Student Evaluation of Teaching Fall 2013 Individual Report for ECON-1000-001-STORR- Essentials of Economics Instructor: Richard Langlois (SET Primary Instructor) Response Table Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) Raters Students Responded 76 Invited 135 Response Ratio 56% ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 1/18
Section 1. Summary Please respond to the following question about instructor Richard Langlois. Question Course Department School University Median Median Median Median The instructor presented the course material clearly. 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.4 The instructor was well prepared for class. 4.0 4.5 4.6 4.6 The instructor responded to questions adequately. 4.0 4.3 4.5 4.5 The instructor stimulated interest in the subject. 4.0 4.2 4.5 4.5 The instructor showed interest in helping students learn. 4.0 4.4 4.6 4.6 The instructor gave clear assignments. 4.0 4.4 4.4 4.4 The instructor was accessible to students. 4.0 4.3 4.5 4.5 The instructor gave useful feedback on my performance. 3.0 3.8 4.3 4.3 The instructor returned graded work in a reasonable amount of time. 4.5 4.3 4.5 4.5 The instructor used class time effectively. 4.0 4.4 4.5 4.5 The instructor treated all students with respect. 4.0 4.7 4.8 4.8 The instructor graded fairly. 4.0 4.5 4.6 4.6 The instructor's teaching methods promoted student learning. 4.0 4.1 4.3 4.4 What is your overall rating of Richard Langlois's teaching? Course Department School University Question Median Median Median Median What is your overall rating of the instructor's teaching? 3.0 3.6 4.0 4.0 Please respond to the following question about the course. Question Course Department School University Median Median Median Median The methods of evaluating student learning seemed appropriate. 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.3 The course content was well organized. 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.4 The course objectives were clear. 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.4 The course objectives were met. 4.0 4.3 4.4 4.4 The textbook made a valuable contribution. 4.0 4.0 3.9 4.0 The other course materials made a valuable contribution. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 The pace of the course seemed appropriate. 4.0 4.2 4.3 4.4 What is your overall rating of the course? Course Department School University Question Median Median Median Median What is your overall rating of the course? 3.0 3.6 3.7 3.8 ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 2/18
Section 2. Student Information What is your Academic Level? Options Count Percentage Freshman 62 82% Sophomore 6 8% Junior 4 5% Senior 3 4% Graduate 0 0% Other 1 1% What is your expected grade in this course? Options Count Percentage A 24 32% B 36 47% C 15 20% D 0 0% F 1 1% Pass 0 0% Fail 0 0% Other 0 0% What is your cumulative average (GPA)? Options Count Percentage 3.5 and above 14 33% 3.0-3.4 21 49% 2.5-2.9 6 14% 2.0-2.4 1 2% < 2.0 1 2% How many times did you miss this class? Options Count Percentage 0-2 59 78% 3-4 14 18% 5-6 2 3% > 6 1 1% ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 3/18
Section 2. Student Information (continued) On average, how many hours a week did you spend outside of class preparing for this course? Options Count Percentage 0 0 0% 1-3 53 70% 4-6 17 22% 7-9 4 5% 10-14 1 1% 15+ 1 1% Which best describes this course for you? Options Count Percentage Requirement for my major 4 5% General Education Requirement 46 61% Other Requirement 3 4% Elective 21 28% Elective for major 2 3% My desire to take this course was: Options Count Percentage Much more than most courses 4 5% More than most courses 21 28% About the same as most courses 27 36% Less than most courses 21 28% Much less than most courses 3 4% For me, the level of difficulty of the course content was: Options Count Percentage Much more than most courses 6 8% More than most courses 21 28% About the same as most courses 33 43% Less than most courses 15 20% Much less than most courses 1 1% ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 4/18
Section 2. Student Information (continued) Overall, how much do you feel you've learned in this course? Options Count Percentage Much more than most courses 3 4% More than most courses 22 29% About the same as most courses 34 45% Less than most courses 13 17% Much less than most courses 4 5% ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 5/18
Section 3. Questions About the Instructor Please respond to the following question about instructor Richard Langlois. 1. The instructor presented the course material clearly. 2. The instructor was well prepared for class. 3. The instructor responded to questions adequately. 4. The instructor stimulated interest in the subject. 5. The instructor showed interest in helping students learn. 6. The instructor gave clear assignments. 7. The instructor was accessible to students. 8. The instructor gave useful feedback on my performance. ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 6/18
Please respond to the following question about instructor Richard Langlois. (continued) 9. The instructor returned graded work in a reasonable amount of time. 10. The instructor used class time effectively. 11. The instructor treated all students with respect. 12. The instructor graded fairly. 13. The instructor's teaching methods promoted student learning. ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 7/18
Section 4. Questions About the Course Please respond to the following question about the course. 1. The methods of evaluating student learning seemed appropriate. 2. The course content was well organized. 3. The course objectives were clear. 4. The course objectives were met. 5. The textbook made a valuable contribution. 6. The other course materials made a valuable contribution. 7. The pace of the course seemed appropriate. ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 8/18
Section 5. Aggregate Report on "Overall Questions" Overall Rating 1. What is your overall rating of the instructor's teaching? 2. What is your overall rating of the course? Overall Rating Question Good, Very Good & Excellent Very Good & Excellent Excellent What is your overall rating of the instructor's teaching? 72% 42% 14% What is your overall rating of the course? 72% 40% 11% ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 9/18
