CHINESE-411S

SURVEY: GREAT CHINESE THINKE

Not in Fall 2026

AMES · Taught by Lee, Kun Shan · Last offered Fall 2024

Overview

Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.

DepartmentAMES

Terms offeredFall

Typical enrollment12–12

Semesters of data1

6.0

Hrs / week

Responses

Enrollment

67%

Response Rate

Evaluation Scores

Overall quality

Teaching, content, and experience combined.

4.5

12345

Intellectually stimulating

Challenges students to think deeply.

4.6

12345

Instructor effectiveness

Explains concepts and facilitates learning.

4.6

12345

Difficulty

Higher means harder.

3.6

12345

Feedback Analysis

Feedback Analysislow

Analysis based on student evaluations

Based on 19 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

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

• 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.

Tradeoffs

• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.

Best fit for

Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.

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

Core ideas of Confucianism Confucius and Mencius' thoughts on human nature How to write an argumentative essay in Chinese

Fall 2024 · Lee, Kun Shan

1. Debate skills. 2. Chinese language and writing skills. 3. The process of analyzing classical Chinese texts.

Fall 2024 · Lee, Kun Shan

I learned the knowledge on traditional Chinese philosophies and its relations to Western philosophies. I also honed my skills on reading ancient Chinese texts and skills on how to do debates in Chinese.

Fall 2024 · Lee, Kun Shan

I gained knowledge on Confucianism and Daoism. Previously I had some exposure to both, but through this course I came to realize that understanding was superficial. This class allowed me to understand the importance of not taking things out of context, and through class discussion I gained a much better understanding of the philosophies.

Fall 2024 · Lee, Kun Shan

I learned a great deal about Chinese philosophy, about how to read classical Chinese, and about debating. I grew more confident in my ability to understand oral Chinese and to respond in an impromptu manner to the points of others.

Fall 2024 · Lee, Kun Shan

Rating History

Rating history

Error bars show \u00B11 std dev

Term	Instructor	Overall	Difficulty	Hrs/wk	Enrolled
Fall 2024	Lee, Kun Shan 4.1Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.1Difficulty3.9Would retake75%Based on 18 ratingsClick to view on RMP →	4.5	3.6	6.0	12

Instructor

Lee, Kun ShanAMES

Also teaches

CHINESE-131 FRST YR CHN: BIL LEARNERS4.4 CHINESE-232 INTERM CHN: BIL LEARNERS4.1 CHINESE-370 CONFUCIAN AND DAOIST VALUES4.5 CHINESE-370 DEB IN CHN: SURV OF CHN THINK4.2