Survey responses

 1. Why did you enroll in MCLFS?

2. What is your present position?

4. What was the most useful experience in the program relevant to your professional work?

• Enjoyed experimental design labs Lectures were applicable 2 high school students

• Reading of book 4 genetics (cant remember which one) applicable 4 use in high school program

• Writing the big paper...Dr Mazzochi was extremely TOUGH and challenged me to do excellent work. I also really appreciated the required lab work...and Dr Kent's statistics class was awesome.

• increasing content knowledge, designing lab activities in the experimental design course and websites in various classes

• The content knowledge gained in the Human Physiology course was the most useful for me. Emerging infectious Diseases and GM Foods/Food Safety would rank close 2nd and 3rd.

• So much has happened in the field of Biology since I graduated with my Chemistry degree in 1979. I really enjoyed getting myself up to date on technology, current areas of research, etc.

• My research project on caribou parasites (sic, for her independent lab work). This has given me valuable research experience for my college teaching and also for my medical degree. My course in chemical ecology has helped me somewhat in my understanding of pharmacology.

• The course work all was generally geared for science teachers and came away from each class with resources for them.

• The program gave me a fairly good overview of the life sciences.

• The stats class was very helpful, and simply keeping current with the latest science, and being able to broaden my knowledge about biology was beneficial

• The genetics courses were very helpful as was the evolution work.

• I found the statistics course to be most useful.

• Designing the TIP projects has been most useful.

• Currently, the electrochemistry class has been the most useful, however at the time I was teaching a biochemistry class and the biochem and genetics classes were most useful.

• The scholarly paper and the biochemistry course.

• Up to date knowledge and techniques. Qualified instructors who knew their content. NOT dumbing down the content.

• The entire program was useful in that I had the most up-to-date research at my fingertips.

• Learning how to use the computer, do searches effectively.

• The use of online projects such as making a webpage, which I am now proficient and can to keep my school one updated.

• It really gave me a richer understanding of the subject matter I teach.

• Expansion of advanced content knowledge

• Depth of content presented

• Being on campus in summer with experimental design class

• The overall content has enhanced my teaching.

• The courses brought me back up to date on things that have changed and are currently happening in the field of biology.

• I was updated on my science knowledge.

• The schedule of courses allowed me to complete my degree faster than a traditional two semester per year schedule. It also gave me the opportunity to dig deeper into the content I am teaching in order to better prepare my students. In addition, the experience as an on-line student helped prepare me to later be an on-line instructor.

• The summer lab program incorporated with experimental design

• Learning how to teach online classes by taking them from great instructors

5. What did you like least about the program?

• When there were differences of opinion or approaches with classmates or professors who appeared to exert a power advantage, seeing no better alternative because of the virtual learning medium, I chose to sacrifice working things out in my favor in the interest of time and keeping things rolling 'smoothly' (virtually). This only occurred a few times, but when it did, it detracted from my own learning experience.

• Some chat rooms were not as beneficial...groups at times were not cohesive and sometimes group members would carry the weight of several non participating individuals

• The teaching group projects were frustrating...topics were not necessarily relevant and group work can be rough.

• It didn't have an effect for me until the end, but I would have benefitted from having a faculty member guide me in course selection and determining the number of credit hours I should have chosen for my paper.

• Replying to discussion questions was my least favorite thing. It was so tedious and I learned very little from it (except that I should post early and often to avoid repetition of other people's comments). I'd much rather just have a question to research, answer and turn in. Sometimes people would be a little harsh in their criticism of others because the class wasn't face-to-face.

• Difficult to get in contact with people by phone, and in most cases, people in the SPOC office couldn't answer questions

• The research requirement could have been a bit more rigorous.

• The TIP projects. Sometimes the group discussions did not feel helpful, or not everyone in the group would contribute in a balanced manner. Other times the discussions were great.

• There needed to be more course variety. I believe since I was in the program this has changed

• When you lack understanding there is a gap between me and the professor, there is no close contact to aid in understanding certain harder topics.

• It was difficult to connect with the advisor on the final project.

• In some sense, the classes seemed to be less of a challenge than other college courses I’ve taken.  Also, the statistics class was solely focused on biology applications, and seemed to be useless to a chemist.

• The group projects were the most difficult because I had group members who did little work and were on different time zones.  (one group member was in China and we were working on completely different times.

• Group work.

• The instructor who taught Immunology in summer 2003.  Totally unprepared and not at all helpful.  Was the only bad class and instructor that I had.  Fortunately she’s not teaching it anymore!

• The five-week program outside of the school was just difficult to schedule while working around work and family commitments.

