I spoke with you a couple times after class or via moodle messaging. I am personally kind of shy when it comes to office hours, I don't know why I just feel anxiety sometimes talking to my professors outside of the classroom but that's just me, not because you weren't approachable! When I talked with you after class ever you were very helpful and engaged in the conversation and questions that I had. When I emailed you with questions or regarding the class at all you always responded in a timely matter, which is greatly appreciated as my other professors this term did not respond to my emails at all. 

I had a brief encounter before class. It was nice to have a one on one at least once.

I spoke with you after  midterm test. I didn't do as well as I thought I had, and you made yourself available to speak with me about it right after class. We sat down, and pulled up my test and went through every one of my missed questions and reviewed them. We spoke about ways that I could study more affectively. I walked out with a better knowledge of what type of questions I needed to study for. I think that I greatly benefited from our talk. And very thankful for the time you took. 

I knew if I needed to I could always contact you easily. I didn't ever feel the need to contact you about anything which is why I didn't but I assure you if I ever did I would not hesitate or feel uncomfortable.

          I felt you did a good job making yourself available for office hours. I did not meet with you, because I did not really have any questions that needed answering. You do a good job of explaining assignments and deadlines in class.

I am a very shy person and hate going up to people on my own to talk. But overall you seemed very approachable and I knew that if i had any questions you would be able to answer them.

I usually only go to office hours or meet with the instructor if the material is confusing. History is pretty easy to understand (versus math, physics, or writing), so unless I had questions about the study list I wouldn't have any reason to come in. I usually only have a few questions about assignments and feel comfortable asking them at the beginning of class.

I don't often need much help outside of class, especially with such clear presentation.

You answered any question I had over moodle messaging thank you.

I never really wanted to, or felt the need to. I felt it was easy enough to retain the information covered in class and in reading the textbook and felt it unnecessary to meet outside of class time.

I never had any questions that were not answered in class or i on moodle. I am going into finals week with an A so I feel confident that both the instructor and myself took care of everything that needed to be taken care of. As for as being approachable in my opinion you seemed to be very, I just felt I never needed too. 

No big reason, I never had any questions that couldn't be answered by the book, lectures, or raising my hand during class. 

To be honest I'm just kind of shy. Like, I'm just not a big fan of one on one with the teacher. I also feel a little intimidated sometimes for some reason.

A large portion of the reason why I never contacted you outside of class is because I am usually shy, although you do seem very approachable. The main reason however is because I am not that great at history, so I don't ever have any questions that would incite a conversation outside of the classroom.

I should have set up office hours as History is a weak subject for me, but I am shy and somewhat embarrassed on how little I know and understand in History and I think that may be why I didn't meet up outside of class hours, but I know I should have and that it would have been helpful.

I did not use to office hours because I worked everyday after class, until the late evening, and I mostly understood everything. If I did have a question, I wouldn't of hesitated to ask though. Everything you taught and how you taught it was very helpful, and it helped me a lot on forums. Since I started at LCC in 2013, you have been one of the few professors that I feel actually cared about getting the students to pass. You were very knowledgeable in your profession, and you made learning interesting. 
Thank you!

I didn't have outside interactions with you because your teaching methods was one of the best that I have seen. You WERE crystal clear teaching you lessons so I didn't feel the need to visit during office hours.

No due to time constraints.

In interacting with students after or before class, the interactions were very relaxed, casual, open, and fun. 

You were always available after class time and would spend as much time as needed with students who had questions or concerns.  On two occasions I made use of this time and it was very helpful.

I did not find it necessary to meet outside of class.

I never felt the need to see you. I struggled with the midterm mid that was solely my part, not yours. 

I going to come in a get help with the final but before hand i was pretty sure i knew what was going on.

I have never been one to talk to instructors face to face because I do not like doing so and I enjoy figuring things out on my own, even if I'm struggling in a class.

It's not that I necessarily didn't want to meet with you for office hours, its just hard to find the time to come see you while working a full time job and balancing other classes. 

You were very helpful during our interactions outside of class, and I would say you do a great job of being available.

Prior to this term I never really took time to meet or talk with my instructors outside of class, until some of my friends at UO told me about the importance of going to office hours and meeting with your instructor before or after class. You always were very approachable. Most of the time though, I didnt make the effort to meet with you. Although now that I think about it, it wasnt really need it since your lectures were usually very clear.

I did not. He explained everything in class well enough that i didn't need to ask him anything. 

Talking with you after class about whatever we spoke about helped me remember things from my notes.

I was able to work with the professor to raise my grade and have intersting historical discussions.

N/A

You were very approachable and my questions that I usually asked were more political in search for a good conversation, some had to do with the class but I never needed to ask much about the class because everything was crystal clear.

