Anonymous Student Comments
(Samples over a two year period.)
dr. forinash, please email me if you did NOT receive my lab 13. I slippedit under your door after the final on tuesday. Thanks. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.I had never used the internet before I enrolled in this class, and nowI agree with almost everybody. It is a very neat thing. I had heard a lotabout the internet but never actuallyused it. And I was quite fascinated by it. It is pretty amazing how thewhole world can be linked through a computer program. Without anydoubt, with the increased use of computers, in the coming years internetwill become a household name andmore and more people will be using it.Hello! I found the internet quite interesting. I had no idea of how muchinformation was at the touch of my fingers. For ever I really likethe hints and gradesheets you have on Netscape. It is so handy that I wishall my profs did this. Again, I would like to see a solutions manualon reserve and a list of "suggested" problems from the text. I believe you should spend more time discussing conceptual problems,because those are the types of questions you ask on the quizzes. I also think it is unfair the way you grade your lab sections. Mr. x is more lenientwith his grading than you are. This gives those students who are in your lab section an unfair disadvantage for the overall class grade.I feel Dr. Forinash's presentation of class discussion is well- prepared,and his explanations are mostly clear. Sometimes I feel it would be betterif Dr. Forinash were to speak more loudly, given that the room has no carpet.I feel the class assignments give an adequate overview of most of the material.The tests and quizzes seemed to test the skills we are developing.The book has sections that I feel are particularly difficult to comprehend:Lenz's Law of induction; the chapter on ac circuits with capacitors,inductors, etc.seemed difficult. However, I have enjoyed more in-depthknowledge provided from the details of the book...Perhaps a more detailed analysis on the inductors, transformers (whichwe did review again- thanks!), and maybe a more detailed explanation ofthe differences between the ac and dc components of current...it stillseems that dc really has little importance vs ac.Other comments: on my part: 1) I wish I had a better calculus background. 2) I wish I would have worked more problems in the book. on the course: 1) I feel the book provided many areas (some highlighted above) of confusion.when i tried to use the web page for the 2nd week to study for the quizon monday, i really could not tell which questions went to chapter four.i did not have time to look up every single question. it would reallybe helpful if you could tell us which study questions go to which chapter!Dr. Forinash, As you might have noticed, Ryan and I do not seem to getalong. I would really like to be moved when we switch groups on Monday.Thank you, S LHow are you doing in the course: Lousy. I need to see more examples!!!I don't know if I'm doing the homework right if I don't see examples workedcorrectly in class. I'm getting burned on the homework. I'm not confidentthat I'm working the problems correctly. If the course continues on theway it is right now, I'll be forced to take physics at another location.I would rather stay here, but not at the expense of feeling I have learnednothing.I wish the instructor would be more prepared for class by having preparedexamples to do easily from start to finish without any trouble. I feelthe quizzes are just fine. They check only to see if you are paying attentionin class. Maybe a webpage that shows examples of problems like what weare working on. Maybe a page of some sample problems with solutionson a separate page. What prevents the course from being beneficial: Lackof lecture in class. Try having at least one full day of lecture (preferablytwo) and another day for working problems in groups. I don't feel I'm gettingmy money's worth out of the instructor if he just walks around while theclass is working problems and sitting in his office during the labs. <NOTE:This last comment prompted me to explain what I was doing in the class(group learning and interactive methods) and how these methods are provento be more beneficial, which helped the class atmosphere immensely. kf>