Philosophy Mid-Term Course Evaluation
What was the best part of this class and why?
all of us are looking for the answers to the questions we have strugled with throught our lifes. we are all in the same boat so we have some sort of connection in that respect, this is why we are motavated to take this class. i believe the best thing about this class is the people and the welth of knowledge gained from others.
I liked improving my knowledge of established philosohpic thoughts and concepts throughout history. I also think that hearing my peer's views on life questions is an invaluable learning experience.
I really believe that the best part was the class discussion, when everyone was putting in their input. When just a couple people are always talking it gets boring.
I really liked the fact that this class brought so many different types of people together. The really athletic people, the by-the-book people, the laid back people, and everyone in between have been involved in this class.
i think the best part of the class was when we wrote and shared our allegories. we got to learn much more about ourselves and about everyone else in the class. it was a very good experience.
I thought that the allegories were the best part of the class because I really got to know my classmates. Just hearing one thing that someone believes in strongly can tell you a lot about the person. I also liked this activity because a lot of people's papers gave me different ways of looking at things.
My favorite aspect of the course is the opportunity to discuss something deeper than television and music with my peers. It's interesting to see everyone's opinions on things we don't usually take the time to discuss.
my favorite part of the class is hearing different ideas about things. i love hearing new points of view because it helps me to improve my own. I also like that mr O made changes to the homework assignments so that we can make visual representations aswell as writings. i think its awsome that a teacher lets students explain them selves in alternative ways knowing that it is making them think just as much as writting a paper.
One of the first things Mr. O'Leary said about this class was that it may as well be called 'Life 101'. Philosophy has proven to be just that as we talk every day about human nature and how we are affected by it. I love reading about the different philosophies each philosopher has avery night and then being able to come into class and share my opinions on the readings with my classmates. It helps a lot that we have a very intellectual, understanding class because I feel comfortable sharing my ideas and listening to the responses people have for me. I have enjoyed the specific discussions i have had in my small groups the most because everyone has a chance to be involved in the topic, whether it be about death or fate, and it tends to get very personal.
The best part of the class has been being exposed the variety of perspectives and opinions of my classmates. It has been really interesting listening to what they have to say, and I'm looking forward to their future comments.
The best part of this class is that I am exploring philosophy, interpreting everything, and understanding the ideas myself. It also is awesome that we all can talk and discuss our ideas about the readings. I think it helps that everyone in our class is excited about learning philosophy, and many are very verbal about their own philosophies.
The best part of this class so far was writing our belief papers. The writing of those papers was very challenging, and very rewarding. The assingment forced me to look deep within myself and find my own belief, test that belief with logic, and then articulate that belief in an understandable manner. The reward for doing this was being able to say, at the end of the day, 'I believe this', and knowing from the bottom of your very being that it was true. One of my biggest problems with school throughout my education has been that school too often just feeds you things, it rarely makes you take what you have consumed and make something out of it. The belief paper assingment was one of those rare times where creation was forced upon the student, and for that it was a very valuable expierence.
The best part of this class, is also the hardest for me. I loved doing the beleaf papers, because it made me think about what i truly beleave. I have never done anything like this before, and although it was very challenging for me, i truly enjoyed it.
The small group and large group discussions that we participate in everyday have been invaluable for my learning. Every day I look forward immensely to these enlightening events. I feel extremely lucky to be a part of this class and be exposed to my classmates' ideas because they are all inspiring and intuitive people. Perhaps the best part of the class is the people in the class, for without the compatibility that our class has, surely our discussions would not be as successful and open.
What part of this class would you improve and how?
I realize that white male writers comprise the majority of classic philosophical work, but I would like to read some more female authors. Also, I'm aware this is a discussion based class, but it would be neat to do some different things like the jigsaw activity to help keep things new.
I don't think theres too much room for improvement here, but I still feel that within the past couple weeks, the level of respect in the class has dropped a bit. It's nothing major, but there are some people who just think that what they have to say is so much more important than everyone elses, and it's just not cool.
i think that some of the students in the class overide or talk more then some of the other students. i think that some people have a harder time articulating what they have to say and so they dont speak up as much.
i think that this class just needs to be reminded occasionally about respecting each other and about listening to everyones ideas.
i think that we should switch it up a little bit, and maybe not disscus every homework, but instead do different things with it. I also feel that we should watch more movies. i always enjoy learning from movies and we havn't watched any yet.
