34 students submitted evaluations for this course.
92% of the students enrolled in this course submitted evaluations.
| Zero | One | Two | Four | Four + | |
| 1. Approximately how many times were you absent from this class since the beginning of the quarter? | 1 | 3 | 15 | 14 | 0 |
| I wasn't absent | Time Conflict | Illness | Did not deem class attendance worthwhile | Other | |
| 2. What was the usual reason for your absence? | 0 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 9 |
| Never | Rarely | Usually | Always | Other | |
| 3. Indicate how often, on the average, you read the assigned materials prior to classes. | 0 | 3 | 18 | 12 | 0 |
| Strongly Agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly Disagree | |
| 4. This professor stimulated my interest in the subject matter of this course. | 15 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 5. The assigned readings were valuable to my understanding of this course. | 12 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 6. The professor covered the course material in depth. | 17 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 7. I found this course to be well organized. | 23 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8. The professor held my attention in class. | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 9. This professor is always prepared prior to class. | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10. This professor was willing to assist me outside of class. | 25 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11. This professor was responsive to my questions. | 25 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12. This professor makes good use of class time. | 13 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 13. This professor taught the class at a level that challenged me. | 18 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14. This professor effectively communicated the content of the course to me. | 18 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 15. I would recommend to others that they take this course. | 19 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 16. This professor motivated me to do my best work. | 18 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 17. I was able to keep up with the work load for this course. | 8 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| 18. I would enjoy taking another course from this professor. | 20 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Positive and Negative comments about the professor: | Positive and negative comments about the course materials: |
| Excellent professor, he really tries innovations to engage students and illustrate the law. I appreciate his style and fairness and his enthusiasm for teaching and for seeing us succeed. | Reading was heavy and dense, would recommend an "Understanding" book to accompany. |
| Makes a fairly dull topic as fun and interesting as possible. | |
| Professor Thompson is the only way to go for Administrative Law. He made a rather dry topic interesting, and his use of technology was fun. And, he's a nice guy-it's refreshing to have professors without large egos. He's in a class with Laitos, Russell, etc., as the best professors I've had. | |
| It was evident from the first day of class that Prof Thomson had spent a great deal of time in preparation for teaching Admin (his first time teaching the subject). It was important to him that "we not hate admin law" and he made the course as interesting as possible. I learned a lot about agencies which I think is important. At some point even whether we are lawyers or not, we all have to deal with agencies. They are pertinent to life! I would definitely take another class from Prof Thomson. | The course materials were good |
| I have had few other professors that (obviously) put as much time, effort, and thought into the preparation of their classes as did Prof Thomson. He does research outside of class, not only to answer questions from class, but to make sure he is up to date on material, and is utilizing the best teaching techniques to make sure the students do as well as they possibly can. Prof Thomson seems to actually care about what the students learn, not just making it through the materials he is required to teach. I, for one, very much appreciated his use of technology in the classroom to make things more interesting and keep attention going. I also think his use of technology is very effective for a variety of learning styles. I also had absolutely no problems with either the communal outline or group project. Anything additional I can use to fill in the blanks, or get a different perspective / understanding of the material I believe to be good and effective. Additionally, the group project presentations broke up class time and made it a more interesting experience overall. In the scheme of things the group project required very little time and effort for a nice chunk of the grade, and gave me the opportunity to learn how to build a Wikipedia website. Plus, I ended up working with people I had not previously met - and that's a rare opportunity by the time one reaches the last year of law school. I would and will enthusiastically recommend any class taught by Prof Thomson. | |
