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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Interactive Investigation

Interactive Discovery

Interactive Systems

Biology

Chemistry

Chemistry Honors

Physics

Physics Honors

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100.0% (18)

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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.
Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Not Applicable Rating Count

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. 58.8% (10) 41.2% (7) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 17 55.6% (10) 44.4% (8) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 18 44.4% (8) 27.8% (5) 27.8% (5) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 18 27.8% (5) 55.6% (10) 16.7% (3) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 18 44.4% (8) 50.0% (9) 5.6% (1) 0.0% (0) 0.0% (0) 18

50.0% (9)

44.4% (8)

5.6% (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.
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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?
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6. Which labs were most helpful? least helpful?

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7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

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

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The material is boring, but Ms.Palmer teaches it well. it is a very encourage environment and the stuff we discuss is a lot of fun and like when we when to the star lab. My experience has been okay. Sometimes I feel confused about the topics and I need extra help. The beginning of the year was very rough. I think some parts of the math was difficult which led to a ton of need to catch up with exam studying. my experience in this course was so far good. I learned a lot of different new and helpful things. We learned all about astronomy and forces. It's a good experience. The class is one of my favorites. The material is hard, but it's explained so that every individual understands it clearly. The enthusiasm also really helps the material stick in my mind. A lot of hands on activities help also. Muscle memory is personally one of my strongest ways to learn, besides quick notes. Notes written on the board make it a lot easier to learn. Overall, the course is great and my experience was positive and awesome. I was able to learn science in a friendly and educationally successful manner in this "interactive Discovery" class. At first, I did not like Ms.Palmer ,because she was negatively sarcastic sometimes and was what I would call overly strict. Then, over time, she started to soften (in a good way) and explained her reasoning. I then figured out that she is actually a very nice person and a great teacher. She made sure to tell us things in advance and is really efficient when it comes to reviews and tests. I just don't like the material. I find the material boring, but Ms.Palmer teaches it well. my experience in this course was so far good. I learned a lot of different new and helpful things. This course is very fun because it allows us to do a lot of hands on activities. I think a little more explanation would be good because sometimes she just repeats back the explanation she gave instead of giving a different one that will help a light bulb go off. My experience in this course so far has been good. My teacher explains things well, but some topics are not explained as much as I would like them to be. The assessments are fair, usually no surprises but most things are not handed back for a few cycles. It has been good and positive, however, I feel as if sometimes she takes things too seriously and punishes certain people for things they did in a manner that is too harsh. However, I do realize that this is for the best of the class environment. Ms. Palmer keeps good discipline in the classroom and contains the wild instincts of our classmates and focuses them

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

into science. 14 Sometime the teacher doesn't explain things well and doesn't have time for follow up questions and explanations. - - \__/ The class is good. mrs palmer is a great teacher. i found that her class is very interesting and fun. we have learned lots and hope we have as much fun next semester as we did this one. My experience in this course so far has been good. My teacher explains things well, but some topics are not explained as much as I would like them to be. The assessments are fair, usually no surprises but most things are not handed back for a few cycles. We learned all about forces and energy, and astronomy. Ms. Palmer keeps good discipline in the classroom and contains the wild instincts of our classmates and focuses them into science. Jan 6, 2014 7:46 AM

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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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I think they help us on tests and assesments. The in class labs allow us to try to figure out the question for our self but if we can't Ms. Palmer is there to answer questions. I believe that some assignments were more beneficial then others. One lab that we completed really helped while other didn't. I think that we should do more class labs rather then individual ones. Also some homework assignments are a bit pointless. the labs and activities help me to understand the material a lot because its related to the material so i get it more. For example the carnival of forces helped me out on understanding all the different forces better than i usually did before that lab. everything helps us understand, and we do lots of experiments and labs. The activities and assignments we have reinforce the material and personally increase my understanding by about 60%. They help me improve my writing, understanding, and explanation skills. Most of them, like the Roller-Coaster project were helpful and fun, as were many other of the assignments. The assignments, in-class activities, and labs were extremely effective. We used it to review and they had great examples. The examples helped me visualize the material and understand it. Although, I feel they could have a little less writing, so that we can focus more on the experiments and material. the labs and activities help me to understand the material a lot because its related to the material so i get it more. For example the carnival of forces helped me out on understanding all the different forces better than i usually did before that lab. The assignments help except a lot of materials were not on the exam, which we were told to know. Even though this is not a wrong thing to do, I think it is a little unfair that I studied all of that material and it was not mentioned once. The homework helps a lot because it is usually reading a few pages in the text books. In-class activities also help since usually we get to demonstrate what we have learned. And I also use the skills I have learned to better understand the material being taught. These all help me with my studying for tests, quizzes and my exam. They are all useful and very clear and concise.

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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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The labs did not help at all, they were just confusing, hard, and not explained well enough. We were kind of thrown out there and expected to do good work. There are many labs and projects so that is good. The Science Logs help very much as an introduction to the day's topic and lesson. the project and assessments cover all the stuff we needed to know and help us improve on our reading, understanding, and writing skills. The homework helps a lot because it is usually reading a few pages in the text books. In-class activities also help since usually we get to demonstrate what we have learned. And I also use the skills I have learned to better understand the material being taught. They help me understand everything and she also allows us to meet with her during lunch which helps. The labs did not help at all, they were just confusing, hard, and not explained well enough. We were kind of thrown out there and expected to do good work.

