Semester 2 Chatter Thread (2007) (3 Viewers)

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Exactly. At least three USYD lecturers you rated at 8, 10 and 10 I completely couldn't stand and ended up refusing to go to their lectures, whereas with one of the ones you rated at 5 I have this semester and quite like.

Yeah, but your opinions are kinda wrong because I've observed that for two of the ones you're talking about (Juan and Semler I'm guessing), they both got either a standing ovation at their last lecture, or a massive fucking applause at the end of EVERY SINGLE ONE of their lectures.

So you're an outlier in terms of opinion, and as 'the other guy' would say, OUTLIERS DO NOT COUNT!

 

[stazi]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Yeah, but your opinions are kinda wrong because I've observed that for two of the ones you're talking about (Juan and Semler I'm guessing), they both got either a standing ovation at their last lecture, or a massive fucking applause at the end of EVERY SINGLE ONE of their lectures.

So you're an outlier in terms of opinion, and as 'the other guy' would say, OUTLIERS DO NOT COUNT!

Gil Merom, probably one of the worst lecturers you'll ever have, got 'massive fucking applause' at the end of every lecture. He got this applause because of a few outliers who loved him. They started clapping, and of course, everyone else followed in their applause.

Whereas lecturers like Guiseppe Carabetta who got the award for best lecturer at our uni last year never got applause, apart from at the very last lecture.

Furthermore, how do you discriminate between a 9 and a 10. A 3 and a 4, etc. It would have been better to use a smaller scale. Perhaps using a 3-point 'Dislike/Average/Like' scale would have yielded a more accurate reflection of your perceptions.

Furthermore, why are you PMSing?

 

[bazookajoe]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Method: Nebuchanezzar is one of the BOS'ers who has attended both universities for a roughly equal amount of time, in an identical degree. He is therefore the best person to determine which is better. Also, he is awesome.

Is your source on this reliable?

 

[stazi]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

he has ginger-pubes. of course it's not reliable

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Oh my no.

Gil Merom, probably one of the worst lecturers you'll ever have, got 'massive fucking applause' at the end of every lecture. He got this applause because of a few outliers who loved him. They started clapping, and of course, everyone else followed in their applause.

Yeah well, maybe I ought to call in a second opinion here? scarybunny and cosmic doris do education, so you can ask them about Dr. Juan. cosmic doris, neafoo and I believe bazaookajoe all do engl1002, so you can ask them about Dr. Semler. Tenille and libbster both do chemistry and have had dr. rutledge, so you can ask them about that hero. And go and ask Jemsta about Mike Archer. They mighn't like the lecturers themselves, but I'm sure you could ask about general responses of the audience to these guys...

Furthermore, how do you discriminate between a 9 and a 10. A 3 and a 4, etc. It would have been better to use a smaller scale. Perhaps using a 3-point 'Dislike/Average/Like' scale would have yielded a more accurate reflection of your perceptions.

You'll notice that I banded most scores together so that there was more or less a good, mediocre and poor rating, in addition to a 0/10 and a 10/10. I therefore discriminate between them by asking which band they fit into, and then comparing them to one another and assigning them a score. Regardless of these individual scores, I think it's pretty obvious that the overall order and scores would have remained fairly similar to what they are at currently.

I only went to three of Semler's lectures and two of Juan's, so I don't know about the standing ovation. What I do know about Juan in particular is that opinion is really divided - a lot of people loved him but equally a lot of people I spoke to thought he rambled, went off-topic, interjected his political opinions, etc. Pretty much if you asked people to rate him they'll either be like you and love him or be like me and give up on lectures.

I think he rambled on a bit, but it's half the reason why I loved him. And yeah, he interjected political beliefs, but they mostly revolved around things that are totally agreeable like "everyone should have the chance to get a great education", which I imagine is the goal of anyone who has a conscience, regardless of their political motivations.

As for Rogerson, I base it off three lectures she gave us. I should probably take her score down a bit since I loathed her stuff on Morte D'Arthur, but the introduction to medieval romance lecture she gave was outstanding. Unfortunately, this was originally meant to be given by Lawrence Warner, so maybe it was his material? It's an iffy scenario...

Anelzark was hella boring for The Lay of Volund. I liked the text, but his delivery was montonous, drab and unexciting. Also, his attempts at humour sadly failed. Perhaps he wasn't into the material, and he gets a lot better when he's into it? I don't know.

