Elementary Statistical Methods; Spring 2017
IDEA Summary Rating: 3.1/5
Selected Student Comments:
- The instructor always maintained a positive demeanor while teaching and continuously encouraged faculty/staff relations outside of class.
- She was very nice and it was obvious that she was really passionate about the course, but I wish we would have had more grade options than the tests and what we did in lab.
- Good instructor. I would have liked to see more example problems worked out.
- She was very welcoming and open to others. She encouraged her students to talk with her to discuss any problems.
- I am grateful for the practice exams she uploaded to Canvas, that were extremely helpful and I know other students would agree.
- She is really passionate about her work. But maybe she could add some actually (sic) required work outside of the quizzes because without having any required work I never really attended class and then I would flunk my exams.
Reflection:
As everyone promised me, teaching statistics is a difficult gig. Students have some fair points as far as having more practice problems in class is concerned. Since this was my first time teaching the course, I kept the format largely as it has been in the past. This is something I know better than to do. In the future, I would provide more options for grades than just exams and lab, I would have closer correspondence between class discussions and exams, and I would involve a lot more practice problems. However, I will maintain my policy of providing practice problems for “homework” and reviewing them in class during the next meeting without assigning a grade. If is part of my teaching philosophy that my courses should be structured to foster real-life skills, and students must learn their own time management and personal motivation at some point if they plan to be successful.
Meredith A. Henry, Ph.D. 