I would like to see some more, if you can believe it, papers. I like the independence they provide and they also give suitable room to wander.
insted of talking about what we liked in the readings we should be talking about how this will better ourselvs or where do we go with this information?
It's not something I can improve, but it's something I want to see happen. I want to have EVERYONE participate in the discussions.
The biggest thing I would change in this class would be the inclusion of jigsaws into the curriculum. While I realize that they are a reasnoble way of dealing with the philosophical ideas that we have been reading about, I just don't like them. I think the inclusion of the objective to pair down the list really hurts the exercise, because suddenly the discussion about the ideas becomes secondary. I think that discussion should be the primary goal of everything we do in this class, not the creation of some list.
The one part of this class i would try to improve is limiting the large group discussions from being dominated by the same people every day. This would prove to be very hard, however, and I dont think I can come up with a sufficiant enough answer on how we could make that work. I think part of the problem is that those people who dont speak up too often in class is because they are intimidated by those that speak up all the time. I guess it is just a matter of working up the courage to get over being so intimidated by those certain people.
The only thing that I can think to improve would be the time limits. If this was changed though, I think we would receive complaints from other classes about the extended fourth block. Our discussions always go to the bell, and could probably go on for hours.
The only thing that makes our class discussions complictated is our sheer size. With a group our size it's amazing we get anything done at all, but I think if we had more time we might be able to accomplish even more than we already are. The only aspects of the class that I would like to change are, of course, impossible to change. I'd like it to last longer, and be smaller.
To further improve this class, I think we should act out somthing. Maybe somthing like a debate, which would allow us to defend our view. Maybe, we could form our own governmet and laws, that would reflect what we beleave.
What has been the most important thing you have learned about philosophy and why?
For myself, the most valuable skill i am learning, is how to defend, and depict what I think and beleave. I have never been good at saying what I want, and this class is helping me to improve in this area.
i have learned that it is important to keep your mind stimulated all the time. when i have philosophy my mind is working much more to think about the things around me. I think that it is important to me to be able to look more at the things around me and philosophy has helped me realize that.
I have learned that philosophy is not merely something to be studied; rather it is something to be lived. It is an essential force in life because philosophy is thought, and thought is the very essence of reality. It is necessary to understand philosophy in order to understand how to live. I have learned this from this class and it is priceless knowledge. I am able to think about things more clearly than ever before, and I feel I have been granted a great amount of knowledge.
I learned that my own philosophy is always changing on me. Whenever I think I have it all hammered down then something comes up that changes it all around. I've been trying to establish some basic fundamentals to build everything else off of.
i learned that studying philosophy is more of a life committment. not all schools of philosophy agree with one another, but the basics are the same, that you should try to have a good life.
it's all importent. i hopnestly wouldent be able to single out anything. perhaps 'mastering yourself' because it seems to be the unavursal answere to moast philosophical questions.
Philosophy brings up many points that you have thought about but never really said. It also gets you to share your thoughts and hear other people's opinions about everything.
philosophy is meet for individuals. it's not about that other people think or feel, but about strickly you.
Stoicism because I believe in it strongly enough after studying it to actually apply it to my daily life. Emotion will never rule my actions.
The most important thing I have learned about philosophy is that it is part of my life, and that I actually have some solid beliefs of my own. Learning about philosophy makes you realize your own, which in turn helps you think about your life and future, and where you are going to go from here. That is what I have realized anyway.
The most important thing I have learned about philosophy thus far is that everyone has their own different opinion about certain topics and it is up to the audience to accept that everyone is different in thought. In accepting the diversity of opinions in this class by being willing to listen and respond to people, everyone will open up to eachother and that is when you get to know a person's true philopshy. That is what enriches the class and I will keep that in mind in every discussion I have with people that are very different from me.
