You may post the narrative course evaluation here -
I want to say thanks for all your hard work, community involvement and great ideas. I hope you can take forth many different aspects of sustainability that you are able to apply to your lives and teach other about. Have a wonderful break!
I want to say thanks for all your hard work, community involvement and great ideas. I hope you can take forth many different aspects of sustainability that you are able to apply to your lives and teach other about. Have a wonderful break!
I thought this course was great. It was one of my favorite classes because I’m very passionate about the environment and am therefore eager to learn more about the varying issues going on today. I thought one of the best aspects of this class was that it involved action and not just sitting in a classroom being lectured at. For me personally, I learn the best when I’m put into a situation and have to react to it or be somehow proactive. Experience is the best teacher and this class gave us the opportunity to really learn, not just through readings and blogs, but also through community involvement. I think pure memorization is almost worthless, which I think many classes involve. It was refreshing not to have to memorize anything, especially when memorization reaps so few benefits in comparison to other methods. I also enjoyed the various field trips we went on because I would not have otherwise known of the many different local issues there are and how to get involved with them. I’m also a huge fan of documentaries and enjoyed that we were able to watch a few.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the fact that this course touched on so many different aspects of sustainability. It was very diverse ranging from the English, poetic side of sustainability to the activist side to the practical side to the scientific side. The ways in which we learned were creative and original, which I find valuable. I don’t have any negative criticism of this course. I think it’s a great one for those interested in sustainability and it also forces those who aren’t to learn something nevertheless.
Class Evaluation
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the semester to be completely honest I was not sure what to expect from this class, but as the semester moved on I found myself liking it more and more. Before taking Green Explorations I wouldn't have called myself someone who was living by the green standards, but through all the learning and hands on experience in the green community that took place this semester I feel that I am definitely making much more of an effort to maintain a sustainable lifestyle. Overall the class was filled with all different kinds of useful information and the way the class was formatted allowed for each student to in a way take whatever they felt was most important out of the class. Having many different readings from different categories of sustainability allowed for me to learn about all the different aspects of living green which I before was unaware of, like how there was so much politics involved and how small simple things in the community can make such a major impact on the environment. Another reason I found the course content to be very effective was because of the multitude of guest speakers that came to class throughout the semester bringing knowledge about many different aspects of the green world. Also not having written tests but instead having to post blogs allowed for all of the students to not only realize how they felt about the topic of the reading materials but allowed for the seeing of the ideas of their classmates on the topics given. I often find that being able to see other peoples thoughts along-side my own can spark new ideas within my own mind. Another aspect of the class that I found to be extremely helpful was the use of group projects not only in the classroom but also out in the community. The project where we walked to streets to find safe bike routes not only introduced me to new parts of our community but allowed me to become more acquainted with one of my classmates. This effort also allowed for us to be a part of a larger project that will in the long run make the streets not only more sustainable but will also make them safer for bikers and drivers alike. The sense of community created by doing various community building exercises both in the classroom and out in the city of Columbia. A strong sense of community built between both teachers and student in my opinion led to the ability to better understand not only what was going on in class but also what is going on the other people's lives within the community. Green Explorations is definitely a class that I would recommend to other students looking to learn more about sustainability and how they themselves can be an impact on the environment. Spreading knowledge on how to become more sustainable is what is most important to the environment and this class is an extremely good way to do so.
