Teaching PortfolioFollowing are the questions I asked on my mid-term course evaluations as well as some sample responses from students. I encouraged anonymity on these surveys; students typed and printed them and I left the room while they did so. I wanted them to be as honest as possible, and told them ahead of time that their responses could help me structure the course. After receiving responses, I kept their concerns and ideas in mind as I developed and altered assignments to meet the needs of my students. Responses are quoted directly.
Q: What do you think of the readings? Are there too many/too few? Are they redundant, or do they skip around too much? Are the concepts appropriately challenging?
A: I'll be honest, I don't get around to all the readings but I do my best to try. The are really easy to read and sometimes pretty interesting but I just have so much other stuff that it is higher on my priority list most of the time that by the time I get to reading English I'm exhausted!
A: I think the reading is very interesting. The only downside to the reading is that some of the information in the chapters is similar. When the discussions make us think is what becomes challenging for us as students, but is also what makes the reading come alive to us.
Q: What has been your favorite assignment so far? Why?
A: My favorite assignment this far was probably the personal portrait assignment. It allowed us to write about something important to us and express these ideas in a musically and artistic way, which is perhaps one of the most powerful ways of expression.
A: So far my favorite assignment has been paper 1 because we got to figure out what sort of topics we wanted to write about with each other, argue, disagree, and express our own ideas and feelings, and potentially create some controversy.
Q: What has been your least favorite assignment so far? Why?
A: I think my least favorite assignment so far has been the first ad project, simply because it was pretty early in the class and were were unfamiliar with a lot of the software.
A: The assignment I liked the least would have to be the most recent response paper. The options were all limited to things of which I have little to no interest, and while I believe it is important to explore new ideas and concepts, absolutely hating a topic really limited my ability to put my best work towards it.
Q: Are you being exposed to useful concepts in class? Are activities and discussions relevant? Are these activities helping you with your writing? Explain.
A: Class time is going great. We discuss many in depth concepts and go off on some fun tangents! We also balance our time having fun and learning which I think is hard to do. Also, things we discuss are helping me with my writing. For instance, last week when we discussed writers block and such....that really helped me realize I'm not alone when I struggle with writing my first paragraph of a paper.
A: I think class time is being used well and it is not often that I am counting down the ticks on the clock. I like how there is a lot of multimedia incorporated into the class. I like the open discussions we have and I think they are relevant and helpful.
Q: Do you feel your writing, or writing process, has improved? If no, why not? If yes, how has it improved?
A: My writing process has definitely improved! Because we do write papers on a pretty consistent basis I have become more efficient with writing papers. In the past, it would take me hours to write a 3 to 5 page paper but now that writing papers has almost become second nature, it doesn't take as long as before.
A: I think my writing has definitely improved. I think I have take away some of the restrictions that I or others have placed on it in the past and feel like I can write more freely and that it comes easier to me now.
Q: Have conferences been useful to you? (if not, what can I do or what can you do to make them more useful and productive?)
A: I enjoy conferences because we get one on one time with you. It also gives us time to express any concerns, ask questions, or just get to know you.
A: Conferences have been pretty useful in helping me to figure out what's going on in class if I'm unsure of something.