The most important thing I've learned is probably that studying philosophy is not going to give me the answers, rather it may even raise more questions. However, it will provide me with the tools to examine my beliefs and where they come from, and thus give me a greater ability to think things through and make my actions be the products of my beliefs.
The most important thing that I have learned about philosophy is that it is not at all as abstract as many people claim it is. Whenever philosophy as a subject pops up in a regular conversation, many people just laugh it off as useless, too abstract, or something of the sort. After taking just half of this class, however, I have come to the conclusion that philosophy is the first or second most important subject that I have been taught. Science as a whole would be the other top subject in my view, because science teaches you how the physical world works, and who would deny that that isn't of great importance? Philosophy teaches you how the world of logic, reasoning, and ethics works. The way I view things, logic, reasoning and ethics are the foundation for every action that a wise person takes, and so how in the world could it be said that learning how those three things work is unimportant?
What has been the most important thing you have learned about the process of learning in this class and why?
As before, learning how to portray my views, has been the hardest for me. Also, learning how to pick out ptihy quotes, has helped me to narrow in on what the aruthors are trying to say.
i have learned in this class that the process of learning is better left to the whole, and not limited to individuals. if everyone has to work to learn something, then the eventual result is better.
I have learned that i really need to take the time to read over things or keep working on then until i really understand it. when i read something quickly and only graze over it i come into class the next day and cannot participate as much so i've learned that i really need to set aside timeto really understand homework.
I learned that it's important to set aside plenty of time to really pay attention to my homework. It's the only way to really gain knowledge from it.
I really enjoy the class environment we have. I have learned that it is important to investigate the object of our learning without too much involvement from a teacher. It is great when you make connections that we would not have seen, by I appreciate that you do not attempt to tell us what we should think or interpret from an essay, or give us lectures often. We can learn quite a lot from our peers alone.
I think I adressed that issue to some extent in the above question. The fact that I never really don't know what I think is something that intrigues me.
Just make sure you read the whole reading, so you really understand what the writter is talking about.
Mr. O'leary puts a lot of the responsibility in our own hands. We have erached the level where he feels like he doesn't need to check the homework because we are responsible young adults. Technically, that means we don't really need to do the homework because it may not be checked the next day. First of all, I would not be able to do that because I think that is immoral to abuse the privilege of being treated as adults. After all, students have no right to complain that we are treated like kids if we don't hold up pur end of the bargain. The second problem with that philosophy is that we wouldn't be able to participate in the group and class discussions, which is the most important aspect of the learning in this class; without being able to discuss, we lack that much more knowledge and understanding of the material which is being presented to us.
Strange as it may sound, I learned that there is a lot of different ways to learn things. For example, I learned a lot from reading the handouts each night, but talking about them in small groups was just amazing. I've learned so much from all of my classmates, and knowing all of them has truly been enriching because we all have really good things to say.
Taking this class has taught me that the most important factor in learning is to to take one's time with the subject to be learned. Learning cannot be rushed or hurried along, if it is to be had it will be had by working slowly through the assingment. Whenever I really take my time reading and writing about a reading, I find that I understand it much better than those times when circumstances are such that I am forced to hurry along with things. Thanks to this class, I now try to slow things down when working on a difficult academic assingment.
that it doesen't come to you right away or is out in the open. i think this is the moast importen't thing because it seems to be an unwritten law of philosophy.
The most important thing I have learned about the process of learning is probably directly related to the Allegory of the Cave. It is that learning is a journey, and a hard one at that, but that the rewards of a quality education are infinite.
Describe a work or works in this class of which you are proud.
I am proud of both my belief paper, and the one pithy quote that I wrote as philosophical diolouge. With both of these assingments, I felt that I really produced something that had real intrinsic quality, that was worth more than any grade or homework check-off could describe. With the belief paper I felt that I expressed my belief very well, and that I really worked down to true pith of my idea. With my dialouge, I thought that I showed a lot of forethought and creativity in the writing of it. I worked hard to make everything flow in a logical and reasnoble manner throughtout the piece, and I think that I succeed.
