University of Hawai'i eCAFE

eCAFE: Course and Faculty Evaluations

Instructor: Alan Teramura

Available Survey Results

Alan Teramura: BIOL 101, Fall 2009

Campus:	University of Hawaii at Manoa	Department:	Biology
Course:	BIOL 101 - Biology & Society	Crn (Section):	70497 (001)

1. Class Level (pick one)

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Freshman	Sophomore	Junior	Senior	Grad	Other
2.19	145	1.06	Freq(%)	38 (26%)	64 (44%)	28 (19%)	11 (8%)	1 (1%)	3 (2%)

2. Course

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Elective	Required
1.74	145	0.44	Freq(%)	37 (26%)	108 (74%)

3. The instructor demonstrated knowledge of course content.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.52	147	0.62	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	10 (7%)	50 (34%)	87 (59%)

4. The instructor fulfilled the goals of the course.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.38	146	0.72	Freq(%)	1 (1%)	0 (0%)	14 (10%)	59 (40%)	72 (49%)

5. The instructor communicated effectively.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.25	147	0.78	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	4 (3%)	19 (13%)	60 (41%)	64 (44%)

6. I learned more in this course than I expected to learn.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
3.9	146	0.99	Freq(%)	3 (2%)	8 (5%)	37 (25%)	50 (34%)	48 (33%)

7. The instructor makes good use of examples and illustrations.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.38	146	0.72	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	2 (1%)	14 (10%)	57 (39%)	73 (50%)

8. The instructor stresses important points in lectures/discussions.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.2	147	0.78	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	2 (1%)	27 (18%)	57 (39%)	61 (41%)

9. The instructor is enthusiastic about the course material.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.26	145	0.86	Freq(%)	2 (1%)	4 (3%)	15 (10%)	57 (39%)	67 (46%)

10. The instructor appears to have a thorough knowledge of the subject.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.51	146	0.65	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	9 (6%)	51 (35%)	85 (58%)

11. The instructor's voice was clear and understandable.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.54	147	0.67	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	3 (2%)	6 (4%)	46 (31%)	92 (63%)

12. The instructor defined new terms, concepts, and principles.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.4	147	0.7	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	2 (1%)	12 (8%)	58 (39%)	75 (51%)

13. The instructor was able to explain concepts clearly and effectively.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.31	145	0.72	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	2 (1%)	16 (11%)	62 (43%)	65 (45%)

14. The instructor broadened my understanding and grasp of the subject.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.16	143	0.89	Freq(%)	3 (2%)	4 (3%)	16 (11%)	64 (45%)	56 (39%)

15. The instructor clearly stated at the beginning of the semester the objectives of the course and requirements.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.54	147	0.66	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	11 (7%)	43 (29%)	92 (63%)

16. The instructor was effective in meeting the objectives of the course.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.4	147	0.68	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	13 (9%)	59 (40%)	74 (50%)

17. The instructor spoke clearly and audibly.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.53	146	0.63	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	8 (5%)	50 (34%)	87 (60%)

18. The instructor was easy to talk with and available for consultation.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
3.97	147	0.95	Freq(%)	4 (3%)	1 (1%)	42 (29%)	49 (33%)	51 (35%)

19. The instructor seems well prepared for each class.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.47	145	0.66	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	10 (7%)	54 (37%)	80 (55%)

20. The instructor was consistently well-prepared and organized for class.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.41	144	0.69	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	1 (1%)	14 (10%)	54 (38%)	75 (52%)

21. The amount of material covered in the course is reasonable.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.37	147	0.77	Freq(%)	1 (1%)	2 (1%)	14 (10%)	55 (37%)	75 (51%)

22. How can the instructor improve the teaching of this course?

By asking more questions of the students in the lectures.

I feel the class is excellent, and is run in a very effective manner.

make lectures more interactive/fun

Lectures were put up online too last-minute on some occasions. Some of the videos were too long. The end-of-lecture questions were ambiguous when they weren't actually questions or didn't have choices as answers. It was hard to answer them in preparation for the exams not knowing what exactly was wanted. Although I liked not having class on video days, it might be easier to pay attention if the questions were given first and then the video shown in class

Some of the lectures weren't very interesting, making it hard to pay attention. The overall the content was what I expected from the course.

field trips

make class easier

Include more videos. The ones you showed were very effective in portraying points in your lecture.

I would of like more opportunities for points other than the test or maybe even a few extra credits

Exam questions need some tuning.It's not too hard or anything,but it's not easy either. I just feel that the questions are kind of different from the actual lecture which makes them hard to answer. Also,the very long lectures are very boring.

give questions in the beginning of class so that we can find the answers during as we follow along with the lecture.

print out lecture notes so people dont go on their laptops and do other crap they not suppose to be doing in a lecture class

I think he is doing a great job.