I usually never had any questions to ask in the class. I understand the lectures very well and I have a good grade in the class so I never needed any additional time.

I didn't feel th need to meet outside of class. Your lectures are very good, and clear. 

Didn't make an effort 

I never had big questions where I had to meet with Joe during office hours. Most of my questions took place through Moodle Messaging. But he was definitely approachable

The time I spent outside the class with you was very helpful. I was able to get all my questions answered more quickly and just as throughly as they were addressed in class. Overall, this time was an important part in achieving the grade I received.

Very Easy. If I missed a handout in class I could always get access to it online, as well as access any missed videos, links and pictures to look back over from the lectures. 

Very Easy

Not the online and paper materials were all extremely easy to access. 

Very easy to access. The online materials are very clear.

    Very Easy. 

Very Easy. I don't have a printer at home but was able to use the library to access and print online materials.

I had no trouble accessing the materials, with one exception: the study list never printed properly, at school or at home. The font was always messed up (but readable).

Very Easy

Very easy to access any materials for this class.

Very Easy. Every link worked just fine.

Very easy. Materials very always in class or very easy to find in each week on moodle. 

Easy 

Very Easy

Very easy

Pretty easy

very easy. You always brought extras on class days past when you handed it out, which helped if i happen to of left something at home, or my luck, lost it.

They were very easy for me to access I never had a problem. And I feel like the online materials were great! I always had everything I needed to help supplement my studies.

Very easy

very easy

The materials were always easy to obtain

easy

very easy 

veyr i used them a lot

Very Easy

All materials were easy for me to access from my Apple Macbook. 

Fairly easy. The layout of the Forum pages with having to click a separate link to get the required materials was confusing at first, but I soon got used to it.

very easy

Very easy. 

Very easy

very easy

Very easy. Materials were available physically in the classroom as well as available online in most cases for download and printing.

Very easy

Very easy

Very easy. Materials were high quality and helpful.

easy

Everything was very easy to access, there was never a problem with anything.

It was very easy for me to access these materials. As long as I was told about them in class or with one of the announcements, I would definitely be able to access them.

I am one of the students that this "gift" hurt more than it helped but that was my own fault. I didn't pay close enough attention to the due dates for one of the polls and did not complete it in the allotted time and it would have helped my grade a lot if I had. 

If I lost any points on this, that is all on me and my personal life. I was more than pleased with these "gifts."

Extremely easy way to earn 100%. Not exactly sure what people would be thinking, when not earning the easy points. 

The only reason I missed on opinion poll was that I honestly just forgot it. I would recommend students check in on moodle just to make sure they do not have any polls due!

  I found the "gift" of 20% very nice and helpful to my overall grades. I feel it would be a mistake not to take full advantage of those easy points. 

I think that the computer quizzes and opinion polls were the easiest part about the class. I was glad they were there because they helped me a lot and kept me on a schedule of having quizzes due on Mondays.

I like them because I always do them. I think you did a pretty good job of explaining their significance, but keep emphasizing the idea that grade-wise, they are among the worst assignments to skip because they are the easiest. Invoke the logic of the student who can't do everything. I feel like students who fail to complete such a simple assignment must have an incredibly poor motivation level. If someone doesn't have the motivation to  take the "easy" points, they probably don't deserve them. Of course that might be unfair of me, but there's not much chance you'll hear from them, since they probably won't bother to take this survey either!

I think that it is a student's fault if they don't take advantage of these learning experiences and free points.

Thank you for the easy 20% I don't understand why people wouldn't take advantage and do the simple work because it also helps with the tests.

I appreciated the easy to earn part of the grade, and I found the opinion polls were interesting enough and so short in length that it didn't make sense not to do them.

I felt that the 20% online was more than generous and was the easiest points possible in this class. Lack of doing them in my opinion in laziness on the students part. 

I believed the grading "gifts" were extremely helpful. Especially with quizzes.  I forgot to the easy ones like the gun poll, and moodle profile picture but I believe easy things like that are always handy to have. 

No excuses really. Maybe they just forgot.

I can only say that if students were not taking advantage of the quizzes for an easy grade, than they are not taking their schooling very seriously, and need a serious reality check.

I think it is a an awesome oppurtunitty and the class shouldn't be graded solely on the two tests, this gives those who work hard but may not test well that extra help, as for the ones that it hurt their grades, I feel like that was only because they maybe didn't participate. 

