Student Teaching Evaluations
You will find a summary of the student evaluations data for each course. In addition, I provide a complete list of written student comments organized by Positive Comments and Constructive Criticism. For each course, I share my reflections on the comments.
Student Teaching Evaluation Reflection
I have won the favorite professor award
from the Emerging Leaders in every year
since 2012, with the exception of 2016. I
have won the award for the Politics
Department and for the International
Studies Major. I even won the award in
2021 when the rules changed and only
a limited number of professors won the
award across all of Arts and Sciences with
not every department receiving an award.
While this is technically not part of the
student teaching evaluations, it shows
that my teaching enjoys great popularity
among students. I see these awards as
some of my greatest accomplishments
because of the meaning connections I am
able to establish with many of my students.
My student evaluations are some of my strongest aspects of this application for tenure. Over the past 9 years at SUNY Potsdam and from among over 765 students, I have only received a total of 5 evaluations that ranked me overall adequate and 1 that ranked me as very poor. During the time period under review 2017 – 2022, a total of 1 student marked me as overall adequate. All other students have ranked me as excellent or good otherwise. Of course, I do not know how common this is as many of my colleagues do not speak openly about their teaching evaluations, but I am going to guess that this puts in the top 20% of teaching evaluations or higher. When we
compare the overall satisfaction of students with my teaching between 2012 and today, it is clear that my teaching has always occurred at a high level of quality and appreciation with a slight upward trend especially during the time period under review.
During the period under review, the overall satisfaction rate at the level of excellent only drops below 80% during Fall 2019. In a majority of semesters more than 9 out of 10 students think I am an excellent teacher. I always try to give my best for my students and go out of my way to help. This
approach was of course particularly challenging since
Spring 2020, but I remained committed to doing whatever
it took to help my students. This approach was very work
intensive, but it seems to have been greatly appreciated
by students. After receiving an overall rating of excellent
from 100% of my students during Spring 2020, I was
humbled when I received this unanimous endorsement
again during Spring 2021. This is incredibly meaningful to
me. These numbers are a clear sign of the high quality of
my teaching. Even students who remark that my classes
are difficult and work-intensive still believe they are
getting a lot out of them and often underline my
expertise, dedication, and willingness to always help. It is clear to me that I am not getting these ratings because my classes are easy but because of the quality of my classes and my pedagogy. Students also appreciated the great amount of time I spent to ensure all of my students are succeeding. It was very exhausting, and my mental health suffered during this time, but reading the comments my students left me is healing and reminds me why I love what I do, even when it is hard sometimes.
In the graphs that I provide in this section you can see that I get high marks across all categories. I think it is noteworthy that I receive a ranking of 93% of students strongly agreeing that I am competent in my area of teaching. It is equally noteworthy that the only class in which I get a lower ranking is the WAYS 103 class and there only 80% of students strongly agree that I competent. This significantly lower trend can be seen across multiple categories – subject area competence, teaching effectiveness, and achieved learning outcomes. In some of these categories my WAYS 103 rating are lower than I have ever received in a course. In my entire teaching career, I have never had a class where only 60% of
students said that they have learned a great deal. in addition, in my last 20+ years of teaching, I have never experienced as many students as in WAYS 103 who thought that I am only adequate when it comes to teaching effectiveness (9%) and achieving of learning outcomes (12%). While these are certainly still very good teaching evaluations, it is important to note this significant difference. Colleagues, many of them
colleagues of color, who have taught courses explicitly
focused on race, have warned me about offering an
immigration course with a focus on race. They reported
that when they teach on race their classes do not fill as
well and their teaching evaluations are consistently lower
in those courses than their others.
While I certainly want to acknowledge that this was only
my first time teaching this course and there is therefore of
course room for improvement in a variety of ways, what
my colleague predicted has materialized for me in this
course. These are the worst teaching evaluations I have
received in significantly more than a decade. I still believe my WAYS 103 course during Fall 2021 was a very good course and with some adjustments, the course will be great the next time. By letting untenured faculty members teach WAYS 103, we are exposing them to the risk to present tenure applications that are weaker than they would be otherwise, because they have taught on a potentially difficult DEI topic.
