Student Comments Fall 1999

Social Psychology
Student Comments – Fall Semester 2002 03/06/2003 back to Student Comments back to Courses I Teach


The strengths of this course were:	The weaknesses of this course were:	Suggestions for improvement or additional comments:
Video clips showing the material applied to life.	N/A	N/A
Video clips made it easy for the information to be visualized in everyday situations.	N/A	I enjoyed this class, the only suggestion I would make is that the assignments (papers, group projects) be more clearly defined in class.
All of the course material was valuable information.	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	Make the course state after 9am, too early in the morning!! but Dr. Whatley was a very good, good lecturer!
The video clips from prime time tv really helped me apply the sometimes dry terms to real life situations. It would help if more professors used this type of teaching method.	no comment	no comment
The videotapes was the most valuable	N/A	N/A
videos, group project	the textbook	N/A
The Group project really made me think about how my everyday surroundings relate to social psyc. Also seeing social psyc theories and concepts on the Simpsons and other sitcoms was really interesting	N/A	N/A
The videos really did help in understanding	I would have liked maybe one more test.	N/A
The use of video examples to help explain concepts learned in the class.	None	N/A
By using video tapes, I really could get the idea of specific terms.	None.	N/A
I learned a lot of material that can be very useful in life. I really liked how Dr. Whatley involved the students in their own learning.	I really don't think anything was least valuable that I learned in the classroom.	I think everything is fine just the way it is.
Use of Video and other visual aids	N/A	There should be more positive feedback with good grades. When I get a B with more negative feedback than positive feedback for the B it takes away from how I felt I did on the project. I don't feel feedback should be placed so strongly on areas outside the subject, (things that deal with the presentation or project) I don't feel an instructor should grade on such things as grammar when they are not going to practice that in their work. Your wright, why shuold eye grades on things as gramar and speeking; evryone should just get "A's" so noones felings are hert. Most likely, you have never seen "my work" and cannot comment on my professional presentation of material. See additional comments below.
Having class notes and practice tests available on the web site.	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	I believe the expectations of the students was based on areas outside psych. than within. I don't understand why we would not be instructed as to those areas but still graded on them. I believe more positive feedback should be given. I received a B on my project and was happy with that but by the time I finished reading the instructors comments and feedback I felt I should have received a lower grade. Helpful hints such as "If you want a bad grade, do this" is not have helpful as "Helpful hints for a good grade" The feedback I provide in the areas "outside" of psych involve presentation skills, errors on slides, etc. The feedback is how to do "better" the next time around. Constructive criticism is not negative feedback; I will not coddle my students. Why do I have a section about "If you want a bad grade, do this" rather than "Helpful hints for a good grade"? People pay more attention to negatives than positives; something that was discussed in lecture.

Actual Feedback from a Presentation

The presentation on the topic of social influence was, overall, well-done. While giving the presentation, some of you appeared nervous in the beginning, which tends to detract from your presentation as voices will often waver and fidgeting occurs.

Some of you spent a good deal of time and effort trying not to look at your audience. Making eye contact with the audience throughout the presentation serves to engage them more in your topic and ideas. The nervousness made it appear as if you
did not know the material well, but then everyone relaxed a bit and things came together.

Your speaking style was very good and consistent, but you need to work on the consistency of the presentation of the words on your slides. If I recall correctly, you mixed upper and lower case near the beginning of the presentation and there were some grammatical errors.

Your choice of presentation really caught my attention and helped keep it for the entire presentation. Overall, the skits were very good and the time you spent preparing everything was evident. The one criticism I have regarding the skits was the "cop-out" of the authority skit. You put a good deal of effort to be so creative in the other skits that doing one mimicking the "Candid Camera" segment was unfortunate. Also, the group could have done a better job taking charge when assigning students to groups that would have made that portion go more smoothly. Also, when you set a 1-minute time limit, you should have someone who watches the clock to keep the audience on task.