STUDENT OPINIONS FROM PROFESSOR KEELING'S
FALL 1997 GEOGRAPHY COURSES
Geog 435: Geography of Rock and Roll.
** Very unique and informative class.
** Dr. Keeling has been the most influential geography professor I have taken. I truly
enjoy his classes.
** Dr. Keeling is a great professor!
** This course is a winner!
** I think that this is an interesting course. I thought that there would be no way to
relate geography and Rock n' Roll but Dr. Keeling did an excellent job.
** Great class! I hope they offer it again. Music is an excellent way of studying
culture.
** Fun and interesting course. This course was very enlightening and aided with
understanding global and cultural problems. Offer it again!
** It has been a pleasure to have been in this class. Although the exams were much
more complex that I expected, the knowledge and learning experience I gained from this
class were well worth the extra effort. Dr. Keeling is an excellent role model for
other professors. His humor, intelligence, and relationship with his students puts him
in a class of his own.
** Note: Course Grade Distribution: A = 9; B = 7; C = 9; D = 1 **
480/580: Urban Geography
** Dr. Keeling is a very well prepared teacher, but I believe he needs more daily
assignments than he has. This would help to alleviate problems with people who aren't
good test takers to help them do well in his class. He puts too much on his tests, so
if you don't do good on one test you can't pull yourself up with others. He is an
overall good teacher and knows the subject well.
** Dr. Keeling shows certain biases toward students when grading exams and figuring
class participation points. [Professor's response: Essay exams
are always somewhat subjective, and are graded on my interpretation of how well the
student knew the material and how well his/her knowledge was expressed. My office door
is ALWAYS open to any student who wishes to discuss an examination grade. I am biased
in allocating class participation points to those students who participate, attend
regularly, and demonstrate critical thinking in their engagement with the
material.]
** Instructor is very enthusiastic about material taught in this course. Instructor is
very easy to get in touch with outside the classroom, which is important.
** Note: Course Grade Distribution: A = 4; B = 7; C = 5; D = 4; F = 1 **
491: Data Analysis and Interpretation
** Maybe I was less intelligent than everyone else, but I need the subjects from
earlier in the course tied in with the present subjects more often. This helps my
overall understanding.
** I think Dr. Keeling is a great teacher. I do think the class goes too fast to
absorb all of the subject matter. I would like to see more discussions and more
real-life examples. Both would help in the internalization of the material. He does
seem to act negatively to some people in class, which I don't think is professional.
[Professor's response: I have restructured the exercises in this
class to address this student's first point about more real-world examples. I hope
this helps! I do act negatively to students who are rude in class, who demonstrate
little desire to learn, who show a lack of respect to their fellow students and to the
professor (talking during lecture, reading the newspaper, doing homework for other
classes during lectures), and who exhibit little desire to think critically about
issues. Other than that, my attitude is my personality!]
** This course has been very difficult. He goes over the material too fast and it is
hard to keep up. He is a good instructor but most of us have never seen this stuff
before and he acts like we have. [Professor's response: I
presume that students have read the assigned material before class and that students have made a
good faith effort to absorb the material. Unfortunately few students do this, so the
lectures always appear difficult and fast paced. Solution: READ the material BEFORE
the lectures and you'll do much better!]
** Dr. Keeling is a very enthusiastic professor. He seems to enjoy what he is
teaching, but sometimes he can be hard to understand. However, he is good about
working with students on an individual basis. I think he devotes a lot of time to his
classes inside and outside of the classroom.
** The only comment I have to make is about this evaluation in and of itself--it is
very redundant. Please try to have less questions that ask the same things! Overall,
Dr. Keeling is a good professor and tries to help when he can.
** I truly enjoy Dr. Keeling's enthusiasm and style of teaching. He is challenging but
very effective as a teacher.
** Dr. Keeling is by far one of the best professors I have had at WKU. He shows
genuine interest in helping his students and is always willing to take as much time as
is needed to help. He is always friendly and enthusiastic about helping, no matter how
many times I go to his office to bother him.
** I would like to see less derogatory remarks when the instructor hands back tests.
The last thing a student needs is confirmation from the instructor that they messed up.
[Professor's response: You probably confused professorial humor
with derogatory remarks! It's like reverse psychology, but I guess it didn't work with
you! Sorry!] The exams are very well constructed although they are hard. I feel the exams test
my knowledge much more than a multiple choice test. The teacher is also very easy to
contact outside the classroom.
** Note: Course Grade Distribution: A = 11; B = 7; C = 5; D = 5; F = 1 **
200: Introduction to Latin American Studies.
** Keeling was stimulating. He obviously enjoys material and students.
** I really enjoyed Dr. Keeling - showed enthusiasm when teaching and kept the interest
of the class. Thanks!
** Keeling is wonderful. He's fun and easy to learn from. He enjoys his work and it's
obvious.
** Keeling should teach the entire class. He's the man!
** Keeling was an excellent professor. He enjoyed teaching the material. It made me
interested in the subject.
** Dr. Keeling's enthusiasm for the material really made the presentations great. If
all profs showed the same exurberance I think students would respond in like manner.
** Dr. Keeling is a great choice to lead the group. I was so pleased that I am taking a
history course on Latin American republics. Excellent job!
** Dr. Keeling was really good and funny. He lightened up everything.
** Professor Keeling was excellent.
** Keeling, I liked your humor.
** Note: Course Grade Distribution: A = 12; B = 13; C = 14; D = 6; F = 1 **
If you have any comments, you can
email the professor directly at:
david.keeling@wku.edu
Last updated on 1/7/99