Newark Academy Science Department Course Reflection 2013-2014

1. Select from the following:

Teacher

Mr. Bitler

Ms. Celente

Mr. Erlandson

Dr. Hobson

Ms. Hone

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Course

Interactive Investigation

Interactive Discovery

Interactive Systems

Biology

Chemistry

Chemistry Honors

Physics

Physics Honors

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100.0% (19)

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Slot

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2. Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the following statements below based on your personal experiences in this course thus far.
Rating Count

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Not Applicable

I have found that my teacher explains course material and expectations clearly. I have received helpful feedback from my teacher on my work and performance. I have received timely feedback. I have been given opportunities to demonstrate my learning on a variety of assessments. I have been given opportunities to engage in independent thinking. I have found the learning environment appropriate and positive. The teacher has been sensitive to my needs. 53.3% (8) 33.3% (5) 13.3% (2) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 15 53.3% (8) 33.3% (5) 13.3% (2) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 15 13.3% (2) 73.3% (11) 6.7% (1) 6.7% (1) 0.0% (0) 15 53.3% (8) 46.7% (7) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 15 20.0% (3) 73.3% (11) 6.7% (1) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 15

46.7% (7)

46.7% (7)

6.7% (1)

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15

53.3% (8)

40.0% (6)

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6.7% (1)

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3. Describe your experience in this course.

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4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your skills? Please be specific.
Response Count 15 answered question skipped question 15 4

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5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this instructor's teaching?
Response Count 15 answered question skipped question 15 4

6. Which labs were most helpful? least helpful?

Response Count 15 answered question skipped question 15 4

7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

Response Count 15 answered question skipped question 15 4

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Page 2, Q3. Describe your experience in this course.

This course has been very difficult for me so far this year. Ms. Mason is very hard to get ahold of for extra help, and she fails to update and send us links to the google docs (which is rarely updated on time), making extra help very hard. This course is increasingly difficult, and Ms. Mason is not understanding at all of the fact that we as students are having difficulty in this class, and pilling on more work is not the way to help us with that. This class can be kind of overwhelming, but I enjoy that relaxed class periods. I work much better in a non-silent environment and can collaborate with my peers. This course was very hard. I work really hard in this class, however I feel like my hard work is not paying off. To me, tests can be a challenge, but in this class they were extremely hard. A lot of the questions were "thinking questions"; however, there usually was an element of these questions that had nothing we learned before. I found myself guessing a lot, when I knew the material. This was so frustrating because I meet with Ms. Mason often, and I understand the material. I think the tests should be a bit more fair. There can be both very hard and more straight forward questions. The exam had questions that I had never seen before; I could not even figure out how to relate them to what we learned. I just wish that my hard work could pay off in this class. I have tried many different strategies. I feel like I am learning, but the tests do not show that. Also, Ms Mason's grading is very tough. She takes off many points for "why" and "how" questions. When I think I am detailed, I am not detailed enough. This coarse has definitely been difficult. The labs were hard since i don't dive into the specific, but hopefully i can work on that. The lab experiments themselves were fun and the class struggled together to prepare for tests. I have enjoyed this course so far. However, there is sometimes a miscommication between what is expected on certain labs and I often have to ask another student for an explanation of a direction. I do appreciate when we go over our homework from the textbook in class because it helps me get a better understanding, and acts as a good review. Overall, I love the feeling of the class. There is always a relaxed and joking feel to the class, while still being an informational and controlled classroom. The fun environment helps me not think of it as a class but more of an enjoyable subject, that i love learning. sometimes though, the course goes a little too fast for me. We sometimes speed through a lesson which makes me struggle because i don't always get a proper explanation for things unless i meet one on one with Ms.Mason. Overall, i am pleased with this course so far, and have had very little complaints. I really enjoy this course, I would probably consider it to be my favorite class. The homework can be difficult at times, and so can the labs, but it's always manageable. In the beginning of this year I struggled but through her help and a tutor I improved very much from the mid-term. Ms. Mason helped me in many ways to improve my skills. My experience in Bio has been pleasant. Science is not the most desirable subject for me, however Ms. Mason finds ways to make it easier and more bearable. I used to dread science prior to this year; the teacher and fun in the course

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Page 2, Q3. Describe your experience in this course.

