Course Evaluation Results » Spring 2008 » Thomson

Thomson - 4386 - Lawyering Process II - Spring 2008

18 students submitted evaluations for this course.
75% of the students enrolled in this course submitted evaluations.

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	Zero	One	Two	Four	Four +
1. Approximately how many times were you absent from this class since the beginning of the quarter?	11	5	1	1	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	2	1	0	4
	Never	Rarely	Usually	Always	Other
3. Indicate how often, on the average, you read the assigned materials prior to classes.	0	5	8	4	0
	Strongly Agree	Agree	Neutral	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
4. This professor stimulated my interest in the subject matter of this course.	12	5	1	0	0
5. The assigned readings were valuable to my understanding of this course.	4	7	6	1	0
6. The professor covered the course material in depth.	14	3	1	0	0
7. I found this course to be well organized.	16	2	0	0	0
8. The professor held my attention in class.	11	6	1	0	0
9. This professor is always prepared prior to class.	18	0	0	0	0
10. This professor was willing to assist me outside of class.	16	2	0	0	0
11. This professor was responsive to my questions.	15	2	0	0	0
12. This professor makes good use of class time.	16	0	1	1	0
13. This professor taught the class at a level that challenged me.	15	3	0	0	0
14. This professor effectively communicated the content of the course to me.	15	3	0	0	0
15. I would recommend to others that they take this course.	16	0	1	0	0
16. This professor motivated me to do my best work.	17	0	1	0	0
17. I was able to keep up with the work load for this course.	7	10	0	1	0
18. I would enjoy taking another course from this professor.	15	2	1	0	0

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Positive and Negative comments about the professor:	Positive and negative comments about the course materials:
Professor Thomson is an amazing teacher and mentor. I feel lucky to have him as my professor. He invested a lot time and energy into us and our work by challenging us and opening his door to all students. He is very deliberate about everything he says and teaches in his classroom. He is also happy to meet with students outside of class to discuss writing, other courses, law school and life in general. I absolutely recommend Professor Thomson.
Professor Thompson takes teaching seriously and actually cares about his students. He is a good mentor and a good teacher.	The required book is indeed very helpful when needed, but the required weekly readings I found to be unnecessary. There were many assignments this semester and it was difficult for me to have everything in on time, which is usually never a problem for me.
I would recommend Professor Thomson to any other student and will be eagerly looking for opportunities to take another class from him. My main point of feedback may also apply to course materials, so I will also include it below. One of the best writing courses I had involved lots of short, in-class writing exercises to illustrate whatever point we were trying to learn. They were set up such that we could give each other feedback instantaneously. This gave us an instant check on how well we were understanding the concepts that were explained to us. The bottom line is that there is only so much you can learn about writing by talking about, reading about, and looking at power points about writing. The best way to learn writing is by practicing writing.	As I mentioned, here is the same feedback as above as it also regards course materials: One of the best writing courses I had involved lots of short, in-class writing exercises to illustrate whatever point we were trying to learn. They were set up such that we could give each other feedback instantaneously. This gave us an instant check on how well we were understanding the concepts that were explained to us. The bottom line is that there is only so much you can learn about writing by talking about, reading about, and looking at power points about writing. The best way to learn writing is by practicing writing. Regarding citations, I find the ICW exercises no more helpful than I would a handout with the same problems to answer. The "explanations" do little to teach one how to understand the application of varying citation rules in different circumstances.
Prof. Thomson is one of the most qualified and professional teachers in this institution. He has a passion for what he does and all students who have him benifit from that. I would strongly recommend that every student try to take at least one course from him. What you gain in his courses is unparalleled.	The course was extremely well organized for its purpose.
Professor Thomson is one of the most dedicated Professors here at DU. He really cares that students learn the material, (how to write well) and he is always willing to help students outside of class. Best LP prof. by far from what I have heard!
Professor Thomson is simply amazing. He is a gifted professor and an incredibly caring individual! I found him to be accessible and willing to help his students at whatever the cost to his free time. I would absolutely recommend Prof. Thomson to other students! :)
Prof. Thomson is an inspiration to his students and a shining example of the faculty at DU. Although lawyering process is a difficult course that challenges students to think and write in a whole new way, Prof. Thomson made the course interesting and approachable. His engaging style and counselor-like wisdom were a source of strength throughout the entire school year for our class and me personally. In 19 years of school (including graduate school), I have never enjoyed or looked up to a Professor more than Prof. Thomson. He is the best teacher I have ever had, and I hope he has a long and distinguished career at DU.	Prof. Thomson's powerpoint presentations and assignments were very helpful. The course was extremely well organized and enabled students to achieve their potential. Also Prof. Thomson uses technology quite well to augment the course.
Professor Thomson is an exceptional asset to DU. The time, effort, and genuine care that he put into this class motivated us to do our best work, not just to meet our own goals, but because we in turn felt that we owed him our very best. I don't know that I've ever come across a professor who displays so much interest in assuring that his students are able to effectively learn and in his students' overall well-being. He was very effective in teaching because his classes were well thought out and he was always willing and able to answer our questions during or outside of class. The fact that he read our suggestions from last semester, and implemented some of them this semester, showed us that he listened and cared about making adaptations to improve the class. Professor Thomson was always professional, fair, and genuine. He will likely be a mentor for many of us, I am very grateful for having been able to take his class both semsters. My classmates and I have been very fortunate.	The Just Briefs book this semester was moderately helpful compared to the books we had last semester. The Just Writing book continued to be a useful resource this semester. I think the handouts we got in class were always helpful. We all appreciated having the ICW exercises spread out this time around; I believe that having them gradually assigned enabled us to take more time in working through them and to gain greater familiarity with the respective areas of the Bluebook.
Professor Thomson is a fantiastic educator. He demands hard work and a high quality product, but he is very instructive and very supportive in helping students throughout thier first year. Additionally, Professor Thomson brings a wealth of practical knowledge to the classroom as a result of years of practicing law. I will undoubtedly try to take another course from him.	Hope you like handouts! Professor Thomson suppliments the reading with various handouts throughout the semester. Although only a few of them are techniqly "required," all of them are handpicked to provide the students with additional prespectives to the assigned materials. Just Briefs is about as exciting as it sounds, but is an informative and valuable text.
Professor Thomson is, simply, one of the best professors I have ever had. He is an inspiration to his students and is always trying to improve. That inspires his students to do their best, as well. He sincerely cares about his students and it shows. Well done, Professor Thomson. I was proud to have you as a professor.
Professor Thomson is an outstanding mentor, in and out of the classroom. He is dedicated to getting first year students started on the right foot and pointed in the right direction, for their lives and careers. I would take any and every class I could from him and have a tremendous amount of respect for the man.
Professor Thomson was very helpful and insightful teacher. He always made time to help students outside of the class. I felt like I could speak to Professor Thomson about any difficulties that I encountered, not just class related issues.
By far the best professor I have had at DU. He is the only reason I have enjoyed my first year of law school and am staying at DU instead of transferring. He is a wonderful teacher and a wonderful person who is more than willing to help students with anything they need outside of class.	The books were ok, but talking to professor Thomson directly was more beneficial.