Social Psychology
Student Comments – Spring Semester 2002
06/03/2002
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Most Valuable Course Aspects: Least Valuable Course Aspects: Suggestions for improvement:
Dr. Whatley illustrates very well. He applies real world situations to what he is teaching to make it more understandable. the course,
I believe is a good course fo ranyone to take, not just PSYC students. Has valuable information in people skills
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The examples and suveys given to explain materials presented to the class.  None. N/A
The webpage and automatic feedback were great. As far as the material goes, the book was a good read and everything in it was relevant for the course I wish that I had more time to devote to school. The course was great Keep doing what you're doing.
My eyes were opened to matters that I had not realized before. I really enjoyed the class. N/A N/A
"real life" examples and application of the topics being taught through videos and clips, available notes to supplement course attendance, hands on opportunites to test theories we studied in class on subjects outside the classroom  N/A better organized powerpoint notes - they were sometimes difficult to follow and take notes from during the lecture

I take full responsibility for this; I switched books and the new book did not arrive until 3-days before classes began.

The videos and activities were very helpful in learning the material. Also class discussion was very valualble in learning different points of view about the text. N/A N/A
I enjoyed the class. The video's helped relate things to everyday situations. N/A N/A
Watching the movies that corresponded with the subject given in class. This way it sticks in your mind longer. I really value this. Our papers were turned in and we have not recieved them yet. But that is the only thing, and we all understand that his wife just had a baby and all. I think he has made it as exciting and valuable as it can get.
Well, the website was very valuable. The links were most useful during test time.  N/A The material covered hundreds of definitions and theories that at times seemed to overlap. It would be most helpful if the instructor attempted to make these a little more clear.
as far as content, gaining more insight in social behavior is fascinating. presentation of material/lecture: i found that all the work related with the computer is a definite advantage to both students and instructors. the video tapes are a very successful tool used to 
convey aspects of social behavior. and the overall atmosphere of the classroom invited students to participate on an "open floor" type discussion.
no answer no answer
Being able to understand greater various social psychology concepts that were highly pragmatic in application to everyday lyf. For example, buying an apartment recently, I could apply many principles of social influence to greater understand how I was being ripped off by the real estate agency, such as low-balling. I find myself wanting to help people more as well  N/A Teach more of the evolutionary perspective, of why we have a drive to help people -- to insure the survival of our species, et cetera. Since this is such an important and interesting aspect of Psychology, and certainly Social Psych. in general, one should make sure to focus on evolution more.
The video tapes and web site were very useful. The outlines on the web really helped a lot. There were not any aspects in this course that I considered not valuable. It would be helpful if the instructor showed more video clips as examples to go along with the web outline.
The video tapes were awesome. They helped to put the information in a real life context. Also the website was good because it let us obtain copies of all the class lectures. The professor failed to go over the tests when he returned them to us. he only handed us back our scan-tron sheets and from those there is no way to tell if there was some sort of mess up on the grading of the test. 

In order to maximize class time, students  are informed after each test that they can come by and I will be happy to go over   their test with them. Those students who  are very interested in their learning typically make an appointment. Also, when the class appears to have had problems with a question, I calculate an item-discrimination index to make sure that item differentiated between high and low test scorers. If the item does not differentiate, then that item is thrown out.

Go over the tests after returning them to the strudents. This would help the student see where he/she messed up on the test and to understand why their answer was wrong.
 
The way the course was presented was quite interesting. It was a well organized course and the instrutor taught it well.  Some of the students were getting carried away with their own stories during discussions even to a point when it does not relate to the course. The instructor did an outstanding job teaching this course. Material was presented in an organized, yet, interesting manner.
All aspects of this class are valuable to me. all information presented in this class helped to strengthen my overall knowledge of social Psychology. From the chapter on discrimination to the Love chapter. I count all aspects as gain.  Make the test a little less complicated. Just playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The discussion board on the website.
The lack of examinations to measure understanding of the concepts.
provide quizes rather than so many readings. There was too much content to cover, and not enough evaluation of the extent we learned this content