2012 Roberts Spring BFIT Student Evaluations

Student Evaluations of Teaching for Tracey Roberts (4122LAW86512 -
BASIC INCOME TAXATION)
School of Law Student Evaluations of Teaching
Project Audience 15
Responses Received 10
Creation Date Tue, May 15, 2012

Do you have any comments about the text or course materials? Please explain.
Students
1. Materials are helpful.
2. What don't you say about Professor Roberts? Totally terrific taxmaster Tracey! She is a walking encyclopedia on
tax!
3. The book was good in that it was a textbook rather than a casebook, but it has some areas where it really
confuses the topics. Professor Roberts did an admirable job of straightening these things out.
4. All course materials were excellently picked. Sometimes, the readings covered too much. I had no foundation
and would have appreciated a text that had more simple and easily explained introductions to each chapter. More
big picture, then detail oriented.
5. The casebook is written for students with background knowledge in multiple legal areas, such as real estate,
debtor-creditor and bankruptcy, agency and business organizations. While some law students have already been
exposed to these topics in prior classes, not everyone has, and therefore understanding the material can be
extremely difficult. Also, the book is poorly organized. The first chapter spends dozens of pages talking about
adjusted basis and income but the book doesn't fully define those terms until later chapters. Students can feel in
over their heads very quickly. A textbook that is more code-oriented and better organized would be of great value for
such a daunting topic as the US Tax Code.
6. I found the textbook and code to be very helpful. I do not believe the E&E should be required in the future,
because the textbook and code cover all the material required.
2/14

If written assignments for which individual grades or comments were given were
required, did they contribute to your understanding of the subject? For such writing
assignments, was there any feedback and was the feedback helpful to your
understanding? Please explain.
Students
1. Yes weekly worksheets and problems were done for class and both helped a lot in my understanding.
2. They were very helpful for understanding the material. I just used the materials from the class and didn't need to
outline to do well on the midterm, and that's a first.
3. Yes, the midterm was helpful.
4. The tax code is difficult to understand. Indeed, it contains about 3.8 million words! The textbook was good and
so was the Examples and Explanations.
5. We had a mid-term, which was helpful in affirming what Professor Roberts is looking for in an examination
response.
6. Yes, Roberts was excellent with feedback and holding us accountable with assignments. Had she not had
these assignments due, i would not have read as much and would have been lost more than I am now.
7. We were given weekly worksheets and problem sets to turn it. The worksheets and problem sets were very
helpful. The worksheets really forced me to look at and read the code, which otherwise I probably would not have
done. The problem sets were different, but helpful in forcing my to apply the concepts from the worksheets. I really
like how we alternated classes with having a worksheet due for the class prior to the problem sets. It helped to
clarify the concepts before tackling the problem sets which dealt much more with practical application.
3/14

If you desired to consult with Professor(Tracey Roberts), was he/she reasonably
available? Please explain.
Students
1. Yes.
2. Yes.
3. yes
4. Yes!
5. Yes, Professor Roberts was available after class and during breaks and responded to class forums and emails
promptly.
6. Absolutely. I regularly attended her office hours, and she would sit there, patiently, and work with me until I
understood, or gave up for the day. She was more than willing to meet with students, and encouraged us to do so.
7. Professor Roberts was always available for student questions and concerns.
8. She was available the one time that I went to meet with her the week of the final. I normally do not meet with
professors outside of class.
4/14

Did Professor (Tracey Roberts) generally reschedule classes he or she canceled?
Please explain.
Students
1. She never canceled.
2. Yes.
3. didn't cancel classes
4. No. Never cancelled.
5. Yes. I don't think she canceled any classes.
6. No.
7. N/A
8. I do not recall Professor Roberts rescheduling any classes. We met as scheduled.
5/14

Does Professor (Tracey Roberts) create a positive learning atmosphere by avoiding
negative stereotypes or other expressions of gender, racial, ethnic, age, religion,
national origin or sexual orientation bias? Please explain.
Students
1. Yes.
2. Sure
3. Yes, very positive.
4. good learning atmosphere
5. She was nice.
6. Yes, no issues here.
7. Yes.
8. Yes.
9. Yes. I found the class atmosphere to be very positive. The class was structured that the students were very
engaged as a whole, and it helped create a positive learning atmosphere. I noticed NO steriotypes or bias.
6/14