The instructor can improve the teaching of this course by creating some sort of short answer questions on the exam. That way, more students will have to pay more attention to what is said in the class to improve the attendance to the lectures.

Please make lectures a bit more interesting.

This was the most awful class I have taken yet at UH. I hated the format, I learned nothing but memorizing terms and hope that I would pass the test.

Nothing I can think of.

N/A

speak up, make process for watching online videos more readily available.

N/A

Organize well how to take the exam. Sometimes there were too many students to take the exam at one room so that there were not enough chairs and desks. should divide students to fit the room.

None, I believe this instructor's teaching style was well-fitted to my learning ability; visually and auditory. The PowerPoint slide notes were a bonus to being prepared for the class lecture.

He could make some of his questions more clearer.

n/a

The way it is now, we don't get our tests back in this class. We only get the scores. It's kind of frustrating because you never find out what you get wrong, so theoretically you could go through the rest of your life thinking something is right that is really wrong. I think Dr. Teramura is a great teacher. He really knows the material and presents it to us in a manner that is understandable for the most part. He seems like a real intelligent guy and an asset to the University.

already good

I liked his teaching, it doesn't need improvement.

n/a

less repetition in examples and course material

He should slow down during lectures because some people still like to write notes rather than print out the slides.

nothing to improve on, very entertaining

He could post the powerpoints ahead of time.

It's pretty good how it is.

N/A

Make it more interesting and fun.

More interaction with students.

It is perfect

More home videos

No comment.

By making the midterm exam questions more clear and understandable and posting the lecture slides at the beginning of every week. He could also return the midterm exam grades sooner.

more personable.... make it easier to receave help when neeeded...

If anything, the powerpoints can be a little more informative to study off of.

It was really boring. He was monotone.

Use more clips during his lectures.

Make it more fun.

N/A

To make the powerpoints a little bit more exciting.

Be more enthusiastic, he seemed bored with himself sometimes.

Instead of just reading off the powerpoints, main points should be written on the powerpoint and then elaborated.

instructor tends to rush through slides

Some of the facts in class changed as the course went on and the powerpoints online were sometimes different that the ones in class. Also, some of the information was a little off. For example, we were talking about greenhouse gases, and water vapor was not mentioned as one, even though it is the most abundant greenhouse gas (I'm an astronomy minor, so I know this stuff).

The instructor should use more than just visual aids and a lecture only filled with information. They should add in examples of how it could be found or used in real life, and make things more interesting. Also, to define the tests more clearly. Many times the material given to study was not really clear on the test.

Get a bigger class room, or reduce the amount of students who can take the class.

Shorter lectures, more questions

change up class structure.

not reading off of slides and providing a text book would help students study more effectively

I think the course is good to my standards.

He is currently incorporating videos into his lecture which I think is a good thing.

There is not much to improve. The instructor made the material very easy to understand and was sympathetic. Very easy to talk to.

no real comments here. Thought the class was good.

Learn how to pronounce the word "nucleus" correctly, and I might take you more seriously. There is no such word as "nu-kyu-ler" no matter what George Bush says. Also stop treating us like first graders. If you ask people why the S-curve is called the S-curve, you're not going to win a lot of respect points.

I was very impressed with Professor Teramura's class. Although it was a large lecture class, he kept the biology topics interesting. I honestly can not thing of one thing for the Professor Teramura to work on.

Nothing! Great course!

none

Maybe emphasize the broader concepts more than specific information. It makes it less confusing and helps me understand more.

having more videos and illustrations could make the class more interesting

23. The course materials (texts, handouts) make a valuable contribution to the course.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.07	147	0.91	Freq(%)	1 (1%)	5 (3%)	35 (24%)	48 (33%)	58 (39%)

24. Audiovisual materials (or computers) were adequate and used appropriately.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.34	144	0.79	Freq(%)	0 (0%)	4 (3%)	17 (12%)	49 (34%)	74 (51%)

25. Examinations cover the important aspects of the course.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.3	145	0.79	Freq(%)	1 (1%)	2 (1%)	18 (12%)	56 (39%)	68 (47%)

26. The exams are returned in a reasonable amount of time.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
3.94	147	1.02	Freq(%)	4 (3%)	11 (7%)	24 (16%)	59 (40%)	49 (33%)

27. The instructor was fair in grading and criteria of grades.

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly Agree
4.27	147	0.79	Freq(%)	1 (1%)	3 (2%)	16 (11%)	63 (43%)	64 (44%)

28. Which aspects of the course did you like the best?

How we could easily prepare for exams.

I really enjoyed Dr. Teramura's PowerPoints. They were very fun to look at, and he effectively captured the students' attention.

