As the year comes to an end, I have personally asked
several of my students what they liked, didn’t like, could have been better,
and wish they would have done more of within my classes. As a Technology and
Engineering department, we have also asked the students to fill out a Google
Doc form that asked very similar questions along with some other department
questions. It was very interesting to hear what the students had to say. Some
of them were blatantly honest and some were scared to critique the class.
My two-second level classes that consist of upper classman
were given a survey at the beginning of the year asking what they would like to
focus the course content on. Comparing that to what the discussions and end of
the year evaluation form they filled out, I was able to reflect myself on
topics I need to change for next year. The students informed me that they liked
the fact that I gave them a voice within the course’s content. I did find out though
that the majority of the students were upset for the first two marking periods
of the year with the amount of work they were being held accountable for. They
expressed that they enjoyed the first level course and its laid back mentality,
so they signed up for a second year of it. Not teaching the first level course
of either of the subjects, I have a hard time transitioning the students into a
fast paced, large workload, proactive class environment. They did however
mention that by the third marking period, they really started to enjoy the
course and see a major change in their ability. They loved the use of the
technology, the project they created, and most importantly the creative
freedom. They loved the fact that they got to take home and use the majority of
the projects once they learned the proper background knowledge.
My introductory engineering and design course had a mixture
of opinions. The majority of this course is 9th graders. I have
found that they are still in that if I don’t 100% like my teacher, than I hate
the entire class and all the things we do in it stage. It seems hard to believe
students would perceive a class like this, but I have been told directly from a
non-opinionated student that he still feels this way at times. A big problem I
have in this course is that not everyone is ready or understands the transition
from a Middle School Technology Education class (30 days of hands on and fun
projects) to a High School Honors Introduction To Engineering and Design course
(a lot of lecture and low end manufacturing). You can only imagine the
evaluation remarks I got. The most useful comments I got were that they enjoyed
the technology used and the ability to research, hand sketch, 3D computer
design, and then manufacture their own idea to solve the task at hand. To me
this is important that the majority of the students I know are moving on because it is real like
application and problem solving. Like Gardner says, “Creativity
allows for innovation or meaningful change in how problems are approached in
the field” (2007).
Gardner, Howard. (2007). Five minds for
the future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
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