With regard to the law, does Professor (Tracey Roberts) encourage students to think
independently and critically? Please explain.
Students
1. Yes, asks open questions.
2. She let us ask a lot of questions and tried to give different viewpoints of legal interpretation.
3. Yes through worksheets.
4. yes. good class discussions
5. Yes. Always questioning the students. Good job!
6. Yes, as textual as tax is, there were several items where novel argument was appropriate, and Professor
Roberts pointed those out.
7. Yes, she does. Sometimes, however, she does not answer questions with a direct, simple answer. She is
encouraging of our independent thinking, but when we ask a question, she sometimes responds with a
complicated answer, when all we need to know is the general - yes or no. This could cut down on her headaches,
as well as class confusion. Keeping it simple with tax is the best way to go.
8. Professor Roberts frequently sought feedback and questions, and pushed us to give answers from our own
perspective rather than just telling us what the answer was.
9. She not only encouraged it, but required the students to think independently and critically through her
worksheets and problem sets.
7/14

Was there any teaching method or activity used by Professor (Tracey Roberts) that
was particularly beneficial to the learning process? Please explain.
Students
1. Yes, assigning worksheets, problems and readings in the supplemant were all helpful.
2. The worksheets and problem sets were a little overwhelming at first. I think there's a steep learning curve in the
class: If you can catch up with the material at the beginning then you're fine for the rest of the class, but if you
struggle with it at first then you're going to have issues throughout the semester. So maybe a little slower ramp at
the beginning would help -- or at least not hinder -- all the students.
3. Midterm and practice problems.
4. assigning worksheets (with the pertinentn code sections) and problem sets.
5. The new worksheets were outstanding. The tax bowl was super. Her outlines were rockin!
6. The worksheets for each reading assignment were very helpful to get us to focus on the necessary concepts.
7. The worksheets and problem sets. ALthough they took a lot of time, I learned more from them than I did in class.
I think groupwork with the problem sets might be beneficial in the future to cut down on time. Or, have less reading,
and more problems.
8. Providing a skeleton outline for us was an extremely useful method. Letting us discern for ourselves what to
retain from the material would have doomed many of us to failure - such is the nature of the Tax Code. Her outlines
and diagrams were very helpful to us.
9. I really found the worksheets and problem sets helpful. Although they could be tedious at times in conjunction
with the readings (a lot of time required), I learned more in this class than any class I have taken this year. I found
the midterm to be helpful, especially now that I am preparing for finals. I am much more prepared for this final
ahead of time than I would be otherwise. I liked the review sessions where we went over old exams, as well as old
bar questions. However, the "tax bowl" was not as beneficial as the review sessions where we went over old
exams and old bar questions. Although it was fun, I think time was better spent on the normal review.
8/14

