”
Other (3 groups)
QUIZZES AND
TESTS (35 group comments)
Quizzes – too long, too complex, not related
to homework (17 groups, 4 sections)
“Quizzes – too
long and too complex of problem for the allotted times and our level of
mastery.”
“Tests and
quizzes don’t reflect homework. Homework
should be focused on more, especially in section, and should be linked better
with what we are doing.”
“The midterm
problems are significantly harder than problems in homework or quiz
section. It would be nice if there were
either more, similar problems on the tests, or, (better) problems on homework
that are harder than what will be on tests.”
Quizzes – need more time (6 groups, 2
sections)
“Not enough time
for quizzes.”
“Too many
questions on the quizzes for the amount of time given to complete quiz.”
Review sessions (4 groups, 2 sections)
“Review session
outside of class would be helpful.”
Calculators/notesheet (4 groups, 3 sections)
“Not being able
to use a graphing calculator.”
“Lack of notes
on a quiz; would be nice to have a sheet.”
Other (4 groups)
QUIZ SECTION AND
TAs (20 group comments)
Use of time – more time to ask questions
about homework (10 groups, 5 sections)
“It would help
if we were allowed to ask questions in quiz section about the homework before
we turn it in.”
“Some TAs don’t
go over homework problems in section, only examples.”
“Don’t like
homework due on Tuesdays, doesn’t allow enough time before section to have
questions answered.”
TAs – not prepared, don’t explain well (6
groups, 3 sections)
“TAs aren’t
always prepared.”
“The TA knows
the material, but could use some practice speaking in front of people and
better explaining ideas.”
Other (4 groups)
RESOURCES (15
group comments)
Website – no examples from our professor,
solutions (4 groups, 4 sections)
“This class
doesn't have quizzes online. Other 125’s
do, but not us.”
“Exam solutions
on the website.”
Math Study Center/Office hours – more TAs (4 groups, 4
sections)
“Lack of staff
in Math Study Center.”
Text (4 groups, 2 sections)
“The textbook is
not very helpful since it does not explain the details in the example. Also, the curriculum does not use the book.”
Other (3 groups)
OTHER (6 group
comments)
Nothing, all’s fine – explanation, summary (1
group, 1 section)
“We have zero
complaints. We all agree that we like
the class and especially the professor.”
Other (5 groups)
C. Other comments
In Section C on the worksheet,
groups tend to write general comments about the class or comments that
reiterate feedback already written in Sections A and B. In this section, there were a total of 47
group comments. Representative comments
related to calculus changes are included below.
Class size/structure
“Doing a good
job. Make 126 smaller.”
“Very good
course. Good class size.”
“Class size is
good. Big enough where people have
questions, small enough for everyone to feel like they have attention.”
“Other math
sections have shorter quizzes and the same 20 minutes to do them.”
“We’d rather
make Tuesday quiz sections longer and Thursday sections shorter. This way we have more time to discuss
homework problems before the tests. 90
minutes seem to be too long for the worksheet’s difficulty as well.”
Worksheets
“Worksheets are
pointless – much rather have time to get homework help.”
“Worksheets
should have their solutions on the net … I need to know if I’m doing it right.”
“Groupwork is
helpful. Worksheet may be easy but it
helps when group members can show you right next to you rather than on a
board.”