Student Evaluations
History Programme, Victoria University of Wellington
HIST423: Digital History, 2022
Excerpt from email from student Maggie Lindsay, 19 November (reproduced with permission):
I just wanted to say thank you for your lovely feedback on the final assignments, and for all your help and expertise this year. I took 423 as a bit of a challenge to myself and I'm really pleased with how it went. It's definitely re-shaped how I see history and historical works, and I think of all the classes in my degree, has positioned me most towards future employment. I really appreciate how you've run the year, especially under covid-conditions. Your enthusiasm for history and particular care for everyone's projects is so inspiring; I hope I can emulate your passion, generosity, and careful consideration in my future projects, historical and otherwise.
From anonymous student evaluations:
I really liked working in R. It was very exciting to learn something completely new, and I feel like now have a really good grasp on using R despite the fact that I only started doing anything like that this year. The way the R sessions (and other sessions) were accompanied by a comprehensive hand out was really useful. I also really appreciated the overall assessments handbook. I really liked how clearly it outlined the expectations for each assignment. I used it a lot to make sure I stayed on track as I was completing assignments.
This course was very accessible to me as a student with little experience in digital history. The extra videos on Blackboard about statistical analysis and using Excel gave me a very solid foundation to complete what I set out to achieve. An excellent aspect of this course is its customisation; every student could choose how much they wanted to challenge themself. I am very pleased with what I have learnt to do, and I have seen impressive results in my fellow students as well. I enjoyed the variety of assignments, I have been able to work on my academic abilities as well as other skills like giving presentations and writing blogs.
This was a new subject to me and has opened my eyes to the opportunities available to use digital tools in my research and also to share my research findings.
[Rebecca] 1. Took extra time to keep in touch with students and their assignments. 2. Encouraged student learning through presentations and student-led discussions, allowing students to have a hand in the content of the course. 3. Gave detailed instructions for assignments.
Rebecca has been extremely encouraging of everyone's work and respectful of everyone's ideas. I really appreciate how she prompted us to think carefully and explain our ideas thoroughly, so we could have robust and productive conversations. By helping us customise assignments to our personal strengths/interests, she helped me to gain new skills and grow as a historian. Rebecca is the only lecturer I have had in the last 4 years who has explicitly considered how assignments and teaching would impact us as job-seeking historians, and I am grateful to her for helping me produce work which I can present to future employers. Rebecca has also gone above and beyond in making herself available to us via email and zoom throughout the year, even while sick. While I hope that lecturers are supported within the faculty to work only the hours they are paid to, Rebecca's availability for questions is just one example of her hard-work and generous, individualised support of all her students.
Rebecca introduced ideas about using the data out of historical research to present findings in new ways and see patterns. It was great to get some hands-on coding tuition. Course materials and classes were well organised.
We were provided a range of software to use for our websites that was catered to our skills and given the freedom to decide what software worked best for us.
Excerpt from email from student Maggie Lindsay, 19 November (reproduced with permission):
I just wanted to say thank you for your lovely feedback on the final assignments, and for all your help and expertise this year. I took 423 as a bit of a challenge to myself and I'm really pleased with how it went. It's definitely re-shaped how I see history and historical works, and I think of all the classes in my degree, has positioned me most towards future employment. I really appreciate how you've run the year, especially under covid-conditions. Your enthusiasm for history and particular care for everyone's projects is so inspiring; I hope I can emulate your passion, generosity, and careful consideration in my future projects, historical and otherwise.
From anonymous student evaluations:
I really liked working in R. It was very exciting to learn something completely new, and I feel like now have a really good grasp on using R despite the fact that I only started doing anything like that this year. The way the R sessions (and other sessions) were accompanied by a comprehensive hand out was really useful. I also really appreciated the overall assessments handbook. I really liked how clearly it outlined the expectations for each assignment. I used it a lot to make sure I stayed on track as I was completing assignments.
This course was very accessible to me as a student with little experience in digital history. The extra videos on Blackboard about statistical analysis and using Excel gave me a very solid foundation to complete what I set out to achieve. An excellent aspect of this course is its customisation; every student could choose how much they wanted to challenge themself. I am very pleased with what I have learnt to do, and I have seen impressive results in my fellow students as well. I enjoyed the variety of assignments, I have been able to work on my academic abilities as well as other skills like giving presentations and writing blogs.
This was a new subject to me and has opened my eyes to the opportunities available to use digital tools in my research and also to share my research findings.
[Rebecca] 1. Took extra time to keep in touch with students and their assignments. 2. Encouraged student learning through presentations and student-led discussions, allowing students to have a hand in the content of the course. 3. Gave detailed instructions for assignments.
Rebecca has been extremely encouraging of everyone's work and respectful of everyone's ideas. I really appreciate how she prompted us to think carefully and explain our ideas thoroughly, so we could have robust and productive conversations. By helping us customise assignments to our personal strengths/interests, she helped me to gain new skills and grow as a historian. Rebecca is the only lecturer I have had in the last 4 years who has explicitly considered how assignments and teaching would impact us as job-seeking historians, and I am grateful to her for helping me produce work which I can present to future employers. Rebecca has also gone above and beyond in making herself available to us via email and zoom throughout the year, even while sick. While I hope that lecturers are supported within the faculty to work only the hours they are paid to, Rebecca's availability for questions is just one example of her hard-work and generous, individualised support of all her students.
Rebecca introduced ideas about using the data out of historical research to present findings in new ways and see patterns. It was great to get some hands-on coding tuition. Course materials and classes were well organised.
We were provided a range of software to use for our websites that was catered to our skills and given the freedom to decide what software worked best for us.
HIST316: New Zealand Social History, 2022
Rebecca approaches teaching in a creative way. She has helped me develop digital skills and writing technique. She is very approachable and encouraging. She helps for students to understand what is to be an historian.
[Rebecca was] always respectful and excited about what we had to say in class and really helped create a good environment for learning in the seminars. The seminars always helped to reinforce the wider topic of the lectures.
I enjoyed the tutorials that I got to go to. [Rebecca] lead great discussion with our peers. I enjoyed the Timeline Assignment. I thought it was really cool the way we got to interact with each other and read what everyone else had wrote.
[Rebecca] actively helped me with extensions + helping me get through work while having an incredibly tough personal semester. Was very forgiving and understand of situations.
