Class 56: Course Evaluation

Held Friday, May 11, 2001

Summary

Today we conclude the class with Grinnell's legendary end-of-course rating forms.

Overview

• Final project presentations
• About evaluations
• Evaluations
• Final statements

Project Presentations

• We'll go through the remaining projects
• Horoscope
• Choose a college
• Rate your date
• More ?

About End-of-course Evaluations

• How and why Grinnell faculty are evaluated. (Some myth, some truth.)
  • Annual increments
    • The bargain with the trustees
    • The joys of numeric evaluation
    • Faculty activity reports
  • Promotion and tenure
• The problems of combining development and evaluation.
  • Seemingly opposite goals, at least to some.
• The problems of course-specific forms.
  • How does the budget committee generalize?
• How the faculty voted to use these forms.
  • No use for annual increments
  • To show development for promotion and tenure
• Please send me any comments you may have on how I can make this course or my teaching better!

Evaluation Form

• Fill it out
• Put it in the envelope
• Relax until everyone else is done

Exam Preparation

• As you know, our final is in class on Friday from 9:00 to 12:00.
  • Closed book; closed computer; closed colleague; closed notes.
  • You may bring one page of notes to the exam.
• How should you study for this exam? Basically, the same way you studied for the in-class version of exam 3.
• Go through each lab and exam and make sure that you can answer the questions.
  • I plan to base a few questions on previous exam and lab questions.
• See if you can rederive the procedures presented in each session.
• Make notes on key ideas.
• Write a few questions of your own and make sure that you can answer them.
• Summarize your ideas on a review sheet.

Some Final Statements

• My mother taught Psychology at Boston University for over thirty years. (``Aha, maybe that explains SamR's warped personality''.) Eventually, she found a way that she liked to end her class, typically with a series of statements. I try to do the same, although the statements are clearly filtered through my sensibilities.

  Most of us will take or teach other classes. However, this one is unique; none will ever be quite like this it. The people in the class made it what it was. We should acknowledge each other's contributions and commit ourselves to making similar contributions in future classes. In particular, I thank all of you for your contributions. (And I'll fill in some examples.)

• Mom also makes a statement on the order of

  While I enjoyed having you in my class, I'm also happy to have you move on to other things. Like any parent or mentor, I've enjoyed seeing you grow, but also want you to test your own wings.

• Finally, Mom tells a story of an elementary school teacher she had worked with who was leaving her job. Mom stopped by to give the teacher a goodbye present. The teacher cried. Mom said ``I expect that you've been crying all day as you said goodbye to your students'' The teacher said ``No, I forgot to say goodbye; that's why I'm crying''. Since then mom has always made it a point to say goodbye to her classes. I encourage you to say goodbye to your friends and colleagues who you may not see again.
• I hope to see those of you who are not graduating in other courses.