Fall 2013 Course Evaluation Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo Response Table Fall 2013 Raters Students Responded 47 Invited 52 Response Ratio 90.38% Course Related Questions for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II- Distribution of Responses 1. The course was well organized. 2. The course generally followed the syllabus. Mean 4.91 Standard Deviation +/-0.28 3. Class attendance was necessary for learning course material. Mean 4.91 Standard Deviation +/-0.28 4. The course was intellectually challenging. Mean 4.83 Standard Deviation +/-0.56 Mean 5.00 Standard Deviation +/-0.00 Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 1/13
Course Related Questions for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II- Distribution of Responses (continued) Compared to similar courses (ie core, major, etc), this course required: Mean 4.89 Standard Deviation +/-0.31 How would you rate this course overall? Mean 4.02 Median 4.00 Mode 4 Standard Deviation +/-1.00 Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 2/13
Instructor Questions for (Billy Soo)- Distribution of Responses 1. The instructor was prepared. 2. The instructor was available for help outside of class. Mean 4.93 Standard Deviation +/-0.25 3. The instructor returned assignments/tests conscientiously. Mean 4.82 Standard Deviation +/-0.49 4. The instructor showed enthusiasm about the subject matter. Mean 4.93 Standard Deviation +/-0.25 5. The instructor stimulated interest in the subject matter. Mean 4.91 Standard Deviation +/-0.28 6. The instructor's explanations were clear. Mean 4.61 Standard Deviation +/-0.58 Mean 4.70 Standard Deviation +/-0.59 Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 3/13
Instructor Questions for (Billy Soo)- Distribution of Responses (continued) 7. The instructor treated students with respect. Mean 4.87 Standard Deviation +/-0.34 How would you rate this instructor overall as a teacher? Mean 4.74 Standard Deviation +/-0.57 Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 4/13
Course Questions for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Benchmarks 1. The course was well organized. 2. The course generally followed the syllabus. 3. Class attendance was necessary for learning course material. 4. The course was intellectually challenging. Compared to similar courses (ie core, major, etc), this course required: How would you rate this course overall? Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 5/13
Instructor Questions for (Billy Soo) - Benchmarks 1. The instructor was prepared. 2. The instructor was available for help outside of class. 3. The instructor returned assignments/tests conscientiously. 4. The instructor showed enthusiasm about the subject matter. 5. The instructor stimulated interest in the subject matter. 6. The instructor's explanations were clear. 7. The instructor treated students with respect. Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 6/13
Instructor Questions for (Billy Soo) - Benchmarks (continued) How would you rate this instructor overall as a teacher? Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 7/13
Comments for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo What are the strengths of this course? Comment Usefull Strong foundation of technical accounting concepts Professor Soo is brilliant. It is clear this class will be immeasurably beneficial for the CPA exam. You move through a lot of material very quickly. Billy Soo is a great resource, always willing to help students inside and outside the classroom. The textbook is really good. Billy Soo also saves students some money by having the course packet online to print. Very well organized. Very well organized, challenging yet motivating. I learned so much, and all the material was presented in a way that was comprehensible and manageable. A lot of example problems were given, which was so helpful, and I felt I had all the resources necessary to prepare myself. Really well-organized. Professor Soo explains really clearly. He is also extremely patient. Preparing students for the CPA exam. Professor Soo is very knowledgeable. straight forward I have heard that it is great preparation for the CPA exam. I also think that the class is still made stimulating despite the fact that the technical accounting material can be pretty dry. I learned a lot, and the professor was very available to help at all times The work is very challenging and will definitely help on the CPA exam. There is a lot of important material. It is well organized. Billy Soo is by far one of the best professors I have had at BC. While the course is very, very challenging, it is very well organized and Professor Soo is always available for extra help. The instructor is incredibly knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subject. He is also always available for help outside of class. Students will learn a lot from the course. Great teacher, extremely intelligent learned a crazy amount of information good teaching style You learn a significant amount of detailed accounting information in a relatively short amount of time. Very Challenging. Extremely well organized, very logically laid out, good class examples and a balance of going over homework and new material in class, a lot of good practice problems to apply the lessons, very fast paced but also willing to field questions along the way. Professor Soo is a great professor who is very kind and open to questions and giving help to his students. He clearly knows everything about the topic, which is an extremely difficult one. Extremely well organized and challenging. I learned a lot and the speed of the class forced me to study and do the homework regardless of proximity to the test. For this reason I retained the information well and felt that I really understood the accounting concepts. The course was well organized. The course notes were very thorough and helpful. There are plenty of practice problems. Professor Soo seems to really enjoy teaching the class and does a good job explaining the material. Professor Soo makes time to meet with anyone outside of class to discuss anything you are struggling with or want more clarification. Teaches you exactly what u need to know. Billy explains the information very clearly although it is very challenging. You learn more than you'd ever imagine about accounting Organization, great teaching, professor very willing to meet outside of class. Very challenging course, likely one of Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 8/13