have made me relinquish those feelings. 9 10 11 12 This course has been very challenging, but at the same time it's been fun because we do many labs, which give opportunities for individuality. Good experience, but there is a high workload. This course was extremely difficult for me but Ms. Mason has been very helpful. During my time in Biology I was somewhat discouraged. I pay attention in class, review my notes every night, read the chapter, meet with Ms. Mason, and study for every test. Yet, I still have a poor grade in biology. No matter how hard I try i feel confused on tests and labs. Sometimes it can be helpful to meet with Ms. Mason other times there is just not enough time during the meetings to go over what all material I am confused on. The reason for that is just because there are so many people meeting with Ms. Mason. Which is not her fault. But it is tough for me because when I check on a friday the meetings for the rest of the week are all booked up. For the exam I studied from 2 weeks before the exam to the night before, I studied for three hours the night before the exam emailed Ms. Mason with my questions and I still did bad on the exam. The teacher is really funny. She knows so much about the topics she is teaching. This course has been difficult, but that is due to the material not the teaching. The teaching has been very effective in helping me understand the material. At times, the assessments can be very difficult, but we are always given a study guide before the test. Jan 7, 2014 7:07 AM Jan 7, 2014 7:03 AM Jan 7, 2014 5:42 AM Jan 6, 2014 8:17 PM

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Page 2, Q4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your skills? Please be specific.

The assignments are effective and we do learn a lot, and they are always interesting, although I do suggest we do more in-class activities, as opposed to just taking notes, so the class can be interesting. But the way the assignments are graded is way to harsh. I understand this course is supposed to be challenging, but she doesn't realize that she grades us so harshly. The tests are very hard, and she is extremely technical, and takes off points for very small errors. The labs allow me to express my different skills. I can show my strengths and then my partners can aid me in parts where I struggle. The assignments that we have are almost always reading the textbook and answering questions. We should learn the material before completing these assignments, though. We usually complete these assignments first, but if I understand the material BEFORE doing these assignments, it would be much more effective. The labs are helpful because they relate to the topic being discussed. The labs help put a hands on experience to what we are learning but the textbook can be very infusing and it dosnt do a good job in explaining complicated hints such as the light reactions. The labs help me to a certain extent. Sometimes the labs don't do much for me because i am so focused on the lab itself that i don't try and connect it to our current lesson. Instead I am so focused on getting the lab right and performing it correctly that i don't take the time to learn it to the extent that i should. However, i think the textbook homework helps me because it forces me to read the chapter in order to get the correct answer. When we review it in class the next day, i often get a better answer/explanation then i would of gotten by myself. The assignments are normally appropriate, but sometimes Ms. Mason can give us a lot of homework for one night that is due the next day like a lot of reading and questions. It's not that difficult, but it takes longer than an hour. However this is not true all the time, just occasionally. I think the labs are pretty appropriate, and sometimes Ms. Mason misjudges how hard a lab will be, but she always compensates and gives us enough time or changes or explains the lab more. The assignments and in-class activities help me reinforce my understanding and help me further understand the material. The in class assignments and labs definitely help develop my skills. The fact that the lab skills are on the test definitely helps me further my skills. Additionally, homework being in the book and in the study guide closely related to the book helps to prepare for tests. They help, but the assignments aren't so helpful because we read a new section that we don't go over in class and answer questions about it. However, we go over it the next day so that it makes sense. But sometimes the homework just gets boring because we don't know what the book is talking about.

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Page 2, Q4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your skills? Please be specific.

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They do. Labs are very helpful to developing my understanding of the material we are working on. The assignments, in class activities and labs have helped me increase my understanding of the subject matter. Overall, I have found this aspect of class most helpful to my understanding of what we are learning. labs make me really think about what was done and really understand what the lab was about. Assignments and in-class activities help explain what we are learning. The assignments, in-class activities and labs are somewhat effective. At times the labs do not work very well. The writing of lab reports on a consistent basis has greatly improved my ability to write labs. -

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Page 2, Q5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this instructor's teaching?