I am proud of my belief paper. I spent I long time on it and I really like the finished product. It was also neat to do something that wasn't analytical or a research paper-it was purely your own thought. This is a different kind of writing for me, so it was great to have a quality finished product.
I am very proud of my belief paper. I was so surprised that I came out with a paper that is certainly deep and I think pretty clear. I really enjoyed this assignment; it made me understand how to back up a belief, and made my feelings even stronger about the subject.
i dont know wheter this means something of mine that i am proud of, or something of someone elses that i am proud of them for. ill just go with the first one. i am proud of my allgory, because some of the comments i got from people after reading it really showed that people weer listening to it.
I like my alegory paper, I spent alot of time on it and put a pretty good deal of thought into it. I tried to approach the problem in a different way, and I hope that to some extent I succeded.
I really feel that i am proud of my class discussion and what i contribute to the class. I really enjoy seeing other people succeed, because then i know their life is becoming better in some way.
I really liked the work I did the first couple weeks of class and my Belief Paper. I think I did a really good job on these but on others they weren't living up to my standards.
I think my best work so far is my beleaf paper. I put quit some time into preparing it, and was quit satisfiyed with it when i read it to the class.
I was most proud of my visual representation i did with the different kinds of information that a human takes in or that we are unable to take in. i felt that it made the reading clearer for me to understand.
I was proud of my allegory. It was interesting to read and write. I think I learned a lot from it.
Knowing that my belief paper was going to very important toward my grade I made it a goal to work very hard. I wrote about how wisdom comes with maturity and experience and i put a lot of effort into it by making my allegory as original as possible. I also tried using alot of exaomples to make the paper that much more understandable. I enjoy writing, therefore it was easy to put a lot of time into this paper. I was pleases with the way it turned out.
moast deffinitly the belief paper! i realy put alot of time and brain power into it and it seemed to me that everyone thaught it was great as well.
Describe work in this class in which you have challenged yourself to attain quality.
Again, the most challenging part of this class was the paper. I have never thought about what I truly beleave, and to do well, i had to put a vast amount of time and effort into it.
againe the beliefe paper. i realy wanted it to have a good allogori; one that people would remember and also be able to truly descover something through it.
Along with my belief paper, I try challenging myself with the homework every night. Even though I may not agree or even understand some of the philosophies we read, i always make it a point to bring up the points Im having trouble with for my classmates to explain the next day. I have been putting forth every effort to understand every philosophy that gets thrown my way.
also, my allegory. i actually wrote two different allegories for this assignment, after hearing some others from my classmates and realizing that mine couldnt compare.
I have challenged myself in my homework, and in discussions. I feel if you ask questions of others both of the people are affected by it.
I thought that I challenged myself in my writing of my belief paper to produce something that was valuable. I actually wrote two papers for this assingment, the first one that I discarded qucikly after finishing it, after realizing a basic flaw in my argument minutes after printing it out, and the second one that I shared to the class. The flaw that I found in the first wasn't so much a bit of faulty logic as it was just not going deeply enough into my belief. I was staying at the surface of a lake, refusing to dive down into it. I think that in forcing myself to make that dive, I forced myself to make something of real quality.
i try and attain more quality in the drawings i do for the class because i plan out the drawing before i start working on it and spend more time fitting things together so that it fits the reading.
I try to have quality in my pithy quotes, because it is important to me to bring something o the discussion every day. If I have something written that makes sense, then it is easier for me to remember the other things I thought about during the reading.
I've worked hard to attain quality on many 'alternative' pithy quote assignments by doing visual representations as opposed to just writing. It can be tough at times but I think it stretches my creativity.
The homework. It's an ongoing challenge.
There was this one pithy quote; Bacon's 'On Love.' I disagreed with it so much that I spent like an hour and a half just piecing togehter my argument against it. I looked for as many authorities as I could to argue my way.
When I share an opinion I'm usually countered with strong arguements from members of the class or group. I have to defend my ideas strongly or be shot down.
Please share any comments you would like to make about this class or about the instruction in this class.
As a whole, I really enjoy this class. Whenever I'm sick, I think to myself 'should I stay homw? It means missing philosophy...'. This is the first class since I was a sophomore that I've actually done homework in, and it has been my favorite class thus far in high school. I think the group of us is really perfect for learning, because everyone is strongly opinionated, yet open to others opinions.
