2.4
Quality3.8
Difficulty32%
Would Retake95
Reviews32%
Would Retake
95
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
7
3
15
2
10
1
45
What Students Say
“One of the worst professors I've had at UCSB”
POLS7 - 1.0 rating“PROF COGGINS IS NOT A GOOD PROF”
PS7 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
40%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.46 avg changeRatings by Course
PS141
3.3
(11)PS7
2.4
(36)POLS7
2.2
(48)Difficulty by Course
POLS7
3.9
PS141
3.8
PS7
3.6
Reviews (95)
Professor Coggins was an amazing teacher. She was nice and very well informed about her subject matter. If you show up to class and do the readings you'll pass the pop quizzes in section and both Midterms. The final is a 1 page single space paper on a current event. She is very helpful and a pleasure to discuss the course and global events
Professor Coggins is an amazing teacher! She is nice and really knows her stuff. It was her first year teaching and you couldnt telI. f you show up to class you'll pass the quizzes in section (3 questions). The final is a 1 page single space paper on a current event. She is very helpful and really chill. Gives opportunities to boost grade.
She's great! Her lectures are clear & concise and she pulls no tricks. She's inspired me to take more Political Science classes. Prioritize her lectures over everything, and even if you can't keep up with the reading you should be fine. Always friendly & approachable. Goes at a great pace through the material. Definitely take if you can!
This class was ok. Don't try to put off all the readings, and she doesn't give a study guide so make your own ahead of time. A good amount of writing involved too. Professor Coggins was nice overall.
Coggins is a new professor but you would never have guessed - she was SO clear, funny, and informative and made the class really enjoyable! All of the grading of papers/tests & level of difficulty (especially w/ pop quizzes in section) depends on the TA. There's a lot of reading/writing and discussion of current international events!
Based on past reviews I thought this class would be easier. The stuff you learn is really cool, midterms are fair, her lectures are mainly talking (cant depend on powerpoint) & you dont learn what your 2nd midterm or final paper grade are so you cant figure out where you went wrong. Gives EC for attendance sometimes. Lots of reading, interesting.
Loved Professor Coggins! Super smart! Super knowledgeable! The class was a healthy challenge especially with the readings. DO the reading but don't stress over them. Her lecturers are mainly spoken so go to class! Her class is great overall, no textbook either which is nice.
Coggins is incredibly knowledgable, friendly, and understanding. Would absolutely recommend taking this class with her - great professor!
Professor Coggins is a great lecturer and makes her lectures easy to understand. She is very thorough in her explanations. The class was very interesting. Highly recommend taking it with her.
Coggins teaches exclusively theories of IR and barely touches on any real applications of those theories in real-world events. This makes the class seem like a theory class rather than an IR class. Further, her quizzes are specifically designed to trick you rather than to test whether or not you have been reading on schedule. Very difficult class.
Coggins was a very good professor, although her lectures are a bit dry. Despite this, she is very caring and very funny. Definitely want to take her class again but in a smaller setting, she seems to be better in small groups rather than a 180 pre-req class. Her class is pretty easy, just show up to lecture and take good notes and you will do well.
Prof. Coggins is my favorite professor so far at UCSB. She stresses the theories of IR a lot in this class, but beyond that, it is mostly current events, which is interesting. As long as you study and ask for help when you need it, the class is fun and not too hard.
Coggins is the best, all of the lectures I went to were engaging and made me want to get more involved in international relations. You have to know the information to do well on the tests/ quizzes, but if you go to lecture and section it should be clear. Plus, you don't have to buy a book which definitely a plus
She does not explain her slides very well. She posts her slides but with minimum information so make sure to go to class in order to fully understand the material. You will be give 5 pop quizzes in section, so make sure to keep up with the news, reading, and lectures. Midterm was difficult, no final but short paper due at the end of the quarter.
If you are thinking that this class will be an easy A / good basic background info sort of class, you are SADLY MISTAKEN. I'm a 4th year Global Studies major and this course should have been easy peasy but it WAS NOT. Don't take this if you're not going to put in MAJOR effort / if its not required.
You need to go to class to get the material or you will be confused. Made me switch out of the political science major. Very theory based, not a lot of practical application of concepts. A TON of reading and pop quizzes in section made sure you were on top of it and reading the New York Times every week. Got an A, but really had to work for it.
Coming into this class, I thought it would be easier than it was. Make sure you attend lecture & take good notes, otherwise you will become completely lost. Bc the midterm is only 15 questions (but worth 100 pts) each question is graded heavily, so it's easy to lose points. Other than that, there's only 5 pop quizzes, a 2nd midterm & a final paper.
