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How My University Professor Made Me Re-Think My Approach to Getting Feedback and Developing Knowledge
Understanding and applying the professor’s philosophy behind mid-term feedback and oral exams, to work and learning
Out of all the courses I took in university more than a decade ago, I still think about one course to this day. That course was Algorithms for Bioinformatics — a 400-level course for those interested in the intersection between Computer Science and Biology. While the course content was interesting, the professor’s (Dr. Holgar Hoos) approach to teaching has made me re-think my approach to getting feedback and developing knowledge.
On getting and using feedback
About halfway through the course, I thought I was doing well in the class. There were assignments, quizzes, mini-projects, and I had been studying and completing these assignments and quizzes with good grades. Then, at the end of one class, the professor handed out feedback forms. Now, a note about the courses at UBC, the professors do not ask for feedback until the very end of the course. So as the professor is handing out feedback forms, I and other students are looking around confused about what is going on.