the most difficult in my time at BC. Professor Soo is the best possible teacher for this class. As everybody knows, FAST 2 is difficult, but Professor Soo is a great teacher and is ALWAYS willing to help students both inside and outside of the class. I can't say enough great things. The coursebook that we follow is really well put together. Not to mention Professor Soo is extremely intelligent! Extremely challenging. The professor is excellent and brings the classroom to another level. Each student must work their hardest and the professor has provided many resources and examples to bring the students understanding to another level. Interesting, Great teacher The course is really well organized and there is plenty of practice problems, exercises, quizzes and exams and prepare you for the midterm and the final, The coursepack is really useful compared to the book. Very organized and I learned a huge amount of infomation Definitely learn alt - prepare you for the CPA. Billy Soo does a phenomenal job of making this really difficult subject matter easy to learn. You learn a lot about accounting. The depth of the material covered, challenge of the material, willingness of Professor Soo to take as much time out of class that is needed in order for a student to fully comprehend the topics covered How could the instructor improve the course? Comment The material is hard Focus on less topics so students can grasp the material better and keep up with the coursework. Professor Soo is teaching challenging information. The only possible improvement would be to split FAST II into 2 semesters, since this is a lot of material at once. In-class explanations are done so quickly and mechanically that students do not have time to process the material, which is necessary for even being able to ask questions. He also assigned online homework which was fine to augment your homework grade, but took a lot of extra time and was so different from the format of any graded material that it was pretty much useless. His tests are also absurd, with the amount of material tested. I can barely think by the end of the four hours, since we went through the material so quickly in class, and my study time was limited due to studying for other accounting classes, which seemed to always test in the same week. Cut back on the amount of material we had to learn. I honestly don't know how it could have been better Nothing really. Give more smaller quizzes throughout. Make the exams easier. 4 credit Not much that can be done about this, but sometimes the speed of the explanations is very difficult to keep up with. I usually never understand the concept when it is first taught in class. Have more realistic expectations Include more practice problems for the final exam. It is extremely difficult, and there are not enough practice problems to help prepare for the tests. The Connect homework is kind of annoying and very specific in its requirements. The time dedicated to homework problems could maybe be spent more productively. Most students appear to simply write the answers from the solution manual. manage the work load, be more specific on what is on the exam I think the quizzes are pretty arbitrary. I did not study for either and got a 5, as the odds worked out for a multiple choice quiz while others studied for hours and got 3s and 4s. Multiple choice is just not a good accounting medium to quiz someone with. Make the exams shorter, perhaps? I understand the appeal of the long exam for covering everything but maybe there's a better way. It turns into an endurance test after the first couple of hours an then my memory, at least, Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 9/13
began to slip. More example problems, these were in my mind the most helpful study aids. Sometimes the professor is very repetitive when going over the material, which makes the class go by slowly. However, sometimes this is necessary because the material is particularly challenging, so this is not really a big deal. I think the instructor could change the grading structure of how he grades the entire class. Having more weight on homework and less weight on the tests. None -Maybe have homework solutions on projector and have students explain how to do them? It is hard to see the homework solutions in class when the students write them very small on the chalkboard, so it could be more useful to have them on the projector. While students benefit from participating and writing the answers on the board, it would still accomplish the same thing and require the same preparation to take the class through solutions on the overhead. The quizzes should be waited less or should be treated differently. Too much weight for a "small" quiz. The examples in the notes could be more detailed, but that is a minor comment. This course is very overwhelming and takes more time than any other class I have taken. It was honestly more work than 3 of my other classes combined. Preparing for the exams is insane and the exams themselves are very difficult. I think that one thing that would be helpful is giving the students a bit more time to cover all the material before the exams. It seemed easy to keep up during the weeks, but on exam weeks it was impossible. I would have to try and teach myself the material ahead of time because I would not have enough time to complete the problem sets and practice exams and understand them before the exam. Less challenging exams