1.8
Quality3.7
Difficulty11%
Would Retake94
Reviews11%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
6
4
5
3
9
2
24
1
50
What Students Say
“Do NOT take this class if you can avoid it, it's a nightmare”
EARTHSCIENCES - 1.0 rating“She's brilliant, that's for sure, but not good at teaching”
ESS330 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
84%
Textbook Required
83%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.64 avg changeRatings by Course
GEOGRAD
5.0
(1)GEO300
5.0
(2)ESS543
4.0
(1)101
3.0
(1)ESS330
2.8
(4)Difficulty by Course
343
5.0
ESS10102
5.0
SCI101
5.0
ESS450
5.0
ESS100
4.5
Reviews (94)
Dont do it. She doesnt really help and usually gets an attitude when you dont understand. Tests are online but and answers are "supposedly" in the notes which she gives on a daily basis. Pretty much everyone in my class had grades between C- and F. I retook the class with Smith and got an A.
She is difficult to understand and the wording on some of her quizzes and such aren't very clear. I got a 0 on my first quiz cause she worded it wrong. There is a 2 hour lab, very boring and sometimes includes a lecture. I would not recommend this class and teacher. Overall, I'd say 3/10
She does have a russian accent, but it is not hard to understand her. She is very passionate about her subject, and lectures are usually involved during lab periods. lots of rock identification. exams are all online, so googling answers makes them easy. attendance is mandatory, but listening is optional. her powerpoints are posted online.
She does speak with a Russian accent and can be difficult to understand at times, but that isn't what makes the class so difficult. It is, instead, the tricky pop quizes that occur frequently, two online exams that are focused on topics that are usually not discussed in class, and poor professor-student interactions.
She can be very hard to understand. When you ask her questions she can be very negative. It is a very hard class because of her, do not take her.
Dr. Nikitina is probably one of the best professors I have ever had. Extremely good notes, and very helpful in the lab. All tests and quizzes online. Just ask questions, show interest and she will go out of her way to make sure you do well.
She is very picky in grading.
She is very passionate about the material but overall she just goes on and on and she is very difficult to understand with the way she talks and words things. A LOT of my fellow students did not like her. She is pretty unorganized and socially awkward. One-on-One she is helpful but she gets mad at our class in the lab if you don't know an answer.
She is very passionate about the material but overall she just goes on and on and she is very difficult to understand with the way she talks and words things. ALOT of my fellow students did not like her. She is pretty unorganized and socially awkward. One-on-One she is helpful but she gets mad at our class in the lab if you don't know an answer.
I love her! she is so sweet and willing to help. the class is easy if you pay attention and do your work. even with the russian accent i can understand her really well and i have a hearing problem.
DONT TAKE THIS CLASS! she is very hard to understand but thats not even the worst part. She is not helpful and always gets an attitude when you have questions. Her tests and quizes are confusing and does not even include what she talks about in class.
I really suggest finding a different prof for ESS 101. The subject matter is not what is difficult, rather the lack of explanation, poor powerpoints, and the fact that there is not pattern to her teaching methods, and the tests are not related to the lectures. Also, the labs are difficult because there is no explantion on how to do them. AVOID.
Ok this teacher is terrble, drop her while you have the chance. she is a russian idiot. she doesnt help and has called students retarted, she missed 2 weeks of class, she lied to us about the format of our finals, and she came 15 minutes late to our final. i dont understand how this woman is a teacher, she turned a simplecourse into a gpa dropper
She sucks. Her labs are impossible, tests are beyond that. her final was essays, which she did not warn us about. She gets angry when labs don't understand the material. And you will be expected to go outside on campus and identify random rocks you see, so i would only take her if you are passionate about GEO, or are a really good guesser.
SHE IS A TERRIBLE TEACHER!!!! Incomprehensible, rambles about geolog"er" and volcan"ers" cannot teach...SHOULDN'T BE TEACHING ANYMORE!
Get the hell out of this class while you can. I am very knowledgeable in the area of Geology and this class had me stumped. I went to every class in the beginning, but when it didn't help... I just stopped going. I ended up getting an A- but believe me, I had to work for it
Nikitina is a very nice, hilarious woman who wants her students to learn. She loves you if you COME TO CLASS, come on time, read the text, and study. She will help you and gladly answer questions if you do these things. Just read the textbook- really. Her powerpoints are a little unorganized and all over the place, so it's best to really read.
