HST203 - Spring 2017 - Student Evaluation of Instruction

Instructor comments added in red

2

Rate the 12 questions below
Average rank
 ⇓ N/A

Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree

1. What was taught agreed with the objectives stated in the catalog or course outline. 1.3  0
2. The instructor exhibited an enthusiasm and interest in the subject. 1.2  0
3. The instructor was knowledgeable in the subject. 1.2  0
4. The instructor used class time effectively. 1.3  0
5. Respected diff. genders, religions, ethnic backgrounds, class status, abilities and lifestyles. 1.4  1
6. The instructor encouraged students to think. 1.4  0
7. The instructor's teaching methods were effective in helping me learn the material. 1.5  0
8. The instructor made an effort to be available to students. 1.3  1
9. Helped students understand the course material and find answers to relevant questions. 1.4  0
10. The instructor was fair and reasonable. 1.2  1
11. The instructor helped me believe I could achieve my potential in this course. 1.5  0
12. Overall, the instructor was effective. Consider both limitations and possibilities. 1.3  0
Responses Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total N/A
1. What was taught agreed with the objectives stated in the catalog or course outline. 36 (78%) 7 (15%) 1 (2%) 2 (4%) 46 0
2. The instructor exhibited an enthusiasm and interest in the subject. 41 (89%) 2 (4%) 1 (2%) 2 (4%) 46 0
3. The instructor was knowledgeable in the subject. 40 (87%) 3 (7%) 1 (2%) 2 (4%) 46 0
4. The instructor used class time effectively. 38 (83%) 4 (9%) 2 (4%) 2 (4%) 46 0
5. Respected diff. genders, religions, ethnic backgrounds, class status, abilities and lifestyles. 34 (76%) 8 (18%) 0 3 (7%) 45 1
6. The instructor encouraged students to think. 32 (70%) 10 (22%) 2 (4%) 2 (4%) 46 0
7. The instructor's teaching methods were effective in helping me learn the material. 32 (70%) 9 (20%) 2 (4%) 3 (7%) 46 0
8. The instructor made an effort to be available to students. 36 (80%) 7 (16%) 0 2 (4%) 45 1
9. Helped students understand the course material and find answers to relevant questions. 35 (76%) 8 (17%) 0 3 (7%) 46 0
10. The instructor was fair and reasonable. 38 (84%) 5 (11%) 0 2 (4%) 45 1
11. The instructor helped me believe I could achieve my potential in this course. 32 (70%) 9 (20%) 2 (4%) 3 (7%) 46 0
12. Overall, the instructor was effective. Consider both limitations and possibilities. 36 (78%) 7 (15%) 0 3 (7%) 46 0

