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Political Science

Contact Info

347 Schaeffer Hall

319-335-2348

timothy-hagle@uiowa.edu

Twitter: @ProfHagle

Spring 2025 Office Hours

Tue & Th: 4:45-6:15

Mailing Address

Dept of Political Science

341 Schaeffer Hall

20 E. Washington Street

The University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa 52242

Posted evaluations for Fall 2024 courses (POLI:3101 and POLI:3121)

Posted updated Prelaw FAQ for UI students

Posted evaluations for Spring 2024 courses (POLI:1120 and POLI:3120).

Posted syllabi for Fall 2024 courses (POLI:3101 and POLI:3121)

New Book, Riding the Caucus Rollercoaster 2024, published in paperback and for Kindle devices.

Posted updates to 12 papers in Iowa Voting Series for 2022 election data

New Book, Supreme Court Agenda Setting: The Warren Court, published for Kindle devices and computers with Kindle reader.

Published updated and expanded edition of Prelaw Advisor in paperback and for Kindle readers

My books

$9.99 Kindle ebook

Below are the questions I ask on my evaluation form.  I don't include here the questions dealing with my teaching assistant.  After the options for each question are the results for that question.  Note: Unlike the ACE forms, the order of the options varies.  This means that the "best" option is not always first or always last.  As a result, sometimes a lower number indicates "better" performance and sometimes a higher number does.  (I should also note that on the form I distribute the options are labeled a, b, c, d, and e.  I've entered them below as numbers because that's the way the computer output interprets them and it makes it easier to examine the summary statistics if I leave them in that form.)  After the results for some questions I've added a few comments (in italics) regarding that question or the results for it.

1. How many class periods did you miss during the semester?

1. 0-1
2. 2-4
3. 5-8
4. 9-12
5. more than 12

Obviously coming to class is a good thing. This is a once-a-week course, so attendance will generally be pretty good. Beyond that 20% of the grade was based on class participation, so students really couldn't miss many classes. Still, attendance was really good. There were 2 omits on every question for F 2012. I have to wonder if two blank response sheets ended up being included. The Spring 2014 was bigger than when I had previously taught the course. It also included more of a mix of first and second year students versus third and fourth. I'm not sure if those were factors, but it was very difficult to get this group to discuss anything. I talk a bit more about this in my response to the first written comment for the S2014 semester, but it seemed to influence the responses to several of the questions below.

2. How prepared were you for class (on average)?

1. read and outlined all text
2. read all materials and made notes in books
3. read all text
4. only read text needed for papers
5. did not read the texts

I would have preferred the mean here to be closer to 1, but a good portion of the class discussion was based on "lawyers in the news" so one could do well in the discussions, or at least parts of them, without having read the materials for a given week.

3. How many hours did you spend per week preparing for class and doing the work?

1. none
2. 1-3
3. 4-6
4. 7-9
5. 10 or more

For most of the course the only preparation involved reading the various books. These were mostly easy reading, so it shouldn't have taken the students too much time.

4. How often did you make comments or ask questions in class?

1. quite often
2. fairly often
3. sometimes
4. a few times
5. never

Again, 20% of the grade in the course was based on class participation for F 2011 and F 2012 so the students had to be more willing to participate. In addition, for the first two semesters the enrollment was only 15, so the students had plenty of opportunity to participate.  

5. How often did you speak with (or email) the instructor about your coursework or other problems with the course?

1. never
2. 1-2 times
3. 3-4 times
4. 5-6 times
5. 7 or more times

I say that closer to "5" is better, but it's probably more like "3."  If a lot of students were coming to me with problems more than 7 times during the semester it might indicate a fundamental problem with the course.  On the other hand, if a lot of students never speak with me it might mean several things.  On the negative side it might mean that the students find me unapproachable.  Although this is undoubtedly true of a few students each semester (though I suspect less so in this course), on the whole it does not seem to be a problem.  On the positive side, it might mean that everything about the course is sufficiently clear that the students don't need to speak with me.  Again, this is probably true of several students each semester.  (My own experience as an undergrad was that I never spoke with the instructor in a fair number of classes, particularly the larger ones.) That this number for F 2011 is well below 3 surprised me a bit. In thinking about it, however, because so much of the course is focused on class discussions it probably means that the students didn't need to contact me as much as they might have in another, larger course. 

6. If you spoke with the instructor, how well did he answer your questions or comments?

1. very well
2. fairly well
3. satisfactorily
4. poorly
5. very poorly

One problem in responding to student questions and concerns is that if you don't give the answer the student wants to hear it may be considered a "poor" response when it's actually very fair under the circumstances.  Even so, the students in this class seemed pleased with the way I dealt with the questions that came up.

7. How prepared was the instructor for class?

1. unprepared
2. somewhat prepared
3. moderately prepared
4. quite prepared
5. very prepared

Because F 2011 was the first time teaching the course in its expanded form I did a lot of preparation for it, and the students seemed to recognize this. Still, there are usually a couple of students who don't think I was well prepared. I sometimes wonder if it's because I flip around which answer is "good" for this question. In this course I also try to be more flexible, so that might also give some the impression of being a bit unprepared.

8. How well did the instructor answer questions in class?

1. very poorly
2. somewhat poorly
3. adequately
4. fairly well
5. very well

Given the emphasis on class discussions, I certainly get to answer plenty of questions in class on a wide range of topics related to the material. I suppose that even if I don't do well on one or two there are enough others ones to keep the average high. 