Don't listen to the other comments. They are all exaggerations. Nikitina is not a good teacher, but she is not the devil either. Her classes have little to do with the material on her tests, which are a big part of the grade, but showing up to class and the labs are definite necessities.Even with open-book tests, they are hard to do very well on
very confusing teacher. doesn't answer your questions & provides little help. lecture is so boring, attendance isn't mandatory but she throws in little grades to hurt you. Labs are full of busy work & are very boring. Her tests vary because some are really easy while others are very hard. i wouldn't recommend this class to anyone!!
Her 2midterms are online so if you take them in a group it will help..the midterm was easier, the final was impossible. Her lectures are totally boring, but go, cuz she does in class assignments & quizes. take Helmke instead! i had her for lab and she was amazing. Do extra credit. and if you do good on 2 midterms..you dont have to take the final!!
really easy class, but VERY boring. she is extremely helpful witht the labs will let you do the ones you got wrong over until you get them right. easy A, but not worth the aggravation of going
HORRIBLE!!! Do not take this class! if you need to take geology take another professor she is one of the worst I have ever had. You MUST go to class even though she doesn't take attendance b/c you do like a thousand graded in class activities and if you miss more than 2 you have to take the final. you also must go to lab.
i took 3 300-level courses along with ESS 101 last semester, i easily passed my 300-leves, but failed ESS. there was a tremendous amount of information in the course for a 100- level. nothing taught in class had to do with exams, not to mention the final was unbelievably difficult. do not take anything taught by this professor.
Dr Nikitina is very knowledgeable of course you would expect that. She was more than willing to help anyone who wanted it. She was never in a hurry and was willing to spend time chatting after class.
I had Dr. Nikitina for numerous classes. She was the best professor I've ever had. She was always available and a huge help. She took us to so many cool places over the years.
Students seemed to love her or hate her. I love her myself
Unless you are truly interested in Geology, and are motivated to teach yourself-- don't take this class. The lecture's are 100% boring, people often fall asleep. And she is unlcear about all assignments, tests, etc. Even her e-mails are unclear. She keeps you right up until the last second. Wrote her own book, so even that is unclear. Horrible.
She is not easy on the eyes and her pigeon English is a chore in its own right, plus she is illogical to the n-th degree; otherwise, a very boring class.
Do not take her class. You will regret it.
I have her for lab. You will definitely need the manual. She is not clear on her instructions. she is rude if you don't understand what you are doing. if you don't show up its hard to make up the labs. I wouldn't miss if you have her and if you can take someone else do it.
She literally is the absolute worst. She will go on trips when you need her help and not respond to anything. she just tries to act like a good teacher but shes very selfish and doesn't care about her students. She gives the HARDEST work and expects it to be A+ all the time. don't ever take her, do everything in your power to switch
Do not take this class unless you speak Russian and already have a vast knowledge of Geology. During my semester in her class, Nikitina was in and out and for the last month leading up to the final, she was not even in class.
She is probably one of the most rude and mean professors I have ever come in contact with. The labs are confusing and she gets mad at the students when they do not know what they are doing. She has a thick Russian accent which makes her even harder to understand.
If you aren't a professional geologist don't take this class. She expects you to know everything about the subject and when you ask a question for clarification, she is less than helpful. She is extremely rude to students and blatantly puts them down in front of other students. Even if you're willing to learn, she makes it very difficult.
Not one person in my class understood or passed her labstests. You ask her for help and she tells you to take better notes. She has sarcastic comments for anything and only cares about herself, not to help you learn. Strong russain accent and gets angry when youre confused, but wont explain it. DO NOT TAKE HER if you don't know geology perfectly
She is the rudest teacher I have ever had. She gives quizzes that she barely covered and even if she covered the material you can't understand her. Don't even bother asking for help because she'll just blow you off and basically call you stupid. I absolutely hated this class. DO NOT TAKE HER
One of the most abominable professors to be taught by. The class information is not difficult, but the labs are absurd. Your grade will rely heavily on labs (which are passfail). 9 times out of 10, her quizzes and labs will contain information that you have little to no knowledge of. Do NOT take this class if you can avoid it, it's a nightmare.
