PUBPOL-263S

LEADING IN AND WITH COMMUNITY

Not in Fall 2026

PPS · Taught by Zagbayou, Alexandra · Last offered Spring 2024

Overview

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Difficulty runs on the high side even without a single dominant complaint theme. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.

DepartmentPPS

Terms offeredSpring

Typical enrollment14–14

Semesters of data1

Responses

Enrollment

86%

Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality

Teaching, content, and experience combined.

4.3

12345

Intellectually stimulating

Challenges students to think deeply.

4.3

12345

Instructor effectiveness

Explains concepts and facilitates learning.

4.6

12345

Difficulty

Higher means harder.

3.8

12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysislow

Analysis based on student evaluations

Based on 40 comments across 1 sections

Student Reports

How hard is the A?

A is doable but not automatic

The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.

Homework Load

Moderate homework load

Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.

Lecture Load

Lighter lecture burden

Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.

Strengths

• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.

• Students repeatedly say the course teaches something concrete, whether that is content mastery, research skill, or a strong foundation.

• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.

Tradeoffs

• Difficulty runs high even when comments do not settle on one dominant complaint.

Best fit for

Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.

Watch out for

• Most of the signal comes from a limited sample, so be careful about over-generalizing.

• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.

Student Responses

Reading communnity based research articles, critical self-reflection, understanding commumity intervention efficacies