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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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Her sense of humor and sense of reality was helpful. I think the poison was least effective. The most effective was making us take the notes and not just listening and it is really nice having the links on modules. The least effective is not going over the stuff that much before test or quizzes. The most effective is that she is free to meet. However when we meet there a lot of other people meeting with her so it gets loud and distracting. my teacher is clear of what she wants us to do and gives us helpful assignments so we can get the material more. What has been least effective is sometimes i don"t get some material. She is always available to meet during lunch and explain. Sometimes she goes a liile fast and that woud be the least effective. HER EXCITEMENT!!!! Enjoying the topic really helps me understand the subject. It's sticks better in my mind. Least effective? When there is no demonstration. AN example helps me further understand the topic: I'm mostly a visual learner. I like how Mrs. Palmer makes sure all of the students are learning correctly by repeating and asking questions.I dislike how she seems to disregard students opinions, and fails to check wetter the student is right in a disagreement. I feel that her sense of humor and sense of reality helps us understand the content better. I do feel like the poison has been a waste of time . my teacher is clear of what she wants us to do and gives us helpful assignments so we can get the material more. What has been least effective is sometimes i don"t get some material. Most effective: examples she uses to understand concepts Least effective: when she repeats information instead of saying it a different way that could possibly make you understand it. The most effective thing is that Ms. Palmer explains everything well, and the things that are hard to explain, we have an activity which explains it. The least effective thing is that is you get a bad grade on something, it is really hard to get your question answered in class. The most effective thing is the worksheets and study guides she makes for us. The least effective thing is that she takes too much time to correct our mistakes and disciplining us for small mistakes. Ms. Palmer keeps the class focused on the topic at hand but she does not interact often with their students outside of

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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?

class, unlike other teachers. 14 15 The science logs are great! THe teacher goes to fast. the most effective would be the projects and the in-class labs. they are intriguing and fun and help me learn/understand the material much better. the least effective would be the writing. i don't like the writing portions because i always will find myself staring blankly at the screen, not having a clue what to write. for her cuter classes, i hope she explains the writing portions a little better, and doesn't have as many as she does now. The most effective thing is that Ms. Palmer explains everything well, and the things that are hard to explain, we have an activity which explains it. The least effective thing is that is you get a bad grade on something, it is really hard to get your question answered in class. She is always there to help during lunch and is always willing to help you understand all the material. sometimes when we learn things, i personally feel like we are are going a little fast. Ms. Palmer keeps the class focused on the topic at hand but she does not interact often with their students outside of class, unlike other teachers. Jan 6, 2014 7:46 AM Jan 6, 2014 7:46 AM

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

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The carnival of labs was most effective. I didnt like the one with Hubble's law The first lab report we did was most helpful because it showed me how much help i need and motivated me to meet with her. The least helpful was the balloon lab because ours did not make sense in the end. The most helpful lab was a ballon rocket lab and a lab called "carnival of forces" the most helpful lab was the carnival of forces because it taught me all the different forces. the least helpful lab was the balloon on the string. The carnival of forces was the most helpful and the star lab was the least helpful. Carnival of Forces was very helpful: forces were some of the topics I needed help with. Least helpful would be the Motion lab. I liked The Roller coaster lab, and the carnival o' forces were mighty helpful. I however, did not like the balloon experiment, i thought it was unhelpful in understanding the material. The Carnival of Forces was definitely most helpful . It had almost all of the material that we needed to know about forces. I feel that the Hubble's Law lab was least helpful. the most helpful lab was the carnival of forces because it taught me all the different forces. the least helpful lab was the balloon on the string. (No answer) The most helpful was the motion lab, and the least helpful was the carnival of forces. The most helpful lab was the Carnival of Forces, because it showed us so many different things. The balloon rocket was least helpful, because it barely taught me anything. The labs were disorienting, confusing, hard, and not explained well enough. They also did not have any purpose whatsoever. Most helpful- Carnival of forces Least helpful- balloon lab. the in class lab lab reports are most helpful because you work with your classmates and ,if your confused, you can ask your classmates about them and have more fun about them. but the rollercoaster one was the most fun because it was a

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

project that you can work with your friends on. the least helpful was the motion one. the writing of the steps and everything was confusing and hard to write. i tried my hardest on it and ended up with a terrible grade. 16 17 18 The most helpful was the motion lab, and the least helpful was the carnival of forces. The Carnival of Forces lab was very helpful, and the star lab ( even though it was the most fun) was not the most helpful. The labs were disorienting, confusing, hard, and not explained well enough. They also did not have any purpose whatsoever. Jan 6, 2014 7:44 AM Jan 6, 2014 7:44 AM Jan 6, 2014 7:43 AM

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

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The homework was okay, but the classes seemed to be packed in. yes if we don't have a test or quiz coming up we either have hand outs or reading with is very short. It was reasonable, however I think we should know about our assessments earlier in advance and get more time for due dates sometimes there would be to much and sometimes it would just be enough. Yes Yes. Very much so. i didn't feel overworked. Yes, we usually didn't have very much work, but there was never an overload that caused me to miss other homework, or stay up late. The work load was okay. The homework was no problem , but the glossary and notebook check annoying. Everyone has different forms of organization, and I don't feel we should be graded on it. The glossary was a waste of time to me. sometimes there would be to much and sometimes it would just be enough. The homework is very light, but the tests and quizzes are very hard. It is a very fair work load. It was reasonable, because we rarely get homework, but if it is, it is not too much at all. The average workload was fairly reasonable, sometimes there was a lot to study, especially for the exam. But otherwise, it was good. Good amount of work for outside of class but too much crammed in during the actual class. Otherwise, fine, but this work often happened at the same time as work from other classes. I guess. the average workload was very reasonable. i never found myself staying up to an unreasonable hour working. there was never too much or too little. It was reasonable, because we rarely get homework, but if it is it is not too much at all.

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

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Yes, our tests and quizzes were spread out so we had enough time for studying and we did not get too much homework. Good amount of work for outside of class but too much crammed in during the actual class. Otherwise, fine, but this work often happened at the same time as work from other classes.

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