All I can say is DO NOT TAKE HER unless you need it for your major. Practically the whole class is failing... She will destroy your gpa. Also she reads the newspaper during lab instead of helping with the lab and answering questions .
Good class. Prof knows her stuff! Don't cheat. Got my money's worth.
The rudest and meanest professor I have ever had. She makes her students feel stupid if they get something wrong. Her labs are so hard, her grading system is not even real. If you need a science gen ed, don't take her. If you wanna take ESS, by all means take it, but try to not take her. Good luck passing her class.
This woman should not be a professor. She is rude and talks down to her students. The fact that West Chester University actually has employed someone like this makes me think very differently of the University. This woman is arrogant and will destroy your gpa and if you ask her a question she will make inappropriate remarks.
This professor is difficult and not helpful at all. You can absolutely NOT ask a question without her making some sort of rude remark or getting mad. I've seen her roast so many people for unnecessary reasons. Trust me when I say, you do not want to end up with her for a whole semester.
If you can find another professor, jump at the chance! I helped my friend with pass with an A in their ESS101 class while I was struggling to maintain a B at the same time in mine! Dr. Nikitina knows her stuff, if you show up, participate and put effort in she'll help you but she won't make the class any easier. YOU NEED THE TEXT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!
terrible professor. She's a very tough grader and is extremely snarky and rude when you need help or don't know something. Don't take her.
I'm a geo major and I'm failing this intro class while easily passing more advanced geo courses. This professor resents her students and publicly humiliates anyone who asks questions. She gives random assignments and fails to clarify how to complete them. She requires a $150 book that is only used for its worksheets. She gives no study guides.
I have never written a review of a professor before, but I just had to for her. If you frequently ask questions andor are not good at geology, do NOT take this class. Asking a question is essentially inviting her to roast you in front of the class. She is not helpful in the slightest. If you can avoid taking her, do at all costs.
The worst professor I have had in college hands down. I am shocked West Chester even employs her. I typically get As and Bs but when I went to her for help because I did poorly on the midterm she insulted me and made me cry in front of her. She is extremely rude to everyone and unclear about grading requirements.
Very intelligent. Knows her subject matter inside and out. However, any assignment or reading penned by her is nigh illegible. I'd suggest a course in speaking English but she doesn't take to criticism well. Generally unavailable during "office hours" and has a tendency to disappear for days on end with no word to the class.
Exams are 97 book, 3 lab, pay attention to diagrams. Tests aren't hard if you READ book. Reading the book is a must! want a better grade on something she will let you redo it. if you are confused on something that you ALREADY did, she'll explain it. She can be rude, if she's in bad mood she'll grade hard. Work hard and you'll be fine. Lecture sucks
Her textbook is crazy expensive, so rent it and try to copy labs if you don't have her for lab. She has an accent, and her lectures drag.. She'll also give little pop quizzes towards the end of class and isn't the nicest person
There's a midterm and a final exam. Both take home, however take a lot of time to complete. Take extremely good notes during class, refer to the book, understand the PowerPoint and diagrams. Tests take much time to complete. Don't expect help from her. She is limited in helping you to better understand material and doesn't respond to emails often.
She is a super cool professor!! Hilarious! You have to read the book to get through the class tho. For exams study the labs and book. If you have questions she'll help you. She loves giving homework and group projects too.
Professor Nikitina is probably the rudest teacher I have ever met. She is inconsiderate of her students and could care less if you pass or fail. No matter how hard you work, it goes unnoticed. She doesn't understand that people don't care about rocks as much as she does.
Knows her stuff. Super vague on assignments. If you ask her questions she'll help clarify, usually. Assignments aren't hard, just confusing. Exams are not difficult if you READ the book. If she gets mad, be careful, homework. She's not a bad professor, just unclear. Half the grade in the class is figuring out what she wants from assignments
Took this for a gen ed, but I don't recommend it. Yes, she has a great knowledge of geology, but she is unable to relay that information to students. I attended every lecture, paid attention and took notes. Skimmed the textbook (which you can't teach yourself bc she wrote it and it's one long, run-on sentence) and ended up failing the final.
Had her for a gen ed, and I would not recommend her at all. She makes you buy her own textbook for the labs, and you can't understand the book at all. Make sure to attend all the labs, because it will save your grade in the end.
She's not as bad as people say she is. Go to class and pay attention, review the notes every now and then and there should be no problem getting an A in the class.