Students who wouldn't complete the quizzes or polls must of been lazy, they were easy, that was the only homework. Now my math class that I just currently finished did the same thing, but on top of that, you had three chapters of homework to do, which made it hard to get everything done, so I like having a class that had two or three things due a week, and wasn't heavy loaded where i felt burried. 

another thing I can think hindered peoples will to do the quizzes is having the first class on Tuesday, and everything was due on Monday, that they could of forgot or if they didnt check their email frequently, they might of got wrapped up with their other assignments. 

I feel like you should always get your assignments done on time. If they are easy assignments or "gifts" as you call them, then nobody should have an issue getting them done. That's just my opinion though..

It is a good tool for learning. you just need to find time to do it.

Being on top of and engaged by the online assignments made them easy. With the reading including, the online quizzes take a while, but the book is a very intelligent. It can get tedious if you're not in the mood. Overall, it's a good way to progress though key details and overviews of the history.

I did miss one forum post and I didn't see the second political poll.  For the students that it really hurt, I say "to bad"  You can lead a horse to water...

I tink that if a student fails to take advantage of an easy grade, it is their own fault.

I think this is a great way to learn more about the chapters as well. I think it was important 

Coming from a student who has gone to the U of O and now lane I think that that is a huge treat. I have never had a teacher who was willing to give students A's if we just passed it. It was cool because that where my grade always gets hurt.

The people who did not take the quizzes obviously did not realize how important they were or they were just lazy.

Personally, it's extremely difficult for me to balance the quizzes with the online forums. I found them honestly a waste of my time and I didn't find the forums beneficial. 

Some people just don't care very much, I guess.

I always did the quizzes, and always made the initial post on the forums but never posted after that. That really hurt me

I really enjoyed doing these assignments. 

I liked them. But i would forget about them.

I did all the assignments I felt that they where informative and helpful for exams.

The opinion polls and quizzes were easy to get to and get done and I find it the responsibility of the individual student to get these done in order to earn the "gift." If they failed to do the quizzes and polls it is of their own fault as to why their grade is hurt.

I think it is a great way to learn and earn easy points in class, it took some self determination to do them all but it was more than fair. 

I think they are incredibly easy points that everybody should get every week!

Polls were super easy, no idea why some people skipped them. I would have liked if we could have gotten clear data from them, I was interested in how my peers felt on the gun control one. 

i had trouble accessing forums and frequently wouldnt recall the forums

I honestly believe that even though we need a 70% or higher to get a 100% in the class, it should just be "whatever grade you get on the quiz is the grade you get in the grade book" because even if it was easy, maybe that was a reason for the students not to do it. I even found myself to stop trying as hard towards the end of the class.

I thought they were gifts, especially the polls that took about 2 minutes on average. People could do them with relative ease, and were given fair warning. It's surprising the percentag of p that completed them is low.

I didn't do as well in two of the forums not because of lack of effort, simply because on those two I was unsure what to say exactly. 

The things that were discussed in the forums were definitely interesting and relevant, but two of them I didn't have as much of an opinion on. 

Plenty of materials. 

The first post deadline did hurt me but that was my own fault. When we had forums back to back I did feel a bit confused when one closed and the next opened. 

I think if there was a little more explanation of how posts were scored the forums would be better. 

Deadlines for the first post were a little early, but doable. 

The forums are something I struggled with just a tad bit. I got Bs on most of them. alot of the time I was mainly focused on getting the reading material and chapter quizzes done. And theN Biology completely took over and I would forget to post sometimes more than I would have liked. But I do love this discussions, fun and interesting to see everyone's view. 

The materials could be a little dry at times and many of the topics ended up being fairly controversial. Considering that a huge part of American history involves questions of race I didn't find that too off putting. The deadlines are reasonable. The scoring scale seems fair to me. Some groups I was in were hardly talking at all which made it difficult for me to get posts in. I do think the forums are worth my time and effort although they can be an extremely time consuming part of this class.

        I found the information interesting for the most part. I really liked having two prompt options. The deadline for the first post is a good incentive to get your first post done early and a reminder to participate through out the week. It was worth my time for sure, and worth doing for the grade.

I personally did not like for felt like the forums helped me understand anything in more detail. I felt like I rushed myself to just write information and took little time to look at other peoples posts. I think discussions would have been a lot better held in class than outside of it. It is better to understand when its being said aloud than having to look through many posts. I also never fully understood what was asked of me for the forums so that got kind of tricky. The deadlines for them also weren't very helpful to me. I didn't feel very comfortable with the fact that I was asked to comment on other students posts to show them my point or to say why I think something they said was wrong. All in all It was my least favorite part of the entire class and would suggest to make it a class activity or to lower the amount of points it is worth.

I spent way too much time on the forums. Part of this was because I had no idea what my grades were going to be. My last professor who did forums graded early posts on Wednesday so we had an idea of where we stood.Despite this small irritation, I enjoyed the forums. I have found, however, that there isn't always a lot to say that hasn't already been said, particularly toward the end of the week. Posting throughout  the week is difficult, and the posts can be time consuming.