Besides continuous updating of my courses in content and pedagogy, I am not planning to change my pedagogy fundamentally. I am overall, with the exception of WAYS 103, extraordinarily satisfied with my student evaluations across all my courses. I have found effective ways to teach and engage my students in upper- and lower-division courses. I hope I will continue to receive as many “favorite professor” comments in the future as I sometimes wonder if I am going to be able to connect less with my students at an older age. I am hopeful this will not occur and the late Dr. DelGuidice showed us how its done.
In the student comments I am providing in this general reflection, I want to focus on the time during Covid, where my work with students was particularly important and particularly effective. I asked my students to please just write a little bit more about their experience with me during the pandemic
and their responses both humbled and honored me.
After the student comments, you find short reflections
and examples of student comments for each of my
courses. I also provide links to all student teaching
evaluations for all my courses under review.
"Every single part that was due to read/watch weekly felt actually worth doing as there wasn’t a feeling of repetition. Felt as though each week I came out with new information I’ll carry for the rest of my life and has completely changed my outlook in future schooling as international studies has become my main focus."
Student in POLS 140 Spring 2021
"I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to take a course with Professor Popovic before graduating SUNY Potsdam. He is wholeheartedly one of the fairest and caring professors SUNY Potsdam has to offer. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable (every week he'd require that a student share a news article pertaining to a random country's current migration situation and without skipping a beat he'd be able to share information he has on whatever country was discussed) and passionate about migration but he also is honest with students and wants to provide everyone with the opportunity to pass. This has been an extremely difficult semester for me personally, but I have been putting in the effort to submit enough work to earn a decent grade. He has accepted late work and explained that he is also having a hard semester in terms of staying on top of his grading which helps students relate and understand that he does not expect more of us than he does himself. All in all, 10 out of 10 would recommend."
Student in POLS 359 Spring 2021
"The course was an enjoyable and educational one. Given the political times we are living in, I believe this course was the saving grace on what we need to remember that some of us are fighting. I enjoyed the overall course format. Though I struggle a little with the readings on Persuall, everything else was great content. the discussion boards were a saving grace, so were the various methods of receiving information such as videos and text combo, it allowed me personally to learn at my own pace. I am actually leaving this class capable of remembering information, which I cannot unfortunately says for many of my classes, it is quite a big deal."
Student in POLS 337 Fall 2020
"I had the pleasure of taking a course with Dr. Popovic in 2005 when he taught for a semester. I returned to SUNY Potsdam in 2019 and was really amazed at far how he had grown as a professor. I have really enjoyed my courses with him. He and I do not share the same political beliefs, but I have always felt that he valued the discourse as much as I have. His classes have a friendly atmosphere, and everyone is welcome, regardless of political affiliations. I can't really name any weaknesses. I am sure he has a few but after 3 courses with him I have not noticed them. Not the easiest professor as far as workload but does not ask more than we can handle. I look forward to taking another class with him next semester."
Student in POLS 337 Fall 2020
"Michael Popovic is the best teacher in the politics department hands down. As a matter of fact, he is one of the best of all departments and that is a popular opinion. I have so much respect for him as he has done so much for his students and the school during these challenging times. I would take multiple courses with Popovic if I could. He is very understanding of a student’s needs and is willing to work with them to make sure they succeed. That’s one of the best qualities a teacher can have, unlike a lot of the professors I’ve had at SUNY Potsdam who seemed to be lacking that ability."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
Of all 520 individual ratings across all categories, I have received a rating of "Strongly Agree/Excellent" from 82% of students , a rating of "Agree/Good" from 15%, a rating of "Neutral/Adequate" from 3%, and a rating of "Disagree/Poor" from 0.002%. I have received 1 single rating below "Good" since Fall 2018. N = 104
POLS 140
Introduction to International Relations
It is with great joy that I read the repeated comments on how knowledgeable and competent I am in providing students with the foundations for the upper-division courses in International Relations. Students also remark over and over that I take great care of my students and underline how much I go out of my way to help individual students. Even students who received an insufficient grade the first time around remark on how encouraging and engaged I am. One of my strengths that students mention frequently is my ability to make even difficult or abstract information accessible and understandable. They further state that the information I present is not just relevant for this class but their life in more general terms. This leads to a number of students declaring Political Science and International Studies majors and minors as well as students branching out by taking macroeconomics courses, for example. Some of the experiences that students mention the most as positive aspects of this class is my willingness to share my personal story in the context of the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia and the simulations, which I introduced in 2018. Students mention that the simulations give them another avenue to show me what they have learned in their reflections. Students enjoy the opportunity to apply the material learned and the repeated opportunities to interact with their peers. Many students also mention the value of Soliya’s Global Connect Program and more and more students go on to get cross-cultural facilitation training themselves to facilitate for Soliya.