Lectures were very well structured, and each topic flowed on well from the previous. [Rebecca] was always incredibly friendly and open.
Prompt response to all queries. Help with IT challenges as they arose. Excellent range of readings.
Really enjoyable lectures, from the music to the content, really helped me to engage with the subject. Amazing seminars, and was brilliant with the initiation of conversation and discussion over issues in the content. Very approachable, and I always felt I could talk to and ask about anything to do with the course.
Loved the digital element that initially terrified me. The course allows for a lot of choice. Great course to discover new aspects of NZ history. Loved the tutorials which were the best that I have been involved with, and it helped having a decent tutorial space.
I really enjoyed our weekly seminars, both online and in person. The online format was relaxed and personable, and I really enjoyed engaging with that. I really enjoyed the variety of assessment we had, using different mediums (including presenting in seminars) and technologies, which was exciting.
I really enjoyed this course. It has furthered my knowledge about New Zealand history as a whole.
Rebecca's engagement with me regarding assignments was very helpful.
The mapping assignment was a great way to make a short essay assignment more interesting and prompted me to put more time into it. The brief seminar assignments kept me engaged with the reading material and were useful for promoting discussions at seminars.
The seminars were great for really developing an understanding of the subject. The structure of the course worked to really understand how broad and diverse the area of social history is.
Willingness of [Rebecca] to personally respond to queries and answer them promptly. Excellent range of readings - they complemented other course readings.
Rebecca approaches teaching in a creative way. She has helped me develop digital skills and writing technique. She is very approachable and encouraging. She helps for students to understand what is to be an historian.
[Rebecca was] always respectful and excited about what we had to say in class and really helped create a good environment for learning in the seminars. The seminars always helped to reinforce the wider topic of the lectures.
I enjoyed the tutorials that I got to go to. [Rebecca] lead great discussion with our peers. I enjoyed the Timeline Assignment. I thought it was really cool the way we got to interact with each other and read what everyone else had wrote.
[Rebecca] actively helped me with extensions + helping me get through work while having an incredibly tough personal semester. Was very forgiving and understand of situations.
Lectures were very well structured, and each topic flowed on well from the previous. [Rebecca] was always incredibly friendly and open.
Prompt response to all queries. Help with IT challenges as they arose. Excellent range of readings.
Really enjoyable lectures, from the music to the content, really helped me to engage with the subject. Amazing seminars, and was brilliant with the initiation of conversation and discussion over issues in the content. Very approachable, and I always felt I could talk to and ask about anything to do with the course.
Loved the digital element that initially terrified me. The course allows for a lot of choice. Great course to discover new aspects of NZ history. Loved the tutorials which were the best that I have been involved with, and it helped having a decent tutorial space.
I really enjoyed our weekly seminars, both online and in person. The online format was relaxed and personable, and I really enjoyed engaging with that. I really enjoyed the variety of assessment we had, using different mediums (including presenting in seminars) and technologies, which was exciting.
I really enjoyed this course. It has furthered my knowledge about New Zealand history as a whole.
Rebecca's engagement with me regarding assignments was very helpful.
The mapping assignment was a great way to make a short essay assignment more interesting and prompted me to put more time into it. The brief seminar assignments kept me engaged with the reading material and were useful for promoting discussions at seminars.
The seminars were great for really developing an understanding of the subject. The structure of the course worked to really understand how broad and diverse the area of social history is.
Willingness of [Rebecca] to personally respond to queries and answer them promptly. Excellent range of readings - they complemented other course readings.
HIST310: Digital History, 2021/2
Rebecca! She made the course engaging and interesting throughout. Cannot stress this enough. The assignments were the best way to learn. I found them hard but once I got stuck into them they definitely helped me to understand more clearly the skills we were trying to learn. I am not great with anything digital and so sometimes I felt very overwhelmed, but ultimately digital skills and understanding is something we need to know going forward and I'm glad this course was available. I think it is disappointing that in my final year of study this course was the first to focus on digital skills we can take into 'the real' world (but not be a straight digital class if that makes sense).
Rebecca was very eager and forthcoming about feedback and class announcements. I never felt as though I was bombarded with information and knew that if I had any difficulties, Rebecca would not hesitate to reach out to me.
When conducting the course, Rebecca maintained a high level of professionalism and transparency, distinguishing herself from other teaching staff.
The Instructor Rebecca was always available to answer questions, explained everything in an effective, easy to understand way, and was understanding of people's situations in regards to due dates, etc
The enthusiasm and expertise for the subject that Rebecca Lenihan conveyed was motivating.
Rebecca's communications were first-class: very positive, clear, professional and informative. I thank Rebecca very much for an excellent course and superb effort. Rebecca's online tutorials were well presented, easy to access, and very informative. I found it easy to comprehend the course requirements and how to go about accessing the information I needed.
Highly knowledgeable about the subject area and open to hearing and engaging with different perspectives.
Very much encouraging outside-the-box thinking and provided a lot of freedom with the series of assignments.
Compared to previous history courses, the Blackboard page was easy to navigate and succinct. I never felt as if I had to personally email Rebecca to clarify something, so I was able to spend more time finishing assignments for my summer courses. The same could be said about the assignment booklet.
Good slides and presentations. Engaged with the class through blackboard even tough class was entirely online, she created a space for learning and encouraged discussion. Helpful feedback on assessments.
I found this course extremely valuable, and appreciated getting to learn practical digital skills that will be useful beyond University - I wish I had taken this course much earlier!
Rebecca was awesome at responding to any questions and gave extremely helpful feedback on assignments. Thanks Rebecca for organising such a great course - I feel like I have got a lot out of it.
Its clear when you have a lecturer who is passionate about their topic. Rebecca always speaks and writes with great passion for the medium of digital history.
The understanding that each student is bringing their own focus into the paper never seemed like a burden for her.
Provided clear feedback for us. Let us have flexibility in our research time and lovely to interact with.
I found this teacher to be really great with feedback but also getting me to think better when I emailed her for help. I emailed her quite a few times and each time the replies would be very detailed and encourage me to think differently or look at different perspectives. Throughout my time at Victoria University I have very rarely had lecturers that do this and I was very grateful to this teacher.
Real-life skills focused on and critical perspectives explored, quite different to other history papers I have studied in the past. Lecturer friendly, informative and engaging. Discussion board combined with assessments to cover different areas of learning.
