Pols 102

In considering these comments, as with the 101 ones, it is necessary to realise that these courses will be completely reorganised (again!) in 1976. Ray Goldstein himself didn't like his lecturing in this course and will not be taking it next year. Consequently the remarks in his 344 course might give a better indication of his lecturing abilities.

About ¾ of the students made some general comments. The comments were split fairly evenly between good, average and bad, though comments were generally guarded eg fairly useful, quite interesting, could be more interesting. Clearly it was not the sort of course one would rave about either way.

Teaching: Many complained that lectures had too much reading out of notes and were too formal. There was insufficient room for feedback from the class. A fairly detailed outline of lecture content was given out to students, most of whom apprecisted it, while some suggested that it made the lectures even more rigid ie it restricted students ability to participate.

Content: There was the same old problem of too much to teach in too short a time. The course was run over only 6 weeks, and like 101, many complained that it was rushed and superficial. In a reverse of 101, many wanted Goldstein to start with an outline of the structure of the Government, rather than start with the social issues. Perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere. One student put this well "Perhaps N.Z.ers are less knowledgable in U.S. politics than was first thought". Many felt the text book to be too elementary for University students.