Although talking to students and giving formative assessments are provide valuable feedback, I found in-class evaluations are essential to finding out what students are actually thinking. For CPS160: Introduction to Computational Genomics, I had access to the official Duke course evaluations as well as specific TA evaluations that I designed with the other TA. Both had a low sample size, but it seems the students were pleased with the course overall, feeling that its was challenging but stimulating. With regards to my role and guest lecture, the only real concern was that our help sessions be more accessible in time and location.
For FOCUS4: Quantitative Approaches to Genome Sciences, I constructed a custom evaluation to address not only my job but also the unique course format. Many of the students were doubtful about the introduction of multiple professors each teaching their specialty. They felt that the classes were often not aimed at first-year students. Given this situation, it is not surprising that the students were grateful for my constant presence and occasional re-directing of classes. I believe team-taught classes can be made feasible but are likely preferred for upper-year or graduate level classes. Another issue raised by the evaluations were the assessments. Although the grades on regular quizzes were generally equivalent with the students' overall performance, the students tended to feel they were stressful and too specific. From my point of view, the questions were based on fundamental biology but i understand that as a beginner, it is more difficult to know what part of a lecture is important enough to hold on to. In the future, it would be better to present similar quizzes as unmarked end-of-class questionnaires that students can use to self-assess their grasp of the material. The students seemed satisfied with my section on Genome Browsers but felt that it did not prepare them for the challenge of the assignment. With the assignment, I was aiming for higher level learning objectives and to enable students to explore a relevant website on their own. At the time, I responded to their concerns by holding an extra help session. In the end, the actual grades were once again equivalent to their overall performance. Part of the problem may have been that students did not expect that type of assignment and were not clear on the learning objectives. This served to emphasize the importance of setting expectations early on in a course and being flexible enough to adjust to the students' needs. From now on, I will try to solicit feedback from my students earlier on in the course so that I can respond accordingly.
Reference Letter from Dr. David Corcoran
Lecturer for CPS160: Introduction to Computational Genomics Spring 2010
Mentor Feedback from Dr. Jeanette McCarthy
Course Coordinator for FOCUS4: Quantitative Approaches to Genome Sciences Fall 2010