Note on Feedback

This is an important general note about feedback; specifically, feedback from you to me, for any of the courses that I teach. Rather than wait until the official course evaluations at the end of the term, by which point it's too late to make a difference, please feel completely free to get in touch with me with any suggestions or complaints that you have about any aspect of the course (conduct of lectures and tutorials, content and/or marking of assignments and tests, constructive criticism of individual instructors or TAs, etc.). In particular, don't hesitate to let me know if there are aspects of the course that you particularly like, so that I can keep them that way, or if there are specific aspects that you dislike, so that I can make changes (or discuss with you my reasons for doing things that way).

I realize that it can be difficult sometimes to talk to someone directly about criticisms you have for that person, which is why I propose the following mechanism: if you have suggestions or complaints about your TA, please get in touch with me, the instructor, to discuss it. I can then pass on your message to the TA in a completely anonymous fashion (and your TA will probably take it better coming from me). Similarly, if you have a specific suggestion or complaint about me and you are uncomfortable talking to me directly, you might consider mentioning it to your TA so that they can pass it on to me. Failing that, feel free to use any means that make you more comfortable to give me feedback: writing a letter and slipping it under my door, sending anonymous e-mail, etc. (But don't abuse that: it's hard to get a discussion started when you cannot reply to the other person! And some of those issues undoubtedly require discussion, so don't be too shy.)

Note that this does not mean that I will accept unfounded complaints! If you have complaints or criticism that you are ready to discuss in a reasonable manner, that's great. If you are merely unhappy about your marks (or for whatever other reason) and you have nothing constructive to say (e.g., "this course is terrible", with no thought about why or how it is terrible), then you should wait and think it over until you come up with something more concrete that we can work with. Remember that the goal is to help improve the course — not just to vent.

But please do think about it and let me know — the only way that I can address your concerns is if I am aware of them!

(Before getting in touch with me electronically, make sure that you read my policy on electronic correspondence.)