Course Evaluations

Comments from cognitive science students at Case Western Reserve University

• “He kept me very engaged, so much fun and very passionate”
• “Amazing Professor, one of the best I’ve had at this institution. Super knowledgeable about every subject he talks about. Always open to student ideas (within reason) which is great. Gives clear instructions, gets us helpful feedback in a timely manner, is super responsive via email and just in general super helpful”
• “I feel that this was one of the first courses I have taken where I felt engaged and excited to learn the material just because of how involved Dr. Croom’s style of teaching allowed me to be in how I learn”
• “Loved his teaching so much I will be taking his class again next semester”
• “I really liked how approachable Dr. Croom was, he has been one of my favorite professors! This course is currently one of my favorite topics in cognitive science and allowed me to learn a lot. I liked that it taught a difficult subject in a low stakes way that is also applicable to future careers (stem/research article understanding). I feel more comfortable at reading research articles and result tables/graphs. He also helped with my comfort levels of understanding unique diagrams”
• “Dr. Croom has been a very knowledgeable professor who taught this course in a format that made some of the material more memorable/interesting! Relating content to research studies was an effective use of class time to get the class to learn the material thoroughly. He stuck to his syllabus/curriculum well. Dr. Croom was easy to follow and very receptive to questions. He is very interested in getting undergraduate students involved in research and is approachable”
• “Dr. Croom gave good feedback on the class activities/assignments and used kahoots as a fun way to test our knowledge after lecturing. He also got a lot of us engaged in research and was always available to talk about the class after class”
• “The instructor brought in relevant examples from his own research experience, which I thought was really interesting and helpful to contextualize what we were learning”
• “I feel that it is also important to mention that Dr. Croom opened up talk of getting involved with research, involvement in cognitive science, strengthening resumes, and obtaining recommendation letters in a helpful and considerate way. He made this conversation accessible to students, when it can sometimes be scary to bring up in academic settings”
• “Dr. Croom is the best!”

Comments from cognitive science students at University of California Berkeley

• [Please identify what you consider to be the strengths of this course:]
• “The professor himself! The way he is so passionate about cognitive science, it is amazing. I loved reading his publications and I loved the way that instead of having a 10 year old textbook for the course, the professor used recent articles in order to keep the course relevant with recent findings”
• “The passion the professor has for the subject matter is very tangible and really enhanced the learning experience and my interest in the subject itself. His joy in teaching is the core of this class and has inspired my own interest and dedication towards the course”
• “The professor is very passionate about his work and really engages you with the course material”
• “It was very manageable and really fun to learn”
• “Extremely interesting content”
• “Exposure to a lot of research in the field”
• “Really interesting topic and captivating professor. Grabbed information from a lot of really cool sources”
• “Really appreciated how accommodating Croom is to different circumstances – He prepares really interesting lecture topics and is always willing to go the extra mile to help his students!”
• “Was very organized and I knew what to expect going into the class”
• “Clarity of material and value in lectures, organization, professor had a great attitude and was very accessible”
• “The strengths of this course are that the professor gave us a lot of room to formulate our own thoughts and was always very patient. He made sure to consistently make himself available and always seemed excited to talk about cognitive science”
• “The amount of content that Prof Croom is able to cover in short lectures. He also does it in a way that is interesting and well-explained”
• “Course content was presented in a clear, digestible manner. I enjoyed seeing how different lecture topics connected together and how they built up on each other”
• “Professor Croom is clearly very passionate about the subject and he welcomes questions in class. He’s very supportive and makes himself available if you need help”
• “I loved writing the final paper and presentation. It was a great way to wrap up the course”

