Global Change II – Final Assessment Results

Winter 1998

Student Suggestions for Improving the Course

How to improve this_course more discussions less labs

How to_improve_this_course I honestly don't know what I would do.

How to_improve_this_course More labs, maybe less time in discussion but more of them. An hour and a half is a long to sit and talk for. But I found the discussions to be really helpful and insightful.

How_to_improve_this_course More direct correlation between class notes, lectures, and labs. More clear idea of specific things we need to know for exams vs. general concepts.

How_to_improve_this_course Arcview GIS system seems to cause many problems that could inhibit one's ability to do labs and learn info. Find other ways to learn much of this info.

How_to_improve_this_course Arcview is an ok program as long as the damn thing stays working. i have had more trouble with that program than anything else at this university. it was really aggrevating to have to start all over again, time after time. Find a better version, i don't know. Make it work!! Discussions were a bit slow, mainly in that not everyone participated or knew what to say. it seemed like discussions were being led towards a certain point and all we had to do was fill in the blanks. there wasn't much deeper discussion other than that. I didn't enjoy most discussions. Lectures were interesting, except for the economical ones, about the world bank and stuff. but that's just me.

How_to_improve_this_course Don't have it at lunch time. Make discussion topics more related to knowledge we already have than solely on a video we'd just seen for the first time.

How_to_improve_this_course GET AN ARCVIEW VERSION LIKE THE ONE NRE HAS. Our version of Arcview crashes way too much and is a real pain in the ass to use. It provides a lot of great info, but with it always crashing, just gets me pissed off and not in a mood to learn.

GO OVER OVERHEADS SO WE CAN ACTUALLY READ THEM, OR PUT THE NOTES ON THE WEB BEFORE LECTURE!

How_to_improve_this_course get rid of the lab. i learned absolutely nothing i will ever use after this course is over from the lab.

How_to_improve_this_course give more assignments like the last take home one, because it makes you think more.

How_to_improve_this_course have the labs be more connected to the lecture material. arcview and stella are good on occasion, but i feel they are used to frequently. i think i would do better on the exams if the two overlapped more.

How_to_improve_this_course I can do most arcview labs without performing the tasks and using only common sense. Sometimes they seem pointless, and should be more carefully chosen.

How_to_improve_this_course I had a wonderful experience in GLobal Change I, but I do not think that I got as much from this semester. The labs were quite hard, extremely time consuming, and often irrevelant to what we were learning. However, I am glad that I learned Arcview, but I think that these computer skills are so emphasized in this course it should be mentioned more in the course description. ALso, I am registered for this class as "Sociology". This class really is not Sociology at at all. It is Environmental Studies+ Computer Science. I enjoyed the case study lectures--those were more sociologically appropraite for this heading. I actually enjoyed all of the multitude of topics we covered. Finally, the web page was not as up-to-date as last term. I understand that we had a new webmaster, and that it is also the professors' faults for not getting their lectures in on time, and usually it didn't matter very much. But I was about to lose it during the second final preparation. Also, that review was entirely too long and involved for an hour long midterm. Sorry for my complaints--I did enjoy the wealth of information that I accquired in this course, Luis was a wonderful GSI, and I do feel like I have gained so much useful info. on various issues. Thanks!

How_to_improve_this_course I think some of the web notes need to be easier to scroll through. Or I think they should be up there ahead of time because I like to read the notes before I go to lectures.

How_to_improve_this_course I think that the course is very informative and I'm glad I had the opportunity to take it. I think that a class like this should be mandatory for all students at the UM. As for improvement, I really can't think of anything.

How_to_improve_this_course I think there definitely needs to be a change in the format of the labs...we need to slowly move away from having every little detail written out for us.. monkeys could do our labs...we need to think for ourselves..this is why many of us did not do very well

How_to_improve_this_course I thought the tests were ridiculous, requiring too much knowledge of too many subjects. If the tests were restructured, I would have really enjoyed and learned a lot from this course.

How_to_improve_this_course I would arrange for their to be a text for the class instead of just notes because I was not very successful with taking notes in class and always had to go to the web to check what I missed.

How_to_improve_this_course I would select one instructor. Sure three or four provides a bit of diversity to the course but it's not successful in my eyes. This would allow students to also establish some sort of relationship with their professor. I would also change the format of the test, primarily the multiple choice part. I would have ONE answer to select rather than choose all that apply. I would also make sure that the lecture notes were up PRIOR to lecture. Lastly I would require ALL students to take Global Change 1, as a prereq. for Global Change 2. These four improvements would make the course a lot better.

How_to_improve_this_course If the class needs to be given so much material, more mid-terms should be given. It is too much to learn for one exam, especially since we have other classes and we are not professionals in this field. The material is very interesting and important but hard to learn when we have to worry so much about remembering so much of it for one exam. Arcview assignments need to be cut down on.