 

[bazookajoe]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Nah I changed to 1007

 

[stazi]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Oh my no.



Yeah well, maybe I ought to call in a second opinion here? scarybunny and cosmic doris do education, so you can ask them about Dr. Juan. cosmic doris, neafoo and I believe bazaookajoe all do engl1002, so you can ask them about Dr. Semler. Tenille and libbster both do chemistry and have had dr. rutledge, so you can ask them about that hero. And go and ask Jemsta about Mike Archer.

yes, quite possible, but assuming that your own opinion is the most objective that a personal opinion can be, is wrong.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

That didn't make any sense.

 

[stazi]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

ok. by producing your report, you are pretending that your opinions are objective. however, they are entirely subjective and are reflection of your own opinions.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

well duh, but we've already established that I'm awesome, and therefore all of these worries aren't important.

 

[jb_nc]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

I hadn't heard that one yet, but that would kinda make sense I guess. All I knew was that there's some retail going in there, and they're moving all (or most) of the science libraries into that building, which will either be totally awesomtastic or a total bumout. I like Fisher, and if all the science ones are combined then I'll have little reason to go there!

Now, in order to facilitate further procrastination, I offer the following for anyone who is interested (which will be no-one but myself).

---

USyd>UNSW? A comparison of lecturers.
Nebuchanezzar B.Sc B.Ed (USyd)
Faculty of Education & Social Work, The University of Sydney​

Introduction: USyd students are meant to be snobby jerkoffs who believe their educational institution is better than that collection of brutalist architecture over the other side of the Eastern Distributor. This study intends to determine which of the two universities has better educators, measured quantatatively.

Method: Nebuchanezzar is one of the BOS'ers who has attended both universities for a roughly equal amount of time, in an identical degree. He is therefore the best person to determine which is better. Also, he is awesome.

To facilitate ease of computation, lecturers were first listed according to discipline (chemistry, education etc...) and then ranked and assigned a score relative to both other lecturers and the criteria set below. Lecturers from USyd and UNSW are noted as being so. These lecturers were then tabulated next to lecturers from other disciplines, and scores adjusted accordingly.

Lecturers who haven't finished taking their part of the course yet weren't included, nor were lecturers who took like...one lecture, nor were lecturers who I can't remember from UNSW (although I looked most of them up).

Table 1.1: Criteria

10/10: Clear and unabated enthusiasm for subject and charisma. Organises spectacular lectures that are highly relevant and also exciting. Makes use of all materials to enable maximum learning. Is likable and highly competent in subject.
7-8-9/10: Competent enthusiasm for subject and charismatic. Organises good lectures that are relevant and exciting. Makes adequate use of learning materials. Is likable and highly competent in subject.
4-5-6/10: Average to little enthusiasm for subject and little charisma. Average levels of charisma. Organises mediocre lectures that are relevant. Makes adequate use of learning materials. Is competent at subject.
2-3/10: Little to no enthusiasm or charisma. Lecture organisation may be haphazard with little use of all possible learning materials. May not be competent at subject
0-1/10: Abysmal style and competency in all regards. Should be fired post-haste and thrown into a garbage incinerator.

Once again, the criteria AND the relative competencies of lecturers determine rank.

Results (/10):

Chemistry-
Nick Roberts (UNSW): 8
Roger Bishop (UNSW): 4
Graham Ball (UNSW): 3
Peter Rutledge (USyd): 10
Lou Rendina (USyd): 8
James Beattie (USyd): 1
Adam Bridgeman (USyd): 9
Peter Harrowell (USyd): 2

Biological Sciences-
Margaret Cooley (UNSW): 6
Mike Edwards (UNSW): 1
Louise Lutze-Mann (UNSW): 9
Peter Little (UNSW): 9
Mike Archer (UNSW): 10
Paul Adam (UNSW): 1
Mike Beal (UNSW): 0
Adele Pile (USyd): 7
Liz May (USyd): 8
Mike Thompson (USyd): 8
Mike Letnic (USyd): 0

Education-
Sharon Tindall-Ford (UNSW): 8
Paul Chandler (UNSW): 9
Jose Hanham (UNSW): 5
Renee Boon Hong Low (UNSW): 0
Lesley Scanlon (USyd): 7
Robyn Ewing (USyd): 7
Stephen Juan (USyd): 10