None If possible, slow down. I understand it is necessary to cover a large amount of information to prepare those who will take the CPA. Those of us who do not plan on it, however, may have benefited from a slower pace. The course is really hard so maybe just more opportunities to discuss problems outside of class This class is really built as preparation for the CPA exam. As someone that doesn't plan on taking the CPA, I thought that there was no reason for it to be so tough. N/A Would you recommend this course to other students, majors, etc.? Why or why not? Comment No if that is not your major I have and will recommend Professor Soo's class. Accounting majors have to take FAST II anyway. Yeah, you have to take it, and Billy Soo is good. Don't take FAST for fun, but no one does that anyway. I would recommend taking FAST 2 with Billy Soo for all accounting majors because he is a great teacher. Yes, absolutely. Because the material is so applicable and interesting. I have a better grasp on all areas of a business, and I feel very informed. The accomplishment of excelling in this class is worth all the work. Yes. The best accounting course to take. I would recommend this course to anybody as it greatly expands your knowledge of accounting. No. It is very hard and you should not take it unless you are going for the CPA exam. yes nedd it Yes, it is very rewarding if you put in the effort. Yes. Tough course but great professor Yes, but not to other majors. The workload is unnecessary for non-accounting majors. No- It is very hard to get a good grade. Definitely, you learn so much in such a short amount of time. It is great preparation for the CPA Exam, and the notes will be great study materials. Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 10/13
Yes, this is a great class for accounting majors to take. It will help one realize whether accounting is the field for them. Very difficult but I have learned so much absolutely not way too challenging to manage work load is too much Yes, the accounting knowledge I have gained is unparalleled. Yes, especially to finance majors because it provides the structure behind everything that finance is about. If you're not going CPA don't take FAST 2. It's a GPA killer and the information will be learned on the job anyway. I've been told at work that the stuff you learn in school is mostly not going to impact your job, and that most of the onthe-job learning is what's important. Yes, but only if accounting as a major/career is a serious consideration. This course is very challenging. I would recommend it to anyone who either wants to take the CPA or learn a lot about accounting. I would not recommend it to someone who just wants to take an easy class. I would recommend taking Professor Soo if you are an accointing major who needs to take FAST II for the major requirement. If you aren't an accounting major, I would not suggest taking FAST II because it is very accounting specific and not enjoyable for an elective. Accounting majors only but not for no accounting students it's very challenging I wouldn't recommend it to students who aren't accounting majors, as it would most likely be far too challenging Yes, I would recommend this to other Accounting majors as it is great preparation for the CPA exam, despite being very strenuous. Not for other majors. Most people know that FAST 2 is a very difficult class, but is required for accounting majors. I would recommend Professor Soo as a teacher for FAST 2 because although all the rumors about how difficult it is are TRUE, he really is the best and the this course is one of the best ways to prep for the CPA exam as well. YES! I would only recommend this course to students taking the CPA. This course is very challenging and time consuming. Yes, great course for acc'ting majors Yes, because the professor is great and this course prepares you well for the CPA. Yes, especially to accounting majors. yes If someone is trying to go into public accounting, this course is essential to their forward progress. Not for non-cpa accounting majors. Only if they have a strong background in accounting and are planning on doing some type of accounting work after BC Additional Comments: Comment Need hardworking Exams are too long, and the grading is harsh (e.g., 3 points deducted for crediting a planned asset instead of another column, even though the pension worksheet balances). There should be more frequent, shorter exams to allow students to grasp the material better and keep up. Even after a 5 hour exam on Friday night, it's impossible to dislike Professor Soo because he is always smiling. Professor Soo is one of the best professors I have had at BC. Not only does he clearly explain the topics, but he constantly motivated me with his patience, encouraging words, and very knowledgeable insights. He helped me with the class, advising, and so much more. I still think it's incredible how he can be so busy but still make time for all his students and be so personable. This is the hardest and best class I have taken at BC Hope the class time could be earlier in the day. It is hard at 3pm. Great class. Difficult, but rewarding. Excellent course with an excellent professor. Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 11/13
will prepare me for the CPA exam Haven't learned a thing in my basic finance class because i've already leaned it in a better and more thorough way in FAST2 - Professor Soo did a great job teaching this very difficult class, he is the best professor to take the course with. Prof. Soo has created an excellent course which is one of the main reasons our accounting department is so prestigious. It was a struggle, but I've been told it pays off for the CPA. None none Be more clear about when homework is due. Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 12/13
Responses to Customized Questions for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo Course Report for MA30201_2014F FINAN ACCT STDS/THEORY II - Billy Soo 13/13