3

What did you like about the class?
Response
I really like how Mr. Escobar presents the material. Its hard to detect any personal bias on the issues that he presents, which i think allows more critical thinking to be done by the students. There is a lot of work to be done for this class but i didn't find it to be overwhelming. He is great at making sure students are aware of due dates and there is never any questions about what he expects. This is a very fun class and i would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little homework.
The course material was good and I like your enthusiasm
The teacher really made this class a great environment to learn and be in. Made me glad to come to class.
Ultimately I enjoyed the enthusiasm with which Prof. Escobar conducts his lectures. The inclusion of video clips that he chooses singularly for their relevance to the material as well as the numerous political cartoons he shows provide a more entertaining way of learning that is engaging at the same time. Overall in terms of a history class, I have never had one that was conducted in such a way. I can almost garuntee that you will not ever dread attending these lectures.
The very effective use of class time. It's wall-to-wall learning. Escobar is very knowledgeable and explains the material well.
Overall I enjoyed it very much.
Overall, I enjoyed the most out of the class was the format and the ability to easily follow along and when stuck, the instructor was extremely helpful.
Joe is very engaging and made a relatively dry subject an enjoyable learning experience
I liked it that the professor was very intuitive about his teaching and that he kew so much about the material. It was very surprising to see the professor being able to answer every question that a student would ask.
I loved the lectures. Often when people think of a "lecture" I think they imagine something boring. Joe's lectures, however, are interesting and engaging.
I really liked going to the lecture for this class. Some lectures are so boring and don't have much energy to them. Joe does a great job keeping students engaged in the material because of all the different videos that are presented and the enthusiastic attitude he brings.
I enjoyed the content and the instructor's methods of teaching. The classes were engaging and insightful and helped me think about the current state of the U.S. with a more knowledgeable perspective.
There was a variety of material, not only a textbook but videos, lecture, maps, and visual aids. It helped make learning easier. On top of that the instructor was more than willing to answer any questions, always responded to messages and was open for office hours to help outside of class time.
What I liked about this class was the fact that Joe made it seem so interesting and not just another history class. He was genuinely interested in what he was teaching, furthermore making the students interested as well. He gave you all the resources and more to excel in quizzes and exams.
I liked the review of material, the videos and discussions online that all were new and beneficial to the class.
I loved the class lectures. Escobar always found a way to make the topics of discussion interesting and relevant to todays issues. You can tell that he is passionate about history and he's an amazing teacher. I love how straight forward he was with us at the beginning of the term, telling us exactly what we needed to do to succeed in his class and even gave us a calculated grade that we needed to get the rest of the term after the midterm to achieve our goal grade. Escobar was also very open to communication and was willing to try to help with any problems you had.
grate class, and teacher is very friendly.
I enjoyed the lectures and in class videos we watched. History is a topic that can be boring for me with the wrong teacher, however your lectures were interesting and had great energy which kept my attention.
I liked the teacher's enthusiasm most of all, and the material was often entertaining. I enjoyed the forum posts as well.
Very Knowledgeable instructor open to answering any questions you may have.
everything
The quality of the presentation and the enthusiasm of professor Escobar. All lectures were accompanied by relevant visual information--in the form of graphs/tables, video clips, maps, etc--and the information was presented logically and concisely with an emphasis on contextualization into the broader national and international cultural and geopolitical environments.
I liked how we had many opportunities to succeed in forums and quizzes.
I liked the material presented.
i really enjoyed the slides Escobar made for the class. his teaching method including the videos and relating topics to issues going on today helped me understand better. one of the best classes i have had in a while.
I did not think it as possible however my love of history grew because of this class. I found myself more engaged, asking questions and looking things up I never thought of before.
The class was actually really interesting and I actually enjoyed going and listening to Joe talk about the course material and how it relates to past and current events. The class had its humorous moments, and it's more serious moments, but Joe managed to do a very good job of stringing all the information together.
Joe's a really dynamic professor. He knows his subject really well, he's very passionate, he incorporates different media well in the class, and he's a good speaker.
I liked the forums in an odd way. I did horrible on the first one , and it was a hit on my confidence. They encouraged me to think more critically and engage with hard subjects that I never thought about. I grew from these posts .