Geosciences-
Paul Lennox (UNSW): 7
Colin Ward (UNSW): 0
David Cohen (UNSW): 9
David Edwards (UNSW): 9
John Triantafillis (UNSW): 9
Scott Mooney (UNSW): 7

Mathematics & Statistics-
Diana Combe (UNSW): 4
The other guy (UNSW): 4
William Palmer (USyd): 1
King Fai Lai (USyd): 4
Rubin Zhang (USyd): 0

English & Government-
Shelley Savage (USyd): 9
Liam Semler (USyd): 10
Daniel Anlezark (USyd): 5
Lawrence Warner (USyd): 10
Margaret Rogerson (USyd): 8
Huw Griffiths (USyd): 6

===

ALL:
Mike Archer (UNSW): 10
Peter Rutledge (USyd): 10
Stephen Juan (USyd): 10
Lawrence Warner (USyd): 10
Liam Semler (USyd): 10
Louise Lutze-Mann (UNSW): 9
Paul Chandler (UNSW): 9
Adam Bridgeman (USyd): 9
David Cohen (UNSW): 9
John Triantafillis (UNSW): 9
David Edwards (UNSW): 9
Peter Little (UNSW): 9
Shelley Savage (USyd): 9
Margaret Rogerson (USyd): 8
Nick Roberts (UNSW): 8
Lou Rendina (USyd): 8
Sharon Tindall-Ford (UNSW): 8
Liz May (USyd): 8
Mike Thompson (USyd): 8
Lesley Scanlon (USyd): 7
Robyn Ewing (USyd): 7
Scott Mooney (UNSW): 7
Paul Lennox (UNSW): 7
Adele Pile (USyd): 7
Margaret Cooley (UNSW): 6
Huw Griffiths (USyd): 6
Jose Hanham (UNSW): 5
Daniel Anlezark (USyd): 5
Roger Bishop (UNSW): 4
King Fai Lai (USyd): 4
Diana Combe (UNSW): 4
The other guy (UNSW): 4
Graham Ball (UNSW): 3
Peter Harrowell (USyd): 2
James Beattie (USyd): 1
William Palmer (USyd): 1
Mike Edwards (UNSW): 1
Paul Adam (UNSW): 1
Colin Ward (UNSW): 0
Mike Beal (UNSW): 0
Mike Letnic (USyd): 0
Rubin Zhang (USyd): 0
Renee Boon Hong Low (UNSW): 0

===

Discussion:

Results were tabulated and the following scores were obtained,
UNSW TOTAL LECTURERS/SCORE/AVERAGE:22/122/5.54
USYD TOTAL LECTURERS/SCORE/AVERAGE: 21/130/6.19
Evidently USyd has slightly better teaching quality if we are to measure it quantitatively.

EDIT: Awardz...

Lecturer with the most smartz: Peter Rutledge
Lecturer with the most lulz: Liam Semler
Lecturer with the most funz: Stephen Juan
Lecturer who is most like me: Lawrence Warner

lol

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Well, you have to understand that a rambly lecture style isn't for everyone. You may like it but I found it irrelevant and hard to follow.

Heh. My point, poorly expressed as it was, was that a lot of people who thought he rambled loved him anyway. Perhaps the people you asked felt the same way?

Also, on Dr Juan, you may say "Everyone with a conscience" supports his statements but that's a pretty loaded thing to say. He said in our very first lecture that "the will of the collective is more important than the freedom of the individual" - not everyone will support that and nor should they. I could not name a single person in my circle of friends who supports that statement. Constant harping on about his very, very left-wing political beliefs alienates part of your audience. Plus, we pay for university to learn course material, not the lecturer's political beliefs. (And to be equally fair, I'd hate any lecturer who harped about why abortion is evil, creationism is true and why Hillsong is the only true church.)

Well I can't remember him saying anything like that this year, but I think that in terms of education it's kinda true...anyway, that's a story for another time. The majority of his political views incorparated into the course I did seemed to revolve around the prime directive, and the idea that everyone deserves an equal education. It's pretty easy to allegorise that into a left wing message, yeah, but if you don't then it remains just as true. I guess what I'm trying to say is that what he says can be thought of as being left wing, but if you don't think of his messages that way then they seem kinda true?