• I really liked the entire program. The part I think can  be improved upon is the exit from the program. There was very little communication as to the details of the scholarly paper and some sort of snafu kept me from getting my diploma for months after I was finished.  For most of the program SPOC was wonderful. However, towards the end it seems that SPOC was too busy and distracted.

• I did not like the group projects.  Some of the classes were taught by more than individuals who had very different grading styles.

• When a member of my project group didn't pull his/her weight - or just didn't have the academic background to do his/her part justice

• On RARE occasion, a prof may be slow in grading or responding

• The lack of communication and advisors for selecting classes.

• It was a wonderful experience. There was nothing negative at all.

• All the group work. I would have preferred more individual work

• It was difficult to find lab requirements that fit without having to travel to Maryland.

• The only drawback for me was the cost. I could have completed another program at another school and spent half the amount for tuition.

• There was nothing negative.

6. What did you like best?

• flexibility, variety of courses

• Experimental design sand chemical ecology

• I loved the choices and the tough academic content. I wanted a masters degree in science, not education...but I wanted to keep teaching while I got it! Perfect!

• With one exception, every course had professors that were very quick to respond to questions and who had put countless hours into developing their online courses.

• I loved the way the microbiology course was run. It was nice to delve into one area of a disease and try to combine all the areas into one paper. I actually enjoyed being the editor of the paper. The timed tests were stressful, though!!

• I liked the collegiality of the students and professors. This was very present even though everything came over the internet.

• Convenience. I live in rural Indiana and cannot commute to a university.

• The convenience of taking online courses, and the fact that my master's would not be in education – I knew even then there was a good chance I would not remain a teacher - I wanted to try to keep my options open as best I could.

• The freedom to work when I could: I travelled alot during the semesters and was able to complete all my work and not miss.

• The courses and their content

• The exploration of new materials, topics, and knowledge.

• The professors were great. Always ready to help.

• The self-motivated approach to getting things done, with loose scheduling of deadlines so that working professionals could schedule their weeks and plan their work

• The fact that we were not just learning theory, but everything seemed to be applied. I learned about some fascinating

subjects. The classes that I liked the most were the Molecular Spectroscopy class and Electrochemistry.

• Knowledge and the challenge

• Most of the professors were excellent, except for ------- ------.  I really hated his teaching methods and lack of grading or completely abstract grading.  He was the worst teacher I ever had in my entire student life.

• The ability to take courses without having to travel.  To work with students from all over the world.

• The professors were always available and extremely helpful.  The online tests were great and I didn’t have to worry about mailing something in.

• I enjoyed the content and the threaded discussions

• The flexibility of the program and the quality of the faculty were both excellent. 

• The best experience I had was in the summer Lab course offered by Brett Kent at U-MD.  Wow.

• In general, I loved the intellectual stimulation and the collaboration that resulted from the discussion questinos.  I liked it best when the class was small enough to allow us to read/evaluate everyone's response, rather than just reading and responding to a small sub-group of a larger class.

• I also liked how responsive the professors were to individual and group questions.

• Variety of courses with interesting, timely and diverse topics

• The professors and the way they conducted their classes.

• I liked that it was online and i could work around my schedule here at work to complete the courses. This is why I had not previously completed a Master in Biology because the Universities where I live only offer courses when I am working.

• I really enjoyed the classes. Especially the infectious disease class. It was very interesting. (though it was my only B).

• Content, the interaction between student and professor, and convenience of not commuting long distances.

• The program flexibility and the quality of the education

• Helpfulness of instructors

7. What would you suggest we change, add or delete?

• Perhaps physiology could have emphasized calculations less and other topics more.

• Less emphasis on team projects....easier 2 do individual projects online...okay 2 discuss if have questions but indiv projects would b better

• Eliminate the group deals.

• I would suggest adding an advising component as an option, especially once the student is 2/3 finished with his/her coursework.

• Was there a class on Zoology? or on Botany? I don't feel I got enough in these areas.

• I would increase the research component.

• The offering of very specific topics that I was interested in.

• A class on botany would be really nice. When we cover this in class I feel that I barely know more than the students

• More classes offered simultaneously.

• It is a great program. I donʼt know if the thesis level work could be more geared to the job of the student. If a person is a teacher maybe something more useful that they could use in their career.

• When I was in the program, there was no option for a chemistry lab, and had there been I probably would have taken it rather than having the requirement waived due to my summer research activities.

• Less group work

• Don’t let ------- ------ teach in the online program.

• Allow more credits to be taken as continuing education.  I have to take 6 credits every three years and would definitely take more courses online at U of Maryland if I could

• The program is well designed.  Expansion of the number of different course titles.