I liked that you were honest about biases in the book, and other sources. I also greatly enjoyed the variety of material that was presented to us. Documentaries, songs, show clips, etc. The lectures were my favorite part of this class.
I really liked Escobar's personalities and sense of humor. He was able to talk about so many controversial subjects without speaking from a biased perspective, he was careful to respect everyone and their differences. It was a challenge but not a class to be classified as daunting or miserable at all!
The teaching style, it worked well for me and probably the most i have learned in a class.
The subject materials and lectures were very interesting. Fantastic class. I would highly recommend it to future students..
I really appreciate the engaging nature of the lectures. It isn't just rambling of facts or spewing information, but Joe talking to his students. The amount of preparation and refinement is also obvious and much appreciated. Videos are edited to only include the best parts and seamlessly incorporporated into the lecture. Having a teacher that clearly cares about teaching and his students is common around Lane, but Joe is one of the best at this. There are never surprises or stressful moments in this class. Work is very evenly spread out, with four forum weeks that include extra participation but nothing too crazy. Tests are strictly based on material in class and the textbook, and the study guides do a great job of covering everything without handing out easy grades. Weekly reading quizzes are short, and designed simply to encourage complete comprehension of the chapter. Structurally, this is probably the best class I've ever taken. I've never had any real issues through the two terms I took this class, but Joe maintains a level of involvement that leaves me comfortable knowing he would be available and willing to fix any issues that came up.
I liked the way the professor taught by sharing video clips, cartoons, articles, charts, and old propaganda. I sincerely enjoyed coming to class.
It kept my interest and was fun
One of my favorite things about Joe's classes is the enthusiasm he shows for the topics.
The teaching style the instructor displayed and what I learned.
I really liked how much he liked to gloss over the parts of history that would make the US look bad. Or when he would talk about how student tuition costs were going up but he was still getting a pay raise because of the increase in cost of living. I honestly didn't like anything in this class. he should be proud however that he managed to make me, someone who usually enjoys US history, loathe it. Great job.  Thanks for the sarcasm.  And glossing over the bad parts?  You must not have attended the same class I did.  We began the term on day one with imperialism and the subjugation of other people, like those in Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines, and ended the term with the Cold War, where the government supported horrendous dictators, such as Diem, Batista, the Shah of Iran, JUST because they were not communists.  And in-between there was plenty, including the rise of the KKK in the 1920’s and nativistic immigration restriction, followed by Japanese internment during WWII, not to mention the challenges faced after the Brown v. Board decision of 1954 and other Civil Rights setbacks.
I felt that Prof. Escobar set up his class in a way that allowed the student to "control their own fate," which I really appreciated. Whether a student sunk or swam was all up to themselves. He was also one of the most charismatic professors I've ever had. Students could tell that he is very passionate about history. His lessons were thought provoking, and stuck with me after the class was over. He is a prof. that makes students want to attend class.
Everything, after taking Mr Escobar for three terms, I am saddened that I can not take his in class courses any longer. If there were more instructors like him, I truly believe more students would become more invested in their studies.
I Like the quizzes online.
I liked how you used an unbiased opinion when displaying the facts. It was extremely interesting listening to your lectures because of the visuals you used. Also for the way you explain your train of thought, it is easy to follow and understand. I am a big fan of history and this class fulfilled what I was looking for. I highly recommend this course.
I really enjoyed all of the lectures, I didn't miss a single one! I learned a lot this quarter, and can't wait to take any future history classes with Joe.
No class time was wasted. Everything was organized and to the point which made it easy to be successful as was stated at the beginning of the term. Lecture wasn't the only thing organized, all the material and work was too. The instructor offered equal views from both sides of the spectrum and made it difficult to determine where his viewpoints would lie on the spectrum. Really felt unbiased and open.
I appreciated how organized lectures were, both verbally and technologically. Escobar always had every tab loaded and ready to incorporate into his steady stream of information. I enjoyed the forum materials and the challenges in topics they posed. The subject matter was engaging and I liked being able to express political opinions in an academic setting with my peers. Though opinions differed and topics could have facilitated harsh discourse, classmates were exceptionally polite and civil. This may not be true of every class but it seems worth mentioning since some topics were controversial. Escobar also used excellent documentary clips that really emphasize aspects of history I was fuzzy about and didn't know where to turn for accurate information.