Students complained for a long time about too many tests in class, but I believed that tests were necessary in intro to ensure that students really study the foundational terms and concepts relevant for upper-division courses and beyond. During the pandemic I abandoned the exams as they did not work as a virtual assessment tool. Now that students are writing content essays and guided reflections, I received no more complaints about exams since then and the educational outcomes have not declined. I am attempting this approach for the first time face-to-face this semester and I am looking forward to seeing the results. I have increased the quizzes in the class to still ensure readings are completed, but this allows the students to get tested on smaller units.
A lot of students coming from high school find my course challenging, which I fully understand, and some students mention that this is the most work intensive course they have ever taken. While this makes me wonder about their readiness for college and the workload my colleagues across campus assign, I do not want to simplify and lower the level of the class and will continue with my approach of finding other ways in which I can be helpful to them so they reach their full potential. While some students complain about the difficulty and workload, others enjoy the challenge and see value in becoming a better overall student through this course. Even though I think this course is manageable, I reduced the content slightly (<5%) during Covid and have maintained this reduction.
As I am now in my 40th iteration of this course this semester, it fills me with joy that I could not find a single negative comment from any of the students in the evaluations and I believe that the class was great and they learned a lot! I cannot imagine a balance that I can find for this course.
POLS 140
"I love this course. It made me declare my major to International Studies. I am so happy I took it."
Student in POLS 140 Fall 2018
"Professor Popovic is probably one of my favorite professors at Potsdam after this semester. He is also my advisor, and I have gotten to know him a lot better. He truly cares about his students and
wants us all to be successful. He has made many adjustments to our course work in order to better serve us during this crazy time. I think that he is my only professor that has initiated conversation
that allows us to speak freely about how we feel about his class and he has made taking his class very enjoyable. I am very appreciative of all that he has done for us, and I definitely would take another class with him in the future"
Student in POLS 140 Spring 2021
"I would certainly take another course with Professor Popović. We disagree on many topics but I feel that he is the most competent instructor I have ever had. I am careful about when to voice certain disagreements because the guy has a wealth of knowledge stored away. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to take this course."
Student in POLS 140 Fall 2019
POLS 200
Political Ideas
All other ratings were "Good" with the exception of one rating of "Adequate" in the student care category. N = 15
"Popovic is a great professor. He cares a lot about his students. One thing I love the most is that he is always available outside of class which has helped me a lot because sometimes I didn’t understand the readings because of language barrier. English is my second language."
Student in POLS 200 Fall 2017
By Fall 2017, I had POLS 200 well figured out overall even though it is not in my area of core expertise. I had thoroughly applied the dialogue approaches to this class, which gets great reviews from the students. I was always able to create a class atmosphere that allowed for engaged and constructive conversations where all student voices were heard. I was often impressed that I was able to engage all or almost all students at some point in the dialogues and many students stayed deeply involved in all conversations throughout the semester. I loved guiding and facilitating these conversations as I see true learning and great critical thinking going on in the room. Students also mentioned over and over again how much they enjoyed being able to interact and learn from and with each other. By this point I had my supporting short lectures well figured out and timed perfectly so they helped the flow of the semester-long conversation. Students mention that some of the readings are dense or difficult, but this is often part of the nature of a theory class. Thankfully, many students also mention that one of my strengths is my ability to make difficult concepts accessible to students, which clearly helps in this class. I especially like that over the years students mention over and over again how thought provoking this course is for them and I can tell that it often very much broadens horizons in people’s minds. As in all my evaluations many students remark on my care for students and my expertise in the subject matter.
There is no clear theme to the minimal constructive criticism I have received besides that the workload was high. If I taught the course again today, I would eliminate one component, which might help address these concerns but given how many students easily manage and enjoy the content, I will focus more on working with students who are struggling with the readings. And to the student who lamented that I intentionally did not discuss fascism in class, you were right. I should have already back then.
