Student Evaluations
Student Evaluations
"Professor Bivins balances lecture and in-class activities very well—the class feels a lot shorter than other two-hour courses I have taken. She walks us through assigned readings so that we really understand them. Classes are always organized differently, which is refreshing. Reading primary sources as a class was really helpful. Professor Bivins was also really good at answering questions, which I commend her for."
"Very well taught by Dr. Bivins, lecture was always very interesting and prompted good discussion amongst the students, which allowed for greater understanding and questions about the different topics. The course provided a concise overview of a vast geographical area and time span, and discussions about historiography and research and writing in history gave the students an important look not only at the history itself, but also the mechanisms and motives encompassed in the source writing process."
"I loved the assignments for the course, all of which built up to the final assignment. I feel like I got to do in-depth research, learn a lot about a specific topic, and get to show what I've learned in a way more engaging than simply a paper."
"Professor Bivins did such a great job of tackling a vast region's history over a long period of time in such a short course. Her passion for the stories of the people and places is clear and conveyed in her lectures, which are clear and engaging for their entire duration. She also incorporates new activities frequently during classes so students can engage with the material in other ways. The emphasis on close primary source engagement really changed my perception of how to be a critically-thinking historian. I enjoyed all of the assigned readings we had, even when they could be pretty dense. The final is structured in an unexpected and fun way, and I'm glad we get to explore a topic nontraditionally. Overall, Professor Bivins made this already interesting course into a truly memorable one!"
Alyssa was really good at making everyone (the majority) comfortable to put our cameras on, which in turn made all the class discussions really good and engaging. She also was very prepared and had a lot of great videos for us to watch that related to the topics Prof. Burns talked about that week. Overall a great TA!
I absolutely loved this discussion section! Alyssa made every Friday morning feel so fun and she was always so enthusiastic and individually welcomed each of us. I loved how she started each class with a small presentation to set the stage on what wed be discussing as well as tying it back to the lectures of the week. I also loved the group activities we would do because there was lots of variety so it never felt like busywork, rather it made us synthesize the information beyond just the lectures and tie it to other things and it made us think deeply about the content
The best TA I have ever had! Very engaged and passionate and this showed through her presentations and warmth. Learned a lot!
Alyssa is a great TA! My favorite TA I have probably had so far! Very organized and knowledgeable. She is a fair grader. Very motivating and helpful. Alyssa could probably teach this class because she knows so much
Alyssa is the best TA Ive had at GW! She was incredibly helpful in providing supplementary information that helped me in the course and provided a lot of really useful advice on paper writing and research that will help me in so many classes. She is very enthusiastic, intelligent, and compassionate.
I thought the content of the class was very interesting. Moreover, Alyssa was such a lovely TA--honestly, one of the best Ive had! She was very understanding, gave great feedback for papers, and just overall, I think she is a lovely person. Moreover, she was always extremely punctual when it came to grading and giving papers back.
Alyssa is the best. Alyssa is helpful. Alyssa gives feedback. Alyssa made the course worth it and is the voice of reason in the course.
"I never thought I could not only like, but come to love sitting in small discussion groups but Ms. Bivins accomplished something no one in academia has ever been able to sell to me. I despise group discussions because I felt that it takes away from what I could learn from the teaching team. She changed all of that thanks to her ability to engage each of us with thought-provoking topics. What I mean is that all too often, teaching teams utilize discussions as a way of lack of engaging with us, but not her. I looked forward to every group discussion every week. That says a lot about Ms. Bivins and her teaching style. I cannot say enough about all that I love about this discussion course and Ms. Bivins. She's brillant, kind, and compassionate and has a true gift for teaching. She's literally born to teach just like Professor Zimmerman. There are those who teach for a salary so when you come across someone like Ms. Bivins, you appreciate them. I loved the way she engaged and challenged us to think outside the box. I am still in awe that she squeezed so much into so little time while having fun. I never wanted the discussion time to end. I am grateful she took time beyond her office hours whether it was between classes or emails to answer my questions. I have so much respect for her and hold her in the high regard. She's truly a rarity and I hope GW hires her after her completes her doctorate. She's smart AND can break down the material for us. That's the key to a good professor along with a willingness to listen and not afraid to say, I don't have the answer, but let's look together to find it. Ms. Bivins holds all these qualities and so many more. I cannot thank her enough for her patience, kindness, and mentorship."
Alyssa is amazing! She has a really calm, collected, and organized teaching style. She devised different activities every week that spiced up the section and aided everyone's learning. I'm going to miss having her as a ta!
Alyssa was a great TA. She always was able to further my understandings of the readings if I was confused on a topic. She was very nice and encouraged students to participate during discussion. I also liked how she used recurring themes to tie all the readings together
We had a wonderful discussion session each week! New ideas were brought up and the content of the course, by the end of the session, was much better understood. I thought Alyssa was extremely knowledgeable about all of the course material (and more) and brought her enthusiasm for history to every session.