4

How could this class be improved? Add any comments about the class and/or instructor that you feel might be helpful or useful.
Response
I cant think of any way that this "Hybrid" class could be improved. The forums were always interesting topics and make for easy points, but i think i would have liked to have spent the extra thirty minutes a day in this classroom.
I wish we went more detailed on presidents but I also understand the time limit
The only way that I could think of that would prove to be an improvement on this course is somehow making all of the political cartoons available to browse outside of class. While I am aware that there are countless resources and materials available out there, access to the cartoons you think are relevant and important would be a pretty interesting addition.
Occasional forum participation from the professor could help generate strong discussions and increase participation.
I would say sometimes I have problem with videos in class; they are a little bit hard to get every details listening for only one time. So It would be very helpful if the instructor makes the video available during the week that it is shown in class.
Overall, class starts at 1:00 and ends at 2:20 and from start to finish, the class is full of lecture and really doesn't need any improvements.
To be honest, I believe that the exams were a bit difficult for the international students. The questions on the exam were very tricky and often brought misinterpretation of the questio. Overall, I think it was a great class.
I thought the class was great.
The class can be improved by more class discussion. I find that I learn well with also hearing some things the students have to say. There is a fair amount of this but it would be awesome if it was a little more encouraged.
I think more class time is what would be a nice change.
Perhaps an occasional required assignment similar to the extra credit assignments where it was fill in the blank and a more guided homework assignment? The extra credit assignments are incredibly nice please keep those options in, just that guided style of learning is also occasionally nice, but Instructor already does have a good variety of assignments.
Very great class. Definitely recommend it. Joe provides a very good learning environment.
I don't think this class could really be improved since he does such a great job teaching and he obviously knows what he's doing. The only thing I would say is that online forums can suck sometimes. It's not asking too much of us, but it can be a bit difficult to keep up with during the week. So my advice would be always make your posts in the forum as soon as possible, don't put them Off, try to post at least once in each topic or at least read and take note of the material for each topic. I did not always do this and I did run across midterm questions that I would have known if I would have at least read all forum topic materials. Another tip would just to make sure to always take notes in class and if you miss a day GET THOSE NOTES FROM ANOTHER STUDENT, it's not the teachers job to get those for you. And if you're afraid of human interaction just moodle message another student listed in your class. Most people are more than Happy to help. This is an awesome class and it's pretty straight forward and easy enough as long as you do the work and go to class.
Suggest: the exam is not friendly to international student.
Everything was straight forward.
I would have appreciated more supportive mid-term study guides, but that's probably because I did poorly on the exam. Most of my recommendations were left on the other survey, but overall this class was taught very effectively.
Maybe more in class student involvement and discussion in place of the online forums, which i ha a hard time keeping up with throughout the week sometimes
Maybe give a few minutes at the end of classes for some questions.
I do enjoy peer interaction, but as a hybrid course, that was already provided through the forums. I wish more questions were asked in class--and I include myself in this. I'm sure people have questions and don't speak up because they don't want to disrupt the lecture, which is a shame. No clear solution to that problem, though.
I wish the study guide for exams was more specific. It's hard for me to study everything about each topic or person.
Tests should be less difficult.
No need to change
I didn't enjoy the forums as much as I thought I would. Instead, I would have preferred writing an essay or two on the subjects of the forums. That is just my preference of learning and engaging in class material.
Professor Escobar tried very hard to get us out of the narrowness our political viewpoints and see the complexities of history. However, if I were teaching the class I might even be a bit more heavy handed in this goal. I could tell this was his aim, but I think he could have explicitly addressed it to the class. Still though, despite that I would go further, I totally agree with that objective, and give him kudos for it.
None
Mr.. Escobar has this course, his lectures, and his procedures ironed out SO smoothly, it's excellent. I don't think it's his fault that people are missing their free points, he reminds them time and time again. It's all so good, thank you!
i think the class was great how it was. The classes were so interesting to me that i did not even feel like i was in there for over and hour most times.
I thought the class was great. I would recommend professor wear more bow ties.
The only thing I would ask for is a little bit more material presented in class. I appreciate that most of the factual information comes from our textbook and class time is spent on comprehension and relating to current events (which is really cool). However, sometimes parts of class seem to drift a little too far away from the history at hand, and I'll find myself craving a more informationally-packed lecture so to say. This is only a minor complaint that stems from how much I do enjoy these classes, but with only 3 hours of class a week sometimes it feels like I didn't learn as much as I could've in class. Everyone processes information at different rates and I think Joe's class is set up perfectly to enable every student to comprehend the material covered, this is more of a personal preference for a faster paced, harder class.
Not so much online assignments
N/A
The only thing I could think of is more direct contact with students because some things I had to learn myself such as online assignments. But i don't have any suggestions on what you could do so I'm just complaining.
don't be so condescending stop talking about your stupid pay raises white men are not the only ones contributing to US history. why is Hugh Hefner on the study list but not MLK??? your "controversial" forum topics aren't really conducive to the learning process, and honestly are just annoying. maybe try to be less boring.  Students, as I promised, I put ALL of my evaluations online.  This student missed the significance of “progressivism” and how they often benefitted themselves or the societal splits that occurred in the 1950’s (Dr. Benjamin Spock vs. Hugh Hefner).  He or she MUST have missed the classes where we covered Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Dubois, Ida Wells, Jeanette Rankin, Ida Tarbell, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Francis Perkins, Minoru Yasui, not to mention MLK, Thurgood Marshall, Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, Rachel Carson, and Sandra Day O’Connor. 
I honestly don't have any improvements. The only problem I really had was with the forums, but that was only because I hated them a lot.
Honestly, I am not sure how you can improve on this course.
N/A
I think you have been teaching this class long enough to know what to fix and what not to fix. I can't think of anything to change or add from the ten weeks I was in your class.
No improvements needed, but I do think the forum posts are too heavily weighted.
It was perfect. Unless someone was interested in the material as I was, then I wish we could've gone more in depth in all of the subjects but I understand it's only a 10 week course so that's impossible.
Though I felt at any time discussions in class would have been acceptable and though it is a hybrid course and the forums were meant to take discursive between classmates online, I wished we had more time in class, with the professor to discuss the material. Though Joe was always available to discuss such things after class, I thought a class discussion, even if only for 15 min once a week might help solidify the broad subject matter. However, the fewer interruptions top the lecture the better, lest we be led off the straight and narrow.