| Extremely interested in student success. Very interested in assisting students in and outside of class. Use of classroom technology is great. More profs should take advantage of these types of tools. Lectures seemed to gloss over a lot of the book material. Would have been helpful if more info put into the power points. | Liked the class presentation structure (especially b/c everyone is graded on individual participation.) Don't like the class outline. I outline for my own benefit at the end of the class. Having to then figure out how to put my own stuff into someone else's outline just doubled the work load. Further, I do not think it will be helpful to use someone else's outline for the exam. Class outlines might be helpful for first year class - as a learning tool - as a 3rd year, I've got more important things to do with my time than outline twice. However, I would not be opposed to posting my outline for others to use. |
| Prof. Thomson did the best he could with a boring subject- he made it somewhat interesting. He does a great job of interacting with the class and getting us to participate. His use of online media is great and really gets people involved. He was very enthusiastic about admin (I don't know how) and it showed in class- it made it more enjoyable. | It was fine. |
| the remote control was a great learning tool | |
| He is a great professor and he cares about his students. I would take another class from him! | I did not like creating the interactive class outline and the reading was a bit heavy at times. I liked the agency group projects. |
| I love Professor Thomson, he is one of the best teachers I have had in this school. He really pays attention to student needs and concerns. He is an excellent teacher. However, there is too much reading in this class, the material is complicated and not easy to follow so less reading would help in order to really grasp the material. Professor Thomson is the best! | Case book was easy to follow but too much reading on a nightly basis! |
| Professor Thomson clearly spent a great deal of time planning this class, but I think he went overboard. He was concerned about 3L's being bored, but overloading us with work, particularly in a subject he indicated could be taught in 3 weeks, is not the answer. The amount of reading was EXCESSIVE, which just leads to people not doing it. There was a reason why 1 person did almost all the talking in class. Professor Thomson is obviously very enthusiastic and concerned about the education of his students, however, he should reconsider the teaching method for this class. | This book was terrible. The lengthy background materials are neither interesting, nor helpful. It would be more effective if someone would edit it down to about half its current size. |
| Though I didn't keep up with the work load (my own choice) Professor Thompson was very skilled at engaging the class with technologically advanced methods of teaching as well as just being a decent human being. He masks his brilliance without students feeling any condescension. He succeeded in changing the dynamic of Admin Law being a snooze class as you're thinking more about pending graduation; he's probably the only admin professor who makes that course as challenging, helping us to be engaged and inspiring us to want to learn. One of my favorite professors ever. | |
| Professor Thomson is great for practical-type classes. However, this class needs to change. Like you said early in the semester; I could teach this class within a course in environmental law. You should have done just that from the prospective of the administrative-environmental-litigator that you are. Substantive courses that march through a case book suck and you are better (read more creative) then that. You worked hard to make this course useful through progressive learning techniques; however, this is Administrative Law, and by its nature, is terrible. It is interesting that as relevant as it is too many practice areas, Administrative Law continues to be the worst required course in law school. Perhaps the school should make an administrative based class like Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, etc. a required course so that students could learn the administrative process within the context of a narrow area of the law. Presenting this class through the case book method is confusing, primarily because the cases jump around the different agencies, ie., EPA, FTC, DOT, USACE, etc., and the different subjects which they regulate. Sticking to one area would be much more bueno. Otherwise, I commend you on your continued efforts to make law school better and a long way it has to go. You efforts are very much appreciated and I know that the administration of the College of Law suckered you into teaching this course, probably because one of the traditional tenured (or tenure track) career professors refused to teach a substantive class, electing instead to teach something like law in neo-classical music. | 1. Well done incorporating bar exam questions into the course materials - more professors should follow your lead. Otherwise, DU will continue to wallow in the 65% bar passage rate. 2. The book is an average case book - hide the ball. 3. Group projects are miserable in law school because of scheduling conflicts, ie., work, family, class schedule, living in very different geographic areas making coordinated travel to the law school difficult, etc. We are not a traditional law school with traditional law students coming straight (or nearly so) from under-grad. Non-traditional students have particular difficulty with making such projects work with the other variables in our lives. I understand that you tried to incorporate controls into the process, they just didn't work. That being said, to make the projects more worthwhile, you should teach students how to give an effective presentation because law school in no way prepares a student to give one. Additionally, feedback should be immediate and in front of the whole class so that all can learn from the experience. 