(← crappy AI-generated image, thanks to Microsoft Bing Image Creator)
I never went through my evaluations and feedback comments (partly because the Department of Psychology has stopped giving out in-house teaching awards--which is another topic entirely). So here they are. Sorry, I've lost track of which courses these are from, and exactly which term. It all just blends together now.
“I really enjoyed the approach he took for the remote learning. Many profs seemed they had no clue how to go about it; some profs didn't even give anything like videos or notes. He was really fast acting in such a stressful and unique situation. I hope he knows that his hardwork and dedication to his students and his classes don't go unnoticed."
“Thank you for staying so consistent and working so hard. As a student watching and seeing that, it is truly inspiring.”
“The speed of which the instructor moved his material online. Some of my other instructors took a while to do so (which is understandable since it all caught us off guard) but it is really nice that Karsten Loepelmann had a lecture online the day the in-class lectures closed. He always updated on time as well which helped to keep me on schedule rather than waiting around for the next lectures to come.”
“The notes with blanks allowed me to listen more in class which helped me with my understanding of the material and concepts. I appreciated the ability to follow along with the PowerPoints while he voiced over the lectures. As well, the introduction and conclusion videos really helped and was something some other professors did not do.”
“I personally found that I was more motivated to engage with lectures during the set class time when they were initially conducted live, and I think some others may feel the same way. However, in the youtube format, I felt I was able to better absorb and understand the material as I could replay parts that didn't immediately register so falling a bit behind was traded off for clarity which isn't so bad in my opinion.”
“This course was very well suited to my style of learning and was one of the best classes I have taken in 4 years. The transition to remote learning was very smooth. Thank you for all the effort and enthusiasm you brought to this course, especially when everything went haywire.”
“The remote delivered lectures were of excellent quality; definitely appreciated the humour in them as well. Whether it's knowing the course material inside out, preparing well-thought out test questions, or editing his Youtube videos, you can tell this guy goes the extra mile and more.”
“Karsten was an awesome lecturer, he made the online classes probably as entertaining as they could be and he was really easy to stay engaged with. My only complaint is that there was absolutely no way to review our midterm exams and the final is cumulative so it’s impossible to know which areas we need to work on for the final.”
“Lecturer displayed content in an interesting way. Great quality lectures with great sound. Was pleasing to the ear to listen for more than 3hrs a session. Enjoyed this course overall.”
(More than 3 hours? You poor soul! Take a break, for heaven’s sake! Gah!)
“If you are going to do more asynchronous videos in future semesters, break them into smaller, better focused videos so that each one feels more self-contained and to better space out the watching to execute the spacing effect of learning.”
(Excellent application of course content. Sorry about the length. What happens is I get carried away and lose track of time. And I hate chopping a video when I'm in the middle of explaining something.)
“I was very impressed by Dr. Loepelmann's delivery of this course given the circumstances. The effort put in was noticed and appreciated!”
“I feel like there is so much content to be covered, and the online videos make are longer than class time would be. It is a lot of information to try to teach myself and remember.”
(I didn’t work out if they were longer or not. If there were longer, it’s not because I added more content to the course. I probably talked more slowly than I would in face-to-face classes, because I’m not getting feedback on whether you’re understanding everything so I just go slow.)
“Absolutely outstanding professor. He did very well at making online courses fun and interactive. Very engaging and well spoken.”
(Aw, thanks!)
Why aren't you studying?
Why did the Department of Psychology stop giving out in-house teaching awards? Did they fear you acquiring too many of them and becoming too powerful??
-AM
Nothing to do with my rise to power.
One of the criteria for the awards requires at least 60% of the class completing the surveys. Turns out that moving to online surveys really drops the participation rate too low. Many students can't be bothered.
The awards were supposed to be rejiggered years ago, but it seems my department can't be bothered.
So, bottom line: Nobody gives a shit anymore! Too bad, early career academics and grad students! No awards for you!