Teaching evaluations are demonstrably biased and have been proven to favor cisgender white male instructors over those who identify otherwise; a fact I express to my students before handing out evaluations. I ask them to keep that in mind as they evaluate me. Read more about student evaluations here

HISTORY 308: Introduction to Buddhism

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Spring, 2018

Student comments transcribed from their hand-written evaluations. All comments are recorded below with no omissions or alterations, save only minor changes to spelling where necessary:

What are your TA’s principal strengths?

Facilitating discussion and being aware of all differences within each person’s opinions and backgrounds
He is very knowledgeable about Buddhism and is able to convey the information in a way that makes sense and also connects us students to Buddhist ways of thinking
Knowledge of content, enthusiasm, ability to discuss
Enthusiasm and passion for the subject
Knowledge and insight about the topics we studied.
Re-explaining complex topics in a way that makes sense. Getting class participation.
Stimulating discussion.
Encourages deep thought and thinking differently than I normally would
He’s a great speaker, leader, facilitator, etc.
Extremely nice and helpful. Insightful and knowledgeable. Made class fun and interesting.
Really made the class. Half of this learning is talking and explaining your own thoughts, and Anthony facilitated excellent, open, and very knowledgeable discussion. Would take a course just by him if offered. 10/10
Great at provoking thought/discussion.
Anthony was one of the best TA’s I have ever had. He created thought-provoking and fun discussion sections that I was EXCITED to attend.
Very good at creating constructive discussion, high knowledge of the subject matter.
Anthony is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about the subject. He helps you understand what it’s like to look through the eye of a Buddhist.
Enthusiasm and expertise.
Anthony did a great job engaging the class in thoughtful discussion critically analyzing the material at hand.
Super funny and engaging [illegible]. Down to earth and good attitude. Tried to use common language and[illegible]. Sometimes we did fun little games.
Always energetic, makes complex topics relatable, brings a nice humor to class.
Energetic, humorous, encouraging.
This TA has excellent communication skill and made discussion both inclusive and organized. Also his overall knowledge on the topic was impressive.
Very passionate, knowledgeable, and considerate. I have had three history TA’s and he has been the best so far.
Facilitating discussion, friendly, honest, good knowledge of subject, humorous, passionate about subject.
Explained concepts that lecture couldn’t clarify. Made course content interesting and relatable.
Explaining complicated topics in a clear and concise manner. He related many concepts to ideas we already understood, and made everyone feel extremely comfortable participating.
He made discussion interesting and fun!
His is outstanding at asking very though provoking questions. It creates a very comfortable and fluid learning environment.
He is very inclusive and makes learning GENUINELY ENJOYABLE! It was the discussion I looked forward to the most. He always made us question and debate about the readings. Super great.
Very good at keeping us engaged while focusing on the material.
Anthony is very funny which helped engage the class.
He really knows how to communicate misunderstandings and correct them. Very passionate about what he is talking about and is evidently knowledgeable.
Entertaining students but still helping them understand the necessary content.
Funny/engaging. Able to connect with students, knowledgeable, explains concepts in a way we’ll understand.
Willingness to engage in thought provoking discussion. Management of class.
Class discussion, speaking, asking meaningful questions.
Communication, engagement.
Very easy to approach and discuss with in discussion.
Engaging the class.
He made discussion interesting and entertaining while still being knowledgeable.
Engaging students. Stimulating an open and judgement free environment, I always felt comfortable to talk.
His personality and ability to take super complex ideas and make them understandable.
His ability to explain concepts by trying it to real events.
Making concepts engaging and explaining incredibly well. Best TA I’ve ever had so far ever.
His ability to facilitate and open environment which encouraged us to participate more.
Hands-on activities during class were fun!
Makes you enjoy class. Actually a knowledgeable TA.
Good at asking questions to make students think about the material. Had some little activities that were fun (drawing and eating) and different to understand concepts.
Talking in a way we could actually understand. When asked a question, he opened it up to the class, not just answered it.
Very engaging. Remembered his student’s names. Really knew his information.
Anthony was a very engaging and energetic TA. He did very well at answering complex Buddhist questions and facilitating discussion.
Excellent TA—made discussion a comfortable and entertaining place.

What might your TA do to improve their teaching?

His time management could be improved. I felt like discussion commonly ran out of time
Review more for exams.
Summarize lectures as a refresher.
I think more activities within class.
Often more examples and real scenarios for/pertaining to the course material.
Nothing. This discussion was my favorite discussion of the year.
More structure in discussion.
Better time management.
Nothing. Anthony kills it!
Overall more willingness to connect with students.
Nothing.
More involved activities.
Perhaps more preparedness / formal structure.
More activities in class.
Pretty much nothing. No joke.
Nothing I can think of, overall he proved to be a very great TA.
I think more time should be spent discussing assignments and exam material.
Make dates / assignments / reviews more clear.
Nothing. Honestly. I could see him becoming the professor for this course!
Incorporate more activities instead of just discussion. The activities we did do were very helpful in learning course material.
I think he could work on building on students’ ideas especially if they didn’t fit the direction he wants you to go. He’s usually pretty good at this but sometimes he says an idea doesn’t work rather than asking for further explanation.
More term reviews before exams would have been helpful.
A bit more exam prep.
Get students to speak up more, otherwise fantastic TA.
Sometimes I came to discussion without doing all the readings and I think it would be useful if I felt a little more uncomfortable about that. It is a small thing though.
I feel as if my TA assumed I know some Buddhist knowledge prior and because of this I was lost in the course.
None!
Promote smaller group conversations and then bring everyone together to discuss (did this a couple of times but this could be more useful).
Sometimes questions too broad or difficult. Did not tie things back to lecture as much as he could have, or focus on midterm papers.
None. Anthony was a great TA and I hope he is able to succeed in the future world of academia.
Prepare section more for in-class exams.
Honestly, not much. I can say with certainty that this has been the most interesting and entertaining discussion I have had in three years.
Sometimes answers to questions brought up in discussion could be more direct and less vague.
To improve his teaching, Anthony could clarify what we will be tested on more since so much was discussion based.
More feedback for graded work.
Consider a rubric for feedback for writing assignments, especially midterm to help guide for final.
Nothing different.
I think he’s wonderful at this. No notes.
Sometimes material loses flow becomes too abstract.
No more crayon drawings, these classes are expensive.
More focused / [illegible] activities for each class.
Use more visual interpretations of concepts.