4. The Wiki class outline is overly ambitious I too believe in the power of collective wisdom, however, it doesnt work in the law school context. There is no time in law students' schedules for editing a "mob" created outline into something useful - we all learn and categorize so differently that it is difficult to imagine a group outline working in any law school scenario. 5. To Students; please do yourself a favor and take Admin. in the first semester of 2L year because you may still have the idea that law school will teach you something useful for later practice. If you put it off until 3L (or worse, your final semester) you will be constantly fighting the urge to through yourself out of a window - so that you can follow the three credits and $3,000 that went first. |
| Prof. Thomson actually cares about being an effective teacher, conveying the material in an interesting way, preparing the class for the bar, and making the course relevant to the actual practice of law. Prof. Thomson is a fabulous teacher! If you want to take a class from a professor who will know your name and take your questions/concerns seriously, take a class from Prof. Thomson. Most of the professors I have had really know their area of law, yet are just poor teachers. Prof. Thomson has a thorough knowledge of the subject area and knows how to teach. While I wasn't crazy about some of the projects, I knew that Prof. Thomson put together each learning experience for a specific goal and purpose, and he was always willing to discuss concerns and difficulties. | The use of the Wikipedia software, the interactive clickers, and the website development were all great additions to the case book. I thought the reading assignments were fair and the text was well written. |
| Thomson did a great job motivating the class. He turned what is generally dry material into interesting enough material for class discussions. | The book was a poor choice. It was over-thorough. There was too much reading to illustrate a simple concept, which made it a drag to read. Over 900 pages of Admin Law is quite honestly too much for relatively simple material. |
| Prof. Thomson is a great teacher and person. I took his Discovery Practicum and his teaching style in that course lead me to take this class. Unfortunately, the nature of this type of class (traditional case and statute class) does not play to Prof. Thomsons's teaching strengths. I think that he will be able to teach this class more effectively after having this "dress rehearsal" behind him. | |
| Professor Thompson is very enthusiastic about teaching and is realistic about the fact that 3rd year law students should have one foot in school and one foot out the door. He worked very hard to make the class both academic and practical. I really admire the research he did and the cutting edge strategies he used to keep us all engaged. | |
| Professor Thomson is a great professor. I liked his approach of not overcomplicating Admin Law; it made it seem less daunting. Also, Prof. Thomson is very open to suggestions, and I appreciated that he would periodically ask us for our input. The group project sounds like a pain at first, but I learned a lot from working on my presentation and watching others. I think one of the things I liked the most about this class was the incorporation of technology; I think it would be very effective to use similar technology in other classes such as Con Law or Property. The only drawback of the class was the communal outline; Im not sure if it was an effective learning tool for me. But maybe its just something I need to get used to. Overall, I enjoyed this class and would definitely recommend Prof. Thomson to others. | |
| Great job making a notoriously boring subject interactive and interesting! | Book and slides were very good. Thanks for the CD with all of the group presentations on it! That will come in handy in the future. |
| Professor Thomson tried a lot of new things during this class including a cumulative outline and group projects. I think that everything he did had good and bad elements. In the future I would suggest that he continue to try new things in class but maybe spread them out a little more because it took a lot of class time to hash out the problems people were having with these new methods. | |
| Professor Thompson is an effective professor who cares about learning the material in preparation for the bar. I appreciate his practical approach and his high quality teaching skills. Honestly, this is the best professor I have had thus far at DU Law. I would highly recommend his course to anyone. Especially for Admin, which is known as a boring subject. Well done, Professor Thompson! Thank you for helping me learn this subject. | Lots of reading - but helps you learn the material. |
| he did a great job on a subject that I personally consider dry. I will def tell my friends to take him for admin | long and boring, sometime i wish they would just tell us the rules rather than pull teeth...but thomson did a good job to make up for it |
| Professor Thomson is an innovative professor. He works hard to teach class in ways that challenge a variety of people. He is not the run of the mill law professor that we are all used to, so be prepared to learn in different ways, including group projects, community outlines, etc... I think taking this class was beneficial because it enabled me to be more creative in approaching a sometimes not as interesting subject. I did enjoy taking this class. | Admin Law is not always the most exiciting subject, but I do think Professor Thomson made it interesting by allowing a lot of group discussion. |
