Experimental Psychology
Student Comments – Fall Semester 2000
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Course Evaluation Website Evaluation Course Suggestions Anything Else?

Overall, the class was very informative and helpful and so was the instructor.

 

The website was very, very, very helpful and I really do not think I would have passed this class without the help of it. The use of the website should be continued to be used. The course could be improved by lowering the expectations a little of the students because I feel as though the expectations of the students were too harsh, as if we had already obtained degrees! Dr. Whatley is a good instructor with a great amount of knowledge in his field. He just needs to realize that his students do not possess as much knowledge about the material as he does so he should be a little more lenient with his expectations, especially on grading papers!
Overall this was a good course.  It opens one's eyes on how strickly things are looked at in the psychological world. I think that the teacher is good because he is not afraid to show the students if they are wrong.  On the flip side, maybe he should not be so hard on the papers when he really did not elaborate too much on what he wanted in the first place. The website was great.  The notes were on there, grade, sample tests, ect.  It was like you could be in class when you were outside of class. This material is kind of hard to grasp at first.  I'm not sure if
maybe the teacher should slow down, or maybe help out a little more by letting the students know what he wants.
It's not cool to tell someone to do something one way, and then mark it wrong when he/she does it.  Other than that your're cool.
 N/A N/A N/A  This material is kind of hard to grasp at first.  I'm not sure if
maybe the teacher should slow down, or maybe help out a little more by letting the students know what he wants.
Overall, the course helped me learn more about evaulating information and how to do research. The class is a little demanding for a 3000 level
course. Some expectations should be meet in a 4000 level class.
I felt the website gave a lot of useful information and allowed us to do things without
coming to the professor all the time. I provided samples of the papers and good information on how to write the papers.
Provide samples of the homework. Information could be explained a little better than it is. The paper should be explained a lot better and condensed a little more
The paper is really demanding for a 3000 level course. In the 4000 level course the papers are very little compared to this paper. This class should be smaller so we can learn more about what we are doing in the paper and why.
This was a good course, and Dr. Whatley is a good teacher. I think the paper was graded too harshly and weighed too much toward the final grade.  The website was very, very beneficial. Not only were the grades posted their in a timely manner, but we were 
able to compare our grades with others in class, which is sometimes helpful. The multiple choice quizzes were also a huge help as were the sites for the paper and proposal. I wish that more of my teachers had a site
like this. It was very very helpful.
N/A I think that the website is great as it is. I think this was a good course and I enjoyed the lectures. The tests were based on the material presented and sample quizzes were given as a guide. However, the APA style paper  was a little too hard for undergraduate students who are writing APA for the first time. The grading was a little too strict, and I think mistakes should have been pointed out for future reference, but should not have been graded so harshly. I think the paper was a good experience though. Dr. Whatley is a very good teacher and was always willing to help with the paper.
I feel that this course was effective in providing me with a background in Experimental Design and APA Style for my future career. However, while the instructor offered his help, he did make students uncomfortable when they asked questions. The instructor expected us to know and understand most of what was presented, and if there were questions, he seemed somewhat incredulous and condescending to the fact that we did not have the same understanding of the material as he did.  It was available for referencing and also allowed access to present grades. The website was definitely an asset in this course.

 

N/A More patience with student's seemingly inane questions, as they do not have a Ph.D. 
This course was a lot harder than I expected.  The tests weren't so bad, but some of the questions were very tricky and deceptive - even if you knew the answer you were likely to miss some b/c of how they were worded, etc.  The cheat sheets were nice, though! : )  I think we needed to know some of the things we learned towards the end of class a lot earlier in the semester.  Some of the areas of the paper I didn't really know what I was talking about or why exactly I was writing it, and then after the paper was turned (or very close to the end) we actually learned about it, and I figured out what was going on. The website was a great help.  It made it alot easier to have the lecture notes to follow along & all the samples & paper help sections.  It was also nice to know our grades at all times (well....it wasn't always good, but helpful!)
The website gets an A+!
Teach everything we need to know for the paper first!  Things that aren't in the paper shouild come later.  Analyzing the results section & writing the discussion - needs to be encouraged & explained earlier in the semester!
Don't assume that we know so much!!!!  Everyone didn't have the same stats teacher, or previous knowledge, so we can't be expected to understand what you're talking about.  (Sometimes you know what you're talking about & it makes sense, but we just don't get it b/c we haven't ever had it before)
I think you are a great teacher; very knowledgeable in the subject. This was a tough course, but I do feel that I have learned a lot!
THIS WAS A VERY DIFFICULT COURSE!! The work load was very heavy The website was really helpful, when looking for assignments and examples. Great resource. Can you take time to explain the assignments and not just give them out. it is the first time we are seeing them and we don't know how to do it and just looking at book we might not get it right. we might have a different understanding from the way the book is describing it. Can you explain the information in simpler terms. It's easy for you because you have more experience than we do. This is our first time experiencing this.
Overall, this course taught me a lot. It was very tough and required many hours of ooutside work. The instructor was available for help during hours which were easy for me to come to. I often felt like I did not always get answers that helped me. I also felt like I was being looked down on, when I asked questions. The website was a very useful tool in this class. It helped me with samples of work and very detailed explanations of our paper. The sample test questions were also helpful. The chapter outlines, however, did not help much. They were very vague and could not help me when studying for the test. The paper, should be discussed before we do the experiment. Our hypothesis should be explained before we begin writing the paper. The instructor should explain the discusion of the paper ealier, so students had time to work more before it's due. Sometimes I felt like the instructor taught above our heads. He expected us to know more about the paper than we did. This was the first research paper for many of us. It should not weigh so heavily on our grades that it could drop it a letter grad. If a student receives a lower grade in the course than they received on any test or homework assignments, it seems to me that the grading scale is off. No.
Overall this course was ok. It help me obtain all my notes and information for the paper. N/A Maybe a better understanding of exactly what's going on with the paper.
He was very helpful that we were able to come to you anytime we needed help. N/A Listening to students in the class. I would say that it may be helpful to explain things in simpler terms, because most students do not understand a lot of things.