Post Mortem
From 0506Topology
| # | Week of... | Links (edit) |
|---|---|---|
| Fall | ||
| 1 | Sep 12 | About, Tue, Thu, Std2Disc |
| 2 | Sep 19 | Tue, Thu, HW1, 14 Sets |
| 3 | Sep 26 | Tue, Thu, Photo |
| 4 | Oct 3 | Tue, Thu |
| 5 | Oct 10 | HW2, Tue, Thu |
| 6 | Oct 17 | Tue, Thu, HW3 |
| 7 | Oct 24 | Mon, Tue, Thu |
| 8 | Oct 31 | Tue, Thu, HW4 |
| 9 | Nov 7 | TE1, Tue, Thu |
| 10 | Nov 14 | Tue, Thu, HW5 |
| 11 | Nov 21 | Tue, Thu |
| 12 | Nov 28 | Tue, Thu, HW6 |
| 13 | Dec 5 | Tue, Thu |
| E | Dec 12 | TE2 |
| Spring | ||
| 14 | Jan 9 | Tue, IT83, Thu, HW7 |
| 15 | Jan 16 | Tue, Thu |
| 16 | Jan 23 | Tue, HW8, Thu |
| 17 | Jan 30 | Tue, Thu |
| 18 | Feb 6 | TE3, Tue, Thu |
| 19 | Feb 13 | Tue, Thu |
| R | Feb 20 | |
| 20 | Feb 27 | Tue, Thu, HW9 |
| 21 | Mar 6 | Tue, Thu, HW10 |
| 22 | Mar 13 | Tue, Thu |
| 23 | Mar 20 | Tue, Thu, HW11 |
| 24 | Mar 27 | Tue, Thu |
| 25 | Apr 3 | Tue, Thu, HW12 |
| 26 | Apr 10 | Tue, Thu |
| Study | Apr 17 | Office Hours |
| Exams | Apr 24 | Final, PM |
We held a class Post Mortem discussion right after the Final Exam. I have done several things differently this year and I greatly appreciated your feedback about those and about all else. Attendance was not mandatory and does not influence grades in any way, yet by coming you helped me greatly, and indirectly, you will be helping future UofT graduate students.
Some discussion topics:
- What horrible teaching mistakes did I make? Did I lose you? Alienate you? Got you to hate Topology forever after?
- This Wiki. Was it a good idea? Should I do it again? How can I improve it?
- Was it a good idea to take (and post) the Class Photo?
- Was it a good idea to suggest that class notes will be posted after every class?
Summary of the meeting by Dror, following notes by Gabriel Lee:
- A good number of students said that they wished there was more algebraic topology and less general topology. One student said the opposite.
- A good number of students felt the general topology part of class was easier.
- In general students loved my teaching style, with one or two negative comments; for example, about "editing" statements on the black board instead of rewriting them, thus making note-taking difficult.
- Students liked the fact that I gave a "why is it true" intuitive explanation before almost every proof.
- Students felt there was too much course work (12 assignments, 3 term exams and a final) and felt that had there been less course work they'd have had more time to "play" with the wiki. They did like the fact that only the top 10 assignments count for the grade.
- Students complained that they didn't get enough feedback on their written assignments. I didn't make it clear that it is legitimate to post solutions of problems on the wiki (after the due date) so they didn't.
- Students liked the many "asides" - things that I just mentioned because they were near but that are not from the textbook. They liked the fact that I did many of the things different from the book hence with a different perspective (odd; I always thought students hate it when the prof deviates from the book).
- Students complained that with some of the parts that were covered only in a sketched form, it was not clear what my expectations from them were.
- Students didn't like waking up early (though I wouldn't call 10AM early!).
- Several students liked the good deeds system, but at least one didn't.
- Students complained that some HW material was not covered in class and some was covered too late, just before the assignments were due.
- Students liked the fact that I started every class with one board already covered with reminders about last class and goals of the present class.
- Many students disliked the algebraic topology textbook (Hatcher; it's not clear to me if there's a better one, and at least Hathcer is free).
- Students liked the fact that I was opinionated about things (that's important, that's not), but some disagreed with my opinions (specifically my rather strong opinion against the axiom of choice).
- Students liked the wiki!
- Students wished I had made the link between cohomology and differential forms (no time for that!).
- Students wanted more puzzles and riddles!
- Students liked the one HW assignments that developed a whole subject (the Wirtinger presentation of the fundamental group of a knot complement) better than all other assignments, which were made of several "small" questions.
