STUDENT OPINIONS FROM PROFESSOR KEELING'S
SPRING 2003 GEOGRAPHY COURSES

SEMINAR IN URBAN GEOGRAPHY - GEOG 580

NO COMMENTS FOR THIS COURSE

Grade Distribution: A = 3; B = 2.

INTRODUCTION TO LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES -- GEOG/LAS 200

NOTE: This is a team-taught course with three instructors (PS 200, HIST 200, SPAN 200). The comments below may refer to any of the three instructors.

[From www.profeval.com online evaluations]** If you are looking for a challenging course to fulfill Category E Gen Ed I would highly recommend this class. I learned a great deal of information and Dr. Keeling is one of the best professors at WKU. However, it is not all easy. Be sure to do the reading and pay close attention to lectures- then it's easy. Great chances for extra credit!
** The course is taught between three different professors, but my focus is on Dr. Keeling. He is the worst professor I have had thus far in college. Just glancing, the course seems fairly easy, with only multiple choice tests and all...but the amount of information you are expected to know is an overkill. You will have 10 question worksheets that will take a good two to three hours to complete...and then you find out at the end of the course they are only worth half of the credit you thought [Professor's response: This comment doesn't make sense! The points awarded for attendance, participation, and quizzes are clearly set out in the syllabus. Do you have a math problem? The entire point of the worksheets is to get you to read the text materials, which are required to help you understand the region in more detail. Remember, this is the University, not high school - you're expected to be intellectually engaged!]. I would never recommend this course to anyone. Dr. Keeling is a difficult man himself who is set in his ways and refuses to listen to reason [Professor's response: To the contrary, I'm always willing to listen to reason and I'm very flexible with students who have legitimate issues that need attention. The problem with student attitudes like yours is that you expect maximum reward for minimum effort, and you are unwilling to recognize your own weaknesses and limitations!]. One extra credit assignment is given, a lecture, and if you are like myself (I had to work that day) he refuses to give an alternate assignment [Professor's response: I don't understand this complaint! Are you asking for more extra credit assignments? This isn't high school, you realise. If you did the work assigned and actually studied the material, you wouldn't have to rely on extra credit!]. He refused to meet with me to discuss my grade and was overall apathetic...a disgrace to teaching [Professor's response: This is clearly a lie! I meet with dozens of students every day during the semester, just ask my office assistants! You obviously were too damn lazy to come and talk to me about your problems!].
[From the SITE evaluations]:
** Dr. Keeling's section was the most effective and interesting. Overall, this class was tedious and I wasn't sure what material to study. Having 3 different teachers was limiting to understanding and achievement as well, since they did not all have the same teaching style and expections [Professor's response: All three faculty had the same expections - that you come to class regularly, learn the material, and pass the exams!].
** Dr. Salisbury's section [History] was probably my favorite, as I greatly enjoyed learning about history. Dr. Keeling is an exciting professor and knows how to even up the class - this characteristic is greatly appreciated. Dr. Petersen, however, is dull. Surely there is some other way to make Latin American politics more interesting, especially when I feel like I've heard the same information at least five times in one lecture - in short, my doodles have improved with him.
** In the politics section, the professor doesn't even teach. He asks questions and basicly lets a few of the students dominate the class period. I'm not paying to hear other students [Professor's response: Peer discussion is sometimes the most important part of learning. Perhaps if you paid more attention to your own peers, you might learn something!]. I am paying to have a professional teach me. The Knapp book is not very helpful at all. The homework assignments only apply to the geography section. We aren't given very specific details about what to study for exams [Professor's response: Shouldn't you be studing ALL the material covered in class, otherwise why bother discussing those issues!!]
** I think current events should be used for class material as this would make it more interesting. More student-teacher interaction!
** Every prof (excluding Keeling) gave us hours and hours of random facts about, well, basically Mexico and the southern United States that had no bearing on the tests given.
** This class was a learning experience. I personally believe that Dr. Salisbury was the best instructor we had. Dr. Keeling and Dr. Petersen weren't as passionate about the subject. I hate geography (sorry Dr. Keeling), so it was my least favorite section [Professor's response: Wash your mouth out (just kidding)! Geography is a fascinating subject]
** Dr. Keeling did a wonderful job teaching. Dr. Petersen, though, has trouble keeping my attention. He constantly repeats himself while giving us little information. He [Petersen] does not seem prepared for class.
** Mr Keeling is a great professor! I liked coming to his class. Keep up the good work.
** Dr. Salisbury was great! He was an excellent teacher and I would have liked to take another class of his.
** They were very boring. Hard to pay attention to. Need to work on course delivery [Professor's response: I would guess that you probably need to evaluate why you're in college and how you engage with the material. This stuff is fascinating!]
** The government guy [Petersen] bores the heck out of us. Keeling is great, though.
** The exams were poorly constructed. I had pages of holes and studied for hours and still didn't get it [Professor's response: Perhaps what you needed to do was fill in the holes in your knowledge, and then you might have done better on the exams!]
** I really wish Dr. Salisbury was still with us [Professor's response: Dr. Salisbury passed away in April 2003]. I enjoyed his section and was looking forward to taking more classes with him. Overall, the professors did a great job.
** I only liked two of the three professors. Keeling! Wipe your mouth once in a while. [Professor's response: This stuff is so exciting that I froth at the mouth! I'll have to bring extra wipes to class (like James Brown) to mop up the excitement!]

Grade Distribution: A = 10; B = 27; C = 20; D = 8; F = 2.

   If you have any comments, you can email the professor directly at: david.keeling@wku.edu

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Last updated on 12/10/03