Physics 24 Midterm Feedback

Students expressed a broad range of opinions about many aspects of the course, from the homework policy to the quality of lectures, recitation sections, exams, quizzes, and more. We were especially eager to read your comments on the merits and drawbacks of the group homework policy. Perhaps not surprisingly, these comments ranged from strong dislike to great satisfaction.

A very informal tally of the comments from several sections produced the following breakdown.

Aspect of the Course	Strongly Approve or Agree	Weakly Approve or Agree	Weakly Disapprove or Disagree	Strongly Disapprove or Disagree
Homework groups	14	20	14	9
Recitation is helpful	16	0	3	3
WebQuizzes are useful	11	2	5	6
Lectures are helpful	8	1	1	3
ConcepTests are helpful	4

In addition, several other remarks merit mention

• Several students feel that the problems get too difficult too fast; assign more exercises to help introduce the concepts. Many people, on the other hand, reported that the problems were well chosen.
• Many people commented that they found example problems worked in lecture to be very helpful.
• Several people wished that the lectures would supplement text material more. Other like the reinforcement.
• Many people were annoyed at the WebQuiz question involving the heavy-duty rope and urge me to be more clear. As far as I could tell, no one suggested less clarity, so I guess I better work on clarity.
• More problems are set in recitation than can be covered in the 50-minute period. It would be useful to have solutions to these problems made available.
• Some people objected to the course policy of requiring attendance in recitation. Most people reported that recitation was helpful.
• Several people pined for a more timely cessation of Prof. Saeta's lectures -- I promise to get my act together!
• Several students also pointed out that it would be useful if we could supply them with more hours in the day! Prof. Eckert is working on it.