Utilizing research from previous essays was an excellent exersize as this helped me to gain an even deeper understanding of my subject. I was also stimulated by the prospect that my work would actually have some application after completion - my class mates may view my work, and also my family and friends, and potentially future employers. This is a contrast to other essays which have either been disposed of, or are covered in mothballs!
Going away from more traditional academic outputs helped me see different ways of approaching things.
Good, broad range of readings and focus points.
Understanding that digital outputs are far ranging and that participating in it has given me more of a respect for people producing it. (It’s hard work)
I enjoyed the discussion board format in the place of online tutorials, I found that conversation flowed more and it was great to hear from everyone
I liked the non-structured lessons as it meant I could frontload them before Christmas, and have a lot of time to work on my digital output
The lessons were straightforward and practical, not just for the assignments. The skills taught were transferrable and I will be incorporating some of these skills in other courses this year :)
I liked the discussion board posts and how they allowed us to interact with each other remotely. I also liked that the readings were more like normal history.
I liked the amount of feedback we got on assignments - very helpful to know where we stand especially after the proposal.
I really liked the workshops. The combination of PDF and Vstream really worked. The workshops were succinct, which really helps. The weekly discussions were also helpful.
Overall this course helped me understand the importance of digital skills and how they can be
transferred and developed outside of uni students
The readings were clearly organised and easily accessible which helped my learning
The flexibility of subjects for our assignments meant that the learning was interesting for us
Another thing was quite often the stuff we were learning was related to the real world. We weren't just being taught something for the sake of it, there was a point and she told us how these skills could be used once we leave university. It is great to have a teacher that thinks of us outside of university life, and in the working world.
I really appreciated the detailed feedback and assistance with my assignments. I felt like I could initiate conversations around how to improve things, or where I was stuck. I also really liked the freedom around how we could access lessons, meaning I could study around other commitments and front load the course.
The workshop materials taught the subject in an engaging way
Rebecca! She made the course engaging and interesting throughout. Cannot stress this enough. The assignments were the best way to learn. I found them hard but once I got stuck into them they definitely helped me to understand more clearly the skills we were trying to learn. I am not great with anything digital and so sometimes I felt very overwhelmed, but ultimately digital skills and understanding is something we need to know going forward and I'm glad this course was available. I think it is disappointing that in my final year of study this course was the first to focus on digital skills we can take into 'the real' world (but not be a straight digital class if that makes sense).
Rebecca was very eager and forthcoming about feedback and class announcements. I never felt as though I was bombarded with information and knew that if I had any difficulties, Rebecca would not hesitate to reach out to me.
When conducting the course, Rebecca maintained a high level of professionalism and transparency, distinguishing herself from other teaching staff.
The Instructor Rebecca was always available to answer questions, explained everything in an effective, easy to understand way, and was understanding of people's situations in regards to due dates, etc
The enthusiasm and expertise for the subject that Rebecca Lenihan conveyed was motivating.
Rebecca's communications were first-class: very positive, clear, professional and informative. I thank Rebecca very much for an excellent course and superb effort. Rebecca's online tutorials were well presented, easy to access, and very informative. I found it easy to comprehend the course requirements and how to go about accessing the information I needed.
Highly knowledgeable about the subject area and open to hearing and engaging with different perspectives.
Very much encouraging outside-the-box thinking and provided a lot of freedom with the series of assignments.
Compared to previous history courses, the Blackboard page was easy to navigate and succinct. I never felt as if I had to personally email Rebecca to clarify something, so I was able to spend more time finishing assignments for my summer courses. The same could be said about the assignment booklet.
Good slides and presentations. Engaged with the class through blackboard even tough class was entirely online, she created a space for learning and encouraged discussion. Helpful feedback on assessments.
I found this course extremely valuable, and appreciated getting to learn practical digital skills that will be useful beyond University - I wish I had taken this course much earlier!
Rebecca was awesome at responding to any questions and gave extremely helpful feedback on assignments. Thanks Rebecca for organising such a great course - I feel like I have got a lot out of it.
Its clear when you have a lecturer who is passionate about their topic. Rebecca always speaks and writes with great passion for the medium of digital history.
The understanding that each student is bringing their own focus into the paper never seemed like a burden for her.
Provided clear feedback for us. Let us have flexibility in our research time and lovely to interact with.
I found this teacher to be really great with feedback but also getting me to think better when I emailed her for help. I emailed her quite a few times and each time the replies would be very detailed and encourage me to think differently or look at different perspectives. Throughout my time at Victoria University I have very rarely had lecturers that do this and I was very grateful to this teacher.
Real-life skills focused on and critical perspectives explored, quite different to other history papers I have studied in the past. Lecturer friendly, informative and engaging. Discussion board combined with assessments to cover different areas of learning.
Utilizing research from previous essays was an excellent exersize as this helped me to gain an even deeper understanding of my subject. I was also stimulated by the prospect that my work would actually have some application after completion - my class mates may view my work, and also my family and friends, and potentially future employers. This is a contrast to other essays which have either been disposed of, or are covered in mothballs!
Going away from more traditional academic outputs helped me see different ways of approaching things.
Good, broad range of readings and focus points.
Understanding that digital outputs are far ranging and that participating in it has given me more of a respect for people producing it. (It’s hard work)
I enjoyed the discussion board format in the place of online tutorials, I found that conversation flowed more and it was great to hear from everyone
I liked the non-structured lessons as it meant I could frontload them before Christmas, and have a lot of time to work on my digital output
The lessons were straightforward and practical, not just for the assignments. The skills taught were transferrable and I will be incorporating some of these skills in other courses this year :)
I liked the discussion board posts and how they allowed us to interact with each other remotely. I also liked that the readings were more like normal history.
I liked the amount of feedback we got on assignments - very helpful to know where we stand especially after the proposal.
I really liked the workshops. The combination of PDF and Vstream really worked. The workshops were succinct, which really helps. The weekly discussions were also helpful.
Overall this course helped me understand the importance of digital skills and how they can be
transferred and developed outside of uni students
The readings were clearly organised and easily accessible which helped my learning
The flexibility of subjects for our assignments meant that the learning was interesting for us
Another thing was quite often the stuff we were learning was related to the real world. We weren't just being taught something for the sake of it, there was a point and she told us how these skills could be used once we leave university. It is great to have a teacher that thinks of us outside of university life, and in the working world.
