Student Evaluation of Instruction for HST201 - Fall Term 2016

Instructor comments follow in red


2

Rate the 12 questions below
Average rank
 ⇓

Strongly AgreeAgreeDisagreeStrongly DisagreeDoes Not Apply
1. What was taught agreed with the objectives stated in the catalog or course outline. 1.5 
2. The instructor exhibited an enthusiasm and interest in the subject. 1.2 
3. The instructor was knowledgeable in the subject. 1.2 
4. The instructor used class time effectively. 1.3 
5. The instructor respected people including those of different genders, religions, ethnic backgrounds, class status, abilities, and lifestyles. 1.3 
6. The instructor encouraged students to think. 1.5 
7. The instructor’s teaching methods were effective in helping me learn the material. 1.7 
8. The instructor made an effort to be available to students. 1.7 
9. The instructor helped students understand the course material and find answers to relevant questions. 1.6 
10. The instructor treated students fairly and reasonably. 1.5 
11. The instructor encouraged students. 1.6 
12. Overall, the instructor was effective. Consider both the limitations and possibilities inherent in the subject matter and course. 1.5 
Responses Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Does Not Apply Total
1. What was taught agreed with the objectives stated in the catalog or course outline. 23 (55%) 18 (43%) 0 0 1 (2%) 42
2. The instructor exhibited an enthusiasm and interest in the subject. 32 (76%) 10 (24%) 0 0 0 42
3. The instructor was knowledgeable in the subject. 34 (81%) 8 (19%) 0 0 0 42
4. The instructor used class time effectively. 30 (71%) 10 (24%) 2 (5%) 0 0 42
5. The instructor respected people including those of different genders, religions, ethnic backgrounds, class status, abilities, and lifestyles. 31 (74%) 11 (26%) 0 0 0 42
6. The instructor encouraged students to think. 27 (64%) 13 (31%) 1 (2%) 0 1 (2%) 42
7. The instructor’s teaching methods were effective in helping me learn the material. 18 (43%) 18 (43%) 5 (12%) 1 (2%) 0 42
8. The instructor made an effort to be available to students. 23 (55%) 15 (36%) 1 (2%) 0 3 (7%) 42
9. The instructor helped students understand the course material and find answers to relevant questions. 24 (57%) 14 (33%) 3 (7%) 0 1 (2%) 42
10. The instructor treated students fairly and reasonably. 26 (62%) 15 (36%) 0 0 1 (2%) 42
11. The instructor encouraged students. 24 (57%) 13 (31%) 3 (7%) 0 2 (5%) 42
12. Overall, the instructor was effective. Consider both the limitations and possibilities inherent in the subject matter and course. 24 (57%) 16 (38%) 2 (5%) 0 0 42

