Mid-Semester Course Evaluation Form

Please copy the following questions into a word processing program, answer them, print off the document, and return it to me by Monday at 5 pm (in the envelope on the bulletin board outside my office door [Fenton 240]). The purpose of this questionnaire is for you to give me a sense of your priorities and for me to get useful feedback on the course, your experience in it, and my teaching strategies, so please take a bit of time with this and think carefully about the questions. I'm using these questionnaires to help me improve the course and make it a better learning experience for you; I can't guarantee that I'll follow every suggestion you make, but if there are significant patterns in your responses, I will make every effort to address them in the second half of the semester. Please do not put your name anywhere on the document you print off; let's keep answers strictly anonymous. The questions are a mix of multiple choice and short answer; on multiple choice questions, please check all options that apply.

Student Information

0. Section #/Time Class Meets:

1. Do you enjoy coming to class? [ ] always [ ] never [ ] most of the time [ ] sometimes [ ] hardly ever [ ] often [ ] I feel differently every day

2. Have you done the assigned reading? [ ] yes [ ] no [ ] some of it [ ] a little of it [ ] all of it

3. If not, was it because [ ] I don't care [ ] no time [ ] not made important in class [ ] boring material [ ] frustrating, difficult material [ ] I seldom read assignments on time [ ] personal emergencies [ ] focusing more on other courses [ ] I really don't know why

4. How confident do you feel about your understanding of the literary works we've been reading and the issues we've been discussing in class and on the course listserv? [ ] very [ ] not at all [ ] depends on the work [ ] somewhat

5. Have you been reading other students' observations/discussion questions on the course listserv? [ ] regularly [ ] hardly ever [ ] never [ ] always [ ] sometimes

6. Have you made use of the "links" page on the course web site to help prepare for class discussion or for your essays or projects? [ ] regularly [ ] hardly ever [ ] never [ ] always [ ] sometimes

7. Have you made use of the works on reserve in Reed Library to help prepare for class discussion or for your essays or projects? [ ] regularly [ ] hardly ever [ ] never [ ] always [ ] sometimes

8. How many hours per week out of class do you typically spend reading and thinking about the reading? [ ] 9+ [ ] 6-9 [ ] 3-6 [ ] 1-3 [ ] less than 1

9. How many hours did you devote to writing the analytical essay (rereading, brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, proofreading)? [ ] 9+ [ ] 6-9 [ ] 3-6 [ ] 1-3 [ ] less than 1

10. How hard have you been working in this class? [ ] super hard--like titanium or adamantium [ ] hard--like concrete [ ] pretty hard--like wood [ ] not so hard--like limp bizkit [ ] pretty soft--like Kenny G [ ] about as hard as I expected to [ ] harder than expected [ ] harder than I should have to be for a course like this

11. What final course grade are you aiming for? [ ] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] D [ ] E

12. What should be changed about the course to make it more enjoyable and a better learning experience for you?

Course Information

1. Is this course what you expected? [ ] yes [ ] no

2. If "no," is it [ ] better [ ] worse?

3. Is it better or worse because it's [ ] easier [ ] more flexible [ ] unfocused [ ] harder [ ] a waste of time [ ] too general/vague [ ] challenging [ ] playful [ ] interesting [ ] irrelevant [ ] a welcome change [ ] it makes me think [ ] it takes up too much time [ ] a reason other than the ones listed here

4. Classes themselves are [ ] interesting [ ] boring [ ] unfocused [ ] irrelevant [ ] thought-provoking [ ] a welcome change from my other classes [ ] a waste of time [ ] overly managed by teacher

5. Please rank the following activities in terms of which you prefer to have happening in class, from most often to least often: [ ] in-class writing [ ] small-group work with defined task [ ] question/observation-brainstorming small-group work [ ] open discussion [ ] large-group discussion of questions selected through small-group work [ ] large-group discussion of questions selected by teacher [ ] lectures [ ] reading comprehension quizzes [ ] game show-type competitions

6. Please rank the following activities in terms of how much you learn from them during class, from most to least: [ ] in-class writing [ ] small-group work with defined task [ ] question/observation-brainstorming small-group work [ ] open discussion [ ] large-group discussion of questions selected through small-group work [ ] large-group discussion of questions selected by teacher [ ] lectures [ ] reading comprehension quizzes [ ] game show-type competitions

7. The kinds of writing you've been required to do in the course (annotating literary texts as/after you read them, in-class brainstorming, listserv observations/discussion questions, progress reports on long-term projects, analytical essays) are [ ] interesting [ ] challenging [ ] stupid/silly [ ] a positive change from what I'm used to [ ] unclear [ ] unrewarding

8. The long-term projects are [ ] interesting [ ] challenging [ ] stupid/silly [ ] a positive change from what I'm used to [ ] unclear [ ] unrewarding [ ] too much work

9. Please rank the works you've been reading in terms of your interest level in them: [ ] selections from the Old Testament [ ] selections from Naipaul's A Way in the World [ ] Phillips's Crossing the River [ ] Ghosh's In an Antique Land [ ] selections from Sam's Jesus is Indian [ ] Salih's Season of Migration to the North

10. Please tell me what you like and don't like about class discussions, and what you think should be done to improve them.

11. Please tell me what you like and don't like about the course listserv, and what you think should be done to make submitting observations and discussion questions on it more useful to you and your education.

12. Please tell me what you like and don't like about the formal essay assignments, and what can be done to improve them.

13. Please tell me what you like and don't like about the long-term projects, and how they can be changed to make them more useful to you and your education.

14. Please tell me what you like and don't like about the course web site, and what can be done to improve it.

Teacher Information

1. The teacher [ ] is sympathetic [ ] is unfocused [ ] is interesting [ ] rambles [ ] dominates the discussion annoyingly [ ] fills the spaces left by student apathy [ ] rambles on and on and on and on.... [ ] nags us about our grades too much [ ] expects too much of us [ ] raises thought-provoking questions [ ] encourages class participation [ ] is well-prepared [ ] micromanages too much

2. Grading criteria are [ ] fair [ ] reasonable [ ] mysterious [ ] arbitrary

EN 209: Novels and Tales, Fall 2000
Created: 10/26/00, 9:07 pm
Last modified: 11/20/00, 2:51 pm
Thanks to Steve Warner (Professor Emeritus, English Department, SUNY Fredonia) for providing the model on which this questionnaire is based.