This was my first on-line class experience and I must say that when I first logged on to this class I was very afraid. Not just because it was my first on-line class but because it was a more technical class then I thought it was. I can remember saying "How am I ever going to make it through this course online, without a book?" I even contemplated dropping this course at that time. I am so glad that I did not. This course turned out to be my favorite class this semester. I learned so many new things, and it was fun. I also enjoyed the working at my own pace. It provided a great flexibility in my busy life. Thank You for designing a great experience!

Stephanie

The class had a lot of good content, evenly spaced assignments, good inspiring videos, timely responses to emails, extra credit opportunities, plenty of information of technology we really decide not to think twice about, until of course, this creative class was made in a lunch session.

Good Class!
Jeff

This was one of my first online courses and I found it to work out well with my life. The material you covered was very interesting. I especially like the website how things worked. I also liked the video tapes. I initially choose to do the alternate assignment but found time to go and few these videos. I think these videos shouldn't be an option. I think all students of this class should view these.

Raina

The course was good, it was my first on-line class and I wasn't sure what to expect. I appreciate the finish at your own pace but it also set me up to neglect the class a bit. It showed me the self discipline needed for an on-line class, I did catch up though.  All the videos were great, I still remember the NYC blackout as a kid living there. The computer videos were also very good. Do you know how I may purchase some of them?

Jack

I thought this class was a great idea and I can see how it will helped me understand things better in my technical classes. This is a class that will prepare me for harder classes. I wish I would have bought the preprinted text. I think I faulted myself by possibly missing sections. I think buying the text should be required.

Erin

This is my second on-line class and I thought the topics discussed were very insightful about our everyday operations like driving a car, how computers work, and all that other fun stuff! I actually enjoyed watching the videos... even if they were a little out of date.. I thought the computer one was a good choice in learning about how it all got started way back when.

Kathy

As most of my fellow classmates stated, the class was very enjoyable and informative. I am also in agreement with the many others who stated the "work at your own pace" aspect of the course was quite convenient and much appreciated.  I also felt the spreadsheet was a valuable tool in keeping me on track and helped me determine that after taking the final I am sitting at an A-; I will be submitting the extra credit assignment tomorrow to bump that up to an A! : )

I will most definitely recommend this class to others as it was recommended to me.

Thank you,
Tiffany

This class was well thought out and worth while. Everything was great. The only thing is that i feel i could have learned more by both taking the class face to face rather than online and if reading from a textbook was required. I really didn't enjoy printing out page after page of notes. Buying the textbook should be required rather than simply offered. I probably spent more money on paper and ink than just buying the book itself.

Jeff

I found the videos to be great, I enjoyed them all. This being my first time taking courses online I found this forum to be a great teaching platform and I learned a lot, but there were some dry spot in the units (long and drawn out). Overall I would give this class an A. Thanks for your help, maybe see you in another class during the next 2 years.

William

I'm not trying to suck up, or earn brownie points.  I have trained literally hundreds of people in my trade, and I would not hesitate for a second to recommend this class.  Hell, I'd love to train someone that has had this class.  I commend your foresight in making this a reality, and if anyone has a problem with this being part of the gen ed for a degree, send them my way.  I have seen so many people in the trades that don't have 1/100th of what you are teaching here.  That includes myself!

Dan

Its very evident that a lot of time has been spent developing the course.  This is by far the most interesting class I've ever take either at MATC or in the UW system.  If this is just the development phase of the course I would LOVE to take the classroom session of the class after everything has been worked out.  Hats off to you Jim!  I hope you get the credit that's deserved!

From the end of class survey

This class was very interesting and very well thought out. The pace of the class fit perfectly in with working a full-time job and attending two other classes at MATC. The course material covered almost every question that a person could have in life, "How does this work?". This is only the third class that I have taken on-line, but probably will stand out as the "BEST" a student could have. I wish that my first two on-line classes and all my future classes would be even close to the experience of this class. I hope to find more classes online from this instructor. Thank you so much for what I have learned.

From the end of class survey

I feel overall the class was very informative and clear. It was very basic which is excellent. Read the sections in the unit, answer the discussion questions, take the practice quiz, take the test, and repeat. That's how it should be and that's why I like it.

From the end of class survey

Note from Jim:  The following is posted from one anonymous student but makes me feel like I'm doing my job.  I take a lot of pride in my work and try to dissolve the perception that online classes are "blow off" classes or that you can't get the same quality education using this format.

I liked how involved you were with this course.  I never went a day without hearing back from you when I had a question.  I have taken many online courses and there has not been many professors as involved as you!  Thank you it was very helpful!

