TEACHING EVALUATIONS
Steve F. Russell
This page is under revision 3/11/97.
The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department requires faculty
to do Evaluations of Instruction on courses in the department.
Faculty receive the results of these questionnaires which include
student comments and an overall effectiveness score according
to the following scale: (1=Poor, 2=Marginally Satisfactory, 3=Satisfactory,
4=Good, 5=Excellent). Click on a course number to review the scores
and written comments from my classes for the past few years.
Desirable Learning Skills
- Locate sharply-focused information from a broad array of sources
(information acquisition skills).
- Assess the reliability and relevance of the found information
(critical thinking skills).
- Draw the appropriate conclusions (judgment and reasoning skills).
- Take informed/knowledgeable action (develop courage/self-confidence
and a bias for action).
By Robert (Bob) M. Anderson
Iowa State University
October 7, 1996
EE 201 Electric Circuits
(S96=2.79)
- more in-class examples w/ numerical calculations carried out
- more on how to do homework. we actually had two classes. one
was the basics in class which we understood then we went to do
homework and many times problems were much too hard for our knowledge.
- more on step response of circuits and less on node-voltage
method
- some material in the lab was never discussed in the class
- The professor should actually know what we are doing in the
lab from week to week. need more node voltage and Thevenin equivalents.
- no clue as to how computer can be used in this class. more
of the beginning of the book to get a good foundation.
- The instructor assigns too many homework each week. As a result,
I do not have enough time to really go through the chapter.
- give p-spice problems as homework.
- have labs that solve problems that are like the homework
- cover first 4 chapters in more detail, so we get the basics
down better before we move on to more difficult stuff. give less
op-amps. the class moved really fast at first, then it went really
slow. it needs to be more even. The tests were not spaced out
enough, we only had 1 test before midterm and I did poorly, so
I got a midterm. We need to have more tests, and evenly spaced
so if we have a bad test, it doesn't kill our grade.
- coordinate the labs and class so material is covered at the
same time. need more of the first five chapters. The first 5 chapters
should be covered more slowly and thouroughly because they are
the basis to the rest of the class. and ti would help with the
understanding of the course.
- give more coverage of sinusoidal sections. lab coordination
is just fine
(F96=3.56, S96=3.52)
- Need more time to learn the material
- More emphasis on Interesting - this was all rather dry
- This class is very boring
- I think that this is a good course. I'm only a Soph. in CprE
but I feel that I took this class at the right time. I think there
are some changes that could make it better: (1) return our resumes
before we go over them on the overhead. It would give us a chance
to fine tune it. (2) a few more guest speakers. I would like to
have heard from people working in the different sized comapnies
and their experiences. I would have also liked to hear form the
personnel people form various companies to know some fo the specifics
that they are looking for.
- The instructor for this class was a good lecturere. The objectives
of this class were not clear. The organization of this course
was precarious. The guest lecturer was a good idea. The assignments
were a good idea, hoever they were not clearly defiend. THIS CLASS
NEED A STRONGER, STRICTER FORMA, THAT IS DEFINED BY A SCHEDULE
OR SYLLABUS.
- the information presented was very helpful and paralleled
my experience with jobs, etc.
- give more examples of the real world when we are out for a
job
- more emphasis on everything!! I learned practically NOTHING,
less useless gibberish talk
- It would be nice to hear more from people in industry - people
with BS degrees
- bring in people from companies to lecture. the text book required
for this class were a complete waste of money don't make us buy
them if they're not needed
- It would be easier to hold student's attention during this
if HW or exams were assigned. I think this course is worth while
but it is hard to pay attention when you know that all you have
to do to pass the class is to show up.
- more corporate speakers
- maybe this course should be given to graduating seniors only.
I think it is an excellent learning tool but not as practical
as it could be if I was closer to Grad. Date.
- need more class participation, guest speakers, interviews,
recent grads, less spending time reviewing resumes, career plans,
don't need to show everyone, class gets bored.
- The pace of the course was too slow and many of the topics
apply more towards graduating seniors than juniors.
- more time on resumes and interviewing skills and job search
strategies, less everything else.
- spend more time on resume writing and spend time doing mock
interviews. Don't waste time with a career plan or portfolio.
- more guest speakers, less career plans
- This class should be a Senior level class. Juniors are not
worried about professionalism as much as they should be. The class
seemed to drag at times and you need to make the class time more
interactive. Games, experiments, problems, etc. - something.