What was your overall opinion of the teaching performance by Professor (Tracey
Roberts) in this course?
Students
1. Good.
2. She's a nice person and I think she when stuck to the worksheets and problem sets her teaching was very
organized. Sometimes she got sidetracked about nuances of the law, but that seems to be pretty common with law
professors.
3. Good.
4. very good.
5. Excellent.
6. Professor Roberts is appropriately very concerned with how students are doing in understanding course
materials, perhaps more than any other professor I have had at the law school. That is encouraging. I think she will
continue to improve with more experience in the classroom and become more comfortable. The materials call for
a high level of organization and things like the assigned problems should be worked out beforehand. But she is
working on it and will get better. Other professors don't even see that they should try at this kind of thing--she does,
and that is good. She has also embraced the Carnegie Report on legal education and is attempting to implement
some of its recommendations, which is also good.
7. She did a wonderful job given it was her third semester teaching Tax at UL. She's young, energetic, and loves tax
which makes up for the confusion that sometimes occurs in her class. Like I said, she understands this and
compensates with her productive assignments, and her availability during office hours. Less ums and digressions
during lecture would help, but I think that will naturally come with each year she teaches. Since being at UL, I have
had two fairly new professors, Prof. Tomain and Prof. Roberts, and both have not hindered my learning of the
material in any manner whatsoever. Its just that some professors who have been doing this for years ( abramson,
nowka, giesel, and rothstein) are smoother. That is all.
8. Professor Roberts is a good teacher with noticeable interest in the material. At times she seems as confused
as her students, but I assume that is due to the complex nature of the subject matter, not her own weaknesses.
She is patient with her students and works hard to help them through the challenges of the Tax Code.
9. Professor Roberts did an excellent job teaching the course. I learned more in this course than any course I have
taken this year. She really stresses the important concepts through the worksheets and problem sets. Sometimes,
she has difficulty "creating" or "finishing" hypothetical problems off the top of her head, gets jumbled, and doesn't
completely finish her thought. However, she is very clear and much more concise when going over material that
was prepared for class. I am really glad that I took Professor Roberts for this course. She is clearly a very intelligent
professor and has really made understanding a complicated subject as easy conceptually as I could imagine. The
class still required a significant amount of time and effort, but I believe that I am more prepared for any tax
questions on the BAR than any other subject I have taken.
9/14

Please indicate the appropriate response category. (Tracey Roberts)
Competency Statistics Value
Mean 4.21
Median 4.00
Mode 4
Standard Deviation +/-0.68
Standard Error (base on SD) +/-0.05
Population Standard Deviation +/-0.68
Standard Error (base on PSD) +/-0.05
1. The assigned reading in the text contributed
significantly to your understanding of this course.
If no text was used, do not answer.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 3.78
Median 4.00
Mode 4
2. You would recommend that the professor use
the primary text again. If no primary text was
used, do not answer.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 3.67
Median 4.00
Mode 3, 4
3. Course materials other than the assigned
reading in the text contributed significantly to your
understanding of this course. If no other course
materials were used, do not answer.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 3.89
Median 4.00
Mode 4
4. You would recommend to the professor the use
of these course materials again. If no other
course materials were used, do not answer.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 3.89
Median 4.00
Mode 4
10/14

5. Early in the semester the professor made
available a syllabus which effectively explained
the scope and outline of the course (topics or
pages to be covered) and the expectations for
the students (assignments, basis of course
grade, attendance).
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.67
Median 5.00
Mode 5
6. The professor s classroom presentations were
clear.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.00
Median 4.00
Mode 4
7. The professor was well prepared for every
class.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.33
Median 4.00
Mode 4
8. The professor included current developments
in the course area.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.33
Median 4.00
Mode 4
11/14

Please indicate the appropriate response category. (Tracey Roberts) (continued)
9. The professor distributed the workload
equitably throughout the semester.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 3.89
Median 4.00
Mode 4
10. Classroom attendance added significantly to
the learning experience.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.22
Median 4.00
Mode 4
11. The professor emphasized key points in class
discussion.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.00
Median 4.00
Mode 4
12. The professor regularly used the entire class
time.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.44
Median 4.00
Mode 4
13. The class met for the full semester or for the
time specifically stated on the syllabus.
Statistics Value
14. The professor treated students with respect
appropriate to the circumstances.
Statistics Value
12/14

Response Count 9
Mean 4.44
Median 4.00
Mode 4
Response Count 9
Mean 4.56
Median 5.00
Mode 5
15. The professor created an environment in
which students were encouraged to express
varying points of view and engage in meaningful
dialogue.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.44
Median 4.00
Mode 4
16. The professor displayed enthusiasm for the
subject.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.44
Median 4.00
Mode 4
13/14

Please indicate the appropriate response category. (Tracey Roberts) (continued)
17. The professor stimulated student interest in
the subject.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.33
Median 4.00
Mode 4, 5
18. You would recommend this professor to your
colleagues.
Statistics Value
Response Count 9
Mean 4.44
Median 4.00
Mode 4
14/14

2012 Roberts Spring BFIT Student Evaluations

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