"Michael is my favorite professor. He runs the class extremely well and makes sure everyone feels comfortable to voice their opinions and makes a very safe space for dialogue. 10 out of 10"
Student in POLS 200 Fall 2017
"This course was interesting, especially because of how the instructor conducted the course-he let the students express how they reflected the authors arguments rather than just telling us. It was a way for us to interact in class"
Student in POLS 200 Fall 2017
"Professor Popovic is great at giving an open floor to allow students to voice their views on topics in class and challenge everyone to look at the counter argument side and on the pro side."
Student in POLS 200 Fall 2017
No ratings below "Good" were received in any category in either of the semesters. N = 20
POLS 335
International Conflict
These are amazing sets of reflections in my book. Students really underline all the work I put into making this class work and ensuring that they learn even under the extremely difficult circumstances of Spring 2020. Students remark how quick and how smooth my transition to online was and one student goes as far as to suggest that other instructors could learn from my approach. Students appreciate the consistency and the structure of my course. It was always clear for them what my expectations were and what they had to turn in.
Students also respond very strongly and positively to me sharing on a very personal level about my experience during the wars in Yugoslavia. While in the past I had gotten to a point that I was able to go through all of that without getting emotional, maybe the combination of the pandemic and Jan. 6 led to me getting emotional during class when we were getting to the most emotionally difficult aspects of personal experiences and the discussion of the Bosnian genocide. I think it is important for students to see what marks these things leave on a person, even 30 years later. I think it is impactful learning for students, even if it is a bit rough on me.
The only two pieces of constructive criticism I received in these sets of evaluations were that one student wished the course would have been intellectually more challenging. This student recognized that other students would not have been able to handle such high expectations, which makes me think that I was probably right where I needed to be. I wish the student had reached out to me, because I certainly could have provided them with more of a challenge. The other comments go in the opposite and typical direction for me in the sense that students say this course is a lot of work and that it is demanding and challenging. Since again students mention over and over that I always provide a lot of help when students reach out, I will maintain the difficulty and volume. The elements I brought into the face-to-face format, primarily the lecture series on cyber warfare, was well received by students, which means I will most certainly keep it in future iterations.
I am also extremely happy about the fact that students felt like they still learned a lot despite the pandemic and the virtual format in 2020. I think it is high praise when a student says that they learned as much as they would have during a regular semester. I was able to balance learning outcomes with a reasonable workload and a fast transition to the new format as well as I could have ever imagined under these extraordinary conditions. Looking back, I only wish it would have taken a smaller toll on me.
I devoted an extraordinary amount of time to being there for every individual student, no matter what the problem was that they faced. I spent many hours with students one-on-one helping them navigate this unprecedented situation. I am happy to see in the comments that students both saw my work and appreciate it. I do not think I could do as much as I did every semester, but the circumstances demanded I give everything I had, which I did. It was very exhausting, and my own mental health definitely suffered, but I did what I had to do for my students. I was so focused on my students’ success that I did not really pause and think about what I accomplished here until this reflection.
For my 2021 evaluations, I just encouraged students to take the time a write a little more about what they liked and did not like than they usually do. Many of them took me up on the offer, so I shared a few more than usual of the comments from the last iteration of the course. As with all courses, you can find links to all student evaluations below.
"The course content was very helpful and useful when trying to understand how conflict works in international politics. The assignments given for each class were mostly reading important texts
about conflict in a more traditional manner but also watching videos that were about media and technology and how these influence our lives and thus conflicts and wars. What I liked about the
content was the variety of their information, theories and opinions, e.g. we were not just given texts made about the United States but about the whole world, as well as texts with different inclination in theories such as the realist, liberalist, constructivist and so on. It was also very helpful that from time to time we revisited in class terms that were concerned with international relations as well. Another very original idea was to do a podcast instead of a long paper at the end of the semester. This assignment had different steps (case presentation, case prospectus, literature review, etc.) in order to be completed that made very much sense in order for us, the students, to engage with a specific case about international conflict and to feel as if we already have worked on the most part of the podcast even before we have to record it."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
"Michael has been my degree coordinator and advisor for the last two years and this is my first time being apart of one of his classes. I knew before hand that he truly cared about his students and helping them achieve, but taking a class with him only opened my eyes even more. Michael is able to produce the most engaging and quality classroom discussions I have ever had the pleasure of being apart of, and Potsdam is the second college I have attended. I believe his personal connection to the subject matter, his devotion to this field, and his genuine care for his students pave way to producing classroom discussions where practically every student is engaged. Michael stands out amongst all other educators I have had the pleasure of being mentored by. Any institution would be more than fortunate to have Michael be apart of their community. He is someone that everyone, not just students, can look up to for guidance and inspiration. Thank you Professor Popovic!"