The best forums were the controversial ones (like the first one) and the detailed cartoons (when we had the information to interpret them). My favorite part was debating on the meaning of things.

I think the forums are generally pretty good, but it does get annoying when it seems like everyone is in complete agreement with what everyone else says.

I think the forums were fine, not my favorite thing to do but they were not hard 

The majority of the forums were interesting and were definitely relevant. I occasionally felt like no one in the group knew how to form a decent reply and get a good discussion going. It seemed like everyone was merely typing responses to earn the easy points instead of having good discussions. I found myself "butting in" on others replies just to be included in conversations that went nowhere. Definitely worth the time and effort though as it was easy points.

I enjoyed the material given online. There were often multiple topics to choose from and from what i could tell answers were not based of right or wrong, if you gave an honest effort and opinion a few times a week you recieved full credit which i think is very fair. 

I personally didn't do to well on the forums, partly because of effort and partly because of content that was posted by others.  I would've preferred if there was a deadline every two days or so, that way I would be constantly reminded to post everyday. A solid amount of classmates posted 2 or 3 sentence answers that contained ridiculous information, it was hard to reply to these posts with anything but questions which made it hard for me to get a good grade on my posts. 

This was the only part of class that I really really struggled with. It wasn't because I didn't make posts either it was just my grades on my posts weren't good. I tried to make three or four posts every time but for some reason I could never get a good grade on any of them. I just wasn't aware on how hard they were graded or how many posts I needed to make. I guess I should of just made more posts.

Personally the only problem I had with the forums was that I do not have internet access as often as was required, so I was only able to make about 3 to 4 posts per forum. despite that, I thought the materials were interesting if not always relevant, and new topics each week helped me stay engaged.

I think the forum was a good way to interact with other classmates and was an oppurtunity for more points. The grading seemed fair, yet didn't ask for hours upon hours of daily work. 

The only forum i didn't post in was the first one because I didn't completely understand it, which i should of asked, but I was really unsure, but I liked all the forums. It would of been nice to see students post before you had to reply, but I understand why you did that, because you wanted everyone to have their own opinions.

I felt like the forums were a great tool. I was guilty on a couple of them only posting a few times however, I always put 110% into my posts. They were a great way to have conversations with everybody in class and I feel like you should keep the forums as an assignment.

It is a good tool, again students just need to put more effort fourth, or allow time to do it.

The forums are great. I think 6 points is bit much because by the second or third forum post I found I usually had most of what I wanted to say already said. Usually two posts were about perfect for me because for the most part, the forums were on pretty specific information, thus the differences between posts were often times pretty minor and non-controversial. So, the dialogue back and forth would be over relatively small details. I think the forums are a good way to engage in processing the information. 

I thought the setup is perfectly fine.  I would get discouraged when I would make a thoughtful post and know one would reply until the last day.  The only way I could see to improve this, would be to maybe assign teams and take two sides of an issue.  Perhaps a debate would increase communication.

I find that forums of this nature do not really increase my knowledge or understanding of the material, and are more of just a chore to be done than a meaningful activity.

i thought it was ian interseting way to learn the material. sometime though I did feel like p were trying to tear down other students for not being as knowledgeable and that offends me vent though it didn't directly happen to me. other than that I was happy with it all. 

interesting but i love US history

I was a fan of forums 2-4. The topics were fun to discuss with one another. I did not fully understand the meaning of doing forums it just felt like "busy" work to me.

I found the forum posts a waste of my class online time. I read posts from other students and there was never any passion in their writing. It seemed like a lot of posts just trying to get a grade without much thought. 

I enjoyed the forums. They are a much better alternative to having huge papers due during midterms and finals, and conversations are always interesting. I found it easy, but not quick, to earn full credit. I often wondered whether a deadline of Monday to Monday, instead of Monday to Saturday, would have given extra time for people without free evenings during the week to do more posts, but I was able to fit it in easily enough. The scoring system made sense, and I feel like the amount of materials we were given to respond to was just about right. The first forum was more intimidating, whereas the political cartoons ones were simple and fun. Definitely worth my time and effort.

n/a

I thought the online forums were a great addition to the class. I have never done anything like this before. I think it got the people who participated to really think about the issues in a logical way since we would be sharing those ideas to the class. I wish more classes would do this. 

I would do the first post and then would forget or no one in my group would respond or make a post that made no since. When asked for clarification still no response.

I always felt a bit strange doing them because they did not have anomymous names on them.

