Student comments from EPID160 Summer 2004

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“I have worked with Anna and Dr. Vic and both a wonderful people!”
(Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“Extremely interesting course- a little fast-paced but organized extremely well with good material and supplementals. It is good to have the TA's available to help guide us!”
(Internet course, 2004/06/06)
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“Since I am farily new to the group, I do not think that I can comment in depth to the participation of my fellow students. Next time I will have more substansive comments.”
Misty, , Team 1  (TA: Anna), (Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“I have enjoyed the reading so far, and have learned a great deal. The diversity of my group brings a rich dialog to the issues. I like the format of this class also.”
(Internet course, 2004/05/31)
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“I feel the TAs could have more of a role in keeping the discussions on track. I realize that this is the facilitator's responsibility, but considering how the discussions have strayed, it seems like they are ill-prepared.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/01)
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“Eric has been attentive, helpful, and timely with his feedback on case studies.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/03)
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“I am enjoying the course so far, I only wish we could have done this one in the classroom setting. There is so much information to try and absorb, and I feel it would be better served face-to-face.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/07)
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“I could wish for a slightly revised rating scale, for while many of my students (I feel) deserve more than an "adequate" or "fully satisfactory", the inclusion of certain elements (such as "explains concepts to others") makes it very hard - in discussion forums where the topics are not concepts - to award higher scores.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/04)
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“LOTs of reading and preparation for class. Not sure the group postings provice the amount of benefit to equal the work that goes into them. Appreciate all of the powerpoint with notes. It has been very helpful. I like the extras in the lessons. Nice job.”
Ruth, MHA student, HPAX, Team 5  (TA: Steve), (Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“Steve has been a wonderfully supportive TA!”
Virginia, NOND student, GRSV, Team 5  (TA: Steve), (Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“Class has been great so far, everyone is making thoughtful contributions. It's interesting to hear everyone's take on various subjects.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“Following up on my previous comment about the rating scales, it would be nice if the discussion board questions were a little more epi-concept-focused. This might help address some of the issues that students have raised about the forums as a learning method and also allow myself (as TA) to get a better idea of how well the students are understanding the concepts. As the discussion forums are not focused on concepts, it's difficult to get a good handle on the "preparing for group discussion forums" component of the evaluation.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/04)
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“It is obvious that some of the students in my group have extensive backgrounds that provide a great deal of rich information. I would wonder at times whether some of our more novice opinions register much with them. I don't really like the discussion boards as a learning tool. I would have chosen this as an in- class option.”
Terrell, MHA student, HPAX, Team 6  (TA: Steve), (Internet course, 2004/06/01)
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“The book and the slides for this class are REALLY good and I feel like I am learning a great deal from each of these resources. I do not get very much out of the discussion forums. It is incredibly time consuming to keep up with all of the postings (which I think should be limited to two per person...some folks are WAY long-winded) and I do not feel like the return on the investment is very good. I do wish that we could get a reprieve from the homework while we are working on the exam. I am spending a huge amount of time on homework and I have no idea when I will be able to complete the exam. This really concerns me.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“In the instructions, please let us know if we should rate ourselves. Please also provide us with more time to perform the review. This is due June 2 but we were given access to it only a few days ago.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“test”
(Internet course, 2004/05/28)
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“Before taking this class it would be good to have some back ground in statistics and research methods. Otherwise, I would suggest taking this class in a conventional setting instead of on line.”
(Internet course, 2004/06/02)
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“Anna, did a great job being a TA.”
(Internet course, 2004/07/26)
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“First of all I would like to comment on what a wonderful TA Anna was. She is the best TA I have had in the program so far. She was very responsive to my questions, taking time to explain in detail the answer. She also contributed to the discussion examples, and other "questions" for us to think about. She never seemed to think how stupid we were or speak down to us. She will make an excellent professor if that is what her goal is. Next about the course, epidemiology was a very interesting course, and I am glad we had to take it. However the volume of work was almost undoable. With the text reading, recorded lecture, case study reading, case study questions, discussion reading, online discussion time and not to mention the exams on top of all that, I probably spent 16-18 hours on the weeks with no exam and 20-22 hours minimum the weeks the three exams were due and the week I was the discussion leader. when you work 40-45 hours, sleep, eat and have another course, it was, in my opinion too much. I felt rushed just to get through all the material and had not time to go back and regurge and commit to memory the contents of this course. It would be my suggestion to have the case study and the discussion on the same article and maybe no discussion or case study on the weeks of the exams. I know this is an important course for public health students and epidemiology students, but for MHA it was somewhat indepth for us.”
