U Iowa Home Page

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 syllabi for Fall 2025 courses (POLI:3101 and POLI:3121)

Posted updates to 12 papers in Iowa Voting Series for 2024 election data

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).

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

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

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.  Beyond that, attendance is pretty much required for the first several weeks until everyone has a handle on the specifics of the project.  It's amusing that Spring 2003 and 2002 had exactly the same numbers, particularly since at least 12 people skipped the class period in which we did evaluations in 2003! The Spring 2014 class was a bit odd in that it was very small and included a couple of students who weren't really qualified to take the course and it seemed to affect a few of the responses to questions below.. I talk more about this in the written comments for S 2014.

The attendance for S 2015 is no mistake.  There were only nine in the class and every one came every time!

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

1. read and outlined all materials
2. read all materials and made notes in books
3. read all materials
4. relied on class notes

This course has an extensive set of materials that has to be learned at the beginning of the course.  I really nag them each year to get the readings done quickly, but they really don't need to make outlines of the materials, so between 2 and 3 should be about right. 

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

Because of severe problems in 1998 I really nagged succeeding groups to get their work done well before the end of the semester.  As a result, most did a better job during the initial training period, which seems to be reflected in the amount of time they had to put in later.

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

After the first two or three weeks the course is mainly Q&A about things they've come across in the research.  As such, these scores should be closer to 1.   Then again, if they understood what was going on they wouldn't need to ask questions.  

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.)  

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 well did the instructor respond to questions in class?

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

These scores are usually higher than for 30:116, but about the same as for 30:158.  Students in this course learn how to do judicial research by working on an ongoing project of mine.  I use the questions they ask about the project to work in a fair amount of additional material on the courts and the judicial system.  I think every student in the course plans on attending law school, so they tend to appreciate the additional information.  I'm pretty sure that the one who indicated "very poorly" in 1999 misread the order of the responses.  This sometimes happens when the order is varied, but the point is to ensure that the students are actually reading the questions and responding accordingly.  (On the other hand, I'm pretty sure the one from 2002 intended a "very poorly" if it's the student I think.)  I'm not sure what to make of the two "very poorly" responses for 2009. 

8.  Did the instructor encourage questions in class?

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

As I said above, after the first two or three weeks the class is structured in a Q&A format.  It's no surprise, therefore, that the scores are usually very close to 1. The person who marked "never" in S 2013 either read responses incorrectly, wasn't paying attention, or is trolling!

9.  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 all the students in the class planned on attending law school.  The one "not interested" response in 2009, alone with the "very poorly" response from a question above, makes me wonder whether one or two of the students were not reading the order of the responses carefully.   

10.  How much did you learn in this course?

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

Working on the research project gives students a chance to read cases and learn about the courts.  Even though the scores are fairly good here, comments I've gotten from students once they've begun law school suggest that they didn't fully realize the importance of what they were learning until they had their first research assignment and they knew what to do while many of their classmates were lost. 

11.  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.  One necessarily comes across a lot of legal terms in reading the text and cases and I stress that it's important to look up these terms in the law dictionary rather than just trying to figure them out from the context.  This is even more important in this course than in 30:116 or 30:158.  The students here are reading case summaries and opinions so they can code it for a database.  I check every case they code, so they have to get it right! 

12.  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.  Some students initially see the course as just coding a bunch of numbers.  Most eventually see the understanding and work required to really do a good job.  Although I indicate that closer to 1 is better, really around 2 is probably best.  The course should be sufficiently challenging to maintain their interest and give them something to shoot for, but not be so difficult that they just write it off as a lost cause .

13.  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, so I'm glad to see that most didn't feel overwhelmed by the end of the course.

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

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

Again, nearly all these students planned on law school, so the good score here is not surprising.  On the other hand, the mean for Spring 2008 is up from prior years, so I must not have done as well "selling" it that semester. I wonder if the person who selected "minimally helpful" in S 2013 is planning on law school. If so, I hope he or she thinks about this response again after a semester or two.

15.  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.