She's brilliant, that's for sure, but not good at teaching. Some professors are genuinely in it, and care about students, and want them to learn, but Nikitina just wants you to absorb, and doesn't help you at all. It feels sometimes like she's bored and just wants to get out of there. Would not recommend, take a professor that actually cares.
I dont know why so many people give her bad reviews. She's funny and nice and yeah her lectures could be boring, but she gives you all the info you need to pass the tests. Labs help your grade a lot and they are always easy. she's a nice grader. If you need a science and aren't a science major this class would be the one to take.
It is week 7 of me taking this course. I suspect the Professor to be a Russian Spy conspiring something. I believe she is recruiting students to help her build a super volcano in order to take down the American Government as we know it. More updates to come....
This was probably the most boring class I had this semester. She gets super uptight about missing class, but she never takes attendance and rarely assigns homework other than reading. She is also really bad at grading labs, my lab partner and I would have word for word the same answers, but we always ended up with different grades. Terrible class!
She seems to genuinely dislike her job and students. Asking a question re: the material/assignment almost guarantees you a rude response. Wants you to buy an expensive workbook she wrote herself (poorly) and expects you to be an expert in geology. Gets mad when you don't know everything, despite this being an intro level course. Avoid taking her!!!
Professor Nikitina can be tough because she expects everyone to know what she does. Her midterm and final exams also were nothing like the review she gave us. You just have to study the questions in the textbook and you'll get an A. Don't miss any labs either because thats what makes up most of your grade. They are easy though with a good group.
Very, very nice lady when she's not teaching. Very smart, not a good teacher, at all. Unless you're an expert of course.
Don't take if you have the chance to take someone else. Makes you buy super expensive textbook for labs. Gives boring lectures. Tests are hard but labs are easy but tedious. Seemed like she didn't care about seeing student's succeed. Overall not worth it for a gen ed.
Nikitina is just a mean and awful professor. It's possible to do well, labs are either easy or she doesn't actually grade them because I got 100s on all of them. If you can take someone else do it because you have to buy an expensive book and it's not worth the stress of a gen ed, but if you're stuck with her you might end up ok
Nikitina is the worst professor I've ever had. She expects everyone to have as much knowledge as she does about geology and she degrades everyone who doesn't. She cancelled class for two weeks to go to South Africa and Russia and then sent us a rude email about mandatory attendance. The fact that our tuition goes to this awful lady is disgusting.
Makes you buy her own expensive book only used for her labs. She lectures heavy and her grading is sometimes unclear.
You have to buy her textbook that she wrote because she requires you to rip out the pages for the labs. She usually takes attendance every class. Her lectures don't make a lot of sense and her labs aren't the easiest to get through. I would recommend taking a different teacher because I still cant identify the rock's names
Not too hard of a class, the lectures are very boring but she does not care if you are on your phone or computer. She lets you use your labs during tests which is very helpful, and she does not grade labs hard so you get a 100 almost every time.
Pretty easy class. All of the exams were open note and to get a good grade on the lab you just had to show up. Attendance is mandatory which got super annoying because she just went over slides she just shared with us anyways.
Dr. Nikitina is not good at teaching her material. The powerpoints make no sense and are not easy to follow. It becomes your responsibility to do well. Take your own notes from the textbook and try your best to pay attention. The textbook is expensive and required. Exams have poor spelling and grammar, as do the labs, so good luck Charlie
Not a good teacher. Can be rude at sometimes because she expects you to know just as much about rocks as she does and does not make you feel comfortable asking questions. notes don't really help and material can get confusing
She takes advantage of being tenured, she is rude and unapproachable. She looks at you like your an idiot if you ask a question. if you dont know the answer to her question she flips out (told a kid she was going to talk to their coach cause he didnt know the answer) Dont expect any help from her your lucky if she even responds to your emails.
The worst excuse for a professor. When people in my class asked questions, she belittled them and made them feel dumb. Randomly called one kid out in class. Speaks condescendingly to students. Uses incorrect spelling, for example one time she spelled "crystals" like "chystalls". Overall, just an extremely unhappy, hateful person.