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
POLS 335
"Dr. Popovic is a fantastic professor. He is extremely knowledgeable about his topic(s) of study and is really good at explaining things. Additionally, he has fantastic material for students to study from. Also, he has the most organized and consistent classes out of any professor I've had this year. This level of consistency has been extremely helpful for me this semester. He should be praised for this, and other professors should seek to emulate his class-structure during the COVID-times."
Student in POLS 335 Spring 2020
"Michael has been not only shown his expertise in the subject of International Conflict, but was so brave and kind to share his own experiences with the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia. He also
shows these attributes in every class he teaches and shows the deep intellectual understanding but grace while teaching and giving students helpful resources. Michael has also shown that he cares deeply for the material he’s teaching, but also for his students. Our classroom always has productive and respectful dialogue on difficult subjects and he talks on difficult subjects with respect and grace. This semester I personally have been struggling medically and Michael has been diligently working with me to make sure I am able to get the full benefits of the course while being accommodating to me and my health struggles. I have taken many classes with Michael over my college experience and I would recommend any of his classes to any student who wants an amazing professor and a kind amazing human teaching them."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
"An amazing and very caring teacher that is there for his student and try in any way he can to provide us with a safe class environment. I would definitely take another course with him and as a Neuro-divergent student, I feel that Mike's teaching style is easily one of the most effective out of all my professors and he always checks in on his student and advisees."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
"Michael has been not only shown his expertise in the subject of International Conflict, but was so brave and kind to share his own experiences with the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia. He also
shows these attributes in every class he teaches and shows the deep intellectual understanding but grace while teaching and giving students helpful resources. Michael has also shown that he cares deeply for the material he’s teaching, but also for his students. Our classroom always has productive and respectful dialogue on difficult subjects and he talks on difficult subjects with respect and grace. This semester I personally have been struggling medically and Michael has been diligently working with me to make sure I am able to get the full benefits of the course while being accommodating to me and my health struggles. I have taken many classes with Michael over my college experience and I would recommend any of his classes to any student who wants an amazing professor and a kind amazing human teaching them."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
"Michael's substantial expertise in the subject area is profound and impressive. His particular background and schooling have made him a perfect match in terms of educating on international relations. Michael consistently engages with students to inform and motivate on the content areas of the course. He asks insightful and thoughtful questions that are imperative when teaching a seminar style course such as this. Michael is fair in his grading, but genuinely wants to see students succeed and will do whatever he can to help and support. Furthermore, Michael's sincerity goes a long way with his students, and his thoughtfulness and kindness help the success of the class, the students, and the university. Dr. Popovic is my favorite instructor I have had at SUNY Potsdam and I would definitely take another course with him."
Student in POLS 335 Fall 2021
POLS 337
International
Political Economy
All other ratings were "Good" in both semesters with the exception of one rating of "Adequate" in the category concern for student progress. N = 26
POLS 337
"I very much enjoyed the layout of the course, the constancy of the material and due dates, and the straight-forward layout of what needs to be done. It was very easy to see what needed to be done when and the work needed to be completed was challenging in a good way, the material really made you think. Like the Oatley text and doing the policy exercises and reading the Frieden text and getting a full encapsulated aspect of international political economy. Because to learn the full spectrum, its economics, politics, and a great deal of history. I would also like to thank Professor Popovic for his dedication and help during this very difficult semester for all of us and understanding how much grief has been going on with the recent political climate and the pandemic. His teaching style was not only helpful and cohesive, but he was very understanding about late work and things coming up and genuinely cared about each and every one of us personally and academically and strived for us to do our best work."
Student in POLS 337 Fall 2020
"This is my fourth course with Prof. Popovic. His courses are always very demanding but I always learn a lot. Prof. Popovic cares about his students and wants them to do well."
Student in POLS 337 Fall 2017
I am happy that I changed my strategy in the fall (I had never used electronic evaluations until Spring 2020) and created time for students in class to fill out the evaluations. I received a significantly higher response rate and students were much more detailed in their comments. Overall, I am extremely happy with this set of evaluations. Let me first address the four pieces of constructive criticism I received and then review some of the positive things students have said.
