Sample Course Evaluations - Intermediate German 2 Spring 2017
Sample Written Comments (Spring 2017):
Suggestions for Improvement
At the beginning of, and throughout, every semester, I encourage my students to openly communicate with me if they feel like that their learning experience could benefit from instructional methods that I have not used in class yet, from materials that are not part of the syllabus, or from assignments that I had not though of so far. Below please find three specific examples of how my students' input led to me making changes to my teaching.
For a commentary on these three examples of student feedback, please click here!
- I have never had a professor who cares as much about his students and their success as Professor Kaupp does. The amount of preparation he puts into every lesson is incredible, especially considering how many other courses he teaches. Every assignment was given useful feedback, but always in the most encouraging way. The workload was very reasonable and each homework assignment directly related to the following lesson, so there was never any question of it being busywork. Professor Kaupp's "small talk" sessions were so worthwhile and also very fun. The course was organized beautifully and included very relevant and essential topics that were always very interesting. This is one of the best language classes I have ever taken and would recommend Professor Kaupp to anyone.
- Professor Kaupp is by far the best German teacher I have ever had. He is always willing to help and explain. He ensures class is interesting, enabling students to become more engaged. Grammar lessons and vocab quizzes have been extremely influential in improving my language skills. My German skills have improved more this semester than ever before. I always look forward to this class at the end, because the topics and materials are always so exciting.
- Without a doubt, Professor Kaupp was the single best teacher that I have ever had. Never have I felt more at home in a classroom than I did in 202 Debart this semester. His syllabus is still the most detailed one that I or my friends have ever seen and I found myself referring back to it extremely often to check my progress. In short, whatever professor Kaupp is being paid, I am sure it is not nearly enough.
- The professor was incredibly helpful in reducing the stress involved with the course without reducing its difficulty. Everything in our class was structured around learning, instead of being structured around grading.
- The grading 'matrix' [specifications grading] has been extremely beneficial to my learning. Despite the low stakes, I still try my hardest on assignments and homework, as I realize how helpful they are to my learning. I feel as though I am also more willing to attempt new things such as challenging sentence structures and grammar rules as a result of this grading style..
- I believe it [specifications grading] was really beneficial -- focusing on learning instead of focusing on grades allows one to be more creative and even risky while writing and talking, because minor details will not affect the grade in the end.
Suggestions for Improvement
At the beginning of, and throughout, every semester, I encourage my students to openly communicate with me if they feel like that their learning experience could benefit from instructional methods that I have not used in class yet, from materials that are not part of the syllabus, or from assignments that I had not though of so far. Below please find three specific examples of how my students' input led to me making changes to my teaching.
- "I wish we could do more writing exercises in class instead of doing most longer writing assignments at home." (Midterm Fall 2014)
- "For grammar rules, having rules written out in the PowerPoints would be helpful." (Fall 2014)
- "I would like more creative projects rather than homework assignments from the book." (Midterm Fall 2014)
For a commentary on these three examples of student feedback, please click here!
