Name: Robert D.

King Rank: Instructor

Department: Humanities Date: April 29, 2011

If a course is stacked, for example, DRAW 121, 221, 331, & 441, please average all levels together as one course.
Faculty (Q 8-17) Course 1: Course 2: Course 3: Course 4: Course 5: Course 6: Course 7: Course 8: Course 9: Course 10:
Comments: I have written N/A for courses 7,8, and 10 because I have not yet received evaluations for these courses (Faculty Evaluation Reports were due prior to the gathering of this data). Courses 6 and 9 report midterm evaluations. These courses required midterm evaluations because I had not taught them previously. Courses reporting only midterm evaluations deserve special comment, which I have given below. My first term at SNC I took on the challenge of teaching three CORE 301 courses. These classes were all identical in terms of content covered and pedagogical methods employed. I received a very high overall score for one of them (4.66) and an instructor rating that was even higher (4.73). In the other two classes my scores were decidedly lowerfor reasons I cannot fathombut even in these classes I received some very positive feedback from students, which I include below: CORE 301-2: Keep up the good work and looking at the subject in the way that doesnt concern itself with knowing the specific facts as much as the interactions and results of critically thinking in terms of Big History and understanding how societies shaped the world around them and the progress and regression each caused to elicit the major changes of history, as well as taking into account the chain of reactions caused by small discoveries and technologies within geographic and civilized areas. The most interesting and novel history course I have ever taken. Keep up the good work.

Course (Q18-30) 4.69 3.73 3.72 4.10 4.33 4.14 3.81 4.48 4.68 4.30

Overall (Q1-30) 4.66 3.79 3.82 4.25 4.35 4.29 3.93 4.51 4.69 4.39

CORE 301-1 CORE 301-2 CORE 301-4 HUMN 210 HIST 310 CORE 101-1 CORE 301-1 CORE 301-2 ENGL 295 HIST 331

Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean: Mean:

4.73 3.85 3.75 4.26 4.40 4.38 4.16 4.54 4.77 4.50

Dr. King is a great teacher, who tries very hard every day to engage the class in critical thinking about the subject. I think that this class, in general, requires too much material to be covered. Learning the entire course of world history in a single semester is a lofty goal, and it might be better to focus on different time periods and not get too caught up in the little details. I hope that Dr. King does not look at this semester as a wash because I know many of his students learned a lot. CORE 301-4: I never thought I would say I'm interested about history. Dr.King's Civilizations class, however, has me excited and enthusiastic about it. I don't think SNC should have any other teacher teach this course because I know that I'm walking away from it with more knowledge and passion than any of my other classes. Granted, it is a totally new subject, but I have Dr. King to thank for introducing and revealing it to me. Admittedly, and as I shared with Dan OBryan, I was uneasy about CORE 101 in the first few weeks of the course. I noticed a strong resistance to the course themes and an intellectual inertia among my students that I had not previously encountered teaching at SNC (though this was my first class of freshman). My midterm evaluations for this course were lower than I would have liked them to be, although I did receive some encouraging feedback from students, the kind of feedback that, I think, should mitigate my lower scores at midterm. That said, since midterms this course has felt much better. In fact, I get a strong sense that I will receive very high evaluations for the course. The transformation since midterm has been quite remarkable actually. CORE 101: This class is one of the more unique classes I have taken. I would pro bably recommend this class to anyone who asked. It would be a better class if it wasn't required, because it is clear who is there to learn and who isn't. Rob is very encouraging to us to participate and make comments in class, but a lot of the class resists. Maybe some interactive class exercises would help get everyone involved where it's not just optional to participate, but required. ENGL 295 has given me the opportunity to teach a course within my degree-area of concentration. While I love teaching within the CORE, it should perhaps be noted that the CORE falls outside of my degree area training. This is not to say that I do not wholeheartedly embrace the challenge to teach CORE, because I doI genuinely love teaching the 301 course, and I relish the opportunity it offers me to expand my studies and scholarship. Once given the chance to teach within my area of concentration, I have demonstrated the capability to excel in my teaching, as is reflected, in part, in the following student comments: ENGL 295: I love this class. It's challenging, but it's an appropriate amount of work and learning concepts for a college level course. Dr. King commands the material with ease and encourages his students to do the same. He is enthusiastic and truly wants his students to grasp challenging concepts clearly. He is one of my favorite teachers at SNC. His command in the classroom makes him an asset to this college. I enjoy this course because it challenges me to think critically. King is an exceptional teacher with great knowledge of the subject and material and able convey meaning to what we are learning.