Coggins was a solid professor. The first half of the class was really interesting but the second half was pretty dull. If you are interested in the topic of civil wars, I recommend you take this course.
I don't think I've ever seen a teacher make such an interesting topic seem so boring. She puts little to no info on her slides and it's impossible to know what the takeaway for each slide should be. It felt more like a philosophy course than international relations. I also hate how this course was supposed to meet over zoom and yet we've never met.
I am really mad that this synchronous course did not meet over zoom. Our "Synchronous" portion of the course was literally a nectir group chat where it was impossible to understand what was going on with 270 students sending messages into the chat. Her slides are also very poorly made and she makes zero effort at emphasizing concepts in her slides.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS ONLINE. We were supposed to meet through zoom since it is a synchronous class but never met. We used nectir in where she never gave us direct responses to our questions. She doesn't bother to make her lectures interesting, her lectures are so boring. Do not recommend taking this class.
Prof Coggins is by far one of the worst professors at UCSB. The midterms are graded harshly and are worth far too many points. When we ask questions through Nectir, only some are answered (a select few that aren't even the important questions). She claimed that this class would help people and make it less difficult, especially now. She LIED.
Do not take this class online. Her lectures are super boring and ridiculously confusing. She doesn't make PowerPoint slides with important information, she just rambles and it's impossible to know which concepts and details are important. No study guide is given for tests so we had no idea what to study, and what we are tested on are small details.
Very nice lady but would not recommend taking this class remotely. Only hour long discussions twice a week that couldve easily been completed in a 15 minute zoom. Grade based on participation, essay, midterm, and final. Extra credit offered which is nice but I wish there were more resources available. We had to set up zooms with each other.
Avoid this teacher. It's impossible to reach out to her. Not once has she responded to a single email I've sent her. This class was supposed to meet remotely and yet both class and office hours are on a stupid group chat (BTW there's a quarter of thousand people in this group chat). Even there, they'll pick and choose what questions to answer.
While I've seen great things about Professor Coggins's work in-person, I must say that the online platform is not her forte. The class was asynchronous, with its sections being on a platform very similar to discord. There were no zoom meetings; just a big group chat with over 200 students to discuss that week's lecture... Very disorganized
This class isn't ideal for online structure. There are ab 300 students in the class which makes live zoom lectures impossible so instead she uses nectir chats. She is wishy washy in her expectations of u in the course. Very little grade cushion. Not too much work to do, but bc of that preparing for midterms is hard bc u have no idea what she'll ask
This quarter was online and Coggins was not ready for it. Her lecture videos were just her reading off a script overflowing with information. You had no idea what was important or not, and she did not clarify in any way during our nectir sessions. Her midterms were confusing and she was not clear on grading criteria at all. The class was a mess.
PROF COGGINS IS NOT A GOOD PROF. She always contradicts herself. Her communication with her TAs are so off that some will say that a deadline is on a different day than the other! If you are taking this class online during COVID, listen to the prof about the midterm, but listen to the TAs about the paper. Hopefully she will stop teaching this class
Dont take PS7 with her. Please save yourself. I have never met someone who could make such an interesting topic so blatantly boring. International relations is such a cool topic, but she explains in in the worst way possible. I was thinking of majoring in IR before this class. Clearly not anymore
I do not recommend taking this class or professor especially if you have to take it online. She is not understanding of current situations plus never answers emails. Not accessible outside of class. Does not communicate with her TAs well. She uses nectir too and it's a JOKE. Synchronous class? no. Considering switching my major because of her.
Coggins is actually a great professor. The negative comments are just from people who wanted to be spoon-fed info and not read anything. This class took very little time, was incredibly manageable, and it was clear what the important concepts were. She's a sweet person and gets straight to the point. Easily my favorite online COVID class. Easy A.
Honestly such a low key prof. Her lectures are brief and to the point, no random nonsense to fill the time. Minimal assignments. No lengthy miserable Zoom sections. Really glad I took this class bc I learned what I needed to learn for the major, without the stupid online forums everyone else does. Very chill class & easy to pass if you arent lazy.
I do not recommend taking class with Professor Coggins. Her grading system is very strange, and I never knew what my grade was because she never posted any graded assignments. Her lectures are confusing and lack substance (theyre brief and dont cover everything we need to know/they dont clarify the readings).
Avoid this professor if you have to take her online. She is not clear in her lectures and is the most boring professor. The two good reviews on here for this quarter are false. She hasn't posted grades yet and one has already stated they got an A. Like what? She is also not clear with her grading structure.