The most effective thing has been the in-class activities (excluding labs) ((i.e; the one activity we did early in the semester learning about protons and neutrons with the skittles)) helped me grasp the concepts of that chapter well. I'm not suggesting that we need food for every activity, but maybe just some interesting experiments that aren't worth a lot of points so we don't feel pressure. The least effective have been the tests, because they seem to be all about memorization and memorizing facts instead of testing to make sure we know the information. We get tested on obscure facts that need to be just straight up memorized instead of making sure we know exactly what the chapter is about. I enjoy the detailed notes and diagrams on the white board. I sometimes find it difficult what to take notes on what is being said. Ms. Mason makes videos and uses photos to help us learn. That is helpful because we can visually see examples. Sometimes Ms. Mason goes very fast when we go over homework. I find myself trying to write down corrections so fast that I cannot learn it and write at the same time. Most of all, I am learning the material well. Ms. Mason sometimes makes guided notes or we just write notes. Ms. Mason is very passionate about teaching, which I enjoy. Overall, Ms. mason is always available for extra help. She is amazing one-on-one; she really takes the time to explain any questions I have. The most effective thing ms. mason does is here meetings personally to us. It helped improve my lab grades by a lot. The least effective might be that sometimes ms. mason go on in a tangent that confuses me. i enjoy the note taking and when Ms.Mason draws diagrams/pictures on the board. I am a visual person therefore seeing things drawn out help me understand them better. When we watch videos however I often don't retain as much information because the videos go too fast so i can't comprehend it as i would have if it was written on the board. I really like how Ms. Mason lets the class participate even when we're just taking notes on the board, which really helps me to take the information in better. Ms. Mason has worked very hard with me to get to my highest potential. She met with me one on one and communicated with me, helping me with any questions I had. The light, laid back style in class has been most helpful about Ms. Mason's teaching. The labs and tests may be tough, tougher than most in fact, however in class whilst learning the material, Ms. Mason is very constructive and fun. It would be tough to pinpoint one least effective trait of Ms. Mason. The most effective thing has been the labs because they provide a tangible example of what we're learning. The least effective has been the homework assignments, because I usually forget what I read the night before. -

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Page 2, Q5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this instructor's teaching?

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Ms. Mason's visual aids help me the most. We move very quickly and the tests are always harder then what we learned. The most effective about my instructors teaching has been the extra help. The least effective has been the classroom because most of the time there is not much control and a lot of talking. The most effective are the clear notes written on the board and the detailed explanation the teacher gives to explain the lesson. She also uses visuals to helps us picture things we are trying to learn which helps a lot. Most effective has been the study guides and when taking notes in class, she goes at a good pace and writes them on the board. Least effective has been that we are unable to use online resources to do our lab reports. -

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Page 2, Q6. Which labs were most helpful? least helpful?

Most of the labs were very helpful, and they definitely helped me understand the material better, especially on tests. The labs that were most helpful were the labs where we did the most "hands on" experience with, and the least helpful was probably the one where we did our own section of the lab and brought all of our data together at the end. The labs that have notes in the beginning and relate directly to the material are helpful. The least effective labs are the ones when I feel slightly rushed on time and it is easy to make small mistakes. I thought the lab that tested the "factors affecting photosynthesis" was very helpful. This lab was helpful because it was directly related to the chapter, so it helped me understand what really happens. Most of the labs were helpful, just not directly related to the chapter. The most helpful labs are the ones were we designed the experiment such as the ones testing photosynthesis from the elodea plants. The least helpful was the lab was the chapter three lab since it took a long time to understand it. the most helpful lab was the photosynthesis lab. I struggled a lot with that chapter so the lab gave me a better understanding of how certain factors effect photosynthesis. I think the leaf lab was not very helpful, but the other labs have been very helpful. I feel that the most helpful lab was the photosynthesis lab. All the labs have been helpful because they are all on tests. The lab about the rate of photosynthesis was the most helpful. The least helpful was the lab about Osmosis and Diffusion. I believe almost every lab helped me to understand biology better. They are honestly the thing that helped me the most throughout the course. I don't have any lab that was most helpful or least helpful. The least helpful ones were the short ones we just did in class. The most helpful ones were actually the formal lab reports that we had to type up. The most helpful lab was when we observed cells, but the least helpful lab was the elodea lab because of the groups that had experimental errors. We had to write about every group, but we did not know about groups other than our own.

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Page 2, Q7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

No. The workload was way too much, and we often had long homework assignments due the day big formal labs were due. Again, as I stated earlier, I understand the course is meant to be challenging, but Ms. Mason doesn't do anything to make it bearable for us. The readings take a slightly long time but they are not challenging. Despite that, he workload is reasonable The amount of reading is sometimes very much. It is hard for the information to absorb in my mind when the amount of reading is very large. However, for the most part, I have been able to manage it. The labs were at times were hard to finish, but generally the workload was reasonable. the average workload was bearable. However, when we had a lab and a test within the same cycle it often got hard to balance my time.But, the daily homework is usually bearable and there have been very little instances when it has been too much. I think the workload can get a little bit difficult, and some nights are worse than others, so Ms. Mason could work on evening out the workload, but besides that it's good. I feel that the workload was reasonable but feel sometimes when we have a lab on top of normal homework it gets a little over the top. The average homework was very reasonable, not taking me more than 30 minutes per night (at most). Additionally, labs have an ample amount of time to be completed. Yes There are times when the workload for this course takes a significant amount of time that may be considered beyond the classification of reasonable. Very reasonable The average workload for this course was a lot. We had many assignments and labs. It was hard to keep up with the workload and be able to understand the material. Yes. yes

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Page 2, Q7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

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