Newark Academy Science Department Course Reflection 2013-2014

1. Select from the following:

Teacher

Select

Mr. Bitler

Ms. Celente

Mr. Erlandson

Dr. Hobson

Ms. Hone

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

100.0% (14)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

Course

Select

Interactive

Interactive

Interactive

Investigation

Discovery

Systems

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

Biology

Chemistry

0.0% (0)

100.0% (14)

Chemistry
Honors

0.0% (0)

Physics

0.0% (0)

Physics
Honors

0.0% (0)

Slot

Select

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

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2. Please rate how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the following statements below based on your personal
experiences in this course thus far.
Rating

Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Not Applicable

23.1% (3)

53.8% (7)

23.1% (3)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

38.5% (5)

46.2% (6)

15.4% (2)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

61.5% (8)

30.8% (4)

7.7% (1)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

38.5% (5)

38.5% (5)

23.1% (3)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

53.8% (7)

23.1% (3)

23.1% (3)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

61.5% (8)

30.8% (4)

7.7% (1)

0.0% (0)

0.0% (0)

13

46.2% (6)

23.1% (3)

23.1% (3)

7.7% (1)

0.0% (0)

13

answered question

13

skipped question

Count

I have found that my teacher

explains course material and
expectations clearly.
I have received helpful feedback
from my teacher on my work and
performance.
I have received timely feedback.
I have been given opportunities to
demonstrate my learning on a
variety of assessments.
I have been given opportunities to
engage in independent thinking.
I have found the learning
environment appropriate and
positive.
The teacher has been sensitive to
my needs.

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3. Describe your experience in this course.

Response
Count
13
answered question

13

skipped question

4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your
skills? Please be specific.
Response
Count
13

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answered question

13

skipped question

5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this
instructor's teaching?
Response
Count
13
answered question

13

skipped question

6. Which labs were most helpful? least helpful?

Response
Count
13
answered question

13

skipped question

7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

Response
Count
13

4 of 18

answered question

13

skipped question

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Page 2, Q3. Describe your experience in this course.

I loved my experience in this course. I found it interesting yet challenging to learn. However, I think it's less effective to do
the lesson as homework before reviewing it in class rather then having the class be the lesson and the hw reinforcing
what we learned in class. I always leave the class understanding the lesson we did the night before but on the night
before I'm generally clueless on how to do the practice problems.

Jan 8, 2014 6:24 AM

I never understand what is going on in class. The homework especially is unnecessarily challenging. We learn most of
the material on our own through textbook readings for homework. Then, during class, we go over the homework. I find
that many times I am unable to complete the homework due to a lack of understanding of the material. I feel like in class,
he thinks that we understand a certain amount of knowledge, so he undermines any questions we have, and is passive
about our lack of understanding. I feel that with the combination of my tutor outside of school, meetings with Mr.
Erlandson, and studying with peers is insufficient and no matter how hard I try in this class, my dedication is not
recognized, and my grades continue to stay at the same level or drop. Improving in this class seems to me like an
impossible task due to the way that our classes have been going.

Jan 8, 2014 6:23 AM

During the course I have learned about different aspects of chemistry. As time progresses, I've found that chemistry has
become easier to understand than in the beginning of the year.

Jan 8, 2014 6:21 AM

Chem has been a very challenging class for me and a lot of my classmates I believe. Mr. Erlandson has been very helpful
to all of us to make sure we understand the material. I get the sense that Mr. Erlandson wants to see us succeed.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Usually we do the hw/reading the night before and come in to class and go over/learn that section. Every lab period we
normally do a lab. I find it sometimes difficult to understand concepts and I find it very helpful to meet with a tutor once a
week.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

my experience in this course personally has been difficult the tests are my main issue with labs holding my grade up. I
find that labs are easier for me because it lets me think of my own without be confined to a certain question. The main
thing issue I have with this class is that we learn the topics on our own for homework and come into class confused. For a
difficult course such as chemistry it is necessary that Mr. Erlandson teach us the material before doing a homework
assignment. Other than that Mr. Erlandson is a kind teacher that is always open to help.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