That he gave questions that would be on the exam after every lecture. I enjoyed that very much.

class was organized and followed a set and predictable routine, which is very important for a busy college student

Very well organized. You went into class knowing exactly what to expect and what was expected of you. Professor was well prepared and made lectures appealing.

Honestly there weren't very many aspects--it's either sit there and take notes during slides, or watch videos at home. The short clips were helpful though.

The grading was easy to understand (three midterms, drop the lowest, and the final). It was good to have access to the powerpoints, but it was confusing if the powerpoint in class was different from what was on laulima.

simple grading system

the content

The Midterms were great.

I liked it all. Learned alot.

he was very thorough with his explanations

What I liked best about the coarse is that it is very interesting.There's a lot of references to Hawaii,which is what I liked because Hawaii is barely mentioned in the media,teaching,etc.

i liked the organization of the course. every student knew exactly what was going to be on the exams. the most perfect elective course i could have ever asked for.

exam questions already given

Watching relevant and interesting videos and answering the associated questions.

I guess everything is okay.

Topics relevant to improving today's society and ecosystem.

nothing.

I liked learning about the Biology in Hawai'i.

The graphics, video, and pictures, which help aid concepts.

none

studying with power point was good. Even miss the class, I could catch up later.

The new facts and information given to the class, especially to me, was my best interest in this course. It made me more enthusiastic to giving much more attention to the instructor. The videos assigned to the class was also a bonus for me since it involves to today's impact in society and how citizens can do to help maintain the living life of Earth.

Powerpoint is clear and informative.

I like how there were questions at the end of the lectures that would be used in the exam. It's like a study guide that we have to make on our own.

how relaxed things were during the lecture.

I liked all of it except for the chemistry section, but that's only because I don't like chemistry and have always been somewhat confused by it. Aside from that, I enjoyed all of the material that was presented.

all

Online lecture slides, the exams were good because he let us know exactly what to study.

The questions at the end of the lecture was a very tactical way to keep the students through the whole lecture instead of leaving half way. The questions are on the exam

tests were fair

animations in the powerpoints

How there is no textbook to purchase!!!

The real pictures of cells and other organisms in the body were very interesting to look at.

How we were given the 8 questions at the end of each lecture to help prepare us for the exams.

Getting 8 questions per lecture is a very effective studying tool. Tests are made less stressful, because we are capable of studying these questions ahead of time.

Watching the videos.

Great powerpoints and nice to have days off to watch videos online!

the exams

The 8 questions following each powerpoint; the questions make an excellent study guide.

The grading system: highest three of four exam scores.

How the powerpoints are online and attendance is not mandatory

I didn't really enjoy this course.

very organized

N/A

no text books, powerpoints.

i liked the questions at the end of every lecture. it helped me be more prepared for test and exams. would take him again!

No homework.

i wasnt really a fan of this class period.

I liked the test structure

I like that we could drop our lowest test score.

I liked how everything was posted online in case I wasn't able to make the class.

The exams are multiple choice.

the videos!

The fact that he gave us questions from the exam after every lecture, so that we were prepared and knew what to study for the exam.

Posting lectures online helped a lot considering how sick I got this semester!

More or less self directed, the course material is easy to learn if one dedicates the time to learn it.

learning about global warming

It was informative (and the seats were comfy).

i thoughroghly enjoyed this class!! I felt all of the information was relevant, a good introduction to materials that students will probably learn about in other classes. I especially enjoyed the way that the material was related to us. Dr. teramura was very well spoken, informative and funny! Also I really appreciated the fact that we did not need to purchase a text book, and the power point handouts were made available to us. Thank you!!!! ps. the classroom is kind of cold...

The fact we didn't have to buy a textbook for this class made my life so much easier. The power point presentations were fun and interesting too!

i thought our professor was funny and made biology seem more interesting then i thought it was going to be.

How he gave a portion of the questions that are going to be on the exam after every lecture!

the movies

it was simple and easy to understand

videos

The powerpoints and the exam questions at the end.

The lectures/powerpoints that he would go over.

The slides and study techniques offered.

That he provided PDFs of all the slide shows and went over them in detail. That he also gave us questions to study for the test. would recommend to a friend

Simple.

My favorite aspect of this course was that there were different types of mediums that we were able to learn through. Not only did Professor Teramura use powerpoints, he was able to integrate videos and animations, for our learning.

That there is no required text book. That we follow along in lecture and if we show up to class and study we can get a good grade!

the easy to understand power point. absorbed alot of knowledge from each lecture

The organization of the class was clear and simple

i did not having much problems for this class because everything was easy to understand and follow

29. Global appraisal: Considering everything how would you rate this COURSE?

Mean	N-Size	Std Dev		Very Poor	Poor	Average	Good	Excellent
4.11	146	0.81	Freq(%)	2 (1%)	2 (1%)	23 (16%)	70 (48%)	49 (34%)