• Can't think of a thing

• Offer a greater variety of classes in the chemistry concentration from one year to the next, especially in the summer. The summer is the best time for a teacher to take classes, but the offerings were very limited then.

• Add advisors or mentors, I felt like I never knew if I were taking the right classes.

• I thought it was a great program. There were plenty of courses to select from to meet a wide range of interests.

• It would be better if the degree was a M.S.

• Allow students to focus on a specific biological topic and have courses that reflect that.

• I was in the first group to go through the program, so this suggestion may have already been implemented. I realize how time-intensive creating on-line courses can be (I've been teaching on-line courses for over a year now), but it may assist the professors and students if there is a consistent format for every course while still allowing professors the flexibility to be creative for the specific course.

• I'm not sure the TIPs can be used by everyone because each state has different standards

8.  Please comment on your overall experiences in the Master of Chemical and Life Sciences program.

• Enjoyed experience thoroughly and would attend again 4 chemistry

• AWESOME.  Flexible, challenging, REAL.

• I enjoyed the program and I appreciate UMD for offering a masters in chem & life sciences for teachers

• I had an extremely challenging, beneficial, positive experience. The program allowed me the flexibility I needed to work full time and be a wife and mother while completing a graduate degree in 3 years. I have recommended the program to several people already.

• I loved it. It was a great way to learn.

• It was a very good experience and useful for me as a teacher and beyond

• I really enjoyed the program.

• I enjoyed it. Do wish that some professors had accepted assignments a few hours late because we *are* teaching full time while we do the program, and I'm sorry, my students come first....

• Very good, especially for the freedom. 

• The professors were all very knowledgeable and well qualified. They were also assessable to answer questions and give help. The online aspect made it possible for me to be a part of a quality science program that was hard to find in my local area.

• It was great to get a refresher on the science content.

• The best part of the program is the interactions that take place during the classes. I didnʼt feel like I was embarking on a lone educational journey, but could share my experiences and knowledge with others

• Overall it was a good program, with only the poor statistics class and lack of chemistry labs being remembered at this time.

• Excellent…

• I really liked the program, but I feel that my degree is not respected by the biology community.  I have been turned down from numerous jobs and I have had negative comments concerning an online degree.

• Loved it and have recommended it to several people without reservation.

• Wonderful. I learned a lot of information with great professors and it was challenging enough where I learned a lot.

• Lots of work! But I thought it was a great experience.  Of all the grad programs available on-line this one seems to have the most to offer

• I enjoyed the program drastically!!

• The program was excellent and allowed me to advance my career at the time and expand into a more direct role in the design of education. 

• It was fantastic - a great way for a full-time teacher to learn a lot more about life science that is relevant to my job, rather than to research a narrow field in-depth that may or may not directly relate to teaching 9th grade biology

• At first I doubted the rigor of an online degree, but if you wanted to earn an A in this program, you worked and learned like crazy.  It was NOT an easy program, but it was all the more satisfying because it was so challenging. 

• Being a part of this online program was academically challenging but also truly rewarding. The course topics and profs were most professional in their relationship w/students, giving us utmost respect as 'near peers' rather than young students, offering timely advice to further our research in each class. Instructors were experts in their fields and were able to convey information in a timely manner. 

• Overall it was a great experience, my comments on 5 and 7 were minor for me, but I could see where they would be a problem.

• This was the best thing I could have done professionally for myself to stay current with the changes in the field of biology. It also has helped me to better understand concepts that I did not learn as an undergraduate so that I can help my own students have a better understanding.

• I loved it! I have recommended it to others.

• I loved the program! This was the only program available at the time that allowed me the opportunity to earn my Masters in my content area while still teaching full-time.

• I enjoyed the program. Meredith did an awesome job of keeping things organized and running smoothly. The faculty and curriculum involved were excellent and challenging. It was just a great overall experience.

• It was great

9. Is there a course that you would like to see included in the program?

• Biological statistics, lab design 4 high school, marine ecology

• Forensic science!

• Botany and Entomology

• It would have been interesting to have a course on medical imaging, or radiochemistry.  I can’t remember if something like either of those were offered at the time I was in the program.

• I think additional chemistry classes should be offered.

• Some type of biotechnology course that focuses on laboratory procedures.

• I wonder if there would be any type of lab class possible within the online venue. I did take a physics lab class online from another university where they sent me a box of materials to be returned at the end of the class. That probably would not work in chemistry.

• Not really, if anything, more chemistry courses would be great.

• Maybe some courses on plants. If i have a weakness it would be in botany.

• How about offering a doctorate?

• I see several additional courses offered that were not available when I was a student, so I'm glad to see the expansion. Actually, I see several courses that I would love to take now for fun.

• Plant Pathology