The responses that follow are the bottom lines (particularly about independence and grading) for each of the respondents to last spring's end of the semester anonymous questionnaire. The questionnaires were much more involved than the bottom line (as you'll discover in a few months), but I've presented below, in arbitrary order, every bottom-line response I got.
- Respondent 2: Through all the mass confusion and tremendous stress I feel I actually learn a lot.
Not in the sense that I crammed a bunch of random facts into my head but I learned how
to find and better understand research articles…. the course itself has sparked my
interest in research...
- Respondent 3: ...this class has thought me to become more independent, not always relying on
the professor to tell me the answer.
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Respondent 4: I really enjoyed the Pass/Fail format. I was able to focus on learning as much as
possible from the course.... I liked how the class was set up to prepare us for the process
of scientific discovery... Motivation is difficult for some because of all the stress caused by the value places on
GPA.
- Respondent 5: I feel this class has done a lot for me in the sense of thinking independently on my
own,... at the end I felt proficient in what I was doing… first class to teach me that you
shouldn't just jump to conclusions, prove to yourself that your confident in terms of your
answer.
- Respondent 7: I have learned more about learning than I ever have in my entire life….
I definitely became much more proficient at thinking logically, critically, and
analytically.
- Respondent 8: ...it was an awesome experience researching and finding answers on your own....
I pushed everything for this class [aside] til the end since I take classes that are very
hard with a grade system versus this class which is pass or fail.
- Respondent 9: This class did help me learn how to work alone for a goal that was set by
educational purposes and not for just incentives.
- Respondent 10: These goals are definitely the right goals… I learned a lot more trying to do this
project than just reading [material] in class.
- Respondent 11: I felt that these goals were well met
- Respondent 12: I really like the whole self-directed research and the process in doing something
for a larger goal... I did enjoy the independence in doing those things because I feel a
leash forcing us in a certain direction is very discouraging yet I didn't have enough drive
to use the time efficiently.
- Respondent 13: I believe that course has made reasonable accommodations in teaching how one
might digest research information, but has not done well in the process of what
bioinformatics is or what they do... this course does not do enough TEACHING to even
allow one to START working towards independence. The goals of independence should
be left toward another course once is familiar with the coursework
- Respondent 14: I did not really see the inspiration,... I learned a lot more then expected, never
did I think that I would be actually working in the lab looking and trying to figure out the
stuff that I did work on.
- Respondent 15: I believe I have learned much from this course, especially concerning exploring
and the freedom to make your own questions and find answers to them.... I will still
remember how to ask a question and use available tools to figure out the answer.
- Respondent 16: I have learned that motivation is necessary to exploring what one cannot achieve
by just attending lectures.... I will remember that even the hardest problems can be
solved.
- Respondent 17: I am impressed by the way you introduce us to the real world and how in the
real world we are going to be on our own and there is no guarantee that we will always
have someone to guide us through... most importantly, results are more important
conclusion and we cannot jump to conclusions without showing the results....
I think the main reason for why I didn't do so good was because the class was pass-fail
and there were no grades.
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