Midterm questionnaire

Thanks to fill out the traditional midterm questionnaire. We see that one can make more use of the problem sessions and that not everybody knows about the MQC. Here are a few comments from you guys:

Comment on Exam:

"I think it was good. I felt well-prepared." "Felt prepared, but unprepared for matching graphs" "Very straightforward/doable." "Too harsh on careless errors." "Challenging yet fair." "Was a bit time-crunched." "A reasonable exam" "TF was the most challenging" "Was challenging but not impossible. It was doable in the amount of time" "Ought to have one more problem". "It was very tough, I studied for a long time and still struggled a bit" "I wish we had normal desks during the exam". "It was too hard. Lots of problem solving and 3D visualization which is hard for me. "Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." "It was too long. Not enough time to finish and answer thoroughly" "Was clear that it was testing knowledge of material and not trying to trick us" "TF was a little rough." "Studied hard to do well. Otherwise, would have been really hard". "It wasn't hard (except the T/F) but I didn't have time to finish." "The material was fair but sometimes point valuation seemed way off. A question with many complicated steps was worth the same 10 points as a simple one, so it was hard to gauge if I had completely finished a question." "Multiple choice was difficult. Free response not as hard." "Not bad. Wording on one question was confusing." "The exam should be harder". The first hourly was very fair, you had to know what we covered in class. I wasn't a fan of the matching." "The exam was harder than the practice exams". "The TF problems can be counter intuitive and answering the questions can take too much time."

Comments on Homework and Problem sessions

"Extra practice problems for HW, e.g. state which problems from past exams correlate to which sections of the book." "Answer keys not always adequately explain material" "Grading is often based on not answering questions that weren't asked" "I would like more, but easier problems in homework". "Proofread homework so that it matches the book". "More help with Mathematica - maybe a session" "Three problems ets a week can be a bother" "Give on challenge problem per homework to stretch our thinking" "It would help to address more difficult problems in the problem sessions." "Grading can be overly strict" "What are problem sessions?"

Comments on the exam reviews and practice tests

"Very helpful. I liked how many options there were for review." "Practice tests were extremely helpful." "There were enough practice tests posted to really help!" "Incredibly helpful. The more the better" "Was a bit on the easy side. But thats a good thing. "Helpful in preparing for the test. Also the checklist given out was very helpful" "Very helpful, especially the answer explanations. Good preparation for the real exam." "Pretty good --- I liked the course-wide review." "Practice tests were good preparation. Exam review was brief but helpful." "Exam review should be slower" "More detailed solution explanations would be better" "Practice tests were effective in preparing for the midterm" "Exam reviews: useful but rushed. Practice tests: very useful." "The review could be earlier". "Practice exams were super helpful" "The practice exams should appear earlier." "The practice tests were helpful. Exam review was the first time everything clicked".

"Comments on the textbook":

"Don't have it" "Have an old edition" "Since I joined the class late, the book has been extremely useful." "Did not buy a new one." "It's been good so far!" "Expensive" "Didn't buy it. Using alternate multivariable textbook." "Quite good but the material in the book doesn't always match what we're learning, or explain things well." "Sometimes it helps; sometimes it confuses me more." "Serves its purpose" "Love it!" "Don't own it" "Rarely used because section leader is awesome" "It's okay. Examples are too basic."

Comments to website

"It's pretty well-designed and easy to navigate." "More helpful hints, equation sheets." "Videos of lectures." "There should be extra credit." "Helpful: exam review, handouts with useful tips." "More review on what is covered in class." "More specific dates of exams, labs, etc." "HW, links to wolfram, picture of 3D bunny."

Comments about the MQC?"

"MQC can be crowded, understaffed, noisy and loud" "Like the late hours" "More CAs/TFs?" "Most: Working with others and the assistants. Least: So busy. Hard to ask questions." "Most: That it's there. More staff would be nice. Also, make end time later (midnight)." "MQC is often helpful and appreciate it. Would be better, if each Q was written on the board or something so that one does not have to wait for course assistants to come over".