Unedited Student Comments

The following are unedited, anonymous comments from students who were enrolled in Construction Blueprint Reading. Similar comments are received every semester from students. The students were asked to fill out this survey at the completion of the course. The comments were made anonymously to allow students the freedom to say exactly what they thought about the course without worrying about jeopardizing their final grade.

Did the course meet your expectations?			% Responses
1 Absolutely! Great course			57%
2 Yes			43%
3 no opinion			0%
4 Not really			0%
5 absolutely not!			0%

Were the topics covered in a logical sequence?			% Responses
1 Yes, very logical sequence			100%
2 Mostly it was logically laid out			0%
3 no opinion			0%
4 Could have been laid out much better			0%
5 Very illogical lay out			0%

Please rate the quality of the syllabus. Did it contain all the information you needed to get started on the course?			% Responses
1 yes, very good syllabus			71%
2 yes, it was ok			29%
3 no opinion			0%
4 syllabus was not very good			0%
5 syllabus was useless			0%

Is the course easy to navigate and find your way around?			% Responses
1 Yes, very easy to find what I need.			71%
2 Yes, it's ok			29%
3 no opinion			0%
4 Not a very good system. I have a hard time finding my way around sometimes.			0%
5 Terrible system. It's hard to find anything.			0%

Is the grading system easy to understand and does it fairly assess your knowledge of the subject?			% Responses
1 Yes, very good system			57%
2 yes, it's ok			43%
3 no opinion			0%
4 not a very good grading system			0%
5 terrible system! Needs to be revised.			0%

Was the textbook and the accompanying blueprints helpful?			% Responses
1 Yes, very easy to follow and a good learning tool.			100%
2 They were both ok.			0%
3 No opinion			0%
4 For the most part, the textbook and blueprints were useless			0%
5 You need a new textbook!			0%

Was the online course material presented in an easy to understand method?			% Responses
1 Yes! Very well presented.			86%
2 Most of the time it was useful.			14%
3 no opinion			0%
4 The course materials were often useless			0%
5 You need to change most of the course materials			0%

Will you use the skills learned in this course in your current position?			% Responses
1 Yes, Absolutely!			71%
2 The skills I learned will be fairly useful sometimes			14%
3 no opinion			14%
4 The skills I learned will not be used very often.			0%
5 No, I will never use these skills			0%

Were the introductory audio lectures at the beginning of each module helpful?			% Responses
1 Yes, very helpful.			43%
2 They were useful.			57%
3 no opinion			0%
4 Not very useful			0%
5 A waste of time			0%

Did the instructor answer your questions and address concerns?			% Responses
1 Yes, the instructor was very responsive			86%
2 The instructor was helpful most of the time			14%
3 no opinion			0%
4 The instructor didn't answer questions very well			0%
5 Instructor did not know the material well enough and couldn't answer most questions			0%

Do you think you will take more online courses?			% Responses
1 Yes! I love taking courses like this			100%
2 Probably. Online courses are ok.			0%
3 Maybe			0%
4 Probably not.			0%
5 Absolutely not!			0%

What are your suggestions for improving the course? (write as much as you like)
I think the course was very good as an introductory course. I would like to see continuing courses that are more specific to certain areas of construction. This class was mostly building blueprints and other areas of interest would be great. The change order problems were great! I would make just one suggestion. The initial presentation of it at the beginning of the week was very good. I think that the additional questions or point of view that you posted in the forum on Wednesday to keep us on the right track or to provoke a more in-depth look at the situation were excellent and would be great to be done every week. This in addition to the second discussion question on the assignments page. In a course like this, it the forum that puts the information to practical use so the better the discussion the better the learning experience. The course was excellent. I could use a course that dealt with heavy construction specifically. I would like to see more time spent on commercial drawings. great job More details on the Change Order sections. I would like to see more homework and more detailed explanations

How much time do you spend working on this course each week? Include the time it takes to read the book and to complete all assignments.
12 hours I spend about five hours a week or more working on this course. I really enjoy every minute! The threaded discussions make this class stand head and shoulders about the other online courses I have taken and I have taken ALOT- I am receiving a bachelors degree through another online college! It does not compare to this course No Response I spend 4-5 hours a week on this. 10 hours 10 HRS I take between 4 - 6 hours each week. Some of this time is spent doing the practice quizzes and then looking up the answers which is a very good way to study for me. I enjoy the class discussions, because sometime other students inputs helps you to see something you missed. Sometimes the discussions are very time consuming because you are figuring out the change orders, but I think they are very helpful. I usually spend at least 5-6 hours, sometimes more. Sometimes I have to break down each sentence in the text unit to fully understand the meaning. Or I'll reread it until I feel I've grasped the big picture.