Aside from the unit material (which I will elaborate upon shortly), I thoroughly enjoyed the few video-based assignments which required students to watch various technology and invention-related specials, and then complete a brief worksheet on the material.  Each of these videos was extremely fascinating and educational, and I actually would have enjoyed watching more of them.  In fact, I've watched all parts in the "Triumph of the Nerds" series and I hope that, when time permits, I will be able to watch more of the "Connections" series which although aged with time are still extremely entertaining and informative.  I'm not sure how technically feasible this would be, but I personally think it would be beneficial and very interesting to have one related video documentary for each unit, that could be watched as an accompaniment to the actual reading material.  One could be about sound waves, another about light waves, another about basic electricity, and so forth.

I found the course reading material to be extremely thorough at presenting the basics of "how things work."  Obviously, with a semester-long class and the amount of material encompassed it would be difficult to elaborate too much about any given subject, but I feel the material is well balanced and entirely digestible in the time allocated.  It was quite a ride reading from the first unit through the last; from man's early discovery of fire to the inventions of transistors and electricity, to the eventual revolution of home computers and the Internet!  Even with five full-time classes, I had no major problems allocating my time to reading and understanding any given unit in 1-3 days; but if the content were to be expanded much further I feel it could be too much to digest (right now it seems just about right even as a full-time student with many obligations).

Aside from minor typos and grammatical errors scattered throughout the material, technically everything described seemed accurate and factual.  In fact, the material was better written and of higher quality than a handful of $90-$120 college textbooks I've had to order in the past year.  A textbook on technology and computer systems had multiple glaring technical errors in it that taught absolutely false information.  My math book had invalid answers designated on online quizzes and homework.  Even my economics book, on its 14th edition, has blatant errors on its publisher-provided tests, quizzes, lecture notes, and book content!  I'm just rambling off all of these examples to illustrate that, despite being your own written material you provide free to students, it is comparable and even better than many high end books by major publishers.  I know that a lot of work went into the material you created.

I also must commend you on how quickly you responded to discussion board responses, e-mail questions, and corrections in your material.  The discussion board material itself was both valuable and even fun to research different aspects of science, and I wouldn't change it at all.  I liked that you gave students a wide array of questions about each unit and section and that we weren't asked to answer each and every question (obviously different students enjoy different kinds of questions and topics).  Rarely ever did more than a day go by before the discussion answers were graded, and if you had problems with answers you were quick to point them out so students could correct them.  I've had online teachers who didn't give a single grade or even a trace of feedback literally until the last week of school, and it's incredibly frustrating!  In addition, I'm glad that you were so strict on people copying and pasting answers without sources and confronted some students who did so.  In another class I took, one student went through the entire year and every discussion question answered, and every assignment submitted (that I saw) was entirely 100% copied and pasted from Wikipedia or other sources with no credit, yet nothing was said or done about it by the instructor despite complaints (and I found it unfair considering all of my work was original and took a lot of time and effort).  Personally, I've in the past had my own creations (non-school) plagiarized by others with no credit, and I understand how aggravating that can be.

I do apologize for being so long-winded in this response, but I appreciate the opportunity to provide honest feedback rather than the generic "rank this from 1 to 5" end-of-class survey.  Again, I enjoyed the video assignments and feel that many students would benefit if more related video assignments were available.  I also found the reading material comprehensive yet digestible.  Normally, I would carefully read the units before they were due so that I could answer discussion board questions.  When I wanted more information about a subject, I found your frequent links to other sites such as HowStuffWorks.com very helpful.  Then, I would read over each unit again right before the quiz and test so that it was fresh in my mind.  I also took notes on all of the key terms and important points from each lesson; which helped significantly.  For the final, I again read through each unit (but not as meticulously) and carefully studied all of the topics that were part of questions on previous tests.  These strategies helped to embed the information into my brain and allowed me to score good grades on each test.  My favorite unit was the final one on computers since that is what I am studying, but I learned a great amount in each unit (I also found Unit 5 very fascinating as it covered many popular appliances).

From the end of class survey

I want to thank you for all the new knowledge that's bumping around in my brain since I took NatSci 167 this past summer! I got enough enjoyment from the learning at the time that I felt it was well worth the time and effort I put into the course. Now, however, I'm even more delighted -- I regularly find myself thinking, "Hey! I understand what they're talking about!" when I'm watching something on the Science channel, or sitting in a meeting with a bunch of engineer types.

Sent from Nelda (forward from Dr. Shana's section of 167)