Fall 2015 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 12/10/2015

Fall 2015 Comment Report

SCOT MCNARY

Course Sections

A EDUC 605 (451): RESEARCH AND INFORMATION TECHN

B EDUC 761 (181): RESEARCH IN EDUCATION / ISTC 685 (181): RESRCH IN ISTC

C ISTC 797 (903): GRADUATE INTERNSHIP IN ISTC

D TSEM-EDTL 102 (054): Extreme Teaching

What was the main reason you enrolled in this course? (Select up to 2) - Other (please specify)

A elective

What did you like about this course?

A The prompt and helpful feedback from the instructor.

The professor was always willing to explain things in order to help you understand. He was available to meet before or after class
or on the phone. He was very consistent with emailing you back and providing grades in a timely manner. He also understood
learning differences and provided us with feedback on all assignments. I can tell he really cares about his students and takes the
time out to give feedback or email us with information he came across that was related to our research topic. This class was
challenging because writing and doing research is very challenging, but the class helped me to become a better writer and
researcher. I was able to use what I learned in another class's paper and I felt great about that.
The activities were useful for helping to set up the writing of our final review. I liked the format of 1/2 lecture in class and 1/2 online.
The professor was accessible, knowledgable and eager to help.

B structured well
I liked how I was thoroughly taught how to analyze data and research studies in order to write a successful research proposal
myself.
I liked the professor.
Knowledgeable professor.
Well Organized Structure that was easy to follow. Assignments were a scaffold to the final proposal that was due.
I like how interested Professor M. was in the material. His passion for what he was talking about was engaging, and helped me
understand the concepts he was sharing. He was approachable, nice, and understanding of how the class was not the only thing
going on in my life, and supportive of that point. I loved the stories he would share, and the examples he gave to go along with the
material. It made me regret (somewhat) not becoming a psychologist.
The course provided an interesting take on statistical analysis, and was a departure from the other courses in the major.
I enjoying learning about some unique studies during lectures. I liked that I was encouraged to pick a research study topic that I
was passionate about not just one for my major! I liked that the assignments we completed build up to our research proposal. This
was extremely helpful!
The professor is passionate about this subject and he made it interesting even though I had great difficulty understanding the
material. It is just not something that I'm good at. He used a sense of humor and relevant and interesting studies to generate
interest in the topic. I think he understood that we were not all as excited about it as he was. I also like that all of the assignments
brought us closer to the final project. Everything was relevant and could be used to better understand how to do the research
proposal.

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 Fall 2015 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 12/10/2015

What did you like about this course?

Instructor was very knowledgeable and engaging.

C This was a great learning experience.

D everything
It was surprising interesting as it focused on the psychology behind teaching.
This course allowed me to improve my writing skills while learning about many issues that exist in the education system in the
United States. I liked the "they say.. I say..." format that was taught, which really helped me implement my thoughts and ideas into
my writing.

What could be improved about this course?

A Nothing really, it is what it is, research.

At the beginning of the course we had a lot of lecturing and he did try to mix it up with group or independent work. I understand he
had to talk about topics for us to learn , but maybe he can implement more collaborative class work or discussions. Also, I think it
would be better if the presentation by the educational librarian could come in sooner in the semester. Also, maybe start the class
off by presenting literature reviews so we can see a great model of what we will be working on all semester. Then go into finding
good reviews. The way the course progressed was a little confusing and hard to see the full picture.I like what worked on, but I
think there is a better way to organize the learning of content so it flows easier and helps us see the full picture.
While the activities were indeed useful, this class was A LOT of work for a working teacher and I think some of the activities could
have been made more concise or could have been combined.
rubrics

