Teaching Evaluations

Selected Student Comments from Official Teaching Evaluations: 

Fall 2024

• Professor Smith was my hardest professor of this semester by far but he made it a hard class in a good way. He taught all the material very thoroughly and encouraged us to look more into the material more on our own time. He gave short tests and quizzes that were open response to really make us think and see what we have and have not learned. Overall this class was very useful for me and helped me learn more than any other class i have taken so far.

• I think he is very knowledgeable for the subjects and had a good goal for his students.

• The best thing is how knowledgeable Dr. Smith is. You can see when a professor knows about what he is talking about, it makes learning much easier and enjoyable. Also, in his presentations he has great examples which help a lot to understand complex concepts.

• Allowed a flexible class schedule to allow engaged students to have conversations on the material. Was willing to explain answers that students struggled with and could admit when he may have been unclear himself.

• his explanations and presentation of topics and information were excellent and he seems incredibly well educated and knowledgeable

• Dr Daniel Smith is an engaging and knowledgeable instructor who effectively simplifies complex concepts. His well-structured course materials, approachable demeanor, and use of real-world examples create a supportive and relatable learning environment.

• I liked how Professor Smith uses real world examples to help better relate the material for his students to understand.

•  his knowledge of the subjects and ability to use real world examples

• He was very knowledgeable and could answer all questions asked of him. He had some fun graphics that made me laugh a lot. He also taught to various learning styles the best he could in a lecture class. He showed videos when it related and graphics.

• He has anecdotes for everything that help with understanding subjects. He was very funny. He was incredibly knowledgeable in the subject and could answer every question.

• Very knowledgeable about the topics discussed in and out of class.

• Very straight-forward, not lenient but still flexible, very open to questions, does not waste class time with pointless information, even if something does not exactly appear on a quiz it is still relevant to the topic or is a good example of what he is explaining.

Spring 2024

• He has been the best professor I have had and cares about this course material

• He wanted to engage with the class

• Very knowledgeable on the subject, provided good examples of cases were certain things had occurred

• He was always nice when you talked with him and he helped you understand whenever I had a question.

• I loved how he related the course topic to relevant examples of media or news. His presentation slides were filled with easy-to-follow definitions and information.

• Transparent

• Dr Smith knows his subject well but is also very engaging of the class, who perhaps were a bit in awe of him and didn't readily respond to his questions, but as the course progressed people became more willing to ask and answer questions when prompted. I certainly found the class very informative and his teaching style was appropriate even if a bit fast at times as we tried to get through all the material having lost a week due to the earlier snow at the start of semester.

• Highly knowledgeable and was able to provide simplified explanations for highly complex concepts.

• Mr. Smith provided relevant evidence about the topic we were discussing.

• Mr.Smith main strength was his knowledge of economics and how he can breakdown GDP and things of that nature.

Fall 2023

• Professor Smith would go over something until we understood it. I appreciate his quizzes at the end of every chapter instead of a really long midterm.

• Was a thoughtful professor, went into depth on his powerpoints, and was also an entertaining class.

• Mr. Smith is passionate about what he teaches.

• He is easy to talk to and helped make a fun class environment that made the class enjoyable and the topics easier to understand and remember.

• Humoring students' questions with as best an answer as possible and patience and understanding that the course material can be very difficult to understand

• He genuinely wanted the class to learn, not just memorize facts for a test.

• He is a great teacher. I could feel how passionate he was about economics which made me more interested in learning. He promoted interesting discussions during class and would go into more detail about any topic students asked about. Overall, he made a class that I was dreading to take and made it a lot more interesting than I thought it would be.

• Daniel Smith is incredibly knowledgeable in the field of economics and it was very apparent.

Fall 2022

• The instructor was very educated and knowledgeable. He engaged the class a lot which made it more interesting. He also encouraged students to still answer and to not be worried if they got the answer wrong.

• Enjoyed listening to the lectures, and I normally hate lectures. He grades based off of understanding vs basic memorization. He also had the class go up to the board and demonstrate their knowledge or learn. It was nerve wracking but helpful in the end.

• Probably one of the most engaging professors I've had so far.

• Dr. Smith is an amazing economics professor. (HE IS VERY SMART AND KNOWLEDGEABLE!) He is always willing to meet before and after class to talk about things and help you understand the material better. He really cares about his students and the way they learn the material. He made students think about things that they would have never thought of. He would always play videos to help his students better understand the content. He did this so his students could see it visually. He also now and then tries to make his students laugh so they stay enticed into the topic and not sleepy and bored while he is lecturing.

• I think Smith is very Knowledgeable in his field. The course is very rigorous.

• Able to teach a course on economics and make it so much more interesting than I thought it would be at first. While I wanted to learn about the principles to begin with, Professor Smith helped us learn why they were important and how to evaluate claims in a way that will be useful for years to come. Professor Smith allowed everyone to learn at their own rate, and was able to help students learn concepts they didn't understand at first in excellent ways. Knowledge about the subject was very helpful in the progression of the course, and it showed in the ways the class was able to digress from the topic at hand and explore different aspects of how economics work.

• The instructor was knowledgeable about Macroeconomics.

• Best professor I have had so far. Homework was minimal, lessons were involving, and I never felt pressured to do anything I didn't feel comfortable doing.

Fall 2020

• I really enjoyed Dr. Smith's class, it has helped filled so many grey areas in my economic knowledge. The part of his teaching that I appreciate the most has to be his bipartisan approach to his lectures and his efforts to not show any kind of favortism to any party or group. Overall, this course has spiked my interest in the study of economics immensely. 

• The instructor was very down to earth and very knowledgable of the subject. The way in which our assignments were issued allowed for me to learn a fair amount on my own and not have to purely rely on class.

• Professor was well educated and passionate about the course work

• He made the class interesting and encouraged student involvement and worked towards it despite the current state of the pandemic.

• Dr. Smith was always very effective in communicating the material we were learning and was always happy to ask questions we had. Great professor. 

• It was clear that this professor is passionate about what he teaches

Spring 2019

• The critical thinking required for discussions engaged most of the class; the instructor was constantly looking for critiques of certain topics and could effectively start these discussions

• His PowerPoints were helpful and the videos he showed in class were always fun and interesting. He seemed to know the subject well and enjoyed talking about it.

• Well-learned on the subject and willing to communicate.

• The PowerPoints were good and I enjoyed the use of videos to keep the class involved and relate the material to topics we were interested in.