I was a student who was in the middle as far as acing and failing the activity. Some of the topics I didn't participate in while others I did (about half). I enjoyed the topics related to the cartoons and trying to dissect the meaning behind it. I failed to post on time a few times which then made me focus on other classes and forgetting about the forums of this class which is my own fault and the deadlines are easy to follow. I think more topics and forum activities should be presented throughout the class. One forum each week I feel would be more quantifiable to the 20% grade. I'm not sure how large each group size was but a definite randomizing and maybe larger groups depending on the topic. More people with input and different opinions will start conversations and discussions even if some don't participate.

The forums and quizzes were worth every effort, not only was it a great learning tool it also helped out my grade and I am sure many others.

The only problem that I have with forums is when I get busy with work and school throughout the week and am unable to check the forum everyday, then when I am finally able to participate in the forum it is sometimes hard to keep up with the conversation that had been going on. Other than that, I really like the forums!

They were informational. I think the grading on them was fair. It would have been easier to get involved if there had been more involvement, as I ended up repeating myself on several peoples first posts, with no discussion going on afterward.

deadlines for first post 

didn't feel worth my time

Everything was accurate and easy to understand. There was one section I didn't understand but that was my fault because I didn't read the chapter. It is definitely worth my time because I was able to read what other students thought about the material. I'd say it's easy points because not much goes into it other than answering the questions and then providing information you believe was relevant.

The materials were well chosen, especially when two options for discussion were provided. I think the deadline for the first post was a good idea, and having it due on the same day as the computer quiz made it easy to keep straight. My only complaints with the grades are that it's very easy to misjudge the amount of points you think you will get. The random groups and group sizes were good, and i think the forums did generate good discussion much of the time.

I'm a note taker so I would read through the chapter without taking notes because I found myself wasting a lot of time on things that were never discussed in the lecture. Sometimes I felt like the book wasn't all that important aside from needing it for the quizzes. 

I loved the book. Easy to understand.

I think that to know all of the main points and the guts of this class the book is important To buy and read. Without it you can really miss the points. And I think that the incorporation of the book and reading materials is just about perfect. Not too much mot to little. 

The textbook is pretty easy to read. It can be a little bit dry in parts but that is to be expected. I think the textbook could be incorporated a little bit more into the slides in class but overall I feel good about having bought it. You could not do the class without it.

   I felt the textbook had quality information and was useful in the class. 

I thought the book was nice and that the instructor used just the right about of the book incorporated into the course.

I liked the way your lectures took key concepts out of the book and we didn't have to know everything, although it would have been helpful for me as a reader to know which parts would be important to know and which ones I could enjoy with little pressure. It was okay cost-wise (wish it cost less, but it's cheaper than some).  The hardest part about the textbook was knowing what sort of detail to learn at. The quizzes are good for what they are, but can be misleading sometimes as far as this goes. Overall, the textbook was pretty good.

The textbook was pretty good. It could have been referenced in class a little bit more.

The text book was good they broke up the sections pretty good so i was able to take good notes form it.

I bought the book in E-chapters which were difficult to read as far as text size on my computer but I stuck with it anyways. I should of bought the book, it's a good book.

I felt the text was incorporated in the right amount. I was also very satified with the text. It was very organized and easy to find answers for the quiz. 

I enjoyed the textbook. It's really helpful when every section within the chapter is titled and key terms are in bold.  The appendix was very helpful for studying finals. The text book was also provided the right amount of challenge while reading it. 

I actually was pretty low on cash and I didn't buy the book but I'm sure it would've helped to have! I got by fine without it though.

I felt like we did not use the book enough, and its only use to me was for the quizzes.

I liked the textbook and it was pretty clear and I appreciated the option to just buy the needed chapters for the class.

I am glad that I bought, i looked up a lot of things on the internet, but not everything was easy to find, so having the book helped a lot!

I felt like the textbook was a very good choice of book. It is a little bit expensive but what books are not expensive now. I think you did fantastic incorporating the text with your lectures. However, I have to be honest I feel like your lectures are a lot more informative than reading the book.

very satisfied. I will keep the book.

I think it was great on all accounts. 

I really enjoyed the text book.  It was not hard to read or overly wordy.  The information came across and was easy to retain.  The chapter length seem to fit well with the allotted class time and I didn't see to many bias in the book.

Textbook was excellent

very good 

I didnt read the text book very often i found study guides on line that helped me a lot

Just right.

I feel as though we should have read the chapter, been familiar with it, and then talk about that chapter in class then have an online quiz. Instead we would read the chapter and take the quiz and then talking about it after the quiz. I find myself comprehending more from the chapter if we talk about it first then taking the quiz. 