If you literally tried even a little it was a fine class. Yea it's not riveting but it's online college. I spent around 45 minutes a week on this class and am expecting an A. Piece of cake.
I will not be taking class from Professor Coggins ever again. As long as you show up to class and do the readings, you will be fine, but the workload is not the problem. The class itself and the way Coggins structures her classes is the problem. Her lectures are not helpful, and the are just her rambling. This class was terribly boring.
I regret taking this class. Professor Coggins is unclear with her grading criteria and your grade depends on only two midterms and a paper. The lectures are confusing and we use Nectir for discussions which are disorganzied. I will not be taking a class with her ever again.
I personally dont think its that hard of a class at all, the lectures were brief and to the point. My advise is to listen to the lectures and really study those and have a general understanding of readings. She isnt a bad prof, just the class structure is confusing sometimes.
Genuinely one of the worst classes I've taken. We had a texting group chat for our "discussions" which made it super difficult to follow along and her lectures were boring and hard to follow. International relations is such an interesting topic but this class made me hate it.
Professor Coggins is great. She is really caring and likes what she teaches. She is super understanding during Covid and has great async lectures that you can tell she is interested in teaching us. There is participation on Nectir, no zooms. Two midterms and a paper that you have the whole quarter to write. Would definitely take again!!
Do not suggest taking this class, the professor does not have lecture slides or study guides. Long poly sci readings every week without clear explanations.
No structure to the class, too many readings, and no help whatsoever with what to study for the midterms.Slides are blank so everything is said and talks too fast, blink and you'll miss it. Only positive thing was TA's tried to help as much as they were allowed.AVOID taking this class with her if you can!
This class was way harder then it should have been. There was no structure and no communication between her and the TAs so it was super confusing all the time. The readings are very hard to understanding and we never went over them. She is very nice and passionate about what she does but the way she teaches makes it hard to grasp the material.
Prof. Coggins is a good professor but the class is very vague so attending lectures matters. She has no slides and sometimes the material is not very clear because of this. A lot of people are saying there's a lot of weekly readings, I actually found the readings pretty light. Overall I enjoyed the class and did not find it too hard
I am not exaggerating when I say she is the worst professor I have ever had. She does not care about the class or helping her students succeed. I got zero feedback throughout the entire quarter, and this made it extremely tough to write a 8 PAGE SINGLE SPACED PAPER. She is a nice person, but I would change my major before taking her class again.
The worst professor of all time, no exaggeration : avoid at ANY cost. Doesn't care at all about teaching, awful lecturer, no structure of class, inexistent guidelines to succeed, always passive agressive, not understanding, not humble, not caring, power complex. The most passionate IR kid will want to become EECS Major after this.
She is one of the worst professors I've had. We covered some interesting materials in the class, but I would not retake her course. She did not provide clear grading rubrics for the papers we had to write, and I did not know my grade towards the end of the quarter. Also, she gave poor-quality feedback on our papers.
I honestly loved Prof Coggins, her lectures were really interesting and even though we had to miss a few weeks because of jury duty i learned so much. Its a hard class and you will have to work for the A but her midterm and final are really straightforward. The papers were tough BUT go see your TA!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't even THINK of taking PS7 with Coggins. One of the worst professors I've had at UCSB. Her lectures are all over the place and she only puts one or two sentences per slide (doesn't post presenter notes). Graded only on participation, 2 midterms (tricky, specific questions), & a final paper. Weekly readings are so long and don't make any sense.
Readings were fine - good, actually, and didn't have problem w/lecture slides. But, rude, arrogant, & condescending. Laughed at me for asking a question. Not an expert, sorry - taking a basic class b/c I DON'T know something. Sorry, Princess.
Objectively a bad professor. Would often go off on tangents, slides unclear. Sometimes on her slides she would have a black background with dark green writing. Also said masculinity was an "inherently toxic trait." Do not take.
She does not care about her students and just throws you off the deep end of the pool. She could do so much more to help her students succeed and simply doesn't, she wouldn't even provide a study guide or any direction on the midterm and then is surprised when the midterm average is 62%.
Many pop quizzes, a lot of reading, rambles through lectures, goes through slides far too quickly, blames poor grades on students, average midterm grade of 60%.
120 students (out of the 300 in the class) got an F on the midterm and she blamed us for not paying attention in lecture and not working hard enough instead of taking some accountability for the fact that maybe... just maybe.. she should reevalute her teaching/test if that many people are failing...
Felt like I had to teach most the content to myself. Wording on tests is confusing. Does a bunch of pop quizzes that aren't even really helpful to your understanding of the content. Only 4 students out of the 300 in the class got an A on the midterm, showing a clear widespread problem, yet she simply blamed students for not studying enough.