I really appreciated the detailed feedback and assistance with my assignments. I felt like I could initiate conversations around how to improve things, or where I was stuck. I also really liked the freedom around how we could access lessons, meaning I could study around other commitments and front load the course.
The workshop materials taught the subject in an engaging way
HIST228: Digital History, 2021/2
[Rebecca] replied to emails promptly, even at strange times of day and was always very helpful. The course outline was excellent and gave me all the information I needed. She gave insightful and useful critique and praise on assignments that showed she had engaged deeply with the submission. Please run this course again as others deserve to learn all the wonderful things I have learnt from Rebecca.
[Rebecca] made things very clear in her writing/announcements. She also was very quick to reply to any queries whilst also giving really good feedback on our assignments.
Getting in touch with the course coordinator was simple and the response to the email and questions were helpful and allowed me to understand the topic further
Great feedback and encouragement as well as solid advice for the assignments
I really enjoyed creating my own topic and questions, and figuring out how they would work in a digital context. Working alongside the videos helped me learn by doing rather than just watch.
Getting to choose my own topics was helpful as I wasn't thrown into the deep end trying to learn new ways to view historical data as well as trying to learn a new topic
Being able to design my own research project was very valuable, and the digitisation assignment requiring quantitative thinking brought a new element into my historical thinking
Vstream [workshop videos], assessments, [and] weekly readings were particular good
Discussion boards [assignment] and assignment booklet
[Rebecca] framed the whole course in terms of relevance to future work or study, explicitly outlining how the skills and knowledge are applicable and covering more of this relevant content than other courses.
Clear demonstration of the skills through both written and videoed content
Flexibility and responsiveness to individual circumstances
Good content choice and delivery, very, very well paced, great expectation management
Great feedback and quick response
Having students run the discussion boards made them more engaging, video recordings
demonstrating different programmes made it easier to understand.
[Rebecca] replied to emails promptly, even at strange times of day and was always very helpful. The course outline was excellent and gave me all the information I needed. She gave insightful and useful critique and praise on assignments that showed she had engaged deeply with the submission. Please run this course again as others deserve to learn all the wonderful things I have learnt from Rebecca.
[Rebecca] made things very clear in her writing/announcements. She also was very quick to reply to any queries whilst also giving really good feedback on our assignments.
Getting in touch with the course coordinator was simple and the response to the email and questions were helpful and allowed me to understand the topic further
Great feedback and encouragement as well as solid advice for the assignments
I really enjoyed creating my own topic and questions, and figuring out how they would work in a digital context. Working alongside the videos helped me learn by doing rather than just watch.
Getting to choose my own topics was helpful as I wasn't thrown into the deep end trying to learn new ways to view historical data as well as trying to learn a new topic
Being able to design my own research project was very valuable, and the digitisation assignment requiring quantitative thinking brought a new element into my historical thinking
Vstream [workshop videos], assessments, [and] weekly readings were particular good
Discussion boards [assignment] and assignment booklet
[Rebecca] framed the whole course in terms of relevance to future work or study, explicitly outlining how the skills and knowledge are applicable and covering more of this relevant content than other courses.
Clear demonstration of the skills through both written and videoed content
Flexibility and responsiveness to individual circumstances
Good content choice and delivery, very, very well paced, great expectation management
Great feedback and quick response
Having students run the discussion boards made them more engaging, video recordings
demonstrating different programmes made it easier to understand.
HIST423: Digital History, 2019
The student led seminars enabled in-depth comprehension and discussion of a number of topics, and allowed me to engage in the content in a way that wouldn't have been possible if it was lecturer-led. Getting students to choose their readings was helpful as it meant the readings were more relevant to student interests while still being educational and serving their teaching purpose
Having the two hour workshops was really useful, and material provided beforehand was helpful for understanding the background to the tools used in those which was super helpful. I enjoyed the seminar structure as well. Going really in depth on two topics was interesting and the seminars run by everyone else were always engaging. The discussion format was really helpful here as
well.
It was a very supportive environment, with constant feedback and discussion, making sure that whenever we were uncertain about something, there was help available.
I would say that the website itself, when I was actually able to engage fully with it was an incredibly stimulating and rewarding assessment. The idea that it was be something that I could put out to the public made me engage with the assessments in a completely different, probably more thorough way.
Rebecca was always available (either in person or over email) to answer niggly technical questions (and provide an expert response in simple not so technical language). This was a huge benefit and much appreciated.
Rebecca always came prepared for each class with specific ideas/questions. She showed passion for the subject
Just being as readily available as you were, it was really helpful for when I finally clicked on how to do the digitisation in particular. Also thank you for the tailored suggestion sheets for the website, I appreciate the effort that went into that and it made the website much less daunting. This course was a massive learning curve for me so I found the whole thing stimulating to be honest!
Made sure to speak to every member of the class individually, to ensure that no one was falling behind. Was an active member of the class, helping to stimulate discussion, rather than sitting back and observing.
The in-depth assignment outlines were really helpful, and the constructive contribution during student-led discussion helped keep the discussions on track and provided an important perspective.
The student led seminars enabled in-depth comprehension and discussion of a number of topics, and allowed me to engage in the content in a way that wouldn't have been possible if it was lecturer-led. Getting students to choose their readings was helpful as it meant the readings were more relevant to student interests while still being educational and serving their teaching purpose
Having the two hour workshops was really useful, and material provided beforehand was helpful for understanding the background to the tools used in those which was super helpful. I enjoyed the seminar structure as well. Going really in depth on two topics was interesting and the seminars run by everyone else were always engaging. The discussion format was really helpful here as
well.
It was a very supportive environment, with constant feedback and discussion, making sure that whenever we were uncertain about something, there was help available.
I would say that the website itself, when I was actually able to engage fully with it was an incredibly stimulating and rewarding assessment. The idea that it was be something that I could put out to the public made me engage with the assessments in a completely different, probably more thorough way.
Rebecca was always available (either in person or over email) to answer niggly technical questions (and provide an expert response in simple not so technical language). This was a huge benefit and much appreciated.
Rebecca always came prepared for each class with specific ideas/questions. She showed passion for the subject
Just being as readily available as you were, it was really helpful for when I finally clicked on how to do the digitisation in particular. Also thank you for the tailored suggestion sheets for the website, I appreciate the effort that went into that and it made the website much less daunting. This course was a massive learning curve for me so I found the whole thing stimulating to be honest!
