Early last week, I received an envelope I'd been waiting for: the course evaluations for the special topics media course -- Opinion and the Blogosphere -- that I taught during the winter term at PSU.Although the communications department chair(woman) had emailed me earlier to say I'd gotten positive reviews, I looked forward to seeing the details. Nothing helps a person more than specifics, including constructive comments.
Some 29 students responded. The evaluations showed: "All students agreed that the course helped them learn to find and use information and that you responded constructively to questions. The vast majority agreed (98%) the course stimulated them to think, found the assignments clear, and help them evaluate ideas."
Though it's hard to say what pleased me most in the different areas where I was evaluated, I was especially gratified to see the students rated me highly in conveying enthusiasm for the subject and strongly agreed they would take another course from me.
I tried very hard to prepare well for the class and I know from experience what I would do differently to make the experience even better next time. I'll have to see if my colleagues, Rick Attig and Susan Nielsen, want to make guest speaker appearances again -- they certainly played a big part in helping to convey basic knowledge about blogs and the process of writing and editing opinion pieces.
I've been asked to teach the course again during the winter 2010 term, and there is a good chance I may get to teach a second course -- details to be determined.
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