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Electronic
Teaching Portfolio
University of Pittsburgh, Summer
2004
This page contains a list of links related to the course I taught at
the University of Pittsburgh during the Summer of 2004. This course
was Algebra. The course pages have been moved here from the server
at the University of Pittsburgh where they were originally posted, and the
links have been changed, where appropriate, to read documents on this
server. The content of the pages have not been changed.
View the course page
here.
* indicates that the university indicated that this score was above the
university mean. This information was only available for questions 4-10.
| 1. Compared to other courses at the same level, the
amount of work I did was: (1=much less, 5=much more) |
4.1 |
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| 2. In this course I have learned: (1=much less,
5=much more) |
3.3 |
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| 3. Grade I expect: (avg. expected 4=A) |
2.6 |
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| 4. The instructor presented the course in an
organized manner (1=hardly at all, 5=to a very high degree) |
4.27* |
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| 5. ...stimulated my thinking. |
3.55 |
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| 6. ...evaluated my work fairly. |
4.18* |
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| 7. ...made good use of examples in clarify concepts. |
4.09* |
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| 8. ...maintained a good learning environment. |
4.09* |
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| 9. ...was accessible to students. |
4.43* |
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| 10. Instructor's overall effectiveness |
4.0* |
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| 11. Would you recommend this course to other
students? (1=definitely not, 4=definitely yes) |
2.6 |
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| 12. Would you recommend this instructor to
other students? |
3.27 |
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| 13. Did you experience difficulty in comprehending
your lecture instructor's spoken language in class? (1=no
difficulty, 4=severe difficulty) |
1.1 |
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| 14. Did your lecture instructor experience
difficulty in comprehending questions that were asked by students in
class? (1=no difficulty, 4=severe) |
1.4 |
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| 15. The lecture instructor's writing on the
chalk-board was legible. (1=seldom, 5=always) |
5 |
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| 16. The lecture instructor's attitude toward the
subject was enthusiastic. (1=hardly at all, 5=to a high degree) |
4.11 |
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| 17. The lecture instructor treated students with
respect. (1=much less than most courses, 5=much more than most
courses) |
3.78 |
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| 18. The lecture instructor was available for help
during his/her office hours. (1=very seldom, 4=always) |
3.75 |
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| 19. The lecture instructor arrived for class on
time. (1=rarely (<20%), 5=almost always (>90%)) |
4.89 |
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| 20. Lecture instructor provided the opportunity for
questions. (1=very seldom, 4=almost always) |
3.75 |
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| 21. Helpful answers were given to questions raised
in class (1=very seldom, 4=almost always) |
3.44 |
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| 22. Would you recommend this instructor to a friend
taking this course? (1=not at all, 5=definitely) |
4.22 |
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Some remarks from the surveys
(copies of the actual surveys are available upon request):
- Really great teacher! Connected concepts, explained well;
you can clearly follow her train of thought. Funny.
- She communicates well with the students, and is very clear in
what she is teaching.
- She writes everything on the chalkboard, and by everything, I
mean every little step of each equation. The notes I took from her
lectures were most valuable when doing the homework or studying for
exams.
- good use of example problems; frequently asked students if they
have any questions; was easy to approach and talk to if any questions
about course material, homework assignments, etc. came up.
- An enthusiastic drive to teach; well organized.
- Betsy has a very energetic attitude that was extremely
appreciated at 9:00 in the morning. She also made it obvious that she
wanted us to do well in her class.
- Neat handwriting, good at explaining problems and concepts,
friendly, willing to meet outside of class for help.
- Organized, enthusiastic, kind, understanding... and had a good
sense of humor.... Don't do anything different and use Professor [sic]
McCall's teaching method as a model for all other math courses @ this
level.
My personal reflections:
This was the first time teaching an algebra course as the lecturer
rather than just a tutor or recitation instructor, and generally it went
pretty well. Many of the students found it challenging because of
the condensed nature of the course. There was also the issue of
using an online Math website, through MyMathLab, which many of the
students despised, but which the department required me to use. This
program worked well for a course I taught at CCAC, but it proved to be
something which these students complained about a lot.
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