Comments from cognitive science students at University of California Merced

• “This course was very interesting. I learned a lot from the instructor. He is so far the best instructor on campus, was very organized and understanding. I would take another course with him”
• “I respect the enthusiasm and passion that Dr. Croom provides with his work. It made me want to learn more outside of class. By far one of the more interesting courses I have taken throughout my time at UCM”
• “I love Adam Croom, awesome professor, he cares about his students. Always ready for class and is available to help us. The course is well setup, well prepared and interesting”
• “Adam Croom is super friendly and he shows a lot of interest in the topics he teaches”
• “I enjoyed that the professor was very enthusiastic and passionate during each lecture. It made each class enjoyable”
• “I really liked how he was able to tie music and language together as well as make us see their distinct properties”
• “Professor Croom made every lecture engrossing. He displays immense passion in every lecture”
• “I liked Professor’s enthusiasm in this course and material. It made the course enjoyable and entertaining”
• “I like how engaged and excited the instructor was when teaching the course. The class material and readings were fun to learn as well”
• “Adam Croom showed great passion towards the course subject, and he seemed easy going and fun to interact with. He provided us with informative research papers that we could actually intake information from. What is most surprising is that he uses different material for every class semester, so I know I’m getting my money’s worth of education”
• “I liked how we were assigned to do a presentation for the class. Creating a presentation based on the topic of our choosing helped me become interested towards the idea of the course. In addition, it helped my memory and understanding of the course and topic”
• “I liked that this course was very open-ended and relaxed. The homework assignments were very straightforward and the video projects we did were not only fun, but great preparation for grad school!”
• “I think that the material you talked about in the class was important for our future in cognitive science”
• “A very passionate and great teacher. The style of his teaching was one of the easiest to follow as a student and it made the course easy to learn from. It was to the point where class just went by quickly because he was interesting as a teacher”
• “Course was really interesting and the lectures were really fun and interactive at the end of the lecture. Really made me enjoy the class”
• “Great class, I love Croom’s enthusiasm for the subject. He is very passionate and it helps get students excited to learn. He is very knowledgeable and I enjoy when he talks about his own research and personal experiences in linguistics”
• “His enthusiasm for the course material is quite infectious and he was able to actively demonstrate the topics of the course”
• “I liked how happy he looked teaching the material, made many students motivated to pay attention”
• “I liked the level of engagement that he encouraged with the class, as engagement with the class is a great way to make sure that the concepts presented have actually stuck and that there’s no confusion”
• “I love how passionate he is about the course, it makes me feel that I want to engage more”
• “I loved Dr. Croom’s enthusiasm. He always opened up the lecture with a big smile and a very interesting introduction to what we were about to learn. It was an amazing course”
• “I loved professor Croom’s energy! He made me really excited to attend lectures and the in class activities were really helpful”
• “I really like how the professor was always excited to teach about the subject and that encouraged me to want to learn more about the subject. He also involved a lot of the students during lecture which I thought was pretty cool”
• “I really liked Professor Croom’s enthusiasm in class. The course material was already interesting enough, but his passion for it made it all the more exciting to learn”
• “Professor Croom is one of the best Cog professors that I have been taught by. I like the way the schedule was made ahead of time and he was always prepared for class. Even though language and linguistics is a dense topic, he made it enjoyable by including activities that keep us engaged and actively learning. I like his exam structure and the way he communicated with his students”
• “So enthusiastic about his course, so so kind and accommodating, so helpful and organized and engaging!”
• “The instructor was amazing and very helpful. Very interesting course”
• “This class was so great. This was my first cognitive science class, and I was unsure I would enjoy it, but from the first day of lecture, I started to really enjoy it and become interested. You can tell that Professor Croom is SUPER passionate about the coursework and topics we are studying, and he lectures in a really fun way, asking questions and creating mini-activities that are great because it gets everyone to engage and listen. I really liked the structure of the class with the weekly homework assignments and small in-class work, plus the final exam. There is a lot of information to learn and work to do, but the professor provides so much support and really cares about the well- being of students. He is a super nice, fun, smart, cool guy and I am so glad I took this class and learned some amazing stuff about language and linguistics”
• “Dr. Croom had to be the best professor I’ve ever had here at my time at UCM. His teaching style was interactive, his enthusiasm for the course made class so much more enjoyable! The weekly quizzes were awesome because they helped me retain what we learned for that week. A great class overall!”
• “The instructor was amazing in every aspect. He made the class fun and interesting. It was definitely one of my top classes that I paid a lot of attention to. I enjoyed his enthusiasm and the respect he had for the topic. Truly an inspiring role model”
• “The structure of this class was probably the best I have ever had because I didn’t have to feel completely overwhelmed the whole semester. This class covered so many topics that were so interesting and important to learn about. I really like the one quiz a week setup because it was a good source of points but still kept us on our toes because we had to be on top of it every week. Professor Croom has been such an amazing prof who is understanding, super patient, and treats everyone with the most respect whilst being comfortable enough that students felt very comfortable with him. He has amazing energy and passion, and I wish he could stay at UCM because I would love to be taught more by him”
• “The instructor’s energy and enthusiasm were radiating, and I found it very helpful”
• “What I like most about the course is it, in a way, helped me prepare for future computer science courses as it introduced me to a programming language I’ve never used before. What I like most about the instructor is they’re always helpful and enthusiastic to teach”
• “I really like learning the different aspects of R”
• “What I liked about this course was that it was well organized and Datacamp was a fairly easy website to navigate and use. The exercises were fun and learning R was really cool. I learned a great deal in this course”
• “I really liked how we got to look at syntax through many lenses using research articles that discussed fMRI models, philosophical viewpoints, as well as the fundamentals like learning about how to draw tree diagrams. I also appreciated how the professor cares about his students and wants to help them succeed and participate in class and gives tips on useful skills that will help them in their future career”
• “EXCELLENT professor, he was able to teach the course without making anything too overwhelming. I enjoyed how straightforward the quizzes and lectures were. Making it enjoyable and having movies to watch was always a plus”
• “This class was very easy to understand and engaging. I enjoyed learning about ASL and would recommend this class. Croom was always prepared and was constantly interacting with his students”
• “Just the vibe and the enthusiasm that he has for the subject!!! It’s very motivating to hear more”
• “Dr. Croom is the guy. He loves his class and what he does”
• “Being completely honest linguistics is my least favorite field when it comes to COG SCI. However, Professor Croom made class super enjoyable. He was enthusiastic and caring of his students. There was not ONE DAY where he was not enthusiastic. This Professor has been nothing but exceptional. He loves his job and it really shows through his work ethic. He truly is an amazing professor”