T. E. Roberts,
Instructor | USF Sarasota-Manatee
Course Evaluations
By Students | Fall 2003 to Spring 2010
Page updated 20 July 2010
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Clicking on the link at the
bottom of this page will result in downloading a compressed (zipped) document
containing evaluations of courses by my students from Fall 2003 to Spring
2010 in Adobe PDF format. The combined evaluations since Fall 2003 represent
a large file. Links are also provided for evaluations from individual
semesters as single PDF files. These are unedited copies of the original USF
evaluation results. Each evaluation consists of
two parts: 1)
statistical results of a questionnaire about the course (“best” = 5.0), and 2)
brief anonymous comments by individual students. Beginning with the Summer
2008 evaluations, I usually provide a brief response to selected student
comments in order to address a student’s confusion or to correct an obvious
misunderstanding. One theme remains constant
through the student comments over the years: the students who believe they
benefited from a course tended to: 1) pay close attention to
instructions 2) try to improve their
work 3) communicate regularly
with the instructor, and 4) treat the learning
experience, the instructor, and their classmates with respect and professionalism. A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS Anonymity obviously is a
two-edged sword. It provides confidentiality but may also violate an
individual’s right to due process. Students are asked to be fair,
honest, and unbiased in their appraisals of the course and the instructor.
However, based on surveys conducted by me and other faculty members over the
years, it is obvious that most students who write negative appraisals have
never sought individual conferences with the instructor. Many of them are
simply disgruntled with the grade they earned and, instead of taking
responsibility for their own performance, like to blame circumstances, fate,
the instructor, or anything else that lets them off the hook. In my judgment, the university
has instituted a well-considered process for the filing of formal student
grievances (http://www.sarasota.usf.edu/Academics/Catalogs/UG/USFSM_ug1011.pdf,
pages 48-52). The first step is for a student to confer directly and
personally with his or her instructor. This usually results in the settling
of any misunderstanding, and this procedure should in fact apply in any
disagreement between a student and an instructor. In the absence of such a
conference (especially in online courses where most communications occur via
email), it is easy for a student to feel slighted because he or she is simply
unhappy with a grade. This happens occasionally with people who think of themselves
as “A students” but who earn a B+ or other, in their view, unsatisfactory
grade. If such a student has never bothered to discuss the evaluation of an
assignment at the time it is submitted and graded, the resentment at the end
of a term over an “unfair” final grade may lead to an unfounded negative
appraisal of an instructor or a course. In fairness, the student
should first accept individual responsibility for the outcome of his or her
performance in a course. This is one reason that I emphasize that a student
EARNS a grade based on performance. The instructor DOES NOT “GIVE” a grade.
The following passage from each syllabus should be kept in mind: Advice
About Grades: A grievance will not
automatically or necessarily result in a change of grade for an assignment or
a course. In more than 43 years of teaching thousands of college students, two of my students have filed formal grievances (1974
and 1997), and in both cases my original grade and teaching approach were
upheld by a grievance committee of students and faculty. I take seriously my
duty to be not only a competent and effective teacher but also to help you succeed,
not fail. If you believe I am not meeting your objectives as a student, talk
with me. I will listen to your perspective and seek a mutually satisfying
solution to problems. Any student who writes an anonymous negative review of
my teaching or course content at the end of a term but who has never talked
with me in person, by phone, or by email, about specific issues lacks credibility.
Such a person demonstrates immaturity, ignorance, and indifference regarding
professional and ethical standards of conduct. The time to focus on
your grade, if you worry about such a thing, is during the term, not at the
end after you receive the final grade calculation. Students who complain
about final grades but who have made little if any sincere effort to excel on
each assignment or to communicate with me individually should not be
surprised at a weak final grade. You have several written assignments and a
final exam to build a satisfactory final grade. You also have the option of
receiving a detailed markup and performing a complete revision of all but the
final assignment. Contrary to many
students’ view, a grade is earned
by you, not given by me. Your
job is to perform as well as possible. My job is to evaluate your performance
fairly, based on experience, judgment, and workplace expectations. There is
nothing personal in this process; it is simply a matter of defining,
applying, and meeting professional criteria. I am not judging your
appearance, gender, sexual preference, ethnicity, philosophy, politics,
religion, personal values, or social status. I am interested only in your academic
performance and your demonstrated improvement thereof. Please don’t ask for a
grade to be “rounded” to a higher mark. The grading system is designed to
record your achievement accurately to three decimal places, so the effect of
rounding has already been considered. Grades are calculated by the Blackboard
system, but if you believe a mathematical error has occurred, notify me
immediately. Read carefully and
repeatedly the definitions of grades in this syllabus so you have a clear
understanding of the standards that students are expected to meet. If you are
confused, simply ask me for clarification. Don’t substitute guesswork for
knowledge. As a faculty member, I take
neither positive nor negative evaluations personally, but I do try to use
them to improve the course presentations in the future. The dates below correspond
to the semester in which the courses were presented. These include the
following:
Fall 2003
(1.8 MB) Spring 2004
(1.8 MB) Summer 2004
(1.2 MB) Fall 2004 (2.5
MB) Spring 2005
(3.0 MB) Summer 2005
(1.0 MB) Fall 2005
(2.4 MB) Spring 2006
(3.4 MB) Summer 2006
(1.1 MB) Fall 2006
(1.0 MB) Spring 2007
(292 KB) Summer 2007
(1.1 MB) Fall 2007
(772 KB) Spring 2008
(1 MB) Summer 2008
(276 KB) Fall 2008 (2
MB) Spring 2009
(2.4 MB) Summer 2009
(728 KB) Fall 2009
(1.3 MB) Spring 2010
(256 KB) All Evaluations To
Date (through Spring 2010, single zipped file, 29.3 MB) To
contact Mr. Roberts, please send email to robertst(at)sar.usf.edu [change
(at) to @] |