The course has been a welcome challenge for me. The concepts come quickly and are used throughout the course. Mr.
Erlandson teaches well and at a good pace for the class. I am engaged and interested in the material. Tests are well
written and challenging, even though I am not really that big a fan of Scan-tron tests.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

I am able to enjoy this course because I understand the material that is being taught. The activities and labs can be
challenging, but they explain the unit we discuss in class.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

So far chemistry has been my most challenging class, as I've always had problems with sciences. Mr. Erlandson is a

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

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Page 2, Q3. Describe your experience in this course.

good teacher and is very passionate about the material, but hasn't always been super clear when explaining the material.
Also, the homework has provided a lot of challenges as he often gives us homework prior to learning the material, so the
students must teach themselves the material which I don't think is very useful. Other than that he has been a good
teacher
10

This course has been very interesting and engaging. At times I feel overwhelmed though with the amount of information
that we learn in a day.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

11

challenging fun and wothwhile

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

12

Chemistry is a very challenging course, and because it is so hard our teachers are very bad at explaining it. I think that
they know so much and its such a difficult course that when they try to explain it to the students the information comes
out disorganized and more confusing then it has to be.

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

13

I have felt that my experience has been a good one because chemistry is so hard to me I have given myself an
opportunity to get better in this class.

Jan 8, 2014 6:17 AM

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Page 2, Q4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your skills? Please be
specific.

The in-class lessons definitely get me to understand the subject and the labs either help explain the subject or the subject
is applied in the lab.

Jan 8, 2014 6:24 AM

The labs, to me, seem hardly related to the material in class. It is probably just my view, but I have trouble connecting or
using the knowledge from the units we are learning at the time and applying it to the labs that we complete. As I
mentioned earlier, the assignments are most times impossible for me to complete because I do not understand what is
being taught at a fast pace in class. I feel that during class activities and assessments he expects us to understand
everything that we learn on our own, even if it is not gone over in class. The solution to this would be to meet with Mr.
Erlandson, which I try to do frequently, but another problem that i run into is a limited shcedule, and the fact that he
literally never answers e-mails.

Jan 8, 2014 6:23 AM

I would say the assignments and in-class activities and labs do help me understand the material and develop my skills.
By completing labs, I am able to see how what we are learning applies to real life. The in class activities mainly include
Mr. Erlandson explain the homework and new material which I also find helpful.

Jan 8, 2014 6:21 AM

I find our worksheets to be very helpful. They would be even more helpful if we learned the concepts first in class then
used them as practice instead of just trying to do them on our own. I prefer to go over a concept in class as a lesson than
to just go over homework answers and try and figure it out like that. We usually read new material and are asked to
attempt problems the night before a lesson, however I would personally find it to be more effective if we learned a new
concept in class and used our homework to practice that concept.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Hw assignments I feel aren't as productive as they could possibly be. In some cases even after reading the pages in the
book it is difficult to understand/complete the HW. I think it would be more productive to have our hw based on the
previous day's lesson. The labs are challenging and help us think and be creative.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

the labs don't really help me understand the material better because even though they are related to the test topics its
very different in the way the material is presented. The best way to review for a test is when Mr. Erlandson tasks us with
a worksheet for the entire class and tells us to go into groups and then if you have individual questions raise your hand
and he comes around. I find this to be the most effective way of studying because it makes for a very quiet environment
and allows me to focus, think, and complete the worksheet.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Pretty effectively. For example, the most recent labs have prepared us for topics that we would cover the next day in
class.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

The in class assignments are helpful for understanding the material we are learning. I have developed to think
independently. I have also learned how to incorporate things we read in the book to the activities we complete.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

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Page 2, Q4. How effectively do the assignments, in-class activities and labs help you understand the material and develop your skills? Please be
specific.