Reflecting on the end of the semester, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in this course. I originally took this course because it was strongly recommended for freshman members of USC’s Green Learning Community (which I am in) but I was also interested as a political science major in how politics/political science interact with sustainability and green issues. As I began the course I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect since it was my first semester of college. This course was much different than some of the fears I had about college as I had an intimate classroom setting with a great deal of discussion and interaction which really helped me to feel comfortable as a new student. As I mentioned before, I am a member of the Green Learning Community and as you would expect I came into this course as someone who strongly supported sustainable initiatives and values. Even though I already supported sustainable values prior to taking this course, I have still learned a great deal on how I could improve my lifestyle as result of taking it, an example of this is learning about the impact created by my consumer waste (specifically from things such as to-go plates and cups). My favorite aspect of this course by far was learning more about the environmental issues facing Columbia, the Midlands, and South Carolina. The fieldtrips we took to learn about these issues were fascinating as we traced the path of the Rocky Branch, toured some of the worst environmental sites of Columbia, visited City Roots to learn more about eating local and urban farming, and on all of these trips we had the chance to meet interesting local leaders who were each working in their own ways to solve the many challenges faced by this community. As a result of the community explorations which I took this semester I now feel much more knowledgeable and comfortable beyond the USC campus as a member of the greater Columbia community. Another important part of this course was our project based learning activities. At first I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy these assignments because they appeared rather time consuming and vague, but to my surprise they were actually pretty neat learning experiences as I had the opportunity to really get to know my classmates better while working outside of the traditional classroom environment. This course is unique from many of the other courses I have taken in college in that it really encourages and fosters an environment for students to grow as a community. I have enjoyed the close feel of this class and I am very grateful for the chance I have had to become friends with a lot of really interesting and diverse classmates. Although there are very few things which I would change about this course one thing which I would probably change would be the blog assignments due for each class period. I understand their purpose of introducing students to the material for that week but with so many blogs my personal experience was that the blogs became less of a learning experience and more of an assignment which I simply needed to push through and complete. Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed my semester in this course and I would certainly recommend this course to other students!
ReplyDeleteCourse Evaluation
ReplyDeleteHallie Monts
Green Explorations
12/2/12
Course Evaluation
I first found out about the Green Explorations class through my adviser. I needed a science and he mentioned this course that he was slightly unfamiliar with, but said he thought it sounded like I would enjoy it. I didn’t know what to expect of the course. I have never considered myself a “green” person, but I have learned so much this semester through our class and I would recommend anyone to take it.
I loved how the class size was fairly small compared to a lot of my other classes. We all got to know each other really quickly, especially after we made the face book page and exchanged numbers with one another. Everyone was so willing to get to know each other and I think the name games we played at the beginning of every class for a while really contributed to this! I love how everyone in class had their own opinions about different topics and areas of study, but yet we all remained respectful of other people’s personal thoughts, and no one was ever rude to someone else.
The class structure was very well formatted. I was very pleased with the grading scale and I think it was a fair way to grade everyone. The blog was definitely a pain to do for every Monday and Wednesday, but I completely understand that since we did not take test you both had to have a way to grade us and I think the blog did a great job of allowing people to express themselves and also get a cross to you guys that we understood the material that was being discussed. Sometimes I found it difficult to get motivated to do the blog assignments, but I did most all of them and I always enjoyed the materials that had to be read to complete them.
My favorite part about our green explorations class was the “field trips” that we took all around Columbia. My favorite field trip was our visit to City Roots because one of my biggest interests is farming in urban areas, and City Roots shows me a way that people in the city can still eat locally grown foods! Another field trip that I found interesting was our visit to the place that used to process chemicals and then was torn down due to the amount of chemicals in the ground that had been leaking out for years. I also enjoyed a lot of the speakers we had inside the classroom. They were all very knowledgeable and I learned things that I wouldn’t have learned if it wasn’t for our class!
Overall, I was very pleased with the green explorations course and I am so very glad that my adviser told me about the class and let me sign up! I wish that there was a continuation of this class that I could take next semester because I am really going to miss the people that were in our class, and of course our wonderful instructors!
