ECON 102 Comments from Prior Terms, Deardorff

STUDENT COMMENTS

The following are some of the comments provided by students on the course evaluation questionaires near the ends of prior terms:

Winter 2007

Alan Deardoff could not teach economics. I learned more from the book than class. He should not teach this class. Great course! Loved your teaching...very clear!
It would help if you were more enthusiastic. Prof. Deardorff is an excellent teacher who seems enthusiastic about the subject and knows what he's talking about.
Prof. is racist and sexist. Prof Deardorff is an excellent professor who really cares about his students.
Get some new ties. Your ties are great!
It seemed as if he was not as willing to meet students outside of class because of his emphasis of student opportunities at GSI office hours. I loved your class. You are an awesome teacher. I appreciate your care and organization in making this course.
The course needs powerpoint desperately! Very behind the times. Don't switch to powerpoint. Using the projector made it easier to learn.
I felt there were a few derogatory comments against women. They were probably intended to be humerous, but women @UM are very conscious + sensative to these issues. I like you. Your charm and wit remind me of my father.
This class was poorly taught. I really enjoyed your teaching. I hated this subject before this class but now thoroughly enjoy it due to your teaching.
Speed up lectures. I learned a great deal, yet I fell that my learning process could have been better if you slowed down (your speech) when explaining important concepts that your aren't writing down.
I was the guy who ran through your class and did a dance and blew you a kiss in the Winter '06 semester. Hope you enjoyed it.
Good sense of humor; sometimes does think about what he says.
Stop telling students you don't like teaching 102.
To briefly describe professor Allen Deardorf in a single paragraph is a task I had hoped I would never have to do. Deardorf: more than a man, & I'm not certain he isn't a god. The lull of his voice, that twinkle in his eye. I can't remember one day I haven't come to lecture with a heart full of hope for the breathtaking knowledge he spilled upon us. As I lookEd across the auditorium, a wave of silence shook us all as this great man left the classroom. Forever loved & eternally missed -
I LOVE ALLEN DEARDORF!
THANK YOU FOR CHANGING MY LIFE BIG AL!

Winter 2006

The WSJ is pointless and a waste of money!
You get side-tracked sometimes with over-explaining, discussing WSJ, and answering questions. Overall good.
You crack me up.
I enjoyed this course and I appreciate that you were always encouraging and enthusiastic in your teaching. Thank you!
Lecture is the same as reading the book.
The Mankiw textbook was excellent.
Me © Alan
Entertaining course. Buy a suit from Brooks Brothers.
To tell you the truth,
There needs to be more math in the course.
Your lectures are very boring. Look at the attendance. About 100/295 » 33%
You put us off to sleep (about 20% of those who come!)
So, total # of students awake and actively listening = 80/295 » 27%!!
Laid-back style rocks! You should teach 402 next winter.
You are an excellent & honest professor, but I wish the lectures would do more to apply the reading to real life situations, etc. That would also increase attendance to lectures.
Some good shit. I hope I do well on the final though!
The format of doing lecture on an overhead projector is not good. Change to writing on chalkboard or powerpoint.
I actually do not mind at all that the material isn't presented in powerpoint. The hand-drawn notes are just as clear and often easier to copy in our notes because we can see step by step how to replicate the diagrams. Powerpoint would really only improve flashiness.
I like the jokes and stories.
Please switch to powerpoint and don't spend so much time talking about the same topic. I felt you could add a lot more helpful info into lecture than you did.
I think Prof. Deardorff is an excellent teacher who enjoys teaching, which makes a sometimes boring topic bearable.
Best class I've taken here, but I suggest a different lecture room. Lorch seems to put me to sleep.
On the whole, this was a reasonably good introduction to the principles of microeconomics [sic]. I found the connections to the 'real world' to be stimulating as well. In order to improve this course, I would do the following:
Make exams more conceptually challenging, but more straightforward.
Use Microsoft Powerpoint in lecture, and post it online.
Instead of going over what will be covered at the beginning of class, give a summary at the end ot each lecture including all equations and important concepts.
Overall, loved the cheap WSJ subscription (great newspaper) but it didn't contribute much to the course & I didn't have enough free time to read it during the semester.
Professor Deardorff definitely knows his stuff, but at times, this hurt as well as helped. There were times when his explanation of concedpts were way more involved and in-depth than the textbook explanations, and as a result, what he said went over my head.
I enjoyed this course very much. Thank you. I thought that the WSJ made a valuable contribution to class but I'm not sure we needed to spend as long a time going over articles each week. I zoned out during that time on most Tuesdays.
I really enjoyed your humor and I liked the articles. You should do more articles. Thanks for getting me interested in the WSJournal!
Class atmosphere is excellent. Involvement of student questions and comments during lecture was great. Reading assignments related well to class discussion and provided arguments from both sides of issues.

Winter 2007
Alan Deardoff could not teach economics. I learned more from the book than class. He should not teach this class.	Great course! Loved your teaching...very clear!
It would help if you were more enthusiastic.	Prof. Deardorff is an excellent teacher who seems enthusiastic about the subject and knows what he's talking about.
Prof. is racist and sexist.	Prof Deardorff is an excellent professor who really cares about his students.
Get some new ties.	Your ties are great!
It seemed as if he was not as willing to meet students outside of class because of his emphasis of student opportunities at GSI office hours.	I loved your class. You are an awesome teacher. I appreciate your care and organization in making this course.
The course needs powerpoint desperately! Very behind the times.	Don't switch to powerpoint. Using the projector made it easier to learn.
I felt there were a few derogatory comments against women. They were probably intended to be humerous, but women @UM are very conscious + sensative to these issues.	I like you. Your charm and wit remind me of my father.
This class was poorly taught.	I really enjoyed your teaching. I hated this subject before this class but now thoroughly enjoy it due to your teaching.
Speed up lectures.	I learned a great deal, yet I fell that my learning process could have been better if you slowed down (your speech) when explaining important concepts that your aren't writing down.
I was the guy who ran through your class and did a dance and blew you a kiss in the Winter '06 semester. Hope you enjoyed it.
Good sense of humor; sometimes does think about what he says.
Stop telling students you don't like teaching 102.
To briefly describe professor Allen Deardorf in a single paragraph is a task I had hoped I would never have to do. Deardorf: more than a man, & I'm not certain he isn't a god. The lull of his voice, that twinkle in his eye. I can't remember one day I haven't come to lecture with a heart full of hope for the breathtaking knowledge he spilled upon us. As I lookEd across the auditorium, a wave of silence shook us all as this great man left the classroom. Forever loved & eternally missed - I LOVE ALLEN DEARDORF! THANK YOU FOR CHANGING MY LIFE BIG AL!