Section 6. Comments What was the most positive aspect of the way in which this instructor taught this course? Comment The instructor went into a very good amount of detail without making the material seem overly-complicated, and provided several good real-world examples to help us understand the concepts. It also helped greatly that the textbook we used actually contained everything from the lectures (makes sense, seeing as he wrote it specifically for the course). He occasionally used examples from movies and tv shows to help us learn certain topics and increase interest in the subject. He also used the iclicker often, which was helpful. had outside examples ready, and they made sense Utilizing Clickers the various types of information we were given I liked how lectures were used to ask clicker questions for us to understand the content we had been quizzed on weekly. Online Quizzes He explained things well The online lectures he posted were very useful and it was helpful that the material in class was similar to that He used videos from different movies and shows to explain information. He also had us answer questions using clickers to allow us to participate. The weekly homework assignments were basically all I used to learn in this course. The online accessible lectures He explained things in a way that we could understand the concepts He always knew what he was talking about and provided illustrations and charts for problems. Richard was good He speaks in a way that shows that he is knowledgable in the subject, and shows that he enjoys talking about the subject. Very good at explaining material The instructor clearly liked the material and seemed to enjoy teaching it. I liked the way the instructor used the clicker questions and sometimes showed video clips. He assigned weekly homeworks on the module that he would be teaching that day which made sure that students were caught up to the material before lecture. Showing videos that correlated with the information being taught and relating the information being taught to real world examples Incorporated real life examples during class. He included extra bit of pop culture to relate to inside course material. Instructor answered questions clearly Allowed many opportunities for discussion and student questions. good powerpoints Interactive activities He was very clear, I never had any confusion as to what was going to be on the tests and homework. Assigning weekly quizzes helped me strongly grasp the concepts. Used interactivivity He prepared us very well for exams and gave us a lot of resources to study from. ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 10/18
powerpoints and explanations were good The disscusions went over things in class iclickers Real life examples were used. I feel prepared to live my adult life with the knowledge I learned in this course There where a lot of resources we could use to learn the material He answered questions right away when students asked in lecture, or on husky ct. The material followed the textbook closely, and was organized in a easily accessible manner. The instructor was clearly enthusiastic. The only positive thing from this course was that he offered worldly views of economics. The use of the i-clickers was good because it kept the students focused and active in the class. Also, it was always interesting to see the results to the clicker questions. I also liked when he used supplementary videos to go along with the lecture. practice midterms were most helpful Dr. Langlois presented the information in a clear and concise way in class and also provided helpful supplementary materials online. Using HUSKYCT to respond to specific questions in a timely fashion i clicker The most positive aspect had nothing to do with the "in lecture" activity. It was all located on Husky CT, from the video lectures to the help available. The instructor mostly had nothing to do with it from what I could tell. I think students were very swayed by rate my professor ratings. Professor Langois wasn't a terrible teacher. I thought the clicker questions and the learning modules were a good way to organized the material.? The ask the professor forum was a good idea. What can this instructor do to improve teaching effectiveness in the classroom? Comment Sometimes the instructor tended to veer a little off topic, or spend too much time on one particular topic, resulting in a little neglect of some material. It was never a real problem, but could get a bit boring at times. The only other issue was that the clicker questions were often guessers rather than tests of our comprehension. He could make the class more interactive by utilizing the iclicker even more, even though he already uses it more than most. More discussion not rant on random tangents. keep us interested for 1 hr and 15 minutes teach more information based compared to example based. Less of a straight lecture and more of an involved audience would help to keep my attention on the topic for a longer period of time. Not Much Fix his microphone Stay on topic more often. Improve exam questions because many times they were unclear in what they were asking and seemed to be able to be interpreted in many different ways. Not use his own textbook. It is as confusing as he is. Have shorter lectures. 75 minute lectures are too long I can't think of anything Richard was GREAT ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 11/18
Having a bit more discussion would make it more interesting and perhaps acting as more of a lead-up into the explanation of a topic than just explaining/defining a topic outright (albeit after he has led up to the topic himself). I did not like how the homework did not match up to the material in class most of the time. It would be better if the material was covered first and we were then tested on it. He could make the material more interesting to students and talk more about the material on each chapter rather than other things. Not much More concise answers, more specific questions on exams because sometimes there is a claim to there being 2 answers with only one being counted. I felt like the teacher didn't really care whether I failed or succeeded. Maybe it was just because I just kept getting C's on my tests and I am normally a straight A student. If there were more than just 2 tests I think i could have done better. Give students incentives to answer questions