In order to effectively evaluate this course, I will start from the very beginning. I chose to take this course because I needed an additional honor credit this semester and because I was still on the fence about my major. I had been going back and forth between elementary education and environmental science since halfway through my senior year of high school. At the suggestion of my advisor at orientation, I registered for the class, and I am happy I did. I really like that this class was an overall exploration of what it means to be “green.” I feel like we covered a number of different aspects, and I never knew so much went into this one topic. I suppose it makes sense when you think about the fact that it is an entire style of living. Not only did we cover why it is important to be aware of the environment and to respect it, but we also talked about the challenges of doing so and what the opposition to it would be. Our class was able to have discussions on the practicality of applying the information we learned in class to the outside world, something that I feel rarely occurs in the classroom today. The field trips we took were very beneficial. I’m not just saying this because we got to go on field trips instead of sit in class, but they really made me think and helped me discover things about my community that I otherwise would have never known. I found our trip to City Roots particularly inspiring. I wish I had the drive and determination to live as the man (I do not remember his name) and his family did behind City Roots. Having traveled here from Austin, Texas, a city with a pretty significant concern for the environment, it brought me closer to home and made me reevaluate my daily actions. That is what I liked most about this class: the way it inspired thinking and self-evaluation. I feel that it made me think about how I want to improve myself as a person and the ways I can do this by how I live. I feel that this kind of thinking is rarely a result of class time, so that made this course unique. I feel that my knowledge of things about the environment and the resources available to me has been greatly increased as a direct result of the class. The only critiques I have are of the class times and the nature of the projects we had to complete. The two hour long class on Mondays was a bit much at times. I feel that we could have easily fit everything we needed to know into an hour or an hour and a half, so they extra half seemed a little bit excessive. I think the time between the two classes in the week could have been more evenly distributed. My other critique of the class is of the points system in place to earn a grade. I had no problem with the system itself, but the ways we were required to get points made things a little difficult for me. This class required a lot of outside involvement, much of which was very hard for me to participate in due to my involvement in marching band. I was never able to attend the Saturday service projects, Contra dance opportunities, City Roots volunteering on Fridays or Saturdays, community building events on Saturdays, or tailgate recycling. I feel that this made it hard to gather all the points I needed. I was unable to meet in the late afternoons with anyone either due to practice. I know my involvement is my personal commitment, but requiring so much to be done for our grade outside of the regular class time was hard for me to balance.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing I wanted to add that I loved about this course was how easy it made meeting new people! We were given so many opportunities to get to know one another, and it made the class that much better. Interacting with each other fosters learning, and it just gives everyone a great base to leave first semester with.
DeleteCourse Evaluation
ReplyDeleteThis class was one of my most needed experiences in helping me discover what specific issues I want to help resolve in my lifetime. All the topics covered in class made me reevaluate my disposition and now I strive to set an example for those around me who may not be as cognizant about environmental issues and sustainability. I took this class because I needed a non-lab science class, and my advisor said it was a decent class to take. This was a great class and I enjoyed attending class every day, because it was definitely material I feel that I needed to learn. One of my favorite aspects of the class was the fact that building up the local community was embedded into the blueprints of the class. “Community building” ranged from classmate-suggested gatherings, to campus action projects and community action projects, our class discussions and meeting new people, the fieldtrips that help students build knowledge of local issues, and all the various outside-of-the-classroom opportunities given to the students throughout the semester. One thing I feel the class tried to emphasize as a group is we all need to make an effort to become more communal by volunteer work and group action, stimulate local economy and of course the three R’s (Reduce, Recycle, Reuse). Also, I felt the class wanted us to take away from the curriculum that we need to be the voice for our generation and educate those who do not know enough about the ‘green movement’. Another aspect of the class that I really enjoyed was the field trips, guest speakers and documentaries/short films that gave elucidation on topics we discussed during the class. Also, you can’t fall asleep during class when you’re outside exploring local environmental issues or writing ecopoetry in the sunny courtyard behind the classroom. It was wonderful to be outdoors as much as possible, and I absolutely loved it. The class framework gave us information on topics we needed to discuss in a bright and interesting way, and was successful at keeping me intrigued. The insight of the entire class blended together during our semester course, and it was great to hear what everyone could contribute to the discussions. Also, I feel the course structure helped me build close relations with the other classmates, and this being our first semester at USC it was nice to have that interaction.
Overall, this course was one of my favorite classes I’ve taken thus far, and there isn’t much I would have changed about it. The structure of the class helps you up to open your mind to new thoughts, opinions and ideas, while also revising and clarifying your own ideas about crucial environmental issues. The main thing I struggled with in the course is keeping up with the daily blogs, and this is mostly because I am not exactly good with technology so being on the computer seems to be difficult sometimes. But I feel that most people in my generation do not have a problem with doing online assignments especially with something as simple as writing a blog. (It was not so simple for me to come up with my blogs; I always had a hard time writing them). Regardless of my fault, the class was great and I enjoyed the entire semester! I cannot wait to take more environmental policy courses, and maintain activeness in my community. Thank you Dr. Whiteman and Tara Autumn for facilitating in the opportunity of a lifetime.