The textbook is one of the best I have ever read, with the only caveat being that it is extremely dense time-consuming to take notes on. The textbook provided good background to the lectures, but the use of quizzes which pull from a question pool created by the textbook authors was sometimes confusing, as questions would arise which seemed to deal with such obscure details that I wasn't sure whether they would be on the midterm and final. I haven't been sure all term exactly how good my note-taking on the book needs to be. If the quiz question pool consisted only of questions that you deem significant enough to perhaps be on the exams, I think it would help students better gauge how effective their studying is.

This was such a perfect balance. 

I really enjoyed this textbook. It's a good read. 

Just right.

Yes felt it was very improtant as well as interesting.

I actually downloaded an older version of the book (which ended before the last weeks topics and chapters), I found that the portions of the book that were incorporated in the class were great.

The textbook was very readable and extremely interesting, it was easy to access certain parts when studying for tests and notes. 

I think it was a good textbook and i like that there was information in class that wasnt in the book and vise versa! 

The textbook was good. I was glad I could get each chapter online, as opposed to having to buy the whole book. 

too little

I feel like the book and lectures didn't really go hand in hand all the time but I did love reading the book and listening to lectures because it made everything that much easier. Although to me the chapters were long, they were very informative.

I thought the introductions and conclusions in the textbook were very helpfu, and it was a pretty readable book, as far as textbooks go. I do really appreciate the instructor giving options to find the book for cheaper.

I would say absolutely! It's clear how the class works, when you're in lecture no time is wasted so you get all the information you need in the shorter class period and the lectures are fairly interesting. 

It is a very well planned, thought out course. It has been streamlined for maximum depth and understand of the subject. I was very impressed.

if you really want to learn, be engaged, amazed and intrigued. Take this course and let Escobar take you on a ride through Americas history!!!

Joe is a great instructor. He is very clear, he keeps the class interesting. I highly recommend him to other students. He is so organized with all the materials. He is very clear on answering questions. He is readily available for office hours or through email. Absolutely wonderful instructor. Very passionate about his subject matter. Just wish Joe taught more non hybrid or online courses because I do prefer that style of class better.

      I would for sure say to take history with Escobar. I have had him before and really makes me enjoy the class. As well I like the format of how the class is run. So far he is my favorite teacher at Lane. 

I would say that they should take it. The instructor seemed to have a very good understanding of the material and was lively and energetic about the subject. He seemed like a very nice person who cares about his students and about what he is teaching. He also took the time to make jokes and keep you interested in the subjects.

I would say that the tests are tough, but the grades depend on more than just the tests, and the instructor is lenient with test grades. Study hard, and you'll do well. Class isn't boring like some professors who simply read the power point slides. The instructor is very clear about what material will be on the test.

If you're willing to put in plenty of effort to get a good grade, then go for it.

I would take this class if you have a computer and don't mind forums. 

Take it, the information is presented clearly and with enthusiasm and you would be hard-pressed if attending every class, participating in the forums, and reading the assigned chapters to not come away with a better understanding of US history and an easily obtained "A".

I would highly reccomend this course because it teaches you a lot about how and why things are they way they are today. And i felt the instructor was more than fair and very clear and kept class intersting and easy to stay engaged with. 

I would yes they should take the course.  The lectures are not boring and the content outside of lectures (forums, cartoons, etc.) were enjoyable too.  

Escobar's chill. Super smart guy and good at not being bias. My poly sci instructor was the exact opposite and it was a miserable term so it was nice getting a class where the instructor wasn't constantly sharing his one sided opinion.

I would say that you are a good choice for history, because you are honest and engaging. I would tell them that if they want to pass your class, they will need to do all the quizzes and forums.

I would say he was very organized and straight forward, and was helpful

YES! its worth it, it has helped gain more knowledge of my countries past, and has cleared things up for me.

I would tell that future student to MAKE SURE that your instructor is ESCOBAR!

I would say there is a lot to learn, and that history is important to ones self awareness, and that the instructor is very informative. So yes take the course.