As I have mentioned before, this class is very intellectual and I enjoy having conversations with everyone each day. I also like how Mr. O'Leary guides us in the discussion, but for the most part leaves us to teach each other about the philospohies by breaking them apart in our small and large group conversations. It is truly amazing to me how well this class can uphold interesting conversations every day for an hour and a half. This class is a very good class to have fourth block because we dive so deep into discussion that it is a shock when the bell rings at 2:20.
I am very satisfyed with the class so far. I feel very comfortable, and have no problem speaking up if i have to. However, we have some smart people in this class, and i often find myself lost, and have a hard time trying to relay my thoughts.
I can honestly say that this last quarter of class has been the single most enjoyable that I have had at ConVal. My classmates have turned out to be a great bunch of kids yes, but I think that you have been just as big a reason for its greatness. You have allowed the class to think its own thoughts and take itself where it will, and for that you deserve the highest praise. There aren't that many teachers that I have had that are secure enough in their autority to relinquish as much control as you have, and there are also few who so as much respect to their students as you do. Don't change much in this class Mr. O, it's awesome as it is.
I feel that this class is awsome, but i do think we should try to do something else besides always discusing. I know this class is all about talking abotu philosophy, but we should figure out another way to try and spice it up a bit.
I love this class.
i really enjoy this class and i like the way it is tought. i feel that all the people in the class are very supportive of each other. everyone you can tell doesn't do anything to intentionally ofent anyone else and if they do it is all in good humor and everyone seems to be able to understand that.
I really like the way that this class is taught. I'm able to learn from so many different sources; great philosophers, my peers, Mr. O, and, most importantly, myself.
i think this mayu very well be the most enjoyable, and the best taught class that i have ever had. as an added factor, the group of people within the class is amazing and im glad that everyone is so willing to share.
I'm in this class because my guidance counselor said 'You need an English credit, how about Philosophy?'. If I'm not mistaken any average shlep in this school has a guidance counselor that could say 'how about philosophy?' so I think you really lucked out with the kids you got. Then again, maybe all of these kids are just aerage shleps and you're bringing out the best in them. Either way, good for you.
it's my moast favorit class of the day! i also have herd meny others say the same thing. i look forward to the class even on the weekends!!!!:)
Philosophy has been different than any other class I've ever taken. It was tough to get into the swing of things at first, and come up with my own ideas as opposed to just interpreting those of someone else, but I've adjusted and embraced the whole concept. I can tell this is one of the classes I'll look back on and see huge personal growth from its beginning to its end.
This is the best class I've ever had at ConVal and the one I look forward to every day.
Please identify anyone who has inspired you since the last DLP.
dan d. is alwaise atempting to recrute people for socraties cafe. this ussualy woulden't be a big thing however, dan dose it in a very nice way. he never pressures anyone and is very acepting to other people. this is a quality trate and something you should hold on to. i think he is a very good poaster child (for lack of a better word) for socraties because he has a mantality of 'open mindedness.' i find this to be a staple atitude when listening to others. keep up the good listening.
For my entire high school carrer, I have been known as a fairly argumentitive person, and have also long been accused of deliberaty taking the minority opinion in order to start an argument. This is partially true, but I have always argued for the sheer enjoyment. But, in all of my years of arguing, I never came across any single argument nearly as enjoyable as the two I had with Megan Walsh last Wednesday. The two arguments were inspired by the essays 'Of Anger' and 'Of Beauty', and the arguments both centered upon the nature ofthese two attributes. With anger, the question was whether or not it could be completely blocked out, and not merely controlled. The argument centering around beauty asked whether or not beauty was a purely sensual thing. During these arguments, Megan came up with good point after good point, countering on every single thing I said and forcing me to employ some quick mental manuvering to counter her own. Every time I thought I had won, Megan kept the debate with some new point or perspective on the question at hand. For creating the most enjoyable debate I have participated in, I would like to praise Megan. As debating opponents go, you are the best of the best.