It's pretty damn absurd for you to give Juan a zero though. The man was extremely enjoyable, and hyperbole helps no-one.

lol

This man gets it maaaannn.

 

[Nebuchanezzar]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

You went to a total of two lectures by Dr. Stephie. I think it's safe to say that you're in no position to pass judgement on the man, in the same way I didn't pass judgement on the lecturers who haven't completed their series with me...except Semler I guess, but he takes two seperate series, so it's ok.

 

[bazookajoe]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

DBM deserves 11 imo

 

[veridis]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

veridis did Middle Ages (1025) with me, I don't think he liked Lyn Olson as much as I did, it depends on what works for you.


History
Lyn Olson 5
Clare Corbould 4
Julie Ann Smith 3
John Pryor* (Medieval Studies) 2

i didn't like Lyn first week but she grew on me pretty quickly and i'd probably give her a 4/5 now. Julie Ann Smith i absolutely hated, a 1 only because I didn't mind just reading her stuff and ignoring what she said. luckily i loved the topic or i would have fallen asleep to her(as scarybunny did). i also disagree about Clare Corbould, while she was organised she didn't go into much depth and her choice of topics to cover was random as, i think i remember her worse than she was for her treatment of the vietnam war, "the war went back and forth a bit, moving on...". she's probably a 3 for style 2 for content choice.
i have no idea how you can't love john. he was deadset the best lecturer i have had. knew all his shit inside out, explained everything and went further whenever someone needed clarificatoin, notes had reference to absolutely anything you could need, and his assessment schedule was flexible enough for you to avoid the things you didn't like/understand. so glad i got to do his courses before he retired. on top of all that he was a really nice, approachable guy. would always help with finding directions for essays, would come for coffee regularly and even rocked up to our post exam drinks for a bit. he has about 15 years on the next youngest person i have seen at manning.

 

[^CoSMic DoRiS^^]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Oh my no.



Yeah well, maybe I ought to call in a second opinion here? scarybunny and cosmic doris do education, so you can ask them about Dr. Juan. cosmic doris, neafoo and I believe bazaookajoe all do engl1002, so you can ask them about Dr. Semler. Tenille and libbster both do chemistry and have had dr. rutledge, so you can ask them about that hero. And go and ask Jemsta about Mike Archer. They mighn't like the lecturers themselves, but I'm sure you could ask about general responses of the audience to these guys...

i didn't like Dr. Juan at first but i'll admit he grew on me. if you asked me at the start of semester i would have given him a 3, but i think he's just someone who's style takes some getting used to. i'd give him about an 8 now.

Dr. Semler is awesome. reminds me of a family friend. very approachable, not particularly boring, and is funny in that quirky awkward way. 8/10 also.

 

[Iheartpaulfrank]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

DBM deserves 11 imo

He is objectively awesome.

 

[Iheartpaulfrank]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Doesn't say much about me either. I was matched up to him ffs!

 

[scarybunny]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Dr Stevie's lectures were always interesting. Yeah he rambled but I much prefer that to a lecturer who just reads off the notes all the time. I never fell asleep in his lectures, which is really saying something given both Lyn and Julie of the history dept literally made me snore. He always assumed that he would never get through the whole content in the time he had, so he generally gave lectures on a small part of a topic while telling somewhat related anecdotes. It was a personal approach, you can tell he's really passionate about what he does. He never just went through the motions, he always asked the audience questions and tried to get us to interact with him.

His political views are those to be expected of a university educator. As adults I'd hope that uni students didn't just adopt the views of lecturers and tutors, and since it was pretty clear that he was talking about his own views (as opposed to what is right), I was OK with it. Plus his views weren't particularly radical (developing everyone to their full potential? Madness!).

I went to every single lecture, bar one where I was too sick to come to uni. As long as you don't expect a full-on information lecture, he was great. He gave us all the information we needed in the notes anyway. He made the subject more interesting, for sure. ONE THING, though. He needs to learn some Lesley Scanlon-style lecture asskicking. I love it when she tells people to shut up. Nice, quiet lectures.

 

[withoutaface]

Re: Semester II Chatter Thread!

Mathematics & Statistics-
Diana Combe (UNSW): 4
The other guy (UNSW): 4
William Palmer (USyd): 1
King Fai Lai (USyd): 4
Rubin Zhang (USyd): 0

Bill Palmer is honestly one of the best maths lecturers I've had, after Easdown. You're shit