Approximately how long do you spend online each week working on this course?
3 hours I spend about 75% of the time on line so that I can compare the discussions etc. to what I am learning. It would help if my printer worked and my time would be cut in half No Response On line I spend about 1 - 2 hours. Depending on the discussion between 6 to 10 hours 10 HRS I probably spend about two hours on line. I copy and paste all of the course information into word so I can access it without being on line. If there is something that I want to study, I print it out, and read it in the living room in my "comfy" chair, so I actually don't study while I am on line. Most of my online time (unless we have an online assignment) is spent doing the discussions (either reading others' input or writing my own" probably around 3 hours or less. The discussions require some thought/time but most of the online reading is a breeze. I spend the most time with the text assignments at the end of each unit.

What is the greatest weakness or strength of the course?
The greatest strength of the class was the flexibility in doing your assignments on your own time. The only really drawback was occasionally it would have been helpful to have someone right there to answer a question about one of the blueprints, but mostly the class was very informative. The Change Orders presenting real-life problems are the greatest strength, along with the ungraded quizzes and the into to each module. The greatest strength is the discussion groups, it helps a great deal to try to work through it with all the other students different opinions and angles of looking at the problem. I would say the greatest weakness of the course is its length. You could make it longer to go into the trades a little deeper. The greatest strength is the knowledge of the instructors knowledge and the knowledge of the other students. I think the greatest strength was the combination of the online, text, prints and audio lectures. It kept it interesting plus if something couldn't be found in one chances are you could find it in one the others The greatest strength of the course was the format and all the resources a person had to turn to. The discussion groups helped make the class like it was being taught in person. I REALLY enjoyed the structure of the course. The discussions were great- it really made a big difference. I would like to see more difficult or detailed discussions

What should be added to the course or changed?
Nothing So far the course is perfect the way it is. No Response No Response The course is good. I would like to learn how to do quantity take offs. Is there a course that offers this information. I FEEL LIKE THIS COURSE IS EXTREMELY HARD TO KEEP UP WITH BECAUSE I PUT IN ABOUT 80-100 HRS A WEEK INTO MY WORK. I enjoy the course the way it is, however, from a personal standpoint, I wish the class dealt more with infrastructure drawings instead of so much building, but I understand why they are from a building standpoint. Infrastructure is more of a specialized area that not as many people deal with. I know this would me more work for you, but it would be nice if there were one or two "extra" modules that dealt with this specialty for those of us who have interest. They wouldn't be necessary for everyone, just those of us who are interested. nothing

What other comments would you like to share about any part of the course?
This is my first online course so I really have nothing to compare it to. I thing the thing I miss the most is direct contact with a teacher in the classroom. I think that I already made my comments- BRAVO Bob! Thank you for the killer class. I will definately sign up for more No Response I would be interested in a blueprint reading course that pertained to heavy construction drawings like bridges, fish lifts, etc. There are several of us at work taking blueprint reading courses. The other individuals are more interested in what we learn than their own courses. I feel I have chose the correct course. I HAVE LEARNED A LOT ALREADY WITH WHAT TIME I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SPEND ON IT. I enjoyed the parts of the class that had us checking out websites. It is always interesting to find out areas of information that are out there. You can find it on your own, but sometimes it is very time consuming surfing the web, and sifting through all of the stuff to find what you are looking for. When we did the assignment finding websites, I came across a couple of sites that had great links to other construction sites. Now I know where they are and don't have to surf to find them. I have enjoyed this class more than any of the others I'm taking. I really like the text/online/print(s) combo.

What final comments do you have regarding either the course or the instructor? You can write as much as you like in the text box.
I think this is a very good basic class for anyone within the construction industry. Even if you are not directly involved with the blueprints, I think you should have at least a basic understanding of how to read them and what is involved in putting a set of prints together. That helps you know whom to go to if you have problems. I found this course and the presentation of it to be great. The information was very relevant to the work world. I know I have learned a great deal and that my time and money was very well spent. Bob did a wonderful job in putting together the modules and the segments within them. The module quizzes asked for understanding the information that was presented. The textbook is an excellent supplement to the modules and Bob's expertise. I hope that as Bob's next classes become available, I receive a informational e-mail with all the enrollment particulars. It is my hope to continue. To Bob George and to SDSU, thank you for providing the opportunity for on-line learning that was very, very well done! The instructor was excellent. If we had questions he had the answers. The course was very helpful to my career path. I really enjoyed the course. Bob was very punctual in answering any questions that came up through the course. looking forward to taking more "Construction Experts" online courses I think the course was designed with lots of thought. I would recommend this course to anyone beginning to read blueprints. GREAT JOB BOB> THANK YOU!