I like the rhythm and pacing of the class. It makes the information easy to gather from week to week. You also do a great job teaching the material in a way that is engaging. I think you were especially encouraging of students opinions, which I appreciated a lot. I really thought the whole approach to the teaching aspect of the class was really excellent. I also appreciated how you allowed people to comment while you were lecturing, then you would engage in what they commented on. I think it make the presentation of the material broader, more in-depth, and more interesting. It also made the environment feel extremely safe, which I think made people more willing to open up and make comments they otherwise wouldn't make. Sometimes I disagree with not reading into some of the information a little more or making definitive statements on things that on an underlying level may have had a bit more multi-faceted. For example, I think Lincoln seems to have been a really complex guy who approached politics with a lot of nuance. He seemed like although he struggled with racial issues that he wouldn't have minded if blacks were equals not just economically as he stated but also in terms of intellect and in other measures of the time. I don't really believe he was underneath it all truly for white superiority. I think in many ways the demons that dogged the country, dogged Lincoln as well. I think he was evolving intentionally on issues. I think although he was a president at the center of America's greatest conflict of all time that he was a person who struggled greatly with conflict and confrontation. I think that some of the weaknesses of his policy weren't as much a reflection on his character as much as they were reflections on weaknesses in his psyche and not his overall will, intention, or personal desire. Although there are huge differences, I also think there are huge parallels between the Civil War era and today. I think the parallels between the current time and the time period could have been highlighted. I especially think the parallels between the spread of information of the time, and the spread of information today with the rise of social media have very similar impacts in their respective times on political matters. I think the polarizing effect on both time periods is evident and could link us to the time a bit. I really enjoyed how you covered reconstruction. I had no idea about reconstruction before and how incredibly sad it was. I also was amazed to see how the legacy of reconstruction makes so much sense in terms of the current time. It was INCREDIBLY glossed over in grade school and high school, and I can see why. It's controversial. I really appreciated your honesty and candor on the time period as well as your insight into the feelings and animosities of the time. I think that you really captured the "human" element of this period of time, and I really enjoyed that. Overall, I have really enjoyed the class. I can only offer encouragement because you genuinely seem to care about your students and the subject. Just don't be too hard on Lincoln. 

I would say absolutely.  This was a interesting class, it was well managed.  The grading system makes it easy for a responsible student to obtain a good score.  You can tell that the professor puts time into his lecture and they are useful to the class.  The use of videos also adds a nice touch to the material that we are covering.

Great instructor, taught the subject, not his opinions. Will definitely take his classes again.

it's a very interesting class, but if you aren't good at history, don't take it. way too much detailed information that is hard to remember 

He cares about you as students. He really enjoys what he teaches and you can see it throughout the term. Makes it easier to learn.

I do not know of any other instructors so I would recommend Joe Escobar.

I would say yes, Joe you're an excellent instructor with a passion for history I can always see it when you teach how excited you are to teach us about this and seeing your own photos is always neat. 

I would say,

Joe is a very competent teacher who knows the material thoroughly and cares about students learning well. The hybrid course relieves the stress of having giant papers due by giving you weekly forums instead, which are a fun way to discuss and analyze the materials for the week. Joe isn't afraid to make statements about his own or other peoples' opinions on certain possibly controversial topics, but he does so in a way that is relevant to the class and not in any way forcing his opinions on anyone. I wouldn't call him "perfectly objective" in his approach to everything, but certainly objective enough to represent most biases equally, which has mostly the same effect while not trying to remove the element of human emotion and opinion from the topics. Overall, I would highly recommend this class as long as you're willing to do some work (not too much), and quite a bit of reading.

Easy class if you're not lazy like me

The teacher is great and always prepared. No time was ever wasted in class. The instructor is engaging as well as very educated. The class never had a dull moment. His assignments are actually fun to do as well as having an educational value. I would highly suggst that you take this class. 

That Escobar is amazing. Very imformative and knowledgeable about history. You can tell he loves it.

I would say yes Joe is an objective historian.

I would tell them to absolutely take the course with Escobar as the instructor. He is very knowledgeable on the topic and passionate about his work. Always upbeat while being ready and willing to discuss the course and material. As of right now he is probably the best teacher I have had at Lane so far.

TAKE THIS COURSE WITH THIS TEACHER!!!!! Learned so much and had some great conversations with the teacher, he obviously wanted and tried to help everyone succeed.

I would say its a great idea, the instructor keeps things interesting and is very imformative! 

The instruction was very good. I found the class interesting and fun. 

take it but be sure to do the online work it is very important

I would say to definitely take it with Joe. I actually recommended HST 203 for spring term to a friend. This class makes you participate online and not always in class but the way Joe lectures is fantastic. For example he connects democrats back in history  now and how the website changes and its still odd to think about republicans and democrats from then to now. This class makes you think and as far as hybrid, it didn't seem much of a challenge just because we should be responsible for simple replies and quizzes online.

The instructor was helpful, accomodating, and accessible, and gave effective lectures in class. As long as you stay on top of the easy assignments, you will achieve a good grade in the class without serious difficulty. It's a very good class to take.

I used Quizlet a lot throughout the term to help me with this class. 

I was happy with what was provided.

I just used my phone and used the internet to check moodle. And I also just received emails about forums, updates etc. 

I don't have any recommendations for other online tools and I didn't change any of my moodle info although I do know how to do that.

  I don't know.

