This is the final set of feedback comments from Winter, 2025. If you're a regular reader of my blog (weird, but okay) you'll notice a particular pattern of comments in different courses. At least, I notice a pattern. But the comments below, from students in my 4th year Advanced Perception course, are quite different from those in my 2nd- and 3rd-year courses. The courses themselves are quite different from each other, so maybe that's part of it. But then, too, there are some of the same concerns.
⚠️ Warning! As noted in my previous posts, content warning applies.
Course Design
I found the fill in the blank notes actually were very interactive and helped me memorize a lot of the stuff easier because it forced me to be actively paying attention in the lectures which can be kinda hard for me in longer Tuesday Thursday classes so I appreciated that structure although it was a bit embarrassing to ask for blanks when I did zone out haha but I also enjoyed how the readings tied into the lectures as well it was very informative
The course design was good in terms of lectures and assessments, but I felt that missing lectures was too punishing because the lecture notes sharing forum doesn't seem to drive note-sharing very well.
I like the fill in the blanks because it encourages attendance
Sometimes the fill in the blanks can be easy to miss when also trying to type down some additional info said during lecture.
I just felt intimidated asking people for blanks I missed but that is just me being shy. It made a few people approach me for blanks so I guess they felt comfortable enough to approach other students, and I think the FITB notes made that more of an incentive to interact with others.
I believe that there should be lecture notes with answers to blanks posted after the class is finished.
(I'm not on the Discord. I don't know how to increase people's engagement to create a community of learning. Anyone have any ideas? As for the fill-in words, over the summer I spent a LOT of time taking out a LOT of the blanks in my notes. I hope it will lead to a better experience and I'm sure no one will complain about the blanks any more ever. Also, I tried posting all the fill-in words, but that lead to a steep drop-off in attendance--and marks. I don't think that does anyone any favours. Sometimes there has to be (desirable) difficulty.)
Course Resources
Practice exam/questions would be a great help to prepare for exam especially since it’s all written.
(This is why I have structured the quizzes to match the exam questions. You get practice--and feedback--every week!)
I liked that the weekly quizzes were basically practice questions for the midterms and final and it was all relating to the structure and content that would be tested on.
(Oh, right. Okay, so I'm glad that some people are noticing this.)
I found the article chosen very long. The lecture notes themselves are long and can be dense, so including long articles is a lot of material to study and memorize, especially if some students are taking a full or close to a full course load.
The papers that complimented the lectures were great at presenting the class ideas in a different way
(The articles I have chosen are a) not that long--although some are close to 40 pages, half are less than 20 pages, b) not dense, technical research papers, but textbook chapters or readings from Scientific American, c) few in number; I've seen 400-level courses with literally twice as many readings. What I have selected is on the lower end for a course in advanced perception. I want to challenge you!)
Graded Work
The midterms weren't multiple choice which I guess you can always guess on those so I think having essay-style questions made you show what you know so it helped me apply what I know and show I actually understood the content so although it was very intimidating, it did help me actually engage with the content more knowing I had to prove I understood everything
Although the fully written exam style was extremely daunting at first, I actually found the exam (midterm, haven't done final) quite fair since he gave multiple concepts for us to answer, allowing choice to describe the concepts you were most confident in. I do however wish these exams were conducted on a computer as the hand cramps were intense following that exam haha.
Exams should include multiple choice questions. Every student excels in different areas and has certain strengths/weaknesses when it comes to styles of exam questions. Including both essay and short answer questions is very nerve wracking, and the hard marking style makes it more difficult to excel. Maybe having short answer and multiple choice questions, or an essay and multiple choice questions would be more fair to ensure all styles of questions can be included.
I like the essay format of lectures, I think it's a good way of encouraging the application of knowledge and not just regurgitation.
(I, too, wish the exams could be on computer. Some of y'all have atrocious handwriting lol. If you are not great at, say, writing essay exams, should I then just avoid them? Or should I definitely use them, so that you can practice building on some of your skills that need further development? 🤔)
Weekly quizzes in the short-answer format are so helpful!! But I think the window for completion should be longer, since I struggled to find time to complete the quizzes on Thursdays specifically. My Thursdays are busy, so being allowed to complete these quizzes sometime during a span of at least a few days would be a lot less stress for those with busy Thursdays (or other days).
(Hmm, okay. That's a good point. I will consider this for the next time I teach this course, in Winter, 2027. Thanks for the suggestion!)
Instructional Approach
I've been bothered by some casual ableist comments or jokes during lectures. Particularly jokes about "crazy people". I understand that this is widely normalized in our culture, but it'd mean a lot if we could avoid comments like these.
(I think I know this exact reference. I've taken it verbatim from V.S. Ramachandran's work on synesthesia. At one point in history, synesthetes were considered "crazy", and that's the exact word Rama uses--several times (e.g., here). Otherwise, I do not minimize mental illness or psychological disorders; I'm sorry that was the impression you got.)
I also really appreciate his in-class midterm review, much appreciated as many profs now have exam viewings outside of class time that students are often unable to attend. I also was quite impressed with his (and the TA's) extensive feedback on every weekly quiz, blog post, exam, etc. His efforts didn't go unnoticed :)
Dr. Loepelmann was always available for individual feedback or help with course concepts. Great in-class discussions and awesome follow-up posts on eClass including links to recent research relevant to what we talked about!
I took this class because I loved Loepelmann's 367 class. He's one of my favourite professors at the university. He's kind, funny, and really passionate about the material. I know the 'fill-in-the-blank' model for notes is a bit controversial but I like it a lot. It encourages not just showing up to classes and also being engaged in them.
Dr. Loepelmann was great at answering questions in class and afterwards, often pausing lecture to do so, and going above and beyond to contribute additional info found after class via email which further shows his commitment and passion for his students and overall teaching. I also thought his interactive examples/demonstrations (skittles, epolls, virtual illusions, etc) super thoughtful and showed his drastic effort! Thanks Dr. Loepelmann :)
The lectures had a clear structure and breakdown, the assignments and exams were challenging but fair.
Not much to say that hasn't been said before, Professor Loepelmann is a gem and a personal favourite lecturer in my time at university.
(Aw, thanks for the kind words! 🥹)
Why aren't you studying?
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