9. Did the instructor encourage questions or class participation?

1. very much
2. quite a bit
3. somewhat
4. not much
5. never

As I said above, with the emphasis on class discussion the students pretty much had to participate. Even so, given that I had a small class for F 2011 I was able to do a good job of keeping track of how much each student participated and encourages those lagging a bit to jump in.

10. How interested were you in learning the course material?

1. not interested
2. somewhat interested
3. moderately interested
4. fairly interested
5. very interested

The high score here isn't surprising given that most of the students in the class planned on attending law school. Even so, there were a couple who took the course only because it fit their schedule.   

11. How much did you learn in this course?

1. quite a bit
2. a lot
3. some
4. not much
5. nothing

The primary purpose of this course is to give students a better understanding of what lawyers do and how people prepare to become lawyers. I expect the course to be primarily aimed at first year students. For F 2011 the course was in development and added to the schedule late so there were more advanced students in the course. As a result, they probably knew more about the material than first year students would. I hope to see the mean here get closer to 1 in future semesters.

12. How many of the basic terms necessary for an understanding of the material did you learn?

1. all
2. most
3. some
4. a few
5. none

This is really a check to see how motivated the students have been.  This course didn't have a huge number of legal terms, but enough that students probably needed to use their law dictionaries if there were really interested in learning the material. 

13. Were you challenged by this course?

1. very much
2. quite a bit
3. somewhat
4. a little
5. not at all

Students can get through this course without trying to challenge themselves.  This often shows in their work.  Given that I aim this course at first year students, those who are more advanced will probably be less challenged. Regardless, the spread for F 2011 is interesting.

14. How do you feel about the amount of material covered in this course?

1. way too much
2. a bit too much
3. about right
4. not enough
5. way too little

This question is structured so that the middle score is "best."  I say closer to 3 is "better," but my preference would be about 2.5.  All the initial material for this course can be daunting at first, but the books are really fairly easy reading. As with the prior question, the range of responses here is interesting.

15. Did the instructor present he material fairly and not give too much emphasis to one point of view or the other?

1. very fair
2. quite fair
3. somewhat fair
4. somewhat unfair
5. very unfair

I don't get into political material in this course as I do in my other courses, but I do have a point of view regarding what's important for things such as preparing for law school, etc. Even so, I try to present enough materials so that the students have a range of viewpoints from which they can draw their own conclusions about what would work best for them (assuming that they are heading to law school as most in the course are).

16. Did the interview help you to understand the course concepts and material?

1. very well
2. fairly well
3. adequately
4. poorly
5. very poorly

One of the assignments in the course is for the students to interview someone who is a working lawyer. This allows them to get a point of view beyond what is presented in class. The student's had to write up what they learned in the interview and it seemed that most had a good experience.

17. Did you find the presentation assignment useful in understanding course concepts and material?

1. very much
2. quite a bit
3. somewhat
4. minimally helpful
5. not at all

The presentation was basically a 5 minute speech. There are very few opportunities for students to improve their formal speaking skills in Political Science courses, but it's an important skill for lawyers. Some were pretty nervous about giving a short speech, but most seemed quite comfortable. I think having a small class in which they had been talking to each other all semester helped to make most of them more at ease.

18. Did the paper assignment aid in your understanding or ability to analyze concepts presented in the course?

1. very much
2. quite a bit
3. somewhat
4. a little
5. not at all

There were actually two papers assignments for F 2011, but this question mainly refers to the longer one where they had to analyze two biographical works in relation to what we had covered during the semester. They were working on the assignment at the time we did course evaluations, but hadn't turned it in yet, so the value of it may not have been as clear as it would be later.

19. Did the class discussions help you to understand the course concepts and material?

1. very helpful
2. fairly helpful
3. somewhat helpful
4. minimally helpful
5. not at all helpful

I've mentioned a few times that a good portion of the course was devoted to class discussions. The small class size for F 2011 kept the atmosphere relaxed and everyone had ample opportunity to participate. I suspect from the student's point of view it also meant less work in that they didn't always have to do as much reading or note taking. Still, I could tell from the discussions that nearly all of them were very engaged in the discussions.

20. Do you think the concepts and information you learned in this course will be valuable to you in the future?

1. very valuable
2. fairly valuable
3. somewhat valuable
4. minimally valuable
5. not at all valuable

Again, nearly all these students planned on law school, so the good score here is not surprising. On the other hand, given the focus of the course I'm sure that those not planning on law school will have more difficulty seeing the value of the course. Aside from the material itself, the students had an opportunity to engage in discussions over a wide range of topics. They also were able to improve their writing and speaking skills via the class assignments. Hopefully those who didn't find much value in the course will do so later.

21. On the whole, would you recommend this instructor to other students?

1. very strongly
2. fairly strongly
3. yes
4. yes with reservations
5. no

This is the BIG question.  This question is the general overall evaluation of me and this course.

22. Approximately what grade do you think you will receive in this course?

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. F

As with some of my other courses the bulk of the students' scores in this course came late in the semester after course evaluations were completed. Even so, I gave the students as much feedback as possible, including comments on their first paper assignment. For F 2011 the majority of the students were very engaged and doing well, so their estimates of how they were doing were not too far off. In contrast those in S 2014 seemed to overestimate their performance.