Writing Program Course Evaluation

Instructor: Derek Mueller                    Course & Section:WRT205: Writing Studio II: Critical Research

1. What is the most significant thing you learned about writing or about yourself as a writer in this course?

1. How to write a better research paper.
2. A research project can reflect personal thoughts, or just be personal and still be a research proj.
3. Different methods of research.
4. How to learn to really analyze and integrate sources. However, coming from a strong writing program in high school I was very much aware of the concepts.
5. I learned I need to cite more.
6. How to focus on a topic without boundaries.
7. Learned new ways of looking at writing and research aside from fixed texts.
8. I learned how to expand my writing to adopt other mediums other than I had been used to, i.e. blogs.
9. Web blogging was something that I took away from this class.
10. I could connect ideas outside of things I'm normally used to connecting it to.
11. To be honest, I'm not walking away with much from this course. In fact I feel as if I've regressed with my research skills. I would not advised this course to be continued w/o some serious restructuring.
12. Everyone has a different idea of the correct writing style. I enjoy doing research projects that are of personal interest and I don't like writing esp. on the internet.

2. Which two or three activities or practices worked best in this course (e.g., the writing assignments, class discussion, peer review, course readings, collaborative work, research, use of computer technology) Why?

1. The group project was a great way of pulling the class together. Blogs->something new for everybody.
2. I enjoyed reading & writing blogs; it allowed me to freely write on whatever topics.
3. Writing assignments, collaborative work.
4. The computer technology was the most worthwhile. The class discussions were never very effective & I don't think the students connected well w/ the professor.
5. I liked the blogs because it was a good way to write freely & the final paper because it was bit & had lots of freedom.
6. The writings were the best for me becuase I'm beter at that than any of the technology aspects although blogging was kind of interesting.
7. I feel that blogging was one of the activities that worked best because it helped open other new ways of looking at writing.
8. The collaborative work was good because I was forced to examine and contemplate the construction of an info-graphic, which may prove a very useful skill. The research I am doing right now is realy neat too. It is not restrictive, and I feel as if I am being allowed to experiment with my own boundaries.
9. The writing assignments, computer technology nd research worked very well w/ one another.
10. Peer reviews & collaborative work were both very successful and I think I learned a lot from both of those. Sometimes it helps to have someone else work at your paper to give you feedback.
11. Peer review was good becuase we all took it seriously and gave critical comments. Blogging was interesting, but hard to adapt to.
12. Collaborative work, peer-lead readings/discussions.

3. Would you recommend any changes to this course? Please explain.

1. The topic->many people did not enjoy or understand many of the things we spoke about.
2. Nope.
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4. The prof. needs to teach on an undergrad level rather than a graduate level. Almost seemed like sometime he was trying to teach on a level that we didn't understand.
5. Less technology because it was a hurdle other WRT classes didn't have to overcome.
6. More structured assignments.
7. None that I can think of.
8. Initially the technology was daunting, but once I embraced the concepts, and started really being interested in networks, my frustrations largely disappeared.
9. Yes. More structure, the guidelines for assignments were not lucid. There needed either more structure or more explanation. Also, instructions should be put in lament terms.
10. Maybe give clearer outlines for projects.
11. I would recomment a total restructure of this cours. I was very unorganized and left students hanging in confusion. This class did not improve writing or research skills at all.
12. No blogging. Not useful and more of a hassle than beneficial.

4. What was challenging about this course? Why?

1. " "
2. The technological aspects.
3. Using different online sources was challenging at first b/c it dealth w/ a lot of thing I had never heard of before.
4. Understand what was really going on. If he explained on hard terms I think it would have been more effective.
5. The technology, I'm a poli sci major.
6. It was a topic I originally had no interest in so I didn't find it that easy to work on.
7. I felt that some of the assignment prompts were vague but worked to our advantage in the end.
8. Breaking some of my long held assumptions of what could be "good" research.
9. Understanding the assignment, sometimes the handout was too wordy and theoretical.
10. I'm not a technology person so most of the course was a little challenging.
11. Almost everything...the disorganization and uncertainty really inhibited any kind of enjoyment or personal satisfaction.
12. Time schedule.

5. Would you describe your instructor as:

Please provide one or two examples to illustrate your comments above.

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3. He always asked for feedback and responded thoroughly to questions.
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5. He would always explain himself.
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7. Prepared: wrote out what we were going to cover prior to class. Fair: adjusted deadlines but only when absolutely needed.
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9. He is a very intelligent person and is able to share his views in a manner that students can relate to.
10. Interesting class, I learned things I never knew.
11. I feld that our instructor woudl ask us questions, but have a prepared answer, so that when we would give input, he would not even comment on what we said, rather go on a tangent about what he thinks.
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6. Please comment on the instructor's feedback for your writing. Was it helpful? Did you receive that feedback in a timely fashion?

1. Very helpful and in timely fashion.
2. His feedback was very insightful & descriptive, which proved to be very useful and confidence boosting.
3. Always helpful & quick responses.
4. Yes. One on one was very helpful.
5. Yes, extensive and timely.
6. He did a great job replying to emails and helping with problems.
7. Yes it was helpful and given in a timely manner.
8. Yes and yes. He even commented on blog entries.
9. Yes.
10. Feedback was given in a quick manner and useful.
11. Somewhat, but it was vague and condescending->intimidating.
12. Mostly helpful. Received back in timely fashion.

7. Use the space below for any additional comments about the instructor or the course.

1. Very good teacher...not such a good topic.
2. Good luck with your masters.
3. Derek was great. He was really helpful & I really enjoyed his class.
4. One-on-one was much more effective & I saw a completely different side of the prof. However in the classroom setting he was quick to judge & often confused us. Being more like 1-on-1 is more effective.
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8. Good job. Will make an engaging professor.
9. Good job!! For instructions, write them in "baby" words, I think if you did that more deadlines would have been met.
10. Overall good/interesting class!
11. Our instructor was very judgmental and condescending. One student wanted to write her research paper on the Michael Jackson trial and I over heard him say..."who would be interested in reading that" But isn't it also about what the student enjoys too.
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