She literally reads her lectures based off a script she wrote. Like even down to the jokes. A majority of kids in the class, i think over a hundred, got Fs on her midterm but she still blamed us for not paying attention. She did the same thing with her quiz, and had to make it extra credit because of how bad people did. Lectures super unengaging.
Prof Coggins literally makes the test so tricky and specific yet gives slides with 2 lines per slide in lecture and goes off tangents making it so hard to know what to actually study for. 120 got an F and instead of tryin to reevaluate her teaching style she used the same ol excuse "you guys aren't working hard enough"
Awful. It's beyond reasoning that a professor could treat their students this way, putting all the blame on the highest grade by a wide margin being an F on the students, when the common denominator all quarter has been the professor herself. Coggins is an absolute disgrace.
coggins is actually an awful professor. She is not interested in helping students learn the material. Her slides often have few to no words with random pictures on them completely unrelated to the topic. She does not tell students what to prepare for on the midterms, then blames them when the class does poorly. She should not be allowed to teach.
120 students failed her midterm and in her monkey brain it's because none of them were prepared instead of entertaining the possibility that it has to do with her inability to teach
f you have 300 students in your class and 120 of them average an F on the midterm while only 4 manage an A, then the issue isn't the students, it's the professor. This class is a disaster. If you ask for clarification, expect a condescending response or none at all. She'd rather fail students than teach them. Avoid this class at all costs!
278 Students, 178 failed. 0 A+, 4 A's, 6 A-'s. Places the blame for that on students. If 65% of your class fails, you have failed at the most fundamental part of your job, which is to teach. Then to turn around to place the blame blame on your students is honestly shameful. If you need to take this, I would recommend taking it at a CC online.
Read reviews prior to taking this class and didnt listen to the warnings. So I am telling you now, DO NOT TAKE PS7 W HER. Wildly unclear on how to succeed bc of her refusal of clarifying anything, tangent filled lectures, and the most vague unhelpful slides. For those that need 2b taught entry level IR, you will not get the education you need here
coggins, girl. just admit that you messed up and make us a study guide. clearly your methods aren't working
I took Civil War with Professor Coggins and it was great. One of the most relevant classes for international relations, with interesting readings and freedom in essays to apply concepts to what mattered to you individually. If you put in effort to learn as a student, you will be successful in this class. Was overall impressed by her teaching.
Never had a lazier professor in my entire life. Has terrible lecture slides, sometimes a whole lecture is spoken with a slide with just a title. Figure it out coggins this is a terrible style of teaching no wonder 120 people failed the first midterm in this intro class.
Absolutely, under no circumstance, should you take any class with coggins. Makes an interesting class unbearable and impossible tests. Don't do it, take it at CC instead.
On paper this class isnt hard. the Concepts are pretty easy in my opinion. The readings are pretty easy/interesting. But her grading is harsh. I studied a good amount before midterm 1.I pretty much knew everything on the exam. but I got a 67% because it wasnt up to her standard. If i dont get into the Poly Sci Major its cause of her.
She has nothing on her slides and just talks which makes it extremely difficult especially at the speed that she talks and provides no guidance. I studied a lot for the exam but still ended up with a bad score, definitely the toughest grader I've ever had, if it doesn't meet her standard she'll give you a bad grade. Hated taking polisci 7 with her.
This is a hot take but honestly Coggins is not as bad as they say. Its not high school, no study guide should be expected at this point. I did ok on the midterm and felt like it was straight forward, but Im sure they graded tough. Go to lecture, write what she says, and study like an adult- youll be fine. Truly not awful if you care about the class
Yeah, taking this class was a brutal experience. Absolutely ZERO structure. Lectures had absolutely no slides to take notes on, pop quizzes were given randomly with the strangest setup. We were given a WORD SEARCH QUIZ that nearly the entire class failed. Nothing is scheduled, and her canvas is MESS. Miserable.
Coggins is an interesting and intelligent professor who makes expectations clear, and if students do what's expected of them--go to class, take notes, complete readings, and study--success is more than possible. She is a bit of a tough grader but nothing crazy. I got an 89% on the midterm that everybody failed because of extensive preparation.
Made the mistake of taking her class. Lecture grading is not fair. Her slides are just visual place holders (can't rely on them to study effectively). No book to reference; all the material is from the weekly readings. 80% failed the midterm, which she tried to justify by blaming the students. Avoid Professor Coggins class.
Very knowledgable professor, she taught well and knew her stuff. People are just mad she didn't post lecture slides and you had to actually listen and study what she was saying. Concepts can be complex but if you put in moderate effort an A is possible.