in class by offering bonus points on tests if they answer the question correctly. This will stimulate more participation in class. Nothing I can think of now. more relevant info. to tests Use things other than power point to teach Probably go quicker, cover more per lecture to improve the amount that can be added to notes. More involvement through clickers would help keep students off their electronic devices and cause them to pay attention to what is going on. Be more engaging Do less talking and more interactive things. be more engaging Lecture in class make a study guide rather than practice exams Better lectures and exam reviews Nothing in class teaching is spot on Nullifying a general lack of interest in the subject. talk about what people did the worst on in the MyEconLab homework each week. He can make the course material more clear and communicate it more effectively and possibly not use a textbook he wrote himself because if I don't understand the material during lecture, the book he wrote isn't exactly more clear.. I can't think of anything. not just lecture, make it more interesting Increase the amount of questions presented to the class, primarily ones relating to graphs. preparing us for exams rather than just giving practice exams Preferably, go over the modules in the classroom more in depth. ASSIGN HOMEWORK BASED ON THE TOPIC IN LECTURE. Have the homework be done after the topic was discussed, not before. Doing homework being absolutely clueless on what is going on, getting a bad grade, and then discussing it in lecture is meaningless. I understand that there's supposed to be things online to help, and sure it did a little, but nothing will compare to having a professor show it to the students. Due to this, my grade and my ability to learn was extremely crippled. It was difficult to follow the Professor, in sometimes complex concepts. In his teaching, I would appreciate if he would make his points clearer, instead of giving examples before I understood fully the essence of the concept itself. Go over what will be on the homework before we have to do the homework? Please write any comments you have about the course or course materials. ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 12/18
Comment I came in to this course with a strong interest in pursuing economics, and this course was successful in enhancing that interest. I plan on taking more related courses and am highly considering taking on a career in the field. it was a little difficult for an 1000 level course class was difficult but I learned a lot I liked MyEconLab, it really helped to ensure my knowledge on a subject. This class was difficult because it seemed as though you had to think a new way then you are used to. Most of his discussions were just hypothetical situations in which he did not talk about anything specific. I would have preferred having an actual textbook instead of the online one the materials could be more simple and with more examples Richard The course was very interesting because it was largely conceptual. Unfortunately, even with it being so interesting, the amount to which it was conceptual seemed to hinder me a bit simply because concepts can often have different interpretations. Getting to the right answer seemed difficult because to do so, I had to be sure to be very nitpicky about the tiny details that I may not think about. The book was useful; however, I did not like the latter chapters. The beginning chapters were written out nicely and were very helpful. The latter chapters in the book presented the material but really did not highlight what was important or not. MyEconLab was very helpful in teaching the material I found the textbook very useful, although very expensive. Economics is something you just have to get. I think I was not in that select few. The course was well organized and fully utilized the course materials. more specific number examples would help Book was very helpful throughout the course. Should not cut up multiple textbooks and pit them into one. Was not effective. There was overlap. Better to just use one good textbook. The course was interesting and fun.. I liked the use of clicker questions. Not pleased. The clickers were cool, although his use of technology was bad because he did not know how to use it. I thought that the course was interesting, but there were some parts that I found to be boring. I feel like the textbook could have been better. I think the course progressed much too quickly for what is supposed to be an introductory class. I don't like econ Definitely interesting. For courses with laboratory and/or discussion sections: were the laboratory/discussion sections helpful to your learning? Comment This course had no lab component. n/a yes, but they were the same as the lectures online yes ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 13/18
Richard Yes very. We did not have Lab/discussion questions I loved the simulations, they really illustrated things well.. No discussions/lab.. SHOULD HAVE A DISCUSSION PERIOD. I wish there were discussion sections for this class, it would probably make life a lot easier. n/a ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 14/18
Which aspect of the course worked best (helped you learn the most)? For example: textbook, MyEconLab, online lectures, in-class lectures/activities, TA/tutor. Feel free to comment. Comment The textbook was the most useful aspect, specifically because it covered everything we needed to know, unlike some courses where the lectures featured material not in the class's textbook. It really made me feel like I had a to-go version of the course, which helped me greatly whenever I had trouble understanding a concept. Myeconlab helped a lot and the in class activities were extremely good. the ta was never in class textbook MyEconLab was the best way I learned throughout the course myecon lab with the questions and custom e text The textbook and MyEconLab really helped me get through this course. MyEconLab,Lectures Online lectures MyEconLab MyEconLab MyEconLab helped the most bc it was focused on particular subjects. Textbook online lectures textbook Richard MyEconLab and the practice exams helped me to understand the topic in the way that the exams presented their questions. MyEconLab was helpful. I liked the study section of MyEconLab, which helped with the homework a lot. MyEconLab If you