The homework assignments, as stated before, have provided some challenges for the students. Despite this, the in class
activities and labs have been good and help the students ensure that they learn the material.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

10

The in-class activities and labs have been extremely helpful. However, the homework assignments normally leave me
more confused than I was before due to the fact that we do them before we learn the information in class and the
textbook is not overly clear.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

11

They are very helpful because they always cover all aspects of the topic that is being studied

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

12

Labs help me understand why we are learning a lot of things and brings it into real life scenarios which is interesting and
fun. However, sometimes the labs makes the material in class that we are learning seem much harder

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

13

I feel that they help me with my skills but they really for the most part have no relation to the unit that we are on in terms
of lab reports.

Jan 8, 2014 6:17 AM

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Page 2, Q5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this instructor's teaching?

the most effective part of our instructors teaching is when he explains the lesson by using a slide show and taking
information from the book and walking through it.

Jan 8, 2014 6:24 AM

The least effective part about Mr. Erlandson's teachings is that he assumes, or expects us to have an understanding of
knowledge that we learn in the textbook through homework assignments. To me, this course has seemed to be set up
more like a flipped classroom, rather than a learning environment where we are helped to understand and learn about
chemistry.

Jan 8, 2014 6:23 AM

The most effective part of my instructor's teaching is his ability to explain things. After an explanation from him, I usually
understand the material better. My only complaint would be that we are given a background of the topic before we have
to do the said assignment. For example, every night we have homework I have no clue how to do it. The next day, Mr.
Erlandson explains it thoroughly and I then understand it, but it is too late to apply that newfound knowledge to the
homework because it was already due and I have already spent a significant amount of time on it. If we were taught the
day before the homework was due what was going to be on it, that would be more beneficial.

Jan 8, 2014 6:21 AM

Mr. Erlandson is very good at explaining the concepts and when there are lesson plans they are very clear and easy to
follow. I prefer a lesson plan where we can take notes and ask questions to going over homework answers.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

I find it very helpful when he uses every day scenarios to help us grasp the concept of whatever topic it may be. I also
find it helpful when he uses props/demonstrations to help us understand an idea.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

The most effective thing for me about Mr. Erlandson's teaching is definitely the worksheets he personally provides, its
awesome that he posts answers online so quickly and because the worksheets are very challenging it helps you prepare
for the test. The least effective is when Mr. Erlandson takes pictures of the textbook and puts them in a smart-board
powerpoint kinda thing this is not effective because the things that he takes from the textbook are not good and he rushes
through.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

The most effective thing he has done for the class would probably be real world examples. His examples allow us to
grasp a concept more completely and easily than we would have if we had only read the book. The least effective thing
about Mr Erlandson's teaching would be the at-home work assignments, not because they are ineffective or bad, but
because it seems that many people don't actually do them.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Mr. Erlandson is always available outside of class which is very effective and he always answers questions in class that
may be confusing to one. However, not learning the unit in class before doing the homework can become tricky and I
would say is the least effective teaching method. I feel that we should learn the unit/topic and then do the homework so
that I understand what I am reading about and practicing.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

I like the way that Mr. Erlandson incorporates activities into the curriculum, though I would like to see more hands-on

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

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Page 2, Q5. What has been most effective for you about this instructor's teaching? What has been least effective for you about this instructor's teaching?

activities even on days when we don't have labs. He's also a fun teacher and has a very good attitude towards his
students. That being said, he also has a tendency to breeze through material and not leave much time for questions, and
I feel at times he talks at us, not to us. Getting the students more involved would be very beneficial.
10

What has been most effective is the SmartBoard notes that Mr. Erlandson puts online. These are extremely useful if I
missed something in class or wasn't completely clear on it so when reviewing I can go online and see the exact notes that
were written in class. However, as I mentioned before, the way the homework is approached often times leaves me
extremely confused.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

11

the effective thing has been te intructors ability to help students understand information but the weakest has been giving
homework without explaining the concept first

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

12

Most effective teaching has been his worksheets that he makes for us. And least effective teaching is when he tries to
teach us a new topic and doesn't take his time on it, and doesn't give any of the students time to process the information
and actually understand it.

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

13

I think that the way of explaining the material is very effective, I think the tests were least effective.

Jan 8, 2014 6:17 AM

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Page 2, Q6. Which labs were most helpful? least helpful?

I found all the labs helpful towards the lesson we're studying.