Two of the four criticisms mention that the workload and readings were heavy. Neither student says that it was not manageable, but they both seem to imply or state that a bit less would have been good from their point of view. The workload had already been reduced by quite a bit for the course, but I can see their point. Had I known when putting the class together that in the future I would teach this class as I have since, I would have made even more adjustments. However, due to the significant uncertainty when it comes to economics courses in the International Studies major, I was only able to go so far with revisions this time around. I see not having a single student say that it was outright too much is an accomplishment under the conditions we faced.
One student mentions that they would have appreciated more lectures. This is a comment that I have received from students before, usually students who took my lecture-heavy POLS 140 Introduction to International Relations first. I think in part they are used to me talking to them and they enjoy my style of interactive lecturing. It is a fairly easy way for them to consume information. The guided class discussions and shorter lectures in upper-division classes put more onus on the students and not every student responds equally well to that format. In the end, I do not plan on changing the format based on this comment because I think my approach allows students to grow as learners and intellectually. The last criticism that I received was regarding my postings of Zoom classes on Moodle. Due to the overall workload, I was not always as quick to post the recordings as I wish I could have been. Almost no student ever looked at them, even if I posted them right away, so I made this task a lower priority on my to-do list. I thought it was not the most productive use of my time, but this comment shows that some students appreciate the ability to go back and review the session. I have asked my students this semester if they want the recordings and received next to no interest. I will ask again to make sure that a student like this one will not slip through the cracks.
Otherwise, the student evaluations for this class are extremely positive and make me feel very appreciated as a teacher. I again devoted a very significant amount of time to making sure that my students can learn and will do well. Students again mention how well the course was organized and how accessible I made the learning. The format that I am currently using in my virtual courses seems to work very well. It takes a long time to put such a virtual course together well, but these comments make all the effort worthwhile. Multiple students mention how much they overall really liked this course and that they feel like they really learned something. Students mention how much they enjoyed the materials I have curated for them and two go as far as mentioning the posted lectures by Sachs – not an everyday occurrence to receive positive feedback for fairly dense lectures. I think my contextualizing these lectures really helped them gain the most from the material.
It also makes me very happy to see how many students feel like I genuinely care for them and their learning and success. It takes a very significant amount of time to be this attentive, but comments like these make all the effort well spent. Being thanked for my efforts feels very special to me.
Let me close my reflections on the student evaluations with a quick summary. I achieved a very warm and welcoming learning environment that set my students up for success. Within this framework, I challenge my students to give their best and provide them with all the support they need to live up to the challenge, including being flexible, understanding, and attentive to their feedback throughout, which leads to truly interactive and collective success. While I hope we never have to go through anything like this ever again, I think I did as well as possible and surpassed my own expectations.
No ratings below "Good" were received in any category. N = 14
POLS 349
European Union
These evaluations underline a problem which I dealt with for a while and that was taking on so much work on campus that I would not get to my grading. Spring 2019 was one of those semesters, so I wholeheartedly agree with the students who lamented that they had to wait too long to get their graded work back. I have addressed this problem since then and do not get these complaints any longer. The only other criticism centered on being too ambitious with content. As you see in my course discussion, I already have plans to reduce the syllabus because I agree with the students’ assessment.
Through the implementation of the changes I mention in my class reflection, all other concerns that students previously had were addressed and did not resurface. Students remark positively on the policy writing project and see the value in it even if some mention that it was difficult. In the next iteration of the course, I will provide more support for the policy writing process in class as well. I will maintain the simulation final as many students verbally underlined how creative and interesting of a final it was after the evaluations had been turned in already.