read the textbook and went to lecture there wasn't much else needed to understand the material textbook and MyEconLab I thought the in class lectures really helped with the quizzes when they were told before class. I learned the most from in class lectures and the textbook. myeconlab textbook and the times we went over the old tests before we took the same (newer version). The textbook as well as the MyEconLab. Textbook Online lectures and MyEconLab helped me understand things the best Myeconlab myeconlab MyEconLab online lectures helped a lot, as well as the homework/quizes Practice Exams Online help. The teacher was not clear and the TA was difficult to contact. I liked the in class activities/experiments that we did and the i-clicker questions. MyEconLab was alright for the homework quizzes, although I found that some of the questions being asked on MyEconLab were different from what was covered in the book and in lecture. in class activities, practice midterms, my econ lab ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 15/18
I found that the MyEconLab helped reinforce what I was reading about in the textbook, but I think it would have been more helpful if it would also explain correct answers. It was frustrating to get questions wrong and not be able to figure out why I was getting the problem wrong or how to do it correctly. in class lectures activiteis To be honest, nothing really worked for me. I tried everything available. myeconlab Being able to talk after class was helpful. Which aspect of the course worked least well for you? For example: textbook, MyEconLab, online lectures, in-class lectures/activities, TA/tutor. Feel free to comment. Comment The clicker questions were the least engaging part of the course. While I dislike clicker questions that require complete mastery of material to get right, I also want them to give us a sense of where we are in terms of understanding the material. They did that sometimes, but also featured too much guessing (for example, "What do you think was the highest-grossing film of all time?") MyEconLab was very helpful in learning the online textbook did not always work Textbook textbook The online lectures never worked well for me, I had a hard time staying focused. textbook reading Textbook TA/tutor only because I never went to a tutoring session. Everything else worked well for me. It was hard for me to absorb information during class. Textbook. Listening to him talk was confusing and the textbook wasn't much better since he wrote it. Online lectures textbook Activities Richard The textbook seemed to be useful, but was the most difficult to choose to do when I had the other options that involved me actually doing something. I just did not like how the class material did not match up to the homework. in class lectures because the instructor was hard to pay attention to at times and material in the chapters was not often discussed during class. Probably myeconlab just because the questions weren't really the same as the ones on the test. textbook and inclass lectures along with activities The book had some good sections, but then some awfully dry sections. It made it really hard to concentrate on the material. There were no particular aspects of the course that I had a problem with. lectures Online lectures. In class lectures the TA/tutor was the aspect that worked the least for me. textbook longer than normal lecture duration ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 16/18
Class lectures, textbook, in class activities. The textbook worked the least well for me. Some of the chapters I felt helped me learn better than the others. The in-class activities worked least well for me because I had a lot of technical difficulties in completing them; they never seemed to work on my laptop. myeconlab The whole "let's do the homework before the topic is brought up in lecture" thing. I understand that the professor wants the students to have familiarity with the subject, but why not just assign textbook readings before lecture? Then after the topic is lectured on assign the homework? The textbook was difficult to follow, somewhat like the class. Again, certain concepts and key points were not made clear, and I found myself searching through jargon to actually extract the point. online lectures Although it's completely understandable that the course skips over the math involved, I think it would have been easier. I think things tend to be easier to learn if I could understand them instead of memorizing. How would you rate the difficulty of this course compared to other 1000-level general-education courses you are taking or have taken? Much more difficult; more difficult; about the same; easier; much easier? Comment The difficulty was, on average, the same as most other courses, although it wavered at times. About the same this is more difficult than other 1000 level gen education courses More difficult much more difficult About the same. same More difficult More difficult I thought this class was more difficult than most of my 1000 level courses. Much more difficult. Definitely have to put in more effort compared to a different 1000 level intro course. About the same about the same Easier about the same Richard More difficult More difficult. The material is very hard to understand. about the same About the same It's probably at about a similar level of difficulty than other 1000 courses For someone who really has to work at the basic concepts of economics, pretty difficult. The difficulty of the course was about the same as other courses. easier About the same. This is my first and only entry level course. This was about the same or maybe a little bit easier than other 1000-level courses ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 17/18
same easier than other 1000 courses but not by much 6 or 7 out of 10 About the same. about the same Much more difficult and confusing. This course was about the same level of difficulty to the other 1000-level courses I have taken. about the same About the same. much more difficult MUCH MORE DIFFICULT. More difficult due to the amount of work involved, with homework and outside reading. more difficult It is a lot easier to understand than other gen-eds. After all, how would you create a graph that can interpret Shakespeare? ECON-1000-001-STORR-Essentials of Economics - Richard Langlois - SET Primary Instructor 18/18