Don Boyes

Category: Teaching in Higher Education

  • Course evaluations: valuable, unvarnished feedback

    Course evaluations: valuable, unvarnished feedback

    I just read through the course evaluation forms that students filled out for the courses I taught last winter.  There is always a delay before instructors are allowed to see them, both to prevent any rash retribution on the part of a disgruntled professor, but also so they can first be read by the student…

  • Watching students write their final exam

    This morning I spent 3 hours watching my students write their final exam.  It’s a strange experience, as I want them all to do well, but know that some will and some won’t, for a whole host of reasons.  You might think that spending 3 hours pacing around a room might be dull (and I…

  • I’m going on sabbatical, not vacation

    I had my last class of the term on Tuesday and will not be teaching again until January, 2012.  I have been approved for a half-sabbatical which officially starts July 1, but I am gearing up for it already.  The official term is “study leave”, but most people tend to call it a sabbatical.  The…

  • Community Conversations and Personal Learning Networks

    Simultaneously published at the ESRI Education Community Blog with thanks to Dr.  Tom Baker, Education Manager, ESRI Inc. Many people working in the cross-disciplinary field of GIS education may have few co-workers in their organization that they can learn from, brainstorm ideas, or even just “talk shop”.  They may be looking for ways that they…

  • Learning from my alumni

    Last night I had the pleasure of having a drink with a former student of mine, who is now a rising star in a large and prominent market research company.  He’s a great guy, who finished university years ago, but always makes the effort to keep in touch.  I hadn’t seen him in a while,…

  • Tuesdays are for teaching

    I try to do all my teaching on Tuesdays.  It took me a while to come to this little strategy, so I thought I would share it in case it is of any use to others. My courses usually have a lab component and, since our lab holds 32 students, and my courses have several lab sessions per week, it’s…

  • Making time for service

    I recently read a great blog post by ProfHacker called On Being Busy that essentially says we faculty members should try to make time to serve on various committees, and not rely on the old excuse of being “too busy”.  He argues that participating in university governance is really of service to both the university and ourselves.  Coincidentally,…