How_to_improve_this_course Improve promptness of notes on web, if at all possible

How_to_improve_this_course lab assignments take too long as a result of technical difficulties. either fix that problem or make the assignments shorter so that the student doesn't have to spend an extra 2 hours a week completing the work just because the computer crashed several times. also have a mini assignment similar to the takehome 2 earlier in the year so that students learn to work on their own.

How_to_improve_this_course less arcview better than stella

How_to_improve_this_course less computer labs. we can learn the same things in about two sessions.

How_to_improve_this_course Less discussion Movies and small group discussion. In all of the small group discussions in which I participated, the other members of the group just wanted to "get it done" I do not believe that it facilitates any real critical thinking

How_to_improve_this_course less in class arcview time, a fewer number yet more specific exam

How_to_improve_this_course Less stress on Arcview, sometimes it is a pain to work with. Sometimes there is to much of a homework load

How_to_improve_this_course Make it more interactive and engaging. Include more viewpoints and philosophies on global change and the injustices around the world it is causing. Less policy and more about PEOPLE! Liked how they liked the historical evolution of many issues to the current problems. When talking about economic models and other analytical systems, it would be wise to also question the entire system, to step back and look at the their usefulness, and also to present OTHER viewpoints --- like "Small is Beautiful" (shoot, I can't remember the author's name right now) and not just discounting the idea of holding resources in common, with the "Tragedy of the Commons," but to also allow for the reality and feasibility of communities in the U.S. that are currently working towards "sustainability," and hold lands in common. These ecovillages should be talked about.

How_to_improve_this_course Make the lectures more interesting by having less breadth and more depth - instead of going into so many issues - they should go into fewer issues but in more detail.

How_to_improve_this_course more detailed GIS descriptions not so many GIS labs

How_to_improve_this_course More in depth use of arcview. i don't know if the labs really prepared us well enough for take-home assignment two.

How_to_improve_this_course One professor for each exam period. The transition between instructors would be smoother.

How_to_improve_this_course possibly get a better modeling and geographic system that doesn't crash every five minutes.

How_to_improve_this_course Put the material up on the web sooner. Notify students of upcoming projects, requirements, etc that they previously did not know about (take home #2) earlier. Students need to budget time and having the material up on the web is necessary

in order to keep from cramming. Many students actually would read the material over a span of time to learn things instead of cramming

How_to_improve_this_course remove the computer lab activities completely

How_to_improve_this_course Show more recent data to give even more current understanding.

How_to_improve_this_course since the pace of the lectures are too fast to write down on the overheads, making the notes available around the time of the lecture would allow students to go over once again what was talked about in lecture.

How_to_improve_this_course Teach Arcview before instead of just throwing us in front of it and saying, "OK do it" The big Arcview assignment was a pain because I didn't know extactly what was being asked for. Plus, the database kept messing up, just stressing me out more. I don't really like all of the different instructors. I can't get used to how a professor works when he's not always there. It doesn't seem like the professors colloborate on their notes or what will happen with the class. I feel like they just throw some info together before class just so they have something to say. I don't get the feeling that any of them really care about the class.

How_to_improve_this_course The labs are like a whole extra class, for a 100 level class there was a lot of work, I think a lot of information was crammed into one semester. The concept is great, it just didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. Emails weren't responded to very quickly, I had computer problems all semester, I think if the note are going to be on the web, they should just be there, you shouldn't have to download them, or try to save them to a disk, -I tried that, too. The notes were too big to be saved onto a disk (some of them), it was very frustrating. Also the notes should be on the web before 1 or 2 days before the exam. If I wouldn't have been able to borrow a computer this class would have been much more difficult, since I was able to, it certainly was a help.

How_to_improve_this_course The labs seem to be simply following the instruction on the lab handouts. When we were turned loose to do take-home assignment #2 I was confused with how to actually apply my arcview skills to the problem. I had a hard time with this assignment.

How_to_improve_this_course there is just too much minute detail that you are expected to know--maybe put more focus or emphasis in the course. i think the exams are way too long.

i would run the review sections differently. they didn't help at all. the profs didn't ever remember what they said in lecture, they didn't know what was on the exams, and kids in the class asked things over and over again. i think since the gsi's write the exam, they should run the reviews. they were a waste of time.

Gender

Female: 25 Male: 35

Class Standing

First-Year: 17 Sophomore: 24 Junior: 15 Senior: 4

Primary School

Engineering: 2 LS&A: 16 SNRE: 38 Kinesiology: 2

Education: 1

Interested in Taking Another Global Change Course

No: 18 Yes: 42

Have you taken GCI in the past?

No: 29 Yes: 29

Intend to Take GC I

No: 22 Yes: 10