A sample of anonymous student comments on SOC 459, Seminar in the Sociology of Work, taught by Kenneth Westhues in Winter 2010, at the University of Waterloo

Mr. Westhues, the encouragement and excitement you brought to this topic was nice to have in a seminar class. I would have liked a little more structure in each seminar, so that I could have prepared and offered more insight, possibly specific assigned readings.

Great course for upper-year students; should always be taught by Westhues. Students are allowed to pursue their own interests within the context of the course.

Awesome, a great learning experience. Strengths were small size, great discussions, everyone is equal. Only weakness is that marks are heavily based on one project.

My best course this semester. Workload was perfect. Extremely interesting, which made me want to do work. I really enjoyed the freedom to conduct research. The lack of structure allowed some students to fall behind, but I personally enjoyed it.

Great professor, very engaging class. Not a lot of instruction on how we are getting evaluated.

Excellent, rich opportunity. Strength was class size, value of discussion and approach to discussion. Weakness was not knowing marks until the end.

Amazing prof. Weakness is that there's no idea of your final grade until you read your transcript.

Strength was the great group discussions. This topic needs so much more attention. Hope I can one day contribute. Would like to do a similar course where, for one class, we can all sit on couches, drink coffee, and chat -- or drink beer, though that may not fly.

Excellent. Strength was a structure that allows students to take initiative.