(Internet course, 2004/07/31)
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“Anna was extremely supportive, responsive, and really did an excellent job.”
(Internet course, 2004/08/14)
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“The TAs have had a challenging semester with many homework assignments, exams and papers to grade. I really appreciate Anna's timeliness not only to returning comments on exams and homework, but also to ANY questions that were submitted via UNC email! (Vic also) She read our discussion board comments regularly, and chimed in when we were off track. She could not have made this any easier for us! Thanks Anna! The only class comment that I would add, is that it would be nice to not have a discussion board assignment OR a case study assignment (just one of those) during the weeks that we have an exam. There is a great deal of reading and learning each week, but the "extra" tests on top of the regular lectures and materials do make it quite challenging to keep up. Otherwise, I have learned a great deal this semester. Special thanks to Vic for adding humor into his lectures!”
(Internet course, 2004/08/02)
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“Discussion forums became very burdensome.”
(Internet course, 2004/08/13)
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“I think this was a very good group. Everyone contributed and we had some lively discussions at time. I also think that having 20% of you grade coming from peer evaluations is too much. 10% is more than enough. Having said that, the case studies should count more. They take a tremendous amount of time for such a small percent of the grade. This class is very time consuming. It probably should not be paired with the HBHE class for the EMP in HPAA especially since both classes have week assignments that cannot be turned in late. There are times with the pressures of work overtake the desire to do school work and it seems that neither of these classes are condusive to having flexibility in due dates.”
(Internet course, 2004/07/25)
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“Large amount of work in this class. Especially on weeks of exams. It was a bit much to have a regular assignment plus the exam. (For waht its worth.)”
(Internet course, 2004/07/30)
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“This is epidemeology simplified. It is hard not to come out without sound knowledge of the subject giving the very effective tutorials and discussion forum.”
Jude, MPH student, HPAX, Team 3  (TA: Eric), (Internet course, 2004/07/15)
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“I do not see a form to eval ERIC. He was terrific and gets the highest marks from me. He wsa avialible,responsive,clear, and concise. He did agreat job”
(Internet course, 2004/08/12)
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“Group was not overly cohesive. Not a lot of insightful responses to previous postings.”
(Internet course, 2004/08/02)
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“This course has been both challenging and enlightening. As a Business major and non-clinician, this particular course has taught me a lot about the role of Epidemiology and the interactions with the Health Care field in general. Although I am not quite certain that I will utilize the information in my current or future role in the Health Care Industry, the fact remains that the information obtained was valuable. Thank you for a good learning experience and especially for Steve Campbell, TA. He is a very understanding and practical person when dealing with adult learners. Sincerely, Jay Robertson”
(Internet course, 2004/08/05)
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“I would feel more comfortable with peer evaluation if it was used for the TA to consider when assigning participation grades- it seems like a rather large part of the grade is dependant upon peer evaluation, and honestly I was too busy trying to make the best contribution I could that I did not feel adequately prepared to step back and judge the work of those around me. I truly gained a great deal from everyone sharing their experiences and I felt recieved as part of a team, so I gave everyone equal grades (except myself since I felt I could be more critical of me). Overall I had a wonderful experience, a very supportive TA, and this class surpassed any expectation I had! I came into this class a little hesitant about the on-line format, but I am comming out of this class looking forward to applying what I have learned to my professional career.”
Virginia, NOND student, GRSV, Team 5  (TA: Steve), (Internet course, 2004/07/22)
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“Great course. Well-organized and very interesting!”
(Internet course, 2004/08/01)
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“The discussion forums are not a very helpful exercise for me. I certainly have little way of evaluating the content and character of so many random comments across a semester. This is given far too much weight. If there is a way to do this verbally on-line, I could see that being more effective. I simply became lost in the clicks and notes, etc. In a course that I count as one of the most well-organized yet in the MHA program, this aspect (more the methodology/technology than anything) was the least helpful.”
(Internet course, 2004/07/28)
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“One of the main strengths of the Internet version of the course is its ability to bring people together who would never meet each other in the regular Internet. I am a full time public health student, but was able to meet and exchange ideas online with many mid-level professionals through my discussion group. In that vein, this is a fantastic forum for students like me, to see where the science meets the practice, and then participate in the common problem solving experience.”
Luke, PHCP, Team 6  (TA: Steve), (Internet course, 2004/07/31)
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“When I began this class I knew nothing about epidemiology. The class has been interesting, though intense. I've learned a lot and have enjoyed it.”
(Internet course, 2004/07/30)

(An additional 5 comments were received but the students did not authorize their inclusion on the webpage.)

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2004b, compiled 04/30/2005