3

What did you like about the class?
Response
Instructor knows and is passionate about what he was teaching and it made it more enjoyable to learn
Was easy to interact with the instructor, the course material was easy to approach. While not a huge fan of the forums, they were easy to do and not really that troublesome.
It was packed with information in a short time and everything was explained perfectly and very detail orientated without feeling convoluted.
I can learn a lot from this class. Not only American history, but also the life now connect to American history. And we are able to talk our idea during class which help we study history also. Nice and fun class!
I liked the online forums and hearing feedback from my fellow students on what I had posted.
I liked that that it was a hybrid class
Very organized
I liked that we watched a lot of live action renactments of the events that went on during this time in our history and having those videos avalible to us on moodle after each lecture was very helpful. I also liked how we had weekly quizzes online that we could do on our own time at home. I was nice to be able to use our notes and textbook to ace these and pocket those points every week. Also Escobar, your enthusiasm and passion for history is unparralled by any other teacher or professor I've had in regards to this subject. You made it interesting by getting us to think about the past in a way that provoked thought and required us to criticlly think about these events to properly analize and interpret them. I've already registered for 202!
I really enjoyed how often bias was pointed out. Learning history without one is tricky and I feel like this class focused on the facts.
How structured the class was.
I think that Joe did a really good job of making things very inclusive and giving students the best opportunity to remember dates and make deadlines with the emails and calender. It was a lot of work but the fact that he is just as engaged as he wants the students to be helps a lot
I liked all the videos
Prereq for my major. I don't care about colonial american history. This is the last thing in the world I have an opinion on. Just another hoop to jump through to become a physical therapist.....WHEN THE HECK will I use this knowledge as a PT? Universities need to get their act together.  Please follow the directions and write what you liked about the class.  I don't think this evaluation is the proper place to lodge a complaint about LCC and your program prerequisites.
I liked that you had enthusiasm and variation in your tone when you lectured. Some instructors are very monotone and boring to listen to, but not you. You made the lectures interesting and engaging to listen to, thank you.
I liked videos that we watched in class
Great lectures.
I liked that we talked about each chapter after we read it. It was very helpful to have the photos from lectures on moodle.
Escobar is really funny and knows his stuff, but history is not for me
I liked learning European-American history from its beginnings, seeing the Portuguese promoted culture of exploration, turn into Columbus's discovery for Europe of the new world. Understanding the empires that existed in America, and seeing them fall prey to disease and Spanish induced civil war. Seeing the first European powers establish their trade empires in America, and observing the unique relationships they were able to have with the natives. Learning about the founding of Jamestown and then later the Massachusetts and Plymouth Bay Colonies. Learning about the unique government of the pilgrims and their calvinist ways. ~~~~~~~~~ Learning about colonial history and about the early American government.
how knowledgable the professor was and his teaching method. He is very enthusiastic about the topic which made me want to engage more as well.
Some stuff i did learn.
Comprehensive Relevant interesting subject matter
Informative, effective teacher.
Teaching style followed relative timeline of historical events.
I liked the forums and the pictures/documentary clips
Instructor was extremely organized, didn't waste anytime fuming around with powers points or getting off track, which I really appreciate. He had a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the subject as well.
I may not have gotten the best grade, but thats because of forums. I learned a lot and that was very refreshing!
I liked learning all about The United States of America
I overall enjoy history and how in depth we went into everything.
I enjoyed how it didn't feel like I was getting propaganda from either side of the political isle. I appreciate how Joe made an effort to present his subject holistically.
I liked how there was always two sides to the teachers methods, what history books state and then the truth.
I like the different teaching methods, like pictures, video and audio clips. It's helpful to those of us who are audio/visual learners.
everything
I liked that I learned early American history, through both a general overview and specific details. I liked that we were given all of the information we needed to succeed. We were not responsible to conduct further research on our own, but we simply had to invest time into participating, thoroughly reading the provided material, understanding it, and elaborating on it with our own reasoning. I was impressed and thankful that our teacher took a suggestion of mine and was encouraging.
I am not a person who does any form of history well because i have a hard time remembering so many dates. i liked that we learned about the course but that dates were not required to do well in the course.
I like the subject. I really enjoyed the instructor. I liked his energy, his sense of humor, personality, and he clearly knew what he was talking about. Utilized moodle very well and stayed in communication with his students. Very helpful.
The use of polling and to understand history that was happening behind the curtains
Liked the videos and liked that it was obvious that you are passionate about teaching history.
it was not boring like most history classes are. the combination of videos and clips from other historians generally made it more engaging and easier to learn about history. the subject matter was well taught, and it was very clear what material we would be tested on.