Evaluations POLS 349 S19
POLS 349
"I believe that the readings were very useful along with the discussion because I was able to understand the material when I was confused. It was perfect having discussions on the most confusing book because I learned a lot more than reading on my own."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
"The teacher in this course not only cares about the course, but also cares about every individual student’s performance in class. He is always willing to take his time to explain, help with resources to write. He is very engaging, challenging, and gives you the passion to learn and always be n class which is rare. He is also engaging in the campus community and always volunteers to organize very important events. His lectures are very helpful and breaking up the hardest book into small sections was helpful and interesting."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
"Michael is the best professor I have taken classes with at Potsdam. It is clear the he cares very deeply about his students and love what he does. He always has a smile on his face and is more than willing to talk to students about academics or life. He conveys information well and I always learn a lot from his courses. The only criticism I have is that it was hard to do the policy papers without the previous ones being graded.."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
POLS 350
International
Relations Theory
No ratings below "Good" were received in any category. N = 15
POLS 350
The student evaluations I receive for this course are very encouraging. This is a difficult and very abstract theoretical course in which I expose students to new and often difficult to comprehend theories within International Relations. Students mention repeatedly that this course is hard, but they all seemed not only up to the challenge but enjoy it. I am glad that I am able to help them hone their critical thinking skills and practice their dialogue skills across difference. Besides taking out a few more readings to allow for longer discussions, I am extremely satisfied with the current form of this class.
The most common criticism concerns the timing of the course at 8am. Students often struggle with 8am, but in their work life after SUNY Potsdam most of them will realize that 8am is not an unreasonable time to start work for the day. I have offered to my department that I could also teach in other time slots, but so far we all agree that some classes at 8am are good and I am happy to provide them for the department. All other constructive criticism pertains to minor issues and shows that students may not fully understand the underlying pedagogy. To help with this, I will for example explain better why there is a maximum word count for their 4 major writing assignments.
Evaluations POLS 350 S19
"I absolutely love Michael Popović. You cannot find another professor on this campus who cares as much as he does. He is unbiased, incredibly intelligent and an irreplaceable aspect of the Pols/SUNY Potsdam. He is always an outstanding person and educator. His hard work should not go unnoticed."
Student in POLS 350 Fall 2017
"Professor Popović is one of the best professors at Potsdam and I cannot wait to take more classes with him. He wants all of his students to succeed."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
"Professor Popović is one of the best professors at Potsdam and I cannot wait to take more classes with him. He wants all of his students to succeed."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
"I think the four essays was a great way to help me understand some of the theories as well as gain an in depth understanding of my chosen international event. The mostly student run discussions helped evolve my critical thinking abilities."
Student in POLS 349 Spring 2019
No ratings below "Good" were received in any category in either of the semesters. N = 26
POLS 359
This is another course with which I am extremely happy. Students gave me amazing feedback for this course and both times they seemed to particularly enjoy the learning from the panel of migrant women along with the interviews they conducted with migrants themselves. This course requires a significant amount of guidance during the interviewing process, but through the weeks of preparation before the interviews, this assignment works incredibly well. Both the skill set and the content I provide for my students works incredibly well. In the '21 iteration I added the opportunity for my students to talk to a former Wallstreet journalist who asks good questions for a living. Students really appreciate being able to get expert help with their questions and approach. Besides the regular updating of the materials, I see no need to change anything in this course.
The most frequent complaint I received was again about the class being at 8am. The other common comment centers on the fact that the course had too many readings for this very talkative and active group. I reduced the content between the two iterations and more students found the course challenging but manageable. I also liked the suggestion of finding a way for students to share what they learned during their interviews. I will try to find a way to incorporate this student suggestion when I teach this course the next time.
Student gave me outstanding reviews regarding my online version of the course during Covid, similar to these kinds of comments in other courses I have taught during the pandemic.
POLS 359
"Prof. Popovic is by far my favorite professor in the Politics Department. This is the first class that I have taken with him, but I have seen that he truly cares about the course and his students. Professor Popovic worked to meet the class where we were. Many of us were concerned about one of the learning methods, Perusall, and Professor Popovic worked with us to make sure we were getting the most out of the readings. He restructured the way we engaged with readings, which tremendously helped myself and many other students. Not many professors are willing to do this. It has been an absolute privilege to work Prof. Popovic; my only regret is that I didn't take a class with him sooner!"
Student in POLS 359 Spring 2021
"This course was very clearly structured. The work and readings were definitely at 300 level and I learned a great deal. The readings were challenging, but palatable and there was no "busy work". Every assignment was meaningful and helped me contextualize the information being acquired."
Student in POLS 359 Spring 2021
"Michael has always been a very supportive and encouraging professor, and during this last year we've needed this more than anything. This school year has been hard personally and
academically, and without his support and guidance through these crazy times, I don't know what I would've done. This teaching style is so laid back and his passion for each subject truly shines through and makes me love the topics even more.
