Every semester the students in my classes are invited to fill out a confidential survey on my teaching effectiveness and append written comments. If you're planning to take one of my classes, it's a good idea to check these out to see what you're going to be getting into. The Big Picture If you're better at pictures than you are with numbers, here is a graph showing my average scores per semester for question #6 (basically, "How well did the instructor do overall?") and the average over all of the questions on the form. To put this into context, the average over all instructors in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering is typically around 4.0. The Questions The department finally changed the questions in Spring 2008! Now there are 6 questions instead of 12. Student responses are numbered 1 through 5, with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest. Here are the questions. Was the material outlined in the syllabus covered throughout the course? Were the homework, projects, and exams challenging, require critical thinking, and facilitate your understanding/learning of the topic or area? Were the lectures clear and stimulating, and did they contribute to the understanding of course topics? Did you receive timely feedback regarding your performance on homework and exams? Was the instructor enthusiastic, fair, respectful of students, and concerned with your learning and progress? Based on the questions above and what you have learned in the course, how would you evaluate your instructor? (Also available: An archive of my evaluations under the old 12 question version for 2000-2007.) Breakdown by Class The numbers in parentheses after each entry are of the form "a/b, c, d" where a is the number of students responding to the survey, b is the number of students attending on the 12th class day, c is the average score for question 6 ("Based on the questions above and what you have learned in the course, how would you evaluate your instructor?") and d is the average over all 6 questions, out of a maximum score of 5.0. That means that c and d are the important numbers, but if a is small (meaning the class size is small) or a/b is small (meaning a small fraction of the class responded), then the results are prone to be less significant. CSCE 4110: Algorithms Fall 2008 (22/30, 4.45, 4.45) CSCE 4210: Game Programming 1 Fall 2008 (24/30, 4.58, 4.45) CSCE 4220: Game Programming 2 Spring 2008 (14/20, 4.14, 4.25) See also Ian Parberry Talks Back, a response to the comments on this class. Spring 2009 (6/14, 4.60, 4.63) CSCE 4930/5933: Topics in Game Development Spring 2008 (4930: 1/4, 5.00, 5.00; 5933: 5/7, 5.00, 5.00) Spring 2009 (4/7, 5.00, 5.00) CSCE 5250: Intro to Game Programming Fall 2008 (3/3, 5.0, 5.0) CSCE 5260: 3D Game Programming Spring 2009 (1/2, 5.00, 5.00)