E231232F98 Assessment

Student Evaluation Summary: Fall 1998

ROBERT F. MULLIGAN
College of Business
Western Carolina University

This report presents results of a student questionnaire administered with the final exam of ECON 231 Introductory Microeconomic Theory and Social Issues and ECON 232 Introductory Macroeconomic Theory and Social Issues. Virtually every student who took the final participated: 66 for ECON 231 and 68 for ECON 232. Twelve students were exempt from the final due to superior performance on earlier tests. Removal of these highest-performing students from the sample may introduce a negative self-selection bias.

82% of students self-reported attending 80% or more class meetings of ECON 231, with 71% self-reporting attending 90% or more. 83% reported attending 80% or more meetings of ECON 232, with 65% reporting attending 90% or more. 69% of students felt adequately prepared or better for the academic requirements of ECON 231, with 22% highly prepared or better and 8% highly prepared. 9% described their preparation as very poor, and 12% described their preparation as poor. For ECON 232, 69% reported adequate or better preparation.

Most students felt they had applied an appropriate effort to learning course material: 81% described their effort as adequate or better, and 49% described it as high or very high for ECON 231; 91% of ECON 232 students described their effort as adequate or better, with 50% reporting high or very high. Most students felt their effort had resulted in learning the course material. For ECON 231, 71% responded adequate or higher, with 35% responding high or very high. For ECON 232, 89% responded adequate or higher, with 29% responding high or very high. Most students acknowledged the validity of test grading, 64% rating it adequate or higher for ECON 231 and 74% rating it adequate or higher for ECON 232.

Grade expectations and desserts were not dramatically incongruent - 20% of ECON 231 students expected Bs, but 29% felt they deserved Bs. 14% expected C- or Ds, but only 8% felt they deserved that grade. 67% expected about the grade hey deserved. For ECON 232, very few students expected higher or lower grades than they deserved. 79% expected to receive about the same grade as they deserved.

32% of ECON 231 students gave the instructor an A, 36% gave a B. Only 17% gave the instructor a C or lower. 41% of ECON 232 students gave the instructor an A, and 41% a B. Only 29% gave the instructor a C or lower. For both courses students rated the instructor higher than the course.

Robert F. Mulligan Fall 1998 End of Course Evaluation

ECON 231 Introductory Microeconomic Theory and Social Issues (66 students responding)

1. What percent of class meetings have you attended, as well as you can estimate?
a. 0%-59% b. 60%-69% c. 70%-79% d. 80%-89% e. 90%-100%
2% 2% 5% 11% 71%

2. Before starting this semester, how well prepared do you feel you were for the academic requirements of this course?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
9% 12% 47% 14% 8%

3. What level of effort have you applied to learning the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
0% 9% 32% 35% 14%

4. How well has your level of effort allowed you to learn the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
6% 8% 36% 29% 6%

5. How accurately have your test grades reflected your understanding of the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
6% 15% 36% 26% 2%

6. What final grade do you expect to earn in this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
17% 20% 35% 14% 0%

7. What final grade do you feel you deserve for this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
21% 29% 26% 8% 2%

8. Which of the following is correct for you?
a. I expect to receive a significantly higher grade than I deserve. 3%
b. I expect to receive about the same grade as I deserve. 67%
c. I expect to receive a significantly lower grade than I deserve. 3%
d. I am not sure what to expect in terms of a final grade. 11%

9. What final grade do you feel has been earned by the instructor in this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
32% 36% 9% 5% 3%

10. What final grade would you give the course itself, apart from the instructor?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
11% 41% 18% 9% 3%

ECON 231 Student Comments: "I personally think he did a great job. I didn't know what this class was about at first, but he took time out to help me understand how to go about learning economics. *We need more teachers like him at WCU." "Dr. Mulligan is very lively and interesting." "He did a very effective job." "Very effective teacher, explained things well." "Very in-depth." "I think the instructor is doing an excellent job with a difficult course." "Yes, he did a great job. He used humorous, real-life examples to teach effectively a very dry subject." "Gave me a great understanding of Economics." "Excellent all around job." "I benefited a lot." "Explaining economics is what you're made for. You did an excellent job. Your web notes helped me tremendously. Thanks." "I have taken Econ classes at other schools and nobody has taught me as much as him." "Yes, I think he did an effective job. We didn't waste time and we covered almost everything early."

Robert F. Mulligan Fall 1998 End of Course Evaluation

ECON 232 Introductory Macroeconomic Theory and Social Issues (68 students responding)

1. What percent of class meetings have you attended, as well as you can estimate?
a. 0%-59% b. 60%-69% c. 70%-79% d. 80%-89% e. 90%-100%
3% 4% 9% 18% 65%

2. Before starting this semester, how well prepared do you feel you were for the academic requirements of this course?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
6% 10% 51% 21% 10%

3. What level of effort have you applied to learning the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
3% 4% 41% 43% 7%

4. How well has your level of effort allowed you to learn the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
0% 9% 60% 25% 4%

5. How accurately have your test grades reflected your understanding of the course material?
a. very poor b. poor c. adequate d. high e. very high
3% 21% 57% 13% 4%

6. What final grade do you expect to earn in this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
13% 38% 32% 12% 3%

7. What final grade do you feel you deserve for this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
16% 41% 31% 9% 1%

8. Which of the following is correct for you?
a. I expect to receive a significantly higher grade than I deserve. 3%
b. I expect to receive about the same grade as I deserve. 79%
c. I expect to receive a significantly lower grade than I deserve. 9%
d. I am not sure what to expect in terms of a final grade. 7%

9. What final grade do you feel has been earned by the instructor in this course?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
41% 41% 7% 0% 0%

10. What final grade would you give the course itself, apart from the instructor?
a. A or A- b. B+, B, or B- c. C+ or C d. C-, D+, D, or D- e. F
16% 44% 22% 7% 0%

ECON 232 Student Comments: "I believe the instructor did a good job with this class. He is very fair in grading and did a good job preparing us for tests." "He is always open to ideas and tries to help out students as much as possible. Material is always clear and understandable." "Yes, the instructor uses effective examples and makes subjects clear before moving on." "Yes. He did a very effective job w/ class notes & preparing us for tests w/ quizzes & notes posted on the internet for us to use as study guides. He also gave study sessions or review sessions before tests which were very helpful." "Mulligan explains concepts great and I understand a little more about economics." "Yes, he did a good job. There was a lot of information that we covered." "I like the way you presented material directly and distinctly. The quizzes on the internet were very helpful." "I feel I have benefited from this course because I have learned about concepts that I had no knowledge about beforehand. I broadened my understanding in some areas in which I had prior knowledge." "Yes, willing to take extra personal time to help us understand. Held test reviews to help us and allowed us to ask questions that we were unsure of." "Yes because I know more about economics than I did before coming to this class. I understand a lot more." "He gave us the opportunity to ask questions and took time to answer our questions. He gave good review sessions the day before the exams so that we could obtain a better knowledge of material that we were having trouble understanding." "Yes. It taught me a great deal. It had some very interesting topics and some big debatable topics which we discussed in class. If you didn't learn anything in this class then you must have slept, or never attended class sessions." "Yes, his style of teaching is very helpful. He does whatever he can to help us." "Material is definitely presented thoroughly." "Yes, he's a great professor and knows his stuff."