Student in POLS 359 Spring 2021
International Migrants
and Refugees
Almost all remaining ratings are in the category "Agree/Good". I received a rating of "Neutral/Adequate" when it comes to my teaching effectiveness (15%) and the impression of having learned a great deal (20%). No ratings below "Neutral/Adequate" were received. N = 20
Immigration in
the United States
WAYS 103
WAYS 103
"Part of me wishes that everyone would be required to take this course or learn the things I've learned. This class make me feel more knowledgeable on a variety of important topics that the media propagates on. In one semester of this course I gained a better understanding of U.S. history, and learned some very important things that reshaped my perception of the U.S. In some ways I feel this class taught me more about history than four years of high school did. I specifically enjoyed studying U.S. history through the lens of immigration policies, colonialism, and racism. When you learn history this way, it is easy to see how this country is quite literally built on systems of supremacy and oppression. The intersectionality of these issues so important to understanding how the U.S. functions. It's also really important to understand these concepts to make your own opinions, and be more educated on topics regarding human rights. I also gained a lot of skills that are valuable to me, that will serve me well for the rest of my life. Specifically communication and active listening skills, which when in use creates such a more complex and thoughtful conversation. I've begun to practice these things more even outside the class, and I definitely have been having richer conversations. I also gained some very important skills involving intercultural exchange through the use of the COIL program, and I feel very confident that I could be successful working with people from other cultures and countries. As a first year student, this class has also been very guiding in me shaping my own values, and determining my own beliefs as an independent adult. After taking this course I really believe topics like this need to become part of general education for all Americans."
Student in WAYS 103 Fall 2021
I already spoke about the relatively weak teaching evaluations I received for this course in my general reflection. The argument I made above is that the topic area of teaching DEI negatively influences one's evaluations, which is what some of my colleagues of color presented to me. When looking through my evaluations, this explanation is further confirmed for me. There are almost no negative comments about me or the course in the evaluation. Some students complained about the volume of work and not having enough time in class to discuss the reading more than we did. I agree with this comment and have already planned to reduce the content of the course by making changes during the first part of class. Then some students mention that they felt like I did not lecture enough, and they had to learn for themselves through discussion, while other students mentioned that they would have preferred less lecture and more discussion. I can very much appreciate these concrete suggestions and will work on them in the second iteration of the course.
Other than that, almost all other comments are positive. Students talk about how much I care, how much they have learned, how interesting the course was, how much they enjoyed the format, many students remark on how great the COIL project was and how much they enjoyed the opportunity to be able to meaningfully interact with the German students. Some students went to great length to explain what they liked about the course as you see in the one long comment I share there. I will make the improvement I discuss in my course reflection and wait for the next round of evaluations.
All this makes me believe that there are some students who do not want to learn about DEI and are upset that the Potsdam Pathways program requires them to take WAYS 103. I think they feel pressure not to explicitly state that in their written words so instead they write nothing or next to nothing and give bad evaluation grades instead. I want to be clear this is still a very good set of evaluations for a brand new course with a totally new applied learning component that required a lot of work but overall worked very well. I guess these evaluations are just the price one has to pay as a teacher when one wants to teach on race as part of the general education program of the college. Of course this will not deter me from teaching this and other similar classes, but the administration should investigate if there is a broader trend.
Since the comments the students wrote tend to be long for this class, I will share a wonderful comment that shows me that I have achieved my overall goals of this course and one comment that was very specific about their critique regarding the reading. I think the student is right on the money, which is why I am reducing content the next time.
"The course content was primarily reading-based. While the readings were always super fascinating, we didn't spend a lot of time going over them in class, and very quickly fell behind on being able to discuss them. When we did discuss them, the discussions became less thorough and shortened to meet timing requirements as the semester went on. On top of this, the reading load felt really heavy for a 100 level class. This isn't to say that I didn't enjoy doing the readings or find them important to the course content, but the workload and the in-class use of the workload felt unbalanced. That being said, I felt that the other work required in the course wasn't a super heavy load. The collaborative project with the German students was a really nice addition to the coursework, and something different from what was part of my other course's workload. I thought it was a fun, different approach to the content of the course as it related to immigration and gave a cross-cultural perspective that I don't think would have been part of the course otherwise."
Student in WAYS 103 Fall 2021