I feel that Megan and Vincent deserve my praise this week. I thought it was awesome that when we were in our small groups on Friday, they as well as myself were the only ones who knew when to shut up and listen when other people were speaking. While the other members of the group did a fair share of listening, it felt to me that they were only listening so that they could have their turn to speak, and I thought Megan and Vincent were very respectful.
I really feel that Megan Walsh has inspired me. I was granted the luck of being in her group when she debated Roger. I feel that she proved her point perfectly, and I was amazed how she was even stumping roger, by playing his own mind game.
I think Courtney Nutting deserves praise. Courtney is a hard worker and willingly shares her opinions. I always look forward to when I'm in her group, because I know she'll share a new an interesting perspective. Courtney is also very open to the thoughts of her peers, which helps make everyone else around her comfortable. Kudos Courtney!
i think josh deserves praise this week. i appriciate in small groups he always helps me to clarify things and can always put them into a context that makes them easier to understand. I like how he will take an idea of a memeber of our group and help find things to support it even if he doesn't agree.
I would like to give kudos to Roger. He asked if we could do a praze paragraph, even though it was not part of our assingment. I praze, and thank him, for this.
I would like to praise Paige, Alexis, and Chris this week. These people in particular impress me with their sincerity and dedication, especially in small group. Their able to express huge ideas in simple, frank terms, an ability which is more than worthy of praise.
i would like to praise roger this week for continually holding with his beliefs. he has been arguing the case of the stoics since he happened upon them while writing a paper earlier in the course, and i think that the way he argues and the way he holds firm with his case is inspiring.
Megan Walsh never ceases to amaze me in both small group and class conversations. She is never afraid to share her opinion even if it means arguing it against the opinions of others. She argues in a constructive way so that the other person is forced to strongly defend their own point, which will show if they truly believe in it or not. It is a pleasure to hear what she has to say as she never fails to stir up the conversation to make it interesting! KUDOS!
Roger. He inspires me on a daily basis, in and out of Philosophy.
Someone who has consistently impressed me is Josh. His intellectual depth is apparent in everything he says during small and large group discussions in this class. I really appreciate his ideas, and his obviously careful thoughts. All that he reveals during class seems to be truthful and coming from his most core beliefs. He inspires me to think about ideas in other ways, and also to contemplate about what I believe.
This week I would like to recognise Megan. I was one of the members of her group discussing anger, boldness, and beauty. This was also the group that involved someone who's name I'm not going to mentionROGER. Megan was able to back up each and every arguement as well as proving that person wrong (even though he won't admit it). Megan was just the main person who stodd out last week.
Please rate the intellectual challenge of the pace of this class, with 1 being low and 9 high.
Average Rating
6.86
Please rate the intellectual challenge of the content of this class, with 1 being low and 9 high.
Average Rating
7.36
	Average Ratings
Mr. O'Leary deals fairly with students.	4.75
Mr. O'Leary has high expectations for student conduct.	4.62
Mr. O'Leary stops inappropriate student behavior.	4.12
Mr. O'Leary respects me.	4.81
Students respect Mr. O'Leary.	4.44
Mr. O'Leary is interested in me as a person.	4.19
Mr. O'Leary has high expectations for student work.	4.19
Mr. O'Leary can explain/present classwork in more than one way.	4.25
Mr. O'Leary provides activities that help students understand the coursework.	4.44
Mr. O'Leary tells us how we can use what we learn.	4
Mr. O'Leary knows his subject well.	5
Mr. O'Leary expects us to take responsibility for our own learning.	4.62
Mr. O'Leary is organized.	4.19
Mr. O'Leary gives homework related to the subject.	4.94
Mr. O'Leary makes learning interesting.	4.62
Mr. O'Leary uses different ways to assess my learning.	4.12
Mr. O'Leary evaluates my work fairly.	4.38
Mr. O'Leary is available to help me.	4.38
Mr. O'Leary enjoys teaching.	4.81
Mr. O'Leary informs me of my grade.	4.75
Mr. O'Leary designs quality activities and assignments.	4.44
Mr. O'Leary's tests and quizzes are fair.	4