Comments at the end of Psy 208 -- a hybrid class:

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When I signed up for this class I thought that it would be really boring, you would lecture and we would regurgitate whatever you told us for the test. The first day of class surprised me. I was excited that we didn’t have to come to class on Thursdays, but nervous about communicating on the web. I have learned a lot about the web through your course and really enjoy my computer now. Thank you for that opportunity. ... I enjoyed the forums and I think that people are more honest because there is some anonymity and everyone is not staring at them. I participated more on line than I would or have in any other class, not just because of the assignments. The assignments made me more comfortable with the web and let me develop my skills and add some new ones. I really enjoy the web but often get frustrated and give up but I couldn’t do that with the assignments I had to keep trying. I really enjoyed your class and the freedom that went with it. Thank you for helping me and the rest of the class and for the exciting way it broke up the routine humdrum of school. Thank you again for the opportunity to participate in educating ourselves in a new and exciting way.

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Psychology 208 has been very interesting. I have never taken an Internet slash regular class. My instructor, Bill Struhar, has convinced me that having half and half class can broaden your learning. I would recommend an Internet class to my friends.
The good things about this were exploring the Internet, communicating with other classmates via e-mail, and having to sit in class once a week. Before the classes, I would check the discussion forums just to read and see what other classmates had to say. I can't lie, it was hard to get disciplined and stay focused. But I developed a schedule for myself.
I really don't have any suggestions about how to make the next class better.
This has been a learning experience. I would like to thank you for the wonderful experience. I have registered for Internet class in the Winter quarter.

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Psy208, The Developing Person Through The Life Span class has been a truly unique experience for me. I have found the class has provided immediate enrichment to my own personal life. I believe this class has offered an opportunity for people to share like experiences and yet, provided a forum where the participants where able to express themselves and debut topics openly and honestly. By providing a comfortable environment, people were able to open themselves to new thoughts and ideas they may not normally be confronted with in day to day life. For me, this meant being able to share with the group my life as a gay person. It was refreshing to know that both non-gay and gay people struggle with the same challenges of daily life, relationships and child rearing. I guess it all boils down- to-the fact that we are all just people.
Another aspect of the class I enjoyed was the on-line thread forum -- this format for education has provided me with the opportunity of attending a class virtually, which I have been hesitant in pursuing until now. I tend to be a disciplined person, but was unsure of how I would handle a virtual class over the Internet. To my surprise, I not only enjoyed reading (and reacting) to the threads but also was able to really think about what was being said before providing input. Again, the class and your teaching techniques have raised my confidence level to a point where I am considering taking an Internet class in the near future.

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This class was unlike any 1 have taken before. I will be enrolled at Sinclair for one year on January 4h and I have not taken a tremendous amount of classes, but enough to know why this one was so different. I am usually subjected to vast amounts of
information and expected to take notes and regurgitate it back to the instructor on a test. There is no synthesizing of information or opinion involved, just facts and sometimes statistics. I don't have to tell you that this is not a great way to remember information. You just spit it back out and then you forget it, because you have to make room in your brain for what is next. I have taken technical classes like chemistry and anatomy and survived, but somehow, you just don't remember that much about them. I also have taken communications and other psychology classes and they seem to be conducted the same way.
As we discussed in class, the liberal arts branch of education should be a type of outlet, which encourages out of the box thinking and open minds. I have found that in your class Bill, and that has been really refreshing. You have made yourself seem human and easy to relate to, while other instructors don't seem to care to share anything about themselves. ... This is college and we are all adults. Some instructors seem to think this is primary school and we are so inferior to them it is insulting as well as frustrating. I know instructors deserve respect; they are due it, but they could come off a little more real world.
This class has taught me a lot, I have enjoyed it. One of my favorite parts has been the on-line discussions, because I feel like everyone has opened up so much more than they would have if we had been sitting in class talking. This is what college is about. Interaction between students is vital to education because there are so many different opinions to listen to. This enriches the whole college experience.
I also like the fact that we chose to meet once a week. This freed up a lot of spare time to do other assignments and put forth more effort in the on-line discussions and assignments. It also allowed me explore the Internet more than I have in a long time.
I think the use of the Internet in education is a tool we should not ignore. I think it is a golden opportunity to interact with others that we couldn't do otherwise. ...
Thanks for your style!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The material was very interesting and you as a teacher
made it ever better. This was not like any other class
I have been in, just because I loved coming to class.
I learned a lot about lifespan and how people grow
and change. I liked how you did the class with half
lecture and half Internet. ... It made me want to do the assignment more
because I did not have to take the extra time to come
to campus and park and walk to class.

