I really enjoyed having multiple mediums to use while studying.

I really enjoyed the online videos. 

I enjoyed the different videos. it was a different way to learn compared to other online classes. 

The videos and quiz routine was good. The comparing of the book to the videos.

I enjoyed being able to take the class on my own time. I liked the video format for our learning and the weekly quizzes were very worthwhile. I would continue the Burns' weekly videos.

As always, Escobar has put together a very worthwhile class. The structure of the course is very well organized, making it easy to keep track of all requirements, and the material is presented and analyzed in interesting ways. This is an excellent course all around. The one thing I am sad we didn't do was a second paper near the end of the course, like he had us do in the History of the Vietnam War class.... but i'm weird like that. It should speak volumes to the high quality of this course that I am wishing we had another paper to write!

NA

I especially liked the forums.

I thought the videos provided for the class helped us have a better understanding of the Civil War. I sometimes looked forward to the class discussions as long as there was an interesting subject being discussed. I think you should continue showing the Kens Burns documentary because I thought it was really well done and educational. 

I enjoyed watching the ken burns video each week. While the book was incredibly informative, the ken burns video put things into a format that I think helped me to remember certain events and people better.

na

N/A

It was nice to compare the readings and videos with each other, creating a full scope of what material was important. I looked forward to the Ken Burn's series quite a bit, I still can't get the sounds of those cannons in the videos out of my head. A series I will use if my children ever ask about the Civil War.

I really enjoyed this class and learned more than I thought that I would.  I wish that Professor Escobars class for the Vietnam War was not closed for next semester because I would love to take it.

I think if you participated in the forums a little, just enough to engage the students going in the right direction and to maybe reroute the students who weren't, it would help the discussion and give us the confidence to know what we're debating is in fact on point.

I thought some of the exam questions were not exactly aligned with the major concepts and themes from the text and films. Many of the questions were great but I thought some were not exactly relevant to the major facts we learned about the war. 

The grading system on the forums seemed too intense. In similar courses the instructors simply require a certain number of posts, longer than a sentence to receive full points. I made several well thought out, intelligent posts, never to receive a grade higher than a 2. If you wish for essay style work, then assign that instead. 

More feed back on graded material that did not measure up so we don't repeat the same mistakes.

I didn't like the McPherson book. For someone who is a visual learner, it was extremely difficult to have to read the book on top of the Burns videos and the forums. I didn't like how heavily weighted the major tests were. I am a bad test taker (even when I know the information), and the fact that I may not pass the class despite my A in classwork is very discouraging. I know the information, but taking tests is always very hard. I wish they were more equally weighted.

I believe that the only thing which could improve this course would be for it to be in the classroom- and that is solely because the only thing better than Escobar's organization and discussion.analysis is his enthusiasm for the subject matter in person. And I really do wish we had a second paper to write, mostly because I find the Civil War so fascinating and feel like I have a lot to say about it.

I think the weekly quizzes should be multiple choice

The reading load is heavy but that can't be changed when the class has to fit into a certain amount of weeks.

I think you should provide more feedback to why you give us the discussion grades you do. Maybe give us suggestions on how to improve our posts if were not getting good grades on our forums. I also think you should let us see the correct answers to our quizzes after our second attempt. I guess that could lead to cheating, but I think most students just want to know the right answer when they have answered a question incorrectly. Overall though I have really enjoyed the class. Thanks!

I thought that this course was very thorough and organized. I appreciated clear instructions. I don't have any suggestions for improvement.

While i understand the need to address the need to critically evaluate sources, I think the course, in so far as our interactions, focused on this to the exclusion of the actually history. But that is my only complaint

I'm pretty sure everything was covered in this survey.

I'm sure you hear this a lot, but your tests are very tough, not the quizzes but the midterm and I can expect the final to be just as hard. I took your Vietnam class, put much less effort in that one than this, but the tests were very difficult as well. The curve is nice and I thank you for that. But I think what was tough on the tests, for me, was the grammar or the way you constructed some of the questions. It seemed as if I needed to closely scrutinize every comma or period if I were to fully understand the question. I want to say some of the questions contradicted themselves in a way, due to the grammar or just your style. Thank you though for a good term, and best of luck in your future!

The only thing I thought could use improvement was when we were given the study guides for the final..there was a good amount of questions on the final exam that were not on the study guide and were not things I can recall even studying.