Jan 8, 2014 6:24 AM

I have found that so far not many of the labs have been useful to my growth in this course. Very rarely do the labs help
me understand concepts in chemistry.

Jan 8, 2014 6:23 AM

I would say most labs were helpful. To be honest I cannot remember specific ones, but a general comment would be to
go over the purpose of the lab in class and what the results should be just to gain a better, general understanding of it.

Jan 8, 2014 6:21 AM

I have found all of our labs to be helpful, however I would find it more helpful to hand in lab reports before taking tests.
Especially because we have our lab on day 1, I think we would be able to hand in labs before we take tests. I always find
that I understand the material better after doing the lab than I do going into the test. I am better able to conceptualize the
material of the chapter and also the specific questions on the lab that often appear on the tests. Looking back I'll see that
I could probably have answered the questions on the test after I did the lab.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Some labs (more towards the beginning of the year) were challenging because the directions were a little unclear.
Because of this I made mistakes and had to come in later and re-do the lab.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

they are all helpful.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Most helpful was the emission spectra and the least helpful was the most recent lab about magnesium heating (but only
because of the timing of it- would have been done better last term)

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

Almost all the labs were helpful because as I have already stated they correspond with the unit we are discussing. I do
wish to have the lab due before the test so that we understand both concepts before being assessed on them.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

All the labs have been helpful

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

10

The density lab and light lab were both extremely helpful for their respective chapters. The other labs though haven't
always helped me understand the material though.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

11

Most of the labs were helpful except the one on mapping the hottest points in a flame. That lab was not graded

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

12

formal labs are most helpful and the ones that we have to do converstions and equations. Not the labs that have nothing
to do with our material

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

13

The balancing and solutions lab was very helpful and the least helpful was the energy lab because that did not relate to
our unit.

Jan 8, 2014 6:17 AM

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Page 2, Q7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

I think the workload for this class is just perfect, not too much and not too little.

Jan 8, 2014 6:24 AM

No, I believe that Mr. Erlandson undermines our busy schedules with other courses, and will at many times make a lab
due the day after a test, or vis versa.

Jan 8, 2014 6:23 AM

I would say the average workload was more or less reasonable. I would maybe spread out the days between labs and
tests though (seeing as in my slot we often have a test due and a lab the next day). When there is a lab and test on
consecutive days I would say the workload is a little bit too difficult but other than that the workload is fine.

Jan 8, 2014 6:21 AM

Generally the workload is very reasonable. Sometimes there is more reading or a few too many problems but generally it
has been manageable.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

It was a good amount. I found it sometimes difficult to have our labs due the day after a test. This was because we have
to either focus on the lab or the test. On tests I found very difficult this created a lot of stress.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

it was a pretty solid amount of work especially when we have to do work for the lab at home, especially the lab with joules
and the different energy levels. The workload only gets out of hand when we have a test the day after a lab or a lab the
day after a test.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

It was reasonable.

Jan 8, 2014 6:20 AM

The average workload is quite reasonable. Some days there could be extra reading but it doesn't take any longer than 45
minutes.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

For the most part yes, but there have been times where we have had 2 major assessments in 2 days 9in this class, and i
feel very stressed during those times.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

10

The labs take a lot of time to do, and the homework can be very time consuming, especially on the more difficult subjects
(moles) given that we haven't gone over it in class before. But overall I would say that it is normally a reasonable amount
of work. The only time it is really too much is when I have a lot of work in my other classes as well.

Jan 8, 2014 6:19 AM

11

Pretty reasonable not to much not to little

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

12

yes it is reasonable. However I strongly suggest having our teacher teach us the material before he assigns us
homework, because I usually end up putting question marks next to every single problem considering the text book
makes no sense and he has never ever even showed us the material before. I really hope that in the future he will teach
us the material and then end up giving us hw on it so its more practice.

Jan 8, 2014 6:18 AM

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Page 2, Q7. Was the average workload for this course reasonable?

13

I think it was but I think there was too much necessary time that was taken studying for tests.

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Jan 8, 2014 6:17 AM