| He made the class as interesting as Admin law can be. It was a positive experience overall- he wanted to answer all of our questions, was willing to address concerns, etc. Professor Thompson had us do group projects, and while I think that they were interesting, I thought that 1/3hour once a week was too much time to spend having my peers talk to me instead of learning Admin law. He used a form of class participation that were clickers and you clicked in your answer. I thought this was very helpful!!! | The class was very organized and the powerpoints very helpful. There was WAY too much reading- and most of it was not helpful reading. There was a class outline that was something new that he tried- and it turned out ok, but it would probably be better to let everyone do their own. |
| Overall, I thought Prof. thomson did a great job. Most important to me was how thoughtfully and respectfully he approached all of us students. I think the idea of a wiki outline was a bit quixotic. Though it sounds nice to have everyone contribute, with so many students trying to participate it is just not feasible. I thought the student presentations were too long (especially earlier in the semester) and not that helpful to our understanding of the subject. Both the outline and presentations are, I think, great ideas to make a boring subject more interesting. They just aren't worth the trouble it takes to do them. Lastly, my biggest problem with the class was how the class discussion would devolve into an echo chamber of empty liberal rhetoric. (I must have heard that on Fox News or something). to be sure, because the vast majority of students (and faculty) are very liberal, we can expect class discussion to favor a leftist point-of-view. In spite of this, or precisely because of this, I think professors should work hard to draw out conflicting points of view (on, say, Global Warming). Instead, I feel that professors typically (and often unintentionally) create an environment where liberal views are more welcome than conservative ones. A good example of this is seen in how you would refer to Supreme Court cases: if the opinion happened to be written by Scalia, it would be mentioned repeatedly as in "Scalia's opinion" or "Scalia determined X" whereas any other opinion written by another justice woudl be referred to as comming from the court: "the Court ruled x", "the Court found...". I do not think any other Justice than Scalia was ever in mentioned. This is relatively small concern -- one made worse by 2 1/2 yrs of similar behavior from other professors -- and overall the class was conducted extremely well. Thanks! | |
| Professor Thomson is great! He brings an energy into the classroom that was a breath of fresh air to a graduating student. I honestly was dreading Admin. Law because of its less than shining reputation as an interesting class but I was suprised that it really is an interesting subject that I think is often lost in how it is taught. I think that professor Thomson is on the cutting edge of classroom teaching. His interactive tools, collaborative group projects and ue of wiki software for a collaborative class outline is awesome! I think that professors and students alike have alot to learn from people like Thomson. | The only real suggestion I have is to perhaps provide the "skeleton" format for the group outline. Meaning, pick the actual outline format for us and have us enter in the information based on that. THis is only because many of us are highly methodical when it comes to out outlining format and rely on a structure for it. |
| GOOD USE OF CLASS TIME, EXCELLENT POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS. DEFINITELY HELPED ME WITH UNDERSTANDING OF THE MATERIAL. WHAT WAS THE BEST FEATURE OF THE CLASS WAS THE POWERPOINT QUIZZES USING THE CLICKERS. IT HELPED PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW IN ADMIN LAW, AND IT HELPS THE PROFESSOR GET AN IDEA OF WHAT STUDENTS ARE ABSORBING. THE GROUP PROJECTS HELPED US ACTUALLY DO WORK ON OUR OWN TOO. IT IS NICE TO HAVE SOMETHING OTHER THAN A ONE-TIME EXAM COUNT FOR OUR GRADE IN THE COURSE. | TOO MUCH READING PER CLASS, IT WAS HARD TO KEEP UP. |
| I really enjoyed both participating in and learning about the group projects. I would absolutely keep that as part of your lesson plan. However, I can't help but think that, no matter how 'innovative' it might be, the communal outline is a mess. It is longer than any study guide I have seen, it is overly repetitive (as students never took the time to see if they were repeating things others had said), and boiled down to an explosion of copy/paste from students' unorganized notes in the last few days that editing was a possibility. It is so large that it is totally unaccessible for actual test-taking or even studying use. I will end up looking at some of the Rule-based outline, and mostly just using the 1page attack (though this is how I always take exams). I do not think this was a bad idea, but I think that our class was too large to try such an endeavor. This would be ideal for a class with less than 15 students, but with the class size that we had-- it just didn't [couldn't] work. Oh- and the clickers in class were a big hit. Kept me paying attention! | The textbook is great- the cases were all relevant and the APA was very handy to have within it. |