the 96% man

A very good day of teaching at KMA today. It was the first time for me to teach my online-research course, Persuading with Evidence. I've had this class on the schedule for months, but it kept getting canceled, month after month, for lack of students. Finally, I had a chance to give the course a trial run. Today, I had three great students in the class, all of whom were alert, responsive, and creative as they figured out solutions to the various research-oriented problems I posed them. Many of their solutions were so creative that, at times, I felt they might have been teaching me. It was a really good group.

When the evals were eventually returned to me, I saw that I'd been given a 96% overall rating by the students. While it wasn't the hoped-for 100%, I'm not going to commit suicide over such a score. Compared to the flaccid eval results I had been getting as a university prof, a 96% is nothing to weep over, and it's a reminder that, yes, I can in fact teach. The students said they'd found the class useful, and that they'd have some good information to take back to their respective jobs. For my part, I learned from this shakedown cruise that I had overstuffed the curriculum: I could probably run the class using only half of the material I'd included in my 29-page packet. Then again, it's better to over-plan than to under-plan.

So, after having been in the Yeouido office from 9AM to 6:15PM, I left KMA tired but cheerful. This group of students was friendly enough to want to take souvenir photos at the end of class, so that's what we did. I wasn't given permission to slap the pics up on my blog, alas, so you'll just have to imagine what my photos look like.

Late this afternoon, my buddy JW was driving around Seoul with his son; he called me several times, while I was working, to ask me whether I'd be up for dinner this evening. I told him honestly that I was too wiped out to do anything other than schlep home. A shame; I'd like to see my buddy and his family sometime soon. I will, too, but only after I get some rest.


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