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I can be honest and say that being in your class has been a good experience for me. It has opened the door to a new opportunity to focus on the things that you didn't know to much about, instead of studying something that you already know. I have never been an outspoken person, so this class did give me a chance to express how I feel on different subjects. It also allowed me to see other people's views and their reasons for their views. Sometimes it made me question the way I look at things. It was good that we were able to use a variety of sources instead of just the text book. This gave me a chance really go in depth and get my questions answered, with a variety of opinions and facts. Overall, it has been a unique, unforgettable, informational, and fun class for me. I love how we did the discussion board.

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Wow, I could probably speak about my PSY 208 class for hours. I have already bragged to my family about how much I enjoyed being a part of this class. The switching of the class schedule from twice a week to just once a week with a Internet assignment, kind of messed up my class schedule for the Fall Quarter, but I must admit it was well worth it. And it wasn't nothing I couldn't work around to make work out. As I mentioned in class, this was the first time I had taken an Internet class and I was eager to find out how it my go. Well all went well and I am even thinking about taking Internet classes in the future for a couple of my classes. It was a new and great learning experience and it broadened my knowledge of how internet classes worked. At first I was hesitant about taking Internet classes because I was unsure of how serious I would take the class and how dedicated I would be to completing my work since I didn't have to see and instructor or attend a class to get assignments. But by this class being a half and half class it was a great beginning to open the door of Internet classes.
I must say though, one thing that I truly learned while in this class was how to surf the Internet Anyone can get on the Internet and go from website to website just checking out things. Especially with AOL ( the Internet service I have) because they are so user friendly. But it is a different thing when you have a deadline to meet and you are looking for something specific on an Internet that is as large as the human genome. Believe me you can get twisted around in circles if you don't know what you are doing. And that happened to me a lot when I first started this class. I would spend hours on end sitting at the computer trying to find something on a specific topic, getting frustrated and ready to just give up. But I didn't and I'm glad because now I have learned something new. I'm not saying I can find what I am looking for at the drop of a dime but I do at least find what I am looking for before I get frustrated. Plus I think with how much the world has become dependent on computers, it doesn't hurt to know something about them.
... I also especially liked being able to learn more about fellow classmates (in our discussion forum) that I otherwise would have never known had our class been a regular two day a week lecture course. I found some of my classmates to be very enlightening and a few of them to even share the same views and interest on subjects that I did. I honestly have to say that I would recommend any of my friends to take a Bill Struhar PSY class.

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I found that there were many benefits to this class. First, I found this class to be very enjoyable and informative. All of the subjects that were discussed, I found very interesting. I especially enjoyed young adulthood (probably because I am in that time frame).
I really liked the class set up. I found it helpful and creative having a lecture class on Tuesday and Internet sessions on Thursday. I think this was a nice change from every other class I have taken. It was helpful because it helped to expand my limited computer ability. I also appreciate the fact that we had a week to do the assignments.
I preferred the forum entries because I felt I was better able to express my thoughts more truthfully and openly. Because the topics were about stages of people, I was able to have a thought or opinion on every topic.
Finally, I found the teacher knowledgeable. It was clear that he understood what he was lecturing and that made it easier for me to understand. The fact that he was always prepared and able to expand on what the book offered made the lectures beneficial to me.
I would recommend this class to other students. I hope that future classes are as beneficial and enjoyable as this class was for me.

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In my opinion I think that this class was by far the best. I liked being able to come to class one day a week and then discussing the topics online. I enjoy it much more now because I have roadrunner and my connection is a whole lot faster. I enjoyed reading the links for the websites that you posted. They were all really interesting. The part I liked the best though was the Internet discussions. We had to do a little research and we were able to talk openly with out worrying what everyone else thought. We were open to our own opinions and we could see how everyone else really thinks. I think that it is interesting to see how people think and what kinds of ideas they share. It helps us engage on the experiences that we have, and it helps us learn from others experiences. I also liked the picture projects because it let us express ourselves creatively instead of just talking and writing all of the time.
I think that next quarter you should try relating what we are learning with the news and magazines. I think that it would be interesting to learn about how our topics relate to certain news stories or even magazine articles. I also think some of the assignments should be focused towards our creativity like the family assignment.
I think that you did a really great job in setting up this class. I also think that your online talents are great. I enjoyed it a lot and I will recommend your classes in the future.

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Even though it required serious computer learning on my part, this class was my favorite this quarter. When I first started this class, and learned about how much we had to use the computer, I was scared. But with the help of the staff in the computer lab, I was able to get through.
But I liked this class best because the work focused on ideas and concepts, not just facts. So many of my classes like Biology are mainly just memorization of names and numbers, this class taught by writing a paper on Piaget instead of memorizing his name, birthdate, and nationality once for a test, only to be forgotten later, I learned more about what he really meant. I also enjoyed the variety of work, from lecture to computer work, to essays, they really covered everything.