4

How could this class be improved? Add any comments about the class and/or instructor that you feel might be helpful or useful.
Response
Instructor doesn't always give students the chance to get all the notes down in class and also doesn't provide them online. which makes it hard if you didn't get it all down. Also the day by day classes where very packed with lecture information, which is good but makes it hard to ask questions and have discussions, but tats probably where the hybrid part comes in.
Would actually like to see the class be a bit longer each day, so that we could cover more of the material. Perhaps set aside one day every couple of weeks to have class discussion on the course work.
A little easier on the grading of the Forum responses is the only aspect I could really think of, everything else was pretty smooth.
So far I think this class is perfect. I can get all the information I want.
I don't think the class needs any improving.
Keep on top of your work and you don't have to score very high on your tests to still end with a B or so.
Make attendance a less significant portion of grade. With illness, family and mostly working a full time job it's not realistic for some to be able to attend every single class.  If you can't attend class every day, please do not enroll in this class.  It only meets 19 times all term long.
The only thing that I think could be improved about this class is the midterm and final exam. I think you should change them to essays or another forum. I felt like I learned the most from this class by colaborating with other students online to reach conclusions and share different interpretations of history. I think the final would also be better if we could pick an event or period in the timeline covered in the class and write an essay about it. When I take these tests I feel as though I don't retain the information as well because I'm just looking for the answer to a question to get it correct. With an essay it requires you to do research, find something that paticuarly interestes you and dive into in depth detail about it. That was something I was hoping to get to do in this class. When I wrote short essay question posts in the forum, I felt I had criticly thought about them and spent time on my interpretations of the material. One last thing would be maybe opening up some of the in class time for disscussion. I think it would be good to hear peoples opinions in class to take note of and stew over before disscussing them on the forums.
No needs of improvement
I think at times the material was too in depth, and it was very well taught but in all honesty sometimes I feel we strayed from the most important and crucial details and got caught up in little no quite as important kind of side notes, and because of that I won't remember the crucial facts later down the line.
Exams having fewer questions.
It was pretty good for what it was. If I was a history major I would have enjoyed it. Great teaching, man. I'd say be more lenient with forum posting. Not everyone wants to be a history major, allow people like me to pass/nopass this class and jump through this BS hoop with ease please.
The only piece of criticism I can give involves Forum 3, it might be isolated to just me and my comprehension with the material, but I had a very hard time zeroing in on it because I felt the question was so broad. On top of that, there were many other questions (and terms) that had to be answered also that made it much more difficult. That aside, I appreciated how you allowed students to attend either the morning class or afternoon class without issue. The class overall was great, and I enjoyed my time!
More hands on learning or discussions with other classmates
I found the forms to be difficult. I think you could see a trend of two groups of students. One, your history major who would write a book, and displayed obvious knowledge and interest in the political science field. The other students who didn't seem to care. I felt like I was inbetween, and near the end just didn't feel the need to respond to my groups. While yes its an easy participation grade. I found more than enough of the posts ignorant and just aggravating. Especially form 4. Overall though great class. You're an awesome instructor, and the lectures are great!
I think it would help to have not just the photos but also the notes.
More time working with other classmates, group activities, something other than taking notes for the whole class period as that's not very effective in helping some students grasp the material.
This class is great the way it is!
Limit forum characters. too many people are writing books.
None
I really don't think that all the information in the first two chapters of the text book was nearly as important as the stuff later in the term. I would spend less time focusing and on the first two chapters of the book. I would also have us read less of the first two chapters. It seemed to me that very little of the information I got out the first chapter made it to any of the tests. Also it talked a lot about Spain and South America which really isn't as vital to a study of American history as other events.
REALLTY DRIVE HOME THE FACT FORUMS ARE A BIG DEAL HAHAH   They sure are... 20% of your overall class grade.
Maybe not focus on things like how many bales of cotton there were, i think it's unnecessary. And I also think the forums shouldn't affect the overall grade as much.
On the online forums it felt as though nobody actually wanted to create a discussion, and instead focused their efforts on impressing Joe with how many words they can use. This made it more difficult for me-- someone who doesn't enjoy sharing my opinion to begin with-- to find people to respond to.  Didn't those students impress YOU with their work, knowledge, and analysis.  Didn't their posts serve as examples of work that YOU should be striving to produce?
None, very well taught class.
I can't think of anything. I had fun learning about a subject I never took any interest in before this class. Thank you!!
more discussion in class
Although there were several different forms of teaching involved in this class (textbook reading, audio podcasts, web comic, powerpoints, in-class teaching, article readings), I felt that there was an abundance of video clips to view in class and online. Perhaps exchanging a few for another type of teaching would further improve this class with more variety, but overall, well done. I can tell this class has already been greatly worked on and improved. Nice job!
overall i think the course well well put together so i don't think that there is much that could be changed however the test i found really difficult just due to it being 100 questions your brain starts to struggle on answering that many questions at one time. besides that nothing really to add
Great as is.
give students the whole week to do forums and eliminate the "make your first posts the day it is assigned" requirement. it takes time to put together informed intelligent posts on history, so setting these deadlines puts pressure on students to post without necessarily being correct or well researched.