Student Evaluations

I believe in being open and honest about all student evaluations. As professional advertisers have known for years, the best recommendation for something comes from a friend. Unfortunately, our friends are not able to give recommendations for all our important decisions in life. I feel that websites like ratemyproffessor.com fill a niche that people crave, to be better informed on the quality of their instructor.

Below you'll find my complete and raw student evaluations for every class available, showing both the positive and negative comments for all. I know that sifting through all the files can be tedious, so I've also gone through and pulled out direct quotes to give an overall summarized impression of what students felt about my teaching, but feel free to compare with the actual documents.

Summarized Comments

Positive Feedback

• Speaking towards my teaching style
  • "Grades on the work, not just the answer of the problem"
  • "I enjoyed the fact that he was honest, but stern in that honesty"
  • "[he] was really well prepared for lecture and knew the content well"
  • "Good explanations, answers all questions clearly until the student understands"
  • "Easy to understand, knows the subject"
  • "He was very friendly and approachable"
  • "He was patient and thorough in explaining the topics"
  • "Michael's personality makes him easy and enjoyable to work with. "
  • "He is immensely helpful and never hesitates to help me out with a problem."
• Speaking towards my enthusiasm
  • "I liked that Michael was very enthusiastic and funny"
  • "He actually cared that we understood the information"
  • "very passionate about his subject"
  • "Great enthusiasm for class!"
  • "He is very enthusiastic which keeps the class awake!"
  • "Stobb is VERY enthusiastic with what he teaches and has VERY clear explanations."
  • "Michael Stobb was very nice and he was really enthusiastic for the course material."
  • "The fact that the instructor was always excited about the material we were going over made the class more enjoyable"
  • "For every topic covered in this course, he showed great enthusiasm making the class more enjoyable."
  • "It is nice to see his enthusiasm about math."
• Speaking towards my humor
  • "Humor. He was funny and realistic. Clear too."
  • "He's funny and knows his material"
  • "I enjoyed his humor"

Constructive Feedback with Responses

• "add extra credit"
  • Response: I added an extra credit assignment the next semester.

• "give more cohesive and understandable in class worksheets"
  • Response: Worksheets were updated the following semester with more comprehensive questions.

• "should go a little slower"
• "go over the content a little more"
• "more lecturing and leave worksheets as homework"
  • Response: Reorganized class to have multiple mini-lectures.

• "give more cohesive and understandable in class worksheets"
  • Response: Worksheets were updated the following semester with more comprehensive questions.

• "if a student has a question, just answer it right away"
• "Have answers to the worksheets to reference."
  • Response: I believe that students need to wrestle with a problem, so I try to use the Socratic method and draw the answer out. However, some students don't like this approach or misinterpret it as the instructor not knowing the answer.

• "space the tests out more"
  • Response: I used to do 3 midterms and a final. I now do 2 midterms and a final.

• "shows way too many steps"
  • Response: Some students really benefit from seeing all the detailed steps, so I try to show them when possible.

• "less online homework"
  • Response: Online homework has many benefits over traditional homework, including instant feedback, easy access, and more available problems.

• "[He] could grade his papers quicker"
  • Response: Grading hundreds of assignments is challenging, but I've developed a better routine in order to decrease the turn around time for submitted assignments. I now aim for a one week return.

• "have a little more time to ask questions"
  • Response: Time is a scare resource in the class, so it's unlikely I will add an explicit question time, but students are always encouraged to ask questions during lecture and while working on their in-class work.

• "some inconsistencies with grading the homework"
  • Response: I'm a firm believer in developing holistic rubrics for each submitted assignment. I find that most perceived inconsistencies are a result of students failing to recognize the level of understanding they have portrayed in their work. However, I'm always willing to re-evaluate grades if a mistake is suspected.