HIS 371 / 571, HISTORY OF JAPAN

HIS 371 / 571, THE HISTORY OF JAPAN SPRING SEMESTER 2007 COURSE EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

The syllabus for the course listed a series of specific learning objectives for HIS 371 / 571, THE HISTORY OF JAPAN. The following statements seek your reaction to this procedure.

The specific objectives listed in the syllabus were WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in orienting and guiding my study of the course material.
The specific objectives for the course were achieved FULLY / TO SOME DEGREE / NOT AT ALL.

COMMENTS:

Students in HIS 371 / 571 were asked to read Conrad Totman's Japan Before Perry, Andrew Gordon's A Modern History of Japan, Karen Brazell's translation of The Confessions of Lady Nijo, Donald Keene's translation of Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, Natsume Soseki's Kokoro and Nagatsuka Takashi's The Soil: A Portrait of Rural Life in Meiji Japan; these served as required reading for HIS 371 / 571. The following statements seek your evaluation of these texts.

Japan Before Perry was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of traditional Japanese civilization and culture.
A Modern History of Japan was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of modern Japanese civilization and culture.
The Confessions of Lady Nijo was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of the transition between the Aristocratic and the Military-Aristocratic eras in traditional Japanese history.
Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of Military-Bureaucratic period Japanese civilization and culture.
Kokoro was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of Meiji era Japanese civilization and culture.
The Soil: A Portrait of Rural Life in Meiji Japan was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in increasing my understanding of Meiji era Japanese rural civilization and culture.
I would RECOMMEND / DISCOURAGE this approach to reading assignments in subsequent offerings of this course.

COMMENTS:

3. Two analytical essays (the first on on The Confessions of Lady Nijo or Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu and the second on either Kokoro or The Soil: A Portrait of Rural Life in Meiji Japan) were required assignments for the course. Testing was limited to a series of five quizzes spaced throughout the semester. Together with class attendance and the completion of a series of Journal assignments, these written exercises provided the basis for evaluation in the course.

This evaluation procedure was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in stimulating my study of Japanese history and culture.
This evaluation procedure was WORTHLESS / ADEQUATE / VALUABLE in assessing my knowledge of Japanese history and culture.
The quiz format now in use should be MAINTAINED / CHANGED TO IN-CLASS ESSAY EXAMS / CHANGED TO IN-CLASS OBJECTIVE SHORT ANSWER EXAMS.
The number of quizzes required should be MAINTAINED AT PRESENT LEVELS / MORE FREQUENT / ABANDONED IN FAVOR OF ALTERNATE EVALUATION PROCEDURES.
The essay assignments provided a VALUABLE / ADEQUATE / WORTHLESS opportunity to review and consolidate my understanding of Japanese life and culture.
The Journal assignments proved a VALUABLE / ADEQUATE / WORTHLESS opportunity to assess, during the entire duration of the course, the breadth and depth of my interests in Japanese culture and history. In retrospect I feel I was able to pursue my identified interests FULLY / TO SOME EXTENT / NOT AT ALL in the course of my study for HIS 371 / 571. I have found my identified interests DEEPENED / ALTERED SUBSTANTIALLY / MODIFIED TO SOME DEGREE by the course of study I have just completed.

COMMENTS:

THE COURSE INTERNET WEB SITE

Evaluate the utility and convenience of the course Internet web site: Accessibility? Value? Organization? Value of instructor email access? How often visited? New skills acquired as a result? Internet resource use encouraged as a result? Suggestions regarding elements to add (or subtract)?

Please respond to each of the following statements by circling the appropriate phrase:

I am more familiar now than at the beginning of the course with basic terms, personalities and concepts associated with the study of Japanese history.