Professor Coggins has very engaging and interesting lectures. While it is true that her lecture slides aren't information dense, she relays the information in a very captivating way. As long as you're present, this class won't be a problem. The negativity stems from people upset about their bad midterm grade when the test represented the coursework
Coggins is a great professor and this was a great class! Lecture content was very interesting. To get a good grade you have to go to lecture and write down what she's saying (bc there's not much on the slides). The people upset and w/ bad grades didn't do either of those things^ Lowest quiz score gets dropped and there's an EC quiz.
Poorly structured class just attend lectures
I took Prof. Coggins' class after forgetting to drop it, using it for 12 units. It was okay, but make sure to pay attention to lectures. I spent about 30 minutes per week outside of class on work. I took it pass/no pass and am pretty sure I passed. Overall, the class was fine—very doable, not impossible. I think others exaggerated its difficulty.
Her lectures were lackluster and confusing. She would go very fast and the slides were always empty and had no content on them. Even when I consistently went to lectures and paid attention, my notes would be difficult to understand. Over 50% of the class failed midterm 1, and she blamed us and refused to change anything for midterm 2 or lectures.
you have to attend every lecture because all information you get in this class is just her talking. She gives access to slides but they don't have infos on them. Strict grader and you never really know what you're doing tbh.
Coggins' class is unstructured, the slides are posted but they are worthless to study off of. Everyone bombed the first midterm and she blamed the students for needing to provide a curve. Lecture attendance isn't mandatory but there were like 4 online pop quizzes. Very doable class even if you don't read but its just made harder than it should be.
I don't think Coggins deserves the hate she is receiving. While I did not love the structure of her lectures (she talks a lot more than what is written on the slides, which can lead you to miss information), she is passionate about the course, and I found many of the lectures very interesting. If you go to all of the lectures, you should be fine.
Coggins isn't as bad as people make her seem. You must attend lectures and do the weekly readings to grasp the concepts and do well fully. Your grade honestly depends on the TA who grades your work :/
She got a lot of hate about the midterm but kind of made up for it by allowing you to make your final grade count as your midterm grade. Her lecture slides contain no info tho so you need to pay attention in lecture, which is hard as she goes off on random tangents, so you don't know what is important. She's nice and passionate about the subject.
Worst professor I've had so far. While she's passionate about the subject, class is extremely unstructured, which leads to inconsistent and unfair grading. She's on a power trip rather than genuinely wanting her students to succeed. If you want a class that feels like trying to solve a puzzle and read the professor's mind, then take her class.
She is probably…no the worst teacher at UCSB. She is very unhelpful, super sarcastic and doesn't really care about the class. Like 70% of the class failed the first midterm and had the audacity to blame the students. NEVER take any pol s class with Coggins.
boring lecturer, her slides consist of irrelevant images, her quizzes consisted of inaccurate answers, and she was a nightmare to contact (the first email she EVER responded to was 3 weeks AFTER THE QUARTER ENDED about a grading discrepancy). midterm: 120 F's, 58 D's out of 279 total students. class is not hard tho just know what a tariff is lolz
I had Coggins last quarter(yes the infamous failed first midterm), and I want to emphasize that she is not that bad. While she was kinda mean, she ended up allowing us to drop our scores. Never had issues with emailing/office hours were helpful! She is passionate about her subject/seemed frustrated by people skipping section and not doing readings.
just no, she's awful... thinks she's too good to respond to emails as if a student doesn't pay thousands of dollars in tuition already.
thinks she's THE chosen one in political science and not having any words on any slides and no clear grading criteria, fair because "she said so!".
As long as you paid attention in lecture, you'd be fine. People just hated her because she didn't put a lot on her slides, but you're in college you shouldn't expect to just be able to copy off everything on the slides and not have to think for yourself. TAs were really helpful, the readings were light, she even gave extra credit opportunities.
Liked her but unfair grading
She is my favorite IR professor by far. Civil wars is definitely not an easy A but you will learn so much. She is also very sweet and helpful in her office hours.
Yes, she's a tough grader. Yes, she assigns a lot of reading. But, we should show her compassion, too. She has had a difficult life (divorce) and that might be why she is the way that she is. You cannot judge a person until you have walked in their shoes. Perhaps she means well and wants us to learn and she feels the hard way is the best way.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
40%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.46 avg changeRatings by Course
PS141
3.3
(11)PS7
2.4
(36)POLS7
2.2
(48)Difficulty by Course
POLS7
3.9
PS141
3.8
PS7
3.6