3.3
Quality3.2
Difficulty41%
Would Retake85
Reviews41%
Would Retake
85
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
26
4
21
3
12
2
15
1
11
What Students Say
“McFadden was so inspirational, he inspired me to not care”
HONR1101 - 1.0 rating“Very outdated teacher doesn't use technology”
HI10 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
87%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.80 avg changeRatings by Course
350
5.0
(1)HI
5.0
(6)RUSHIST
5.0
(1)HI254
5.0
(1)HISTORY
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
350
5.0
RUSSIAN
5.0
HIST30
5.0
HI30
4.1
HI250
4.0
Reviews (85)
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Nice guy....Explains well...but a lot of work
considerable amount of work, but good teacher, this guy LOVES history
If you're actually interested in learning he's perfect.
nice teacher unless he's in a bad mood, knows his stuff, really have to work to get an A but a B isn't too hard, only a couple of papers, gives out 30 possible essay questions for tests, only 3 on test, by last test you get a feeling of what he will ask
Awesome teacher, just have to pay attention in class, great guy
good guy outta class, tons of work, not all that hard of a grader on tests but his review sheets for the final and midterm are ridiculously long and the majority of the stuff isn't even on the damn test
I dont like history, but he makes it enjoyable because hes so into it. I learned a lot from this guy!!! There is a lot of work, but hes a great teacher.
He is one of the best teachers here at Fairfield. He is passionate about what he teaches and makes going to class a pleasure, not a chore :)
This guy loves history, HIS version of history. If you're not ultra-liberal you're not going to enjoy his class. A lot of reading, and two final papers and a written final.
This class had a huge emphasis on writing, mostly journal entries and responses. Only one test. I found that I did much better than expected and heard that girls tend to do well. I'll say no more except that I recommend him -- he really knows history!
Absolutely fantastic teacher- I really love his style and eclectic approach to my least favorite subject. Midterm wasn't that bad, and the final project doesn't seem like it'll be too tