Political Institutions by Marina Cabada

marinacabadapolydoro — 2025-09-02 11:33:04 UTC

2025-09-02 16:36:40 UTC

Good evening ! Here's my idea for oral participation : Having a model un inspired debate lasting one full session, in which anyone can participate without worrying about their English level since the topic tackled is already known. I think it is a good mix between a classical oral presentation and regular free class participation that can suit those who prefer to come prepared and those who prefer to be more "spontaneous" with their participation. The teacher can be the Chair to moderate and also to take part in the debate !

-Céleste

2025-09-07 12:28:40 UTC

Can we discuss the concept of positive law? and what ideal dimension of law entails

2025-09-14 11:57:35 UTC

While I do appreciate the flexible approach to teaching, I would like to point out that I have never been able to contribute this deeply to a course before. I think I am not the only one in this situation, which is why I believe that we will mostly need some kind of guidance from your side regarding readings and methodology.

So far, some of my best classes have been those in which the teachers have introduced the subject they wanted to talk about, and let students contribute with their own perspectives.

I am a bit worried that, as first-year students, we might not be able to correctly identify the best methods for teaching class just yet (at Week 3 of university).

2025-09-16 12:16:29 UTC

This class was my favorite i found it useful the way you talked through the texts thank you

isabellapehe — 2025-09-16 12:17:27 UTC

I liked the last class, because we discussed themes from the texts but also held an interactive discussion, connecting the themes to present day problems. I think that's something that we can really profit from, because it gives us the chance to really understand the themes from the readings as more than an abstract concept. I also liked that we went back and revised some ideas from the class before (the concept of a state, and what a state is) because it kept it fresh in my mind and solidified the knowledge.

2025-09-16 12:18:02 UTC

My favorite class so far was today, session 3. Although we had some issues, I felt like it was very helpful to go through the texts in a structured way, and discuss their content. We were also more productive in figuring out the plan for the remainder of the sessions, so I feel more confident and less confused going forward.

2025-09-16 12:18:28 UTC

Hello, so I like the idea of having the flexibility to decide the direction the classes go. But I think we could use a bit more structure. Hopefully the presentations are going to help!

2025-09-16 12:18:46 UTC

Those first classes were interesting : i like the idea that everyone can share their thoughts and that you as the teacher are very open to different ideas, comments ect and for exemple the class discussion during session 2 was very engaging. I feel like when we have open questions the class is going well because everyone is participating in the discussion : it is more interactive than just talking seriously about the text and only about the text. I am sure that the presentations will enhance multiple debates and that it will be engaging !

martinmacke18 — 2025-09-16 12:18:53 UTC

The third class seems longer because of the lack of interaction, but the first one and also the second one were interesting. Maybe we could provide more examples or definitions especially concerning theoretical keyterms to have a clearer and organized CM.

2025-09-16 12:19:00 UTC

Class 1 - I enjoyed the discussion structure however I was initially overwhelmed by feeling like I needed to create a course. However I enjoyed the discussions we had regarding the text.

Class 2 - I believe we had engaging discussions, however I felt quite stressed with how the class structure seemed unfinished.

Class 3 - I feel much more relieved now that we have clarity for how the course will go for the rest of the semester. I am excited to begin working on my presentation and I appreciate the freedom we have in conducting our own class outline.

2025-09-16 12:19:00 UTC

I preferred when you explained the text, this session was for me the clearest and the most useful to understand the lessons and the concepts

2025-09-16 12:19:13 UTC

I especially enjoyed our second session - so last week. While the flexible approach is nice to have, I feel like maybe because it can lack structure, we are a little behind on the readings: for example we talked about Nick Barber when we studied it a couple of weeks ago. So that's in my opinion what may make the class hard to follow. I liked it when we had not like a direct class but a more debate like structure and we collaborated. Maybe we could do that each session plus of course the presentation and then if necessary have the definitions and notions or the lesson as handouts

julianawang1 — 2025-09-16 12:19:17 UTC

I liked the second class the most, since we had more of a discussion about the concepts in the reading. I also think that its really important to establish definitions for key terms before we enter discussions for the readings. I thought that the first class was quite chaotic, and the third class was rather dry, since there was not a lot of participation from the class. I would like more opportunities to discuss the texts in further detail, the possibility to ask questions, and debate with each other and perspective of the author. I am also quite concerned about our preparation for the final written essay.

2025-09-16 12:19:56 UTC

I am honestly a little nervous that we are missing a lot of information during these seminars regarding the political institution lectures. All of my other teachers have some sort of slideshow or structure to the class, which we can then take notes on and better understand the material being taught. I think that it would be helpful if you were to make some sort of presentation about the lecture breaking it down into simpler terms, and then we can do our presentations.

2025-09-16 12:20:12 UTC

I personally liked the second session most. I feel like the classes so far have not been quite organized and it was a bit difficult to follow what was going on. My main objective in this class is to gain the ability and the knowledge to be able to sit the final exam. I appreciate that you want us to be involved in organizing the class, but at the same time I would have much rather preferred having had a structure from the beginning.

2025-09-16 12:20:25 UTC

I'm not really comfortable about speaking (in english) in front of the class so i apologize of being one of those who don't participate

2025-09-16 12:21:09 UTC

I think the first class was okay, but we spent a lot of time just going through the syllabus, deciding how we want to organize stuff, etc. I appreciate that you want the students to be involved in class organization, but at the same time I'm not a professor, so I don't know how to design a classroom and I don't exactly see that as being my job. However, the second class was incredibly interesting. I think we got a lot of things done, we were very productive, and the seminar-style class discussion was very good. I think keeping that sort of style would be great. Today was tough because the participation was low, but I doubt it would be like this for every session. If we commit to participating more, I'd love to keep the discussion/debate style classes.

2025-09-16 12:21:28 UTC

Feedback on sessions 1 and 2:

During sessions 1 & 2, I must admit I was lost and unaware of the workload at the same time. I have to say that these discussion sessions have a great potential to become spaces where productive and effective discussion can take place.

The biggest setback is that we're still on week 3 of university and there are many procedures and environments which we still do not fully understand (not to mention I haven't even talked to some of my classmates yet). It's at this point where I personally would request the teacher's guidance: How should I tackle the readings? How can I structure my ideas more clearly? Is there a pattern in each text that can help me identify the context in which it was written?

2025-09-16 12:21:28 UTC

i like this session as the text explanation allowed me to understand it better.

2025-09-16 12:45:58 UTC

i really like the debate parts of the class were we all discuss, however for the presentation projects i think i would prefer actual presentations on topics that we do

2025-09-16 12:47:04 UTC

I find the structure of this class a little confusing, to be honest. I think it would be better to delve deeper into the readings and analyze them with the lecture. So, at this point, I think weekly presentations might be more helpful in order to understand everything rather than debates at the end of the semester.

I like the questions, however, the time limit is a bit stressful. And to my mind, the first question was kind of not that much related to the reading we had. All in all, I like this class, but to have a more structured vision would be better.

dalmakiss1 — 2025-09-16 12:48:28 UTC

Hi! I think it would be great if we had a set structure for class so we know what to expect/how to prepare in advance (besides just reading). For ex. it was nice last session to discuss the readings, though we did it one week late. Discussing the readings from the lecture the day before would be best.

It would also be nice to have the assessment schedule asap so we can plan our studying for other classes accordingly.

2025-09-16 12:48:31 UTC

Feedback

I feel a bit lost, I don't know how we are graded and what are we suppose to learn and study for the midterms

maelleguegancanal — 2025-09-16 12:49:01 UTC

I would appreciate a lot following more of a plan structure in the class. But I still appreciate the debate we do in the class, so maybe a mix of both would be ideal. Maybe meet somewhere in between a planned debate. As for the participation, a class that we prepared would be a good way of engaging with the class, but maybe we should also make sure that the classes we prepare have a clear outline so that everyone can follow them without any issues.

2025-09-16 12:50:12 UTC

I find that the current debate parts of the lesson are quite hard to follow, especially when it feels like there is a "right" answer that we have to find, with limited room for different perspectives.

Instead, I feel like it would be more effective for students to present at the start of the lesson, outlining the reading and their opinions on the topic being discussed, and then as a class we discuss alternative approaches.

gabriellecueille — 2025-09-16 12:50:27 UTC

I find it relieving that we're not doing in this class, like we usually do in other classes, meaning group presentation of the topic. I really liked the session 2 because we discussed the text and topics we did not understand (better to explain these points than giving a presentation of the main subject of the text that is easier to understand). Therefore, we could find another way of structuring the class than these presentations. Maybe each one can come with the reading table completed and also with questions or problems and then we try to understand it together. Plus, if we have time to do so at the end of the session, we could have a discussion time about a more precise subject that would have been mentioned in class (like we did around the definition of family or whether or not a company is a political institution).

2025-09-16 12:50:47 UTC

I feel a bit lost in two manners:

I don't really see where the conversation and debate goes, and don't understand how its related to the lecture.
I dont really understand how we are to be graded, beside the quizzes.

I think it would be good to have other assignments than simply those, maybe papers to write [idk its something to debate]

2025-09-16 12:50:51 UTC

I feel like we don't have enough concrete academic informations that would be useful for our midterms. It's nice to discuss about the definitions but in the end we don't leave the class with a clear one. The lecture is very clear so maybe it would be good to go deeper on some subjects and nuances rather than focusing on defining concepts. It's also very difficult to just come up with ideas for class because we don't know what the expectations are and how much work we will have to do according to these choices. And I'm a bit scared of having a huge amount of work for the same week. But I really appreciate that we can easily exchange with you about it !