I did not use anything besides email updates.

I don't know of anything.

No I don't.

I didn't do anything interesting in technology for this class.

The e-mails from class popped up on my smartphone automatically to my surprise. 

I am not very technologically advanced for someone my age. I stick to the basics and thats about it. 

I did not explore moodle that much. This is my first college experience post high school so I am not familiar with web based tools.  I thought moodle was comprehensive and straight forward, at times the layout seemed jumbled but it was still easy to navigate. 

No I did not I just got it via email.

I have not really used any other tools besides the book and notes that I took in class.

Just making sure my emails were set directly to my phones I was notified every time I recieved an e mail from this class and that was helpful.

no

I got smartphone texts and that was a pretty cool and unique.

no

I like the way everything was done really. I would be a "conservative" on most these types of things because I enjoyed the class. Could it be improved, probably, but I like the way it was done and I don't want to be the one to make suggestion and make it worse.

I did utilize my smart phone for all announcement and forum post that came from moodle.  I also would keep my computer open while I took quizzes and read more about the question that was covered, it help me to build even more of a understanding of the material.  I scored an A on the midterm and I think the online practice quiz help me the most.  I must have taken it 20 times.

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I have used online sources for flashcards  previous quizzes on quizlet and that's about it. 

I do not

It would be helpful to connect your email with your Moodle account because I would always check my email before Moodle.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of notecards. That's my key studying stradegy, so when you have a list of words to study that makes it me more confident in my test. 

Nope, don't have any more ideas.

I loved the google calendar

Moodle has been the best school program i have ever used.

Quizlet

theres nothing I can think of that was to out of the ordinary.

N/A

I used google to research a couple key people and battles to get a deeper understanding of them.

I didnt do anything different in this aspect.

I just stuck with email notifications. My phone does alert me to them though, so I didn't need to keep checking it. 

i didnt do anything different technology wise

No the only thing I ever did was make sure moodle announcements and messages were sent directly to my email.

I was pretty standard with my noodle usage, and I'm not sure about other tools.

Nothing. 

Maybe smaller groups? The influx of emails were daunting but other than that, no complaints.

I think everything you have going is great. I loved it. You actually helped me learn History. Didn't just over pile me with homework and new assignments everyday via email. I loved the way the class was put together, taought, and Graded. Only thing I wouldnt mind changing, is having more time. I love learning with you and 80 minutes go by very quick. I could watch and listen to you for hours. Your an incredible speaker. 

Maybe some different forum topics but that is just personal preference. Otherwise this class is wonderful.

Not sure. Great class.

nothing

As far as laptops go, the library has them available for students to check out, but your class might exhaust their supplies quickly. I also am not too good about taking notes, listening and doing computer stuff at the same time. I am already rushed taking notes sometimes.

You could have asked how much the student enjoyed the class.

none

Remove the deadlines on the forums, encourage participation in all of the forums throughout the term.

No questions come to mind. No reccomendations come to mind.

More history on African Americans, women, Native Americans! 

I would just suggest to go over how you'll grade forums a little better. But other than that I really enjoyed the class thanks Escobar!

Just keep doing what you're doing

none, thank you for your time!

none

To be honest I would not change anything about the class at all!! JOB WELL DONE!! However, I would stress having a laptop or some kind of device that can connect to the internet because that is something that is very important.

none

Don't stop teaching it.

The only area of class that I think could be improved is the forum posts.  Maybe if their was only one topic and you had to choose a side.  (like the first forum) then possibly we could keep the class participation up.  Other than that I really enjoyed this course.

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n/a

I think you covered i nicely

I enjoyed the way this class was ran.

Nothing else I can think of. 

You might ask a question about how well students were able to anticipate and study for the exams based on the quizzes and forums. Knowing exactly what in and in what detail to study is probably the hardest thing about this class. The study guides are extremely helpful, but I'm still not sure how much I need to know about each topic.

Like I mentioned above, maybe culling the quiz question pool a little so that less significant questions (like the name of the author of a book that was mentioned once in the text) don't come up and give students heart attacks about what stuff they have to know for the exams.

n/a

This has honestly been one of my favorite classes i have ever taken. I truly have no complaints or suggestions. I loved this class. Thank you for making it so great.

Nothing. Its perfect.

none that i can think of!

N/A

More in class discussion 

I dont have any other comments/suggestions.

I have no suggestions. This class seemed well thought out, and worked well. 

None

I have no other recommendations. This isn't the first time where I had lectures in class and then some assignments online. I believe that a Hybrid course is a way for students to be a bit more responsible with their work and making sure that their assignments are turned in on time. I look forward to taking HST 203 for the Spring term.

Just what I mentioned in the other survey.