Made sure to speak to every member of the class individually, to ensure that no one was falling behind. Was an active member of the class, helping to stimulate discussion, rather than sitting back and observing.
The in-depth assignment outlines were really helpful, and the constructive contribution during student-led discussion helped keep the discussions on track and provided an important perspective.
HIST317: British and Irish Migration to New Zealand, 2018
The format of the tutorials was great in that we were presented with ideas, information or techniques in the first hour and then got to spend the second practising them. I also thought that the assessments were very well designed to take us through the entire research process and really develop our understanding of the practicalities and interesting potential paths to take when it comes to
developing a research essay. This will really help me when I move into Honours and a future career.
Assignment brief document was extremely well explained, clear and easy to navigate. The digital presentation the assignments made me think about the subject in a different more dynamic way.
Finding own families journey to New Zealand, the music at the start of lectures
It was useful that this course focused on assignments applicable to the workplace rather than just heaps of essays.
I learned to not just write on historical events or time periods but also how to show meaning through other methods(spreadsheets and visualizations). I was unfamiliar with the nature of any of these assignments, but now I understand how to go about digitisation
Understanding history as something which is not reserved for monarchs and army generals but forms the basis of the lives we lead, how we came to be here, and so on, is an aspect of the subject I have always enjoyed but had not yet encountered at university.
Learning about different ways to present information via the seminars was very helpful especially for completing the assignments but I can imagine it will also be helpful in real life.
Having time to play around with examples really helped to make information clear and give us a chance to practise what we were to be doing for assignments with feedback.
Rebecca is very passionate about this subject and it has made the learning of this course very interesting and easy. She is super helpful when emailing for feedback and advice on assignments, and has been an awesome lecturer! 100% would take this course again.
The different style of assignments has really been helpful, as it's not something that you learn in other history courses. It has made the class very stimulating.
The seminars were unique in what they dealt with and how they were taught. I thought they were great. In the same vein, the assignments challenged me to work in a new way and tackle things which I had not done before.
What Rebecca has assigned has been really different I didn't know about writing a blog post or doing digital outputs which I thought was super helpful. It was a shake up from past history courses which I've enjoyed!
Genuine interest in the subject, well put together lectures, quality folk music before class
Her understanding of what it's like to be a student, demonstrated by her frank advice and clear approach really helped me. The document she provided outlining what was required for each assessment was invaluable and instrumental in my success and enjoyment of each assessment. In many classes half the problem is working out what the teacher is asking for but I did not encounter that difficulty here. Rebecca was also very responsive to any email queries and provided comprehensive answers or explanations. The fact that she was happy to provide extensions around clashes with assessment due dates for other classes was also incredibly helpful for me this trimester. It was lovely to get to feel like the work I handed in was the highest quality my undivided attention could provide rather than the best compromise I could manage under pressure and time constraints from other courses.
Incorporated music and videos into the lectures.
Overall she has been very understanding and helpful, which has helped throughout this trimester.
Was extremely well organised with the course documentation.
Gave highly detailed and constructive feedback on assignments, ensuring I knew exactly what I needed
to improve on in the future
Rebecca communicates lectures in a way that is easy to understand. Each slide is relevant to what she is saying and I appreciate the use of media throughout the lectures. I like how the lectures relate back to the readings as I have found through some history courses they become lost/ not discussed.
Rebecca has been respectful of personal matters and allows her students to do well in this regard by offering extensions and available help when needed.
Rebecca is a very approachable lecturer and rather than stating issues in your work she offers solutions/ ways for you to move forward.
Rebecca is super knowledgeable and conveyed this well in her tutorials. She is very helpful when you approach her with questions, and if she doesn't know the answer she tries to find out for you. She encourages learning outside of class and does her best to lead you in the right direction.
Rebecca spent time coming around and helping us work through specific examples of how to make graphs and visualisations etc which really helped me as I had not used much of excel or story map etc. before.
Rebecca was incredibly good at teaching the topic, she is very knowledgeable and knows the subject like the back of her hand which helped us learn as we wanted to be just as knowledgeable.
She helped me transition from traditional essay writing to more in depth and varied writing. Also helped me think clearly on subjects I am not as interested in.
The feedback on assignments from Rebecca was very helpful, especially on the proposal assignment. Rebecca was also very helpful in the lead up to assignments and always happy to answer questions.
The lectures were easy to follow with the slides especially having a good amount of information and depictions on each topic. Rebecca has an engaging way of teaching and I especially got a lot out of the seminars.
Being given practical skills for history research was fantastic, and gave a really good insight into what it would be like to pursue a career in historical research.
The format of the tutorials was great in that we were presented with ideas, information or techniques in the first hour and then got to spend the second practising them. I also thought that the assessments were very well designed to take us through the entire research process and really develop our understanding of the practicalities and interesting potential paths to take when it comes to
developing a research essay. This will really help me when I move into Honours and a future career.
Assignment brief document was extremely well explained, clear and easy to navigate. The digital presentation the assignments made me think about the subject in a different more dynamic way.
Finding own families journey to New Zealand, the music at the start of lectures
It was useful that this course focused on assignments applicable to the workplace rather than just heaps of essays.
I learned to not just write on historical events or time periods but also how to show meaning through other methods(spreadsheets and visualizations). I was unfamiliar with the nature of any of these assignments, but now I understand how to go about digitisation
Understanding history as something which is not reserved for monarchs and army generals but forms the basis of the lives we lead, how we came to be here, and so on, is an aspect of the subject I have always enjoyed but had not yet encountered at university.
Learning about different ways to present information via the seminars was very helpful especially for completing the assignments but I can imagine it will also be helpful in real life.
Having time to play around with examples really helped to make information clear and give us a chance to practise what we were to be doing for assignments with feedback.
Rebecca is very passionate about this subject and it has made the learning of this course very interesting and easy. She is super helpful when emailing for feedback and advice on assignments, and has been an awesome lecturer! 100% would take this course again.
The different style of assignments has really been helpful, as it's not something that you learn in other history courses. It has made the class very stimulating.
The seminars were unique in what they dealt with and how they were taught. I thought they were great. In the same vein, the assignments challenged me to work in a new way and tackle things which I had not done before.
What Rebecca has assigned has been really different I didn't know about writing a blog post or doing digital outputs which I thought was super helpful. It was a shake up from past history courses which I've enjoyed!