- more guest lecturers
- good idea for a course but didn't really get done what intended
to. concentrate more on professional issues. Too much overlap
w/ 251 w/resume, etc.
- more legal implications in Cpr Engineering, our rights and
responsibilities as engineers. Portfolios are stupid, long-term
plan was pointless. this class was worthless with the exception
of the guest speaker who talked about legality of engineering.
- More emphasis on bring interviewer's from different company's.
Recent grad's, to get fresh insight as to what, IBM, Motorola,
and xyz company's are doing with new engineers. If we can call
alumni for money then we should ask for time to get more guest
to come and speak. Also, I think that the class should have students
go through what a interview is like, team project.
- The class seems worthless. I didn't learn much. Books should
not be required. Suggestions: lecture on the different specialization's
within EE, e.s. control systems, communications, etc., how to
start own company, consulting, becoming a P.E. advantages/disadvantages,
grad school: when to apply? Deadlines, GRE's How to chose where
to go, a thesis advisor, etc.
- Bring in people with practical experience to tell us what
qualities employers look for, more real life applications. 5 year
plans were good, but if people aren't thinking too far ahead by
now, it is going to be hard to change them. I don't feel I, myself,
benefited from this class, maybe someone else did?
- More getting a job, less ethics and portfolio. this course
should be offered only to seniors, it might have been good for
them, but for me it was somewhat useless.
- It would be nice to have had more people come in and talk
to the class. Especially new engineers that have just graduated
and have been working for less than 2-3 years. I would like to
know more about what is actually done on the job. RESUMES - we
spent a good amount of time on. PORTFOLIO - I don't think we should
have spent any time on.
- I never really understood what I was supposed to gain form
this class other than helpful insight - which, by the way, I felt
I received a lot of. But the class seemed more like a seminar
or an R credit course. I felt some of the material was common
knowledge and elementary.
- need more of what to expect as a starting engineer. What employers
like to see in engineering applicants.
- more of how to deal with your boss, self improvement. A course
like Dale Carnegie's would be nice. More specifics on the actual
first year on the job.
- more guest lectures. real world stuff. Only had one guest
lecture. Real people letting us know what's going on would have
been interesting. I felt this class was somewhat interesting but
failed to give it its due attention because I felt it didn't really
matter what I did as long as I would show up and sit in my seat.
- give more of what is expected of you and how the professional
world is like/different that school world. Maybe have some guest
speakers. have more class projects/ class presentations that will
require more involvement - great information but there's not a
lot of motivation to find out about it.
(F96=3.04)
- It would be nice to spend a day talking about what is happening
in a lab during the week. want computer simulations of the signals
and modeling of them. want more statistics. I think it would be
a good idea if the teaching of the two 421 classes would be the
same. If all students had same background. Try to lecture out
of the book assigned rather the multiple books that some students
may not have access to.
- A new textbook will be a better means of communications between
instructor and students
- need to go over more material in less specific terms
- He (instructor) is very understanding. He will take student
opinions into consideration. Overall he is a good lecturer.
- The book for this class is terrible! Use COUCH instead of
HAYKIN!
- need access to a PC room for projects for coordinate software/hardware
(DSP)
- use DSP communications labs
- spend more time teaching out of the text even if it is a poor
textbook. do less answering of complex questions during class
that take large amounts of time. COMMENTS: Find a book that is
MUCH better than Haykin. I feel that this book is completely inadequate
& difficult to learn from
- discuss in class what is going on in the lab
- get a lab for 421 also. Do AM things to help w/ learning process.
Do more digital in 422 and 423 and examples of problems. do less
reiteration of the same stuff over & over again. Less worry
about piddly factors of 2!
- cover more topics and move more rapidly. more example problems
should be worked in class. do less stupid questions from students
like question after question about factors of 2.
- A more focused progression would be helpful. the semester
seemed somewhat scattered.
- General Comments: The course was a mess. The objectives were
not clearly stated, the book was horrible, and the instructor
did not give clear direction about where we were headed. I learned
very little and left the class with little confidence in my knowledge
about communication systems
- #1 COMMENT: I told this Dept., last semester, to burn this
book in methanol. thanks for ignoring me, even though you work
for me! Back Mr. Russell in his choice of a new text! Failure
to do so will force me to convince future communications engineers
to choose another school.
- MATLAB/SIMULINK simulations of systems would be nice to visualize
the systems.
(F96=3.13)
- Give more lectures, miss less lectures
Author: Steve F. Russell / sfr@iastate.edu
Last Updated: Mar 11, 1997
Created: Mar 11, 1997