ENGL328: Writing, Style, and Technology
Winter 2010 | Section 001 (23592) | MW 2-3:15 | Course Materials | Eastern Michigan University
   
Instructor and COURSE EVALUATION

Enrollment: 19
Forms Completed: 17 (89%)

Core Items (A: Much Above Average, B: Above Average, C: Average, D: Below Average, E: Much Below Average)

  A B C D >E RESP
  N/% N/% N/% N/% N/% N
Overall Rating of the Teaching Effectiveness of this Instructor 8/50 2/13 3/19 2/13 1/6 16
Overall Rating of this Course 6/38 3/19 4/25 3/19 0/0 16

Additional Items (SA: Strongly Agree, A: Agree, U: Undecided, D: Disagree, SD: Strongly Disagree)

  A B C D >E RESP
  N/% N/% N/% N/% N/% N
My instructor seems well-prepared for class 13/76 4/24 0/0 0/0 0/0 17
My instructor makes good use of examples and illustrations 6/35 7/41 1/6 2/12 1/6 17
The instructor is reasonably accessible outside the classroom 11/65 6/35 1/6 3/18 0/0 17
The instructor has stimulated my thinking 7/41 6/35 1/6 3/18 0/0 17
The goals of the course are clearly stated and consistently pursued 7/41 4/24 2/12 4/24 0/0 17
My instructor respects students regardless of sex, age or race 9/60 2/13 0/0 2/13 2/13 15

Comments

What did you like most about this instructor and course?

  1. I liked participating in twitter with my other classmates and growing through the semester w/ them.

    2. Comment (July 2010)

    The Twitter assignment--a multi-week sustained writing project--receives extremely mixed reviews. Some have questioned its relevance, and I share some of those concerns. While, on the one hand, immersing in Twitter does align with the technology emphasis in the course, if it is to remain a part of the course-as-designed, the stylistic dimensions of Twitter must be more conspicuously foregrounded. -DM

  2. He was always on time, well-organized and easy to get in contact with.
  3. Not much.
  4. Derek knows his stuff. He provides so much info & examples that it is hard to get lost.
  5. That all of the work was online and easily accessible.
  6. I gained an appreciate for internet platforms I [illegible], i.e., Twitter and wikis.
  7. Communicates well with students.
  8. This course with Derek teaching it really does a good job of combining writing, style, & technology to show what is happening in the world today.
  9. Interesting course material, time in class to work on projects.
  10. Everything we are supposed to do is provided to us up front and throughout the semester--he has a very clear syllabus.
  11. How different it is compared to other english classes.
  12. There are lots of resources available, extra reading material, links to articles.
  13. New material that I have not previously considered.
  14. This class was different from any other course that I have taken.
  15. Especially grateful for the opportunity to be creative in ways that are not always available in other courses.
  16. The EOS Remake was one of the best projects I've ever had. All projects assigned were extremely creative.
  17. His enthusiasm and drive toward the course goals and his clear explanation of the principles being taught.

What did you dislike most about this instructor and course?

  1. Prof. Mueller does not know how to speak to students and can be very disrespectful and unprofessional.
  2. The amount and selection of reading assignments that were chosen, the instructor had moments when he was extremely unclear & unfair to some students.
  3. Way too much coursework--I have three 400 level courses w/out this much by way of expectations. Twitter portion taught me nothing!
  4. Very geared towards educators, but the class is required for other majors/minors.
  5. That the course work wasn't consistently stated and he didn't provide basic examples for projects.
  6. The class discussions regarding journal articles were pretty uninvolved--usually only a couple cared after awhile.
  7. At times assignments aren't described well enough, or other times too much. Led to confusion.
  8. Nothing comes to mind.
  9. Requirements for projects are sometimes unclear, course material is sometimes confusing and unclear.
  10. He bullies people in classroom conversations, making an environment where most students are scared to speak.
  11. I felt prompts weren't very clear, and projects needed to be explained more.
  12. There is a lot of work towards the end maybe since we are working on Twitter 3.33 [illegible] less reading?
  13. SPs require the "right" answers.
  14. Project three--parts I understood, but it thought it was alot for me to handle.
  16. Twitter.
  17. Nothing really.

What constructive suggestions do you have for this instructor or course?

  1. Instructor--please don't be so rude, unprofessional, unclear and disrespectful.
  2. Improve the clarity of instructions, do not single out students.
  3. Listen to your students opinions or don't teach!
  4. He's doing a very good job. The course isn't so hard that it is frustrating, but you can learn a ton if you want to.
  5. Be clearer about coursework expectations.
  7. Make SP's due after we have time to talk about them in class. Also use better examples to relate assignment prompts to projects.
  8. Keep up the good work and keep on providing explanations when people seem confused.
  9. Simplify the course and objectives, be more understanding of students who are confused/struggling.
  10. Chillax--portmanteau.

    11. Comment (July 2010)

    Certainly there was a different atmosphere in this section of ENGL328. It was more tense and more formal-seeming in part because of social dynamics and in part because of regular, formidable resistance to the work of the course. Meeting individually with students early in the semester would have perhaps provided some relief to these issues, and I intend to do just that in the Fall 2010. -DM

  11. Look over the prompts and make assignments more clear.
  13. Let the SPs take a unique form for the individual.
  16. Perhaps explain guidelines a little more clearly for project 3.33.
  17. Spend a little more time on Crowley/Hawhee; that seemed to be the article that contained the fundamentals.

    18. Comment (July 2010)

    There is a pattern here calling for more clarity in assignments. These assignments were more elaborately explained in writing than were their Fall 2009 counterparts, and all of these assignments evolved from earlier versions. It's difficult to tell whether the call for clarity concerns in-class explanations as well as written assignment prompts, but the two are complementary, and perhaps some of the concern over unclear assignments results from too much reliance upon one or the other (either in-class or in writing). -DM

Additional Comments

  1. He needs to make expectations clearer. Many times during the semester he was very unprofessional and disrespectful. Very disappointing but worst teacher I have had at Eastern by far.
  2. The instructor needs to understand or learn that not all students are not familiar with everything he expects us to know like Twitter and all the technology assignments he hands out.
  13. There is not always a perfect answer for the SPs.

    14. Comment (July 2010)

    I agree with this point, and I make a fairly concerted effort to welcome different viewpoints in the SPs (or Short Papers). These short responses to the reading do, however, require direct references to some purpose or claim in the reading, a point-at-able moment of clarity, insight, or befuddlement, and a relationship between the reading and something the student is currently working on. When these components are missing or underdeveloped, the SP is not, strictly speaking, complete.-DM

  15. One suggestion for the twitter checklist, if you keep using it: more encouragement/suggestions to interact/talk to classmates. Thanks for a great semester!