Student Evaluation ：Critical Thinking Skills Spring 2010

The number of respondents: 7
The number of registered students who completed the homework: 6

Grade distribution

A: 4 (67%) B: 2(33%) C:0 (0%) D: 0 (0%)

Critical Thinking Skills (PCP) 1 Strongly disagree 2 3 4 5 Strongly agree 9 Not sure Mean
The instructor presented the material with enthusiasm. 0 0 2 2 3 0 4.14
Explanation given by the instructor was easy to understand. 0 1 1 3 2 0 3.86
It was easy to ask questions in and out of the class. 0 0 1 2 4 0 4.43
The instructor was trying to understand the needs and feelings of the students. 0 1 1 2 3 0 4.00
Mean (Instructor's Attitude) 4.11
Overall, the course was designed well. 0 1 1 2 3 0 4.00
Examples and explanations given by the instructor helped me to understand the course material. 0 1 2 0 4 0 4.00
The amount of the course material was appropriate. 1 0 0 3 3 0 4.00
The pace of the course was appropriate. 0 1 1 2 3 0 4.00
It was always clear what students were expected to do. 0 1 1 3 2 0 3.86
The instructor prepared for each class session well. 0 0 2 1 4 0 4.29
The instructor encouraged students to participate in class. 0 0 1 1 5 0 4.57
The instructor possesses enough knowledge and skills to effectively teach this course. 0 1 2 1 3 0 3.86
Mean (Structure, Teaching ability) 4.07
Considering the course content, the amount of the homework assignments was appropriate. 0 0 1 3 3 0 4.29
The reading material was properly selected. 0 0 1 3 3 0 4.29
The instructor gave helpful comments on my homework. 0 0 1 2 4 0 4.43
Writing assignments helped me to understand and apply what I learned in class. 0 0 1 1 5 0 4.57
Exams and quizzes helped me to understand the content of the material and apply the knowledge introduced in class. 0 0 1 1 2 3 4.25
Mean (Assignments, Evaluation) 4.38
Less than 60% About 60% About 70% About 80% More than 90% Not sure
How much do you feel you understood the material covered in this course? 0 0 0 5 2 0

Comments from students (obvious/serious grammatical errors are corrected)

Strength of the instructor's teaching style: She has energy to influence and a strong desire to teach students. Textbooks are carefully selected. The professor always strongly encouraged us to join the discussion, and she generously listened to whatever students spoke out. If every student can study spontaneously, it would be the most ideal situation. The teacher can teach something but students many not remember all after classes. The teaching style is still far different from what I had in the US. It makes students more actively participate in class. Going over the homework closely. The instructor always tried to pick up students' questions and opinions. Because of this interactive style, I felt the 90 minutes was shorter.発言の機会を多くつくっている。 発言に対するフィードバックがある。Textに出てくるトピックに関連する情報（exerciseに直接関係なくても）も話してくれるので、Topicによりfamiliarになる。

Suggested Improvements: Try to make more examples beside textbooks or from academic ones to demonstrate the idea. Assignments are too easy and has no connection with real reading tasks I come across on other classes. It's high-school level. We could have had more time for discussing the textbook, instead of spending much time for discussing/reviewing the homework. In-class group discussions are also my favorite activity in this class. However, we only had time and opportunities to do that 2 or 3 times. More is better. It was hard to get a clear idea of what was expected for the writing assignments; until after several try and error processes, the scores of the assignments were very low and upsetting. Spend more time on the new topic. The instructor sometimes could not lead us properly (at least to me), when we encountered complex points. 宿題の量を減らす（４題から３題へ）

Other Comments: Very restricted teacher, but too inflexible. And ideas besides textbooks are always directed to the framework of the textbook. We seem to have spent too much time on discussing homework. I still think letting students have chance to argue and share their opinions of homework is good. However, it is better to also watch (set) the time limit. I believe that the class was very informative and useful for my future. Overall, I really appreciate your every effort, including the fact that you made this elective course for us. To gain some (many actually), knowledge of critical thinking before I start working is, I guess, very helpful and beneficial.

From the instructor:

Students pointed out that I spent too much time for discussing homework assignments. That was because the majority of the students had a problem with them, particularly at the beginning of the semester. As I explained in class, weekly assignments are a very important part of this class and I needed to make sure that students understood what I was looking for in their papers. But I could have cut down the time for that in the latter half of the class, when the performance became more stable. That way, we could have had more time for discussing new materials, and for group discussions.
(Based on this assessment and the questions asked in class, contrary to the comment from one student, I do not think the course material covered in this class was too easy. )

To the students who were unhappy about how I evaluated their homework: it is a shame that you chose to complain anonymously after all course work is done, instead of discussing the problem with me and/or submitting a re-written version. Many students in this class took that option and significantly improved their scores. I hope you eventually understand the fact that a successful university class experience requires effort both from the instructor and from the students, so please take a different approach next time when you are in any learning environment.