Genuine interest in the subject, well put together lectures, quality folk music before class
Her understanding of what it's like to be a student, demonstrated by her frank advice and clear approach really helped me. The document she provided outlining what was required for each assessment was invaluable and instrumental in my success and enjoyment of each assessment. In many classes half the problem is working out what the teacher is asking for but I did not encounter that difficulty here. Rebecca was also very responsive to any email queries and provided comprehensive answers or explanations. The fact that she was happy to provide extensions around clashes with assessment due dates for other classes was also incredibly helpful for me this trimester. It was lovely to get to feel like the work I handed in was the highest quality my undivided attention could provide rather than the best compromise I could manage under pressure and time constraints from other courses.
Incorporated music and videos into the lectures.
Overall she has been very understanding and helpful, which has helped throughout this trimester.
Was extremely well organised with the course documentation.
Gave highly detailed and constructive feedback on assignments, ensuring I knew exactly what I needed
to improve on in the future
Rebecca communicates lectures in a way that is easy to understand. Each slide is relevant to what she is saying and I appreciate the use of media throughout the lectures. I like how the lectures relate back to the readings as I have found through some history courses they become lost/ not discussed.
Rebecca has been respectful of personal matters and allows her students to do well in this regard by offering extensions and available help when needed.
Rebecca is a very approachable lecturer and rather than stating issues in your work she offers solutions/ ways for you to move forward.
Rebecca is super knowledgeable and conveyed this well in her tutorials. She is very helpful when you approach her with questions, and if she doesn't know the answer she tries to find out for you. She encourages learning outside of class and does her best to lead you in the right direction.
Rebecca spent time coming around and helping us work through specific examples of how to make graphs and visualisations etc which really helped me as I had not used much of excel or story map etc. before.
Rebecca was incredibly good at teaching the topic, she is very knowledgeable and knows the subject like the back of her hand which helped us learn as we wanted to be just as knowledgeable.
She helped me transition from traditional essay writing to more in depth and varied writing. Also helped me think clearly on subjects I am not as interested in.
The feedback on assignments from Rebecca was very helpful, especially on the proposal assignment. Rebecca was also very helpful in the lead up to assignments and always happy to answer questions.
The lectures were easy to follow with the slides especially having a good amount of information and depictions on each topic. Rebecca has an engaging way of teaching and I especially got a lot out of the seminars.
Being given practical skills for history research was fantastic, and gave a really good insight into what it would be like to pursue a career in historical research.
HIST316, New Zealand Social History, 2017
Being shown/listening to videos/documentaries/clips from interviews etc in class so we don't ever loose interest or get restless.
Being able to choose what we wrote our essays on was helpful as it meant we could write about what interested us.
Lectures had clear themes and assignment feedback was fantastic.
The unique assignments, while daunting at first, were interesting and taught me new skills that I feel will be useful outside of a history degree context.
Workshops in the final hour of the tutorial taught me many skills which I found other history courses had not touched on.
The weekly tutorials were excellent
Very interesting and relevant to our own NZ culture. Interesting to learn about our past. The lecturer was very passionate about the subject.
Very organised lectures, and helpful seminars. Interesting and different lecture topics.
The VERY PROMPT feedback and marks is amazing! :) Also the decision to hand things in via BB so we can read the feedback was great too (it also means we get a few extra hours before submission deadline times and can hand in our assignments without having to be physically present in Wellington)
The resources on writing introductions/conclusions/citation management systems which were explained in tutorials were so helpful I used these skills when writing essays for other papers
Always includes everyone in discussions
Did not skip over the content too quickly. Went into good detail and was very clear with broader themes etc. Very interesting content.
I found Rebecca's lecture presentations were very stimulating. She was able to pack a lot of information into the 50mins without overwhelming us and at a good pace that meant I could easily keep up but without being too slow.
Integrated videos with lectures
Very visual
Overall great, very helpful and accomodating.
Really useful comments and helpfulness
Good at responding to emails and giving extensions if needed
She was approachable and friendly which created an environment in which students felt very comfortable sharing ideas and thoughts. Great essay and assignment feedback, it was really helpful getting digital feedback as well, because often lecturers handwriting is hard to read so you end up repeating the same mistake as the previous feedback is unclear. Assignments were return so quick as well which was great and effort had been put into the marking as to what could be improved.
Very open and easy to discuss issues with, having one paper that didn't have mandatory requirements was a wonderful way of allowing me to organize my time effectively.
Well thought out and planned lectures communicated ideas really clearly
Being shown/listening to videos/documentaries/clips from interviews etc in class so we don't ever loose interest or get restless.
Being able to choose what we wrote our essays on was helpful as it meant we could write about what interested us.
Lectures had clear themes and assignment feedback was fantastic.
The unique assignments, while daunting at first, were interesting and taught me new skills that I feel will be useful outside of a history degree context.
Workshops in the final hour of the tutorial taught me many skills which I found other history courses had not touched on.
The weekly tutorials were excellent
Very interesting and relevant to our own NZ culture. Interesting to learn about our past. The lecturer was very passionate about the subject.
Very organised lectures, and helpful seminars. Interesting and different lecture topics.
The VERY PROMPT feedback and marks is amazing! :) Also the decision to hand things in via BB so we can read the feedback was great too (it also means we get a few extra hours before submission deadline times and can hand in our assignments without having to be physically present in Wellington)
The resources on writing introductions/conclusions/citation management systems which were explained in tutorials were so helpful I used these skills when writing essays for other papers
Always includes everyone in discussions
Did not skip over the content too quickly. Went into good detail and was very clear with broader themes etc. Very interesting content.
I found Rebecca's lecture presentations were very stimulating. She was able to pack a lot of information into the 50mins without overwhelming us and at a good pace that meant I could easily keep up but without being too slow.
Integrated videos with lectures
Very visual
Overall great, very helpful and accomodating.
Really useful comments and helpfulness
Good at responding to emails and giving extensions if needed
She was approachable and friendly which created an environment in which students felt very comfortable sharing ideas and thoughts. Great essay and assignment feedback, it was really helpful getting digital feedback as well, because often lecturers handwriting is hard to read so you end up repeating the same mistake as the previous feedback is unclear. Assignments were return so quick as well which was great and effort had been put into the marking as to what could be improved.
Very open and easy to discuss issues with, having one paper that didn't have mandatory requirements was a wonderful way of allowing me to organize my time effectively.