B There was way too much technical terminology used and statistics. It would be better if it could be explained in simpler terms.
This course was way to challenging for a part time graduate student with a full time job. I was very overwhelemed and confused
the majority of the class period. I liked Professor McNary, however, knowing nothing about the research process and being taught
to strictly through lectures was very challenging. The workload was obscene and challenging. I have never struggled this much in
my graduate program. Furthermore, there was barely any technology involved. I had a very difficult time in this class.
The instruction. There should be more student teacher interaction
More interactive class sessions. Breaking down the parts of a proposal of a study more. At some points I felt like I was lost in
Vocabulary.
I was confused about having to turn in papers as hard copies. In a class that uses Blackboard, I would have thought that all papers
would be turned in using that particular website. It gave me anxiety that something would happen to my hard copy on the way to
class, and I wouldn't be able to submit an assignment. Also, the midterm was interesting. I haven't had to take a midterm in
graduate school before, so that was an adventure. It did challenge me, and allowed me to show my learning (and prove to myself
that I was learning something).
Cheaper materials. I felt the texts were rather expensive, especially considering they aren't able to be resold (due to format).
The midterm! I felt like I had a good grasp of the content, but some of the multiple choice questions seemed confusing...on
purpose...like they were meant to trip you up. I already have test taking anxiety and that test gave me some anxiety.
I would have enjoyed a hybrid course. Although he made it interesting and was always prepared, busy professionals find it difficult
to drive to Towson every week with all of the demands on our time.
Some assignments required information that had not be taught yet and required searching the textbook for information making it
extra challenging and frustrating. It would have been better to differentiate the Article Reviews more so that we could really focus
on what we had been taught by the time the first Article Review was due, and then expanded by having the additional questions for
Article Review 2. Also I would have liked more at a distance education. We only used BlackBoard for typing a response to a
question to the text book. I would have liked to have some videos or recordings that we could have listened to rather than meeting
face-to-face each week/reading the text book.

D nothing

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 Fall 2015 Comment Report - Scot McNary - 12/10/2015

What could be improved about this course?

Nothing really, the class was really good
I think more articles on current issues can be implemented into the course to increase our knowledge of the education system
even more, especially since many of students who take the course plan to major in education or some type of education field.

Would you recommend this course to others? - Yes (please explain why)

A If you want to learn more about how to find a proper research article and how to evaluate the article, how to search for articles, and
how to write a literature review then you should take this class. Also, if you get Dr. McNary, he is a very dedicated, smart, and
knowledgable teacher. His teaching style is a little different then a professor who has more experience being a teacher for several
years, but he is willing to answer all questions, spends time to give you valuable feedback on your work, and emails you back fast.
I also feel that he understand that everyone learns differently and writes differently and he really cares about his students.
Dr. McNary is very knowledgeable, patient, and encouraging. This was a difficult course, but he is a great instructor.

B He was a nice guy and seemed to really like this course. Through his energy you could see he was dedicated to his profession. It
made me enjoy the course more.
It is a very interesting class. The material is somewhat heavy, and can get very confusing. There are a lot of new terms and
language to learn, but it is an interesting class, learning about everything that goes into a research study.
I feel like I learned how to read studies more completely. I learned how to dig to see if the study was valid or not. This will help
tremendously in the future in all areas of my life, not just education.
If the course was required and/or the other person had an interest in research than I would recommend the course. If it was an
elective and the person was not good at math or analytical thinking, I might not. It was a good course and well taught, but as I said,
I struggled with it quite a bit. In addition, I'm not sure that this course had any relevance to my career. Maybe, but I don't see it right
now.

C Great mentor!

D it was fun
Easy, informational, and chill, one of my favorite classes
Professor McNary is very nice and his class is interesting
Yes! Professor Mcnary is a great guy and is always willing to help you out if you're confused about something.
If you are an education major, this will open your eyes to the current problems within our education system and will allow you to
analyze and think about what can be done to solve these problems.

Would you recommend this course to others? - No (please explain why not)

B Too hard to balance with a full time job. Will not use any information I learned in my career.
I would recommend this professor to others, but not specifically this course. I was required to take this course, but I am not sure
how often I will need to write research proposals in my future.

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