I've never rated a professor before but after taking this course, I had to. Daria Nikitina is one of the most miserable people I have ever come into contact with in my entire life. The labs are easy when you work together and count for a large portion of your grade. For my midterm, she up and went to CHINA and forgot to upload it. So mean and awful
she's annoying, this class means nothing to my career field yet I find myself with an abundance of assignments that are graded with a level of scrutiny unprecedented amount classes that are exclusive for university profit. avoid this prof. the class should be easy however ur expected to be a geology expert to pass lol. a joke of a class like most
very very VERY awful class. if you're gonna take this class, make sure you're prescribed to prozac. worst class of my entire life hands down. she made me want to crawl into a ball and blow away like tumbleweed.
Dr. Nikitina cares only for herself and not for her students or their success. All of the quizzes and tests were based on a textbook she wrote herself. She was difficult to get into contact with, especially since the class was taught remotely. Do NOT take a class with Dr. Nikitina if you have the opportunity to be taught by different professor.
Most unorganized professor Ive ever had. I dont recommend taking her classes she thinks everyone is trying to be a geologist. Labs are hard. Very little notice on quizzes and exams.
Shes rude and one of the worst professor Ive ever had.
Dr. Nikktina is really nice, However she definitely is a hard grader. For example, for labs she will give you directions as to what to do but you will get docked letter grades if you dont go above and beyond the directions.. Shes extremely smart however for a 101 class shes unable to teach things in a way to make sense for a 100 level class
Dr. Nikitina is a scam artist who sells her own textbook for 150 dollars (required for the class). She is very cold and uncaring, and makes no attempt for form a relationship with her students. Her quizzes and tests are always rushed, and questions are worded poorly. She is a perfect example of a professor doing this job solely for the money.
Daria Nikitina is the worst teacher I have ever had. She treats you like you are dumb if you ask for help and shows zero respect to her students. She constantly compares you to other classes and if you email her she either does not respond or her response is extremely rude and condescending. If you can avoid her, DONT TAKE HER CLASS! She is so mean
This class was really difficult for a general education course, and I definitely wouldn't take again if I had the chance. Dr. Nikitina made me feel uncomfortable and stupid for asking questions and wasn't supportive to the class. She didn't acknowledge her role in our poor grades on tests, and would resort to berating the class to simply try harder
Great instructor. Dr. Nikitina is caring and passionate about geomorphology. I feel as though the course lacked rigor considering that it is a graduate level course. Oftentimes, I found myself regurgitating information on slides as opposed to applying concepts in word or math problems.
She give only part of the lab period to complete the labs, then she gets annoyed when labs aren't finished. She is rude to students when they don't fully understand what is happening. She also gives no feedback on labs and just tells you that you are wrong. I would not recommend taking her for this class if you can avoid it.
Seriously do not recommend taking this course. She is rude and talks condescendingly towards students. If u ask a question she makes u feel dumb for asking. Her lectures are her just reading off slides, not engaging whatsoever. Also, she does not give proper amount of time to complete labs, and blames u if u cannot make up. Awful professor.
I've never felt the need to leave a poor rating for a professor, but if I can save someone from taking this class I will. She is the most disrespectful professor I've ever had. She takes up 2/3 of class time reviewing slides we have online, refuses to accept labs you were not in class for w/o doctors excuse & just treats her students horribly.
Run. Avoid at all costs.
For a general education requirement, she was miserable to take. Would spend half the class talking and then give you a group assignment needed to be done during class. Obnoxiously boring.
Professor waits until last week of school to enter grades. Consists of 5 modules with lots of readings and videos to watch, which are impossible to get a 100 on. Sent multiple emails with questions throughout the semester and never received an email back.
I very rarely give professors bad reviews but I had to here. My biggest (and really only) gripe with her is that she's just not a nice person. Sometimes a student would ask her a question, and while she would answer them, she was oftentimes just plain rude to them. Pretty inexcusable. Lectures are boring, I fell asleep once and she woke me up.
She is a tough grader but this is because she wants to make sure you know your stuff and actually leave the class remembering the numerous things that she teaches you. If you look past the tough grading and the intimidating attitude, you will realize that you have learned so much and will be able to appreciate geology as much as she does.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
84%
Textbook Required
83%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.64 avg changeRatings by Course
GEOGRAD
5.0
(1)GEO300
5.0
(2)ESS543
4.0
(1)101
3.0
(1)ESS330
2.8
(4)Difficulty by Course
343
5.0
ESS10102
5.0
SCI101
5.0
ESS450
5.0
ESS100
4.5