Well thought out and planned lectures communicated ideas really clearly
HIST316, New Zealand Social History, 2016
Lectures were interesting and tied in well with what was covered in seminars. I enjoyed the research topic being so open ended, it allowed me to pursue a topic I was genuinely interested in. The lecturer was obviously passionate about the subject and eager to impart her knowledge.
Ability to pick our own topic for research was interesting and gave me a sense of purpose for the paper which otherwise would have been lacking.
Having two hour tutorials with the presentations makes for really interesting and thorough discussions. I enjoyed the seminar presentations of other students. I haven't had tutorials like that before and found it interesting.
Importantly, it provided tools and information regarding a subject about which I was already interested. Once again, the humorous way in which the lectures were sometimes presented definitely helped with learning engagement.
Rather than just having a normal lecture, some week's documentaries were played so it is great stimulus for learning.
Rebecca is helpful, interested and engaging.
Having no test or exam means I can enjoy learning and exploring the concepts and subject without the stress of having to write everything down and knowing you have to remember all the details.
I really enjoyed the lectures, they were super interesting. I think the lecturer also did very well to make herself available for discussion of assignments/things that arose in class. I also thought that the topics covered in the course were really great, some you might expect from a social history course, some you might not it was a very well-rounded selection of topics, and I feel I've learned a lot about New Zealand out of this course.
She was brilliant. Personal approachable and helpful. Slideshows and content were not only super informative, but simultaneously quite hilarious. It's a very effective way of allowing teaching to stick.
Lectures were interesting and tied in well with what was covered in seminars. I enjoyed the research topic being so open ended, it allowed me to pursue a topic I was genuinely interested in. The lecturer was obviously passionate about the subject and eager to impart her knowledge.
Ability to pick our own topic for research was interesting and gave me a sense of purpose for the paper which otherwise would have been lacking.
Having two hour tutorials with the presentations makes for really interesting and thorough discussions. I enjoyed the seminar presentations of other students. I haven't had tutorials like that before and found it interesting.
Importantly, it provided tools and information regarding a subject about which I was already interested. Once again, the humorous way in which the lectures were sometimes presented definitely helped with learning engagement.
Rather than just having a normal lecture, some week's documentaries were played so it is great stimulus for learning.
Rebecca is helpful, interested and engaging.
Having no test or exam means I can enjoy learning and exploring the concepts and subject without the stress of having to write everything down and knowing you have to remember all the details.
I really enjoyed the lectures, they were super interesting. I think the lecturer also did very well to make herself available for discussion of assignments/things that arose in class. I also thought that the topics covered in the course were really great, some you might expect from a social history course, some you might not it was a very well-rounded selection of topics, and I feel I've learned a lot about New Zealand out of this course.
She was brilliant. Personal approachable and helpful. Slideshows and content were not only super informative, but simultaneously quite hilarious. It's a very effective way of allowing teaching to stick.
History Programme, University of Guelph, 2012-13
HIST3140, Summer 2013
“I loved the prompt responses we received from Dr. Lenihan. Very detailed, always announced when due dates were coming up and always polite and courteous. Fantastic prof!”
“Although I struggled a bit in the course as I was balancing two jobs and three summer courses, I still found the instructor very understanding and helpful – she was very prompt with her responses and consistently willing to help students.”
“Prof Lenihan is amazing! She is very understanding, gives clear cut instructions and all of the assignments were reasonable for the time we had, but still forced us to critically think about what we were learning in the course. Great class!”
“Dr. Lenihan is a hard marker, but she is extremely good with feedback even if my grade is not as good as I like I will be a better essay writer because of her.”
“Fantastic course! The material covered throughout this course was very interesting. The assignments and discussions were also extremely helpful tools to learn more about the subject matter. I particularly liked the discussions because I felt that they were very useful in encouraging further development of the material covered throughout the course. The professor was always very helpful and answered any questions in a timely manner. Professor Lenihan is passionate about the material and it is evident in her interaction with the students enrolled in the class. I would definitely recommend this class to others and I would also take other classes taught by Professor Lenihan. I have truly enjoyed this course.”
“I really enjoyed this class. The lecture notes were great, and although there was a great deal of readings they were enjoyable. The assignments were challenging in a way that allowed for students to think critically.”
HIST4050, Winter 2013
“Dr. Lenihan is an excellent instructor. I was directed to take this course in preparation for my application to a Masters of History program at Guelph. Dr. Lenihan’s comments on my essays have been constructive and helpful. I believe that my writing has improved as a direct result of her teaching. She is very approachable and considering that this is a distance course also made office time available for face to face meetings. I understand she will be going on to work on a book project and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours. She is an excellent instructor.”
“Since it was a DE course I wasn’t expecting the level of interaction that Dr. Lenihan promoted. She was very helpful in all students’ (including my own) inquiries. She was also very approachable and replied almost immediately to most questions either on courselink or email. Dr. Lenihan provided a very good atmosphere for learning and academic thinking, even encouraging me to critically think about my own questions rather than simply giving simplified answers–a risky technique, but it was successful! I would recommend this course to a friend, especially since it had a great subject matter for individual research (e.g., looking into Scottish influence in local communities in Canada). I also felt prepared for the research project after doing the previous short assignments. Overall, this was a very fulfilling and interactive course, which is often difficult to accomplish in a DE format; I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“Course organization was beautiful. Instructor was more than fair and very pleasant/helpful.”
HIST3140, Summer 2012
“This is by far the most interesting online class I’ve taken! The subject matter is great, it’s well organized, and I felt the workload to be appropriate for a third-year distance ed class. I most enjoyed the discussions and feel that the discussion assignment is set up well. I would definitely recommend the course to a friend; it was great, and Dr. Lenihan made sure to effectively answer literally every question asked by students on the general discussion board!”
“Dr. Lenihan was extremely accommodating and encouraging in helping me complete the course whilst dealing with significant personal issues. Without her compassion and excellent guidance and teaching I could not have completed the course. Very well organized and engaging.”
“Best feedback on a paper I have ever received. I enjoyed this class considerably. Moreover, I felt like it was the best taught online course I have participated in. You could actually feel the professors presence; this is not often the case with DE courses.”
HIST2000, Winter 2012
“I found that the Professor was very enjoyable. The lectures were helpful and the assigned readings always related to lecture which was very helpful.”
“This was a very well run course in my opinion. I really liked the communication that was between the students the TA and the professor. If there was ever any confusion it was cleared up quickly and was always helpful. The instructor and TA for this course were very approachable, and always made themselves available for help, which was beneficial around areas of grading.”
“I enjoyed Dr. Lenihan’s lectures. She presented the course material in an interesting manner and clearly explained key concepts. The in-class quizzes were especially helpful in learning primary sources.”
“Dr. Lenihan did an excellent job teaching this course. She was able to effectively tie together all the material we covered and provided really helpful supplementary readings to complement the in class material. I appreciated that she took the time to recognize the names of all the students in the class because it felt like she was really committed to the success of the class as a whole. I joined this class in hopes that it would feed the interest which I already had for the material, and Dr. Lenihan presented me with all the knowledge I had hoped for regarding the history of the British Isles. In the future I would definitely hope to take more history classes taught by Dr. Lenihan.”
“Something I really liked about The British Isles course was the clicker quizzes in class that we did. I found them to be a good incentive to read the primary sources. I also really enjoyed the content of the course, I found the material interesting.”
“Great course and great prof! I would highly recommend both! Course objectives were met and the prof was always available to answer any question. Once again, I must stress that Dr Lenihan is a fantastic prof and among the best I have had. Because of this, I have chosen to take her summer course!”
“Dr Lenihan is a wonderful professor. She is helpful and sweet and makes you want to go to her lectures. She is very supportive about medical or compassionate extensions/modifications to assignments.”
“I loved the prompt responses we received from Dr. Lenihan. Very detailed, always announced when due dates were coming up and always polite and courteous. Fantastic prof!”
“Although I struggled a bit in the course as I was balancing two jobs and three summer courses, I still found the instructor very understanding and helpful – she was very prompt with her responses and consistently willing to help students.”
“Prof Lenihan is amazing! She is very understanding, gives clear cut instructions and all of the assignments were reasonable for the time we had, but still forced us to critically think about what we were learning in the course. Great class!”
“Dr. Lenihan is a hard marker, but she is extremely good with feedback even if my grade is not as good as I like I will be a better essay writer because of her.”
“Fantastic course! The material covered throughout this course was very interesting. The assignments and discussions were also extremely helpful tools to learn more about the subject matter. I particularly liked the discussions because I felt that they were very useful in encouraging further development of the material covered throughout the course. The professor was always very helpful and answered any questions in a timely manner. Professor Lenihan is passionate about the material and it is evident in her interaction with the students enrolled in the class. I would definitely recommend this class to others and I would also take other classes taught by Professor Lenihan. I have truly enjoyed this course.”
“I really enjoyed this class. The lecture notes were great, and although there was a great deal of readings they were enjoyable. The assignments were challenging in a way that allowed for students to think critically.”
HIST4050, Winter 2013
“Dr. Lenihan is an excellent instructor. I was directed to take this course in preparation for my application to a Masters of History program at Guelph. Dr. Lenihan’s comments on my essays have been constructive and helpful. I believe that my writing has improved as a direct result of her teaching. She is very approachable and considering that this is a distance course also made office time available for face to face meetings. I understand she will be going on to work on a book project and I wish her all the best in her future endeavours. She is an excellent instructor.”
“Since it was a DE course I wasn’t expecting the level of interaction that Dr. Lenihan promoted. She was very helpful in all students’ (including my own) inquiries. She was also very approachable and replied almost immediately to most questions either on courselink or email. Dr. Lenihan provided a very good atmosphere for learning and academic thinking, even encouraging me to critically think about my own questions rather than simply giving simplified answers–a risky technique, but it was successful! I would recommend this course to a friend, especially since it had a great subject matter for individual research (e.g., looking into Scottish influence in local communities in Canada). I also felt prepared for the research project after doing the previous short assignments. Overall, this was a very fulfilling and interactive course, which is often difficult to accomplish in a DE format; I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“Course organization was beautiful. Instructor was more than fair and very pleasant/helpful.”
HIST3140, Summer 2012
“This is by far the most interesting online class I’ve taken! The subject matter is great, it’s well organized, and I felt the workload to be appropriate for a third-year distance ed class. I most enjoyed the discussions and feel that the discussion assignment is set up well. I would definitely recommend the course to a friend; it was great, and Dr. Lenihan made sure to effectively answer literally every question asked by students on the general discussion board!”
“Dr. Lenihan was extremely accommodating and encouraging in helping me complete the course whilst dealing with significant personal issues. Without her compassion and excellent guidance and teaching I could not have completed the course. Very well organized and engaging.”
“Best feedback on a paper I have ever received. I enjoyed this class considerably. Moreover, I felt like it was the best taught online course I have participated in. You could actually feel the professors presence; this is not often the case with DE courses.”
HIST2000, Winter 2012
“I found that the Professor was very enjoyable. The lectures were helpful and the assigned readings always related to lecture which was very helpful.”
“This was a very well run course in my opinion. I really liked the communication that was between the students the TA and the professor. If there was ever any confusion it was cleared up quickly and was always helpful. The instructor and TA for this course were very approachable, and always made themselves available for help, which was beneficial around areas of grading.”
“I enjoyed Dr. Lenihan’s lectures. She presented the course material in an interesting manner and clearly explained key concepts. The in-class quizzes were especially helpful in learning primary sources.”
“Dr. Lenihan did an excellent job teaching this course. She was able to effectively tie together all the material we covered and provided really helpful supplementary readings to complement the in class material. I appreciated that she took the time to recognize the names of all the students in the class because it felt like she was really committed to the success of the class as a whole. I joined this class in hopes that it would feed the interest which I already had for the material, and Dr. Lenihan presented me with all the knowledge I had hoped for regarding the history of the British Isles. In the future I would definitely hope to take more history classes taught by Dr. Lenihan.”
“Something I really liked about The British Isles course was the clicker quizzes in class that we did. I found them to be a good incentive to read the primary sources. I also really enjoyed the content of the course, I found the material interesting.”
“Great course and great prof! I would highly recommend both! Course objectives were met and the prof was always available to answer any question. Once again, I must stress that Dr Lenihan is a fantastic prof and among the best I have had. Because of this, I have chosen to take her summer course!”
“Dr Lenihan is a wonderful professor. She is helpful and sweet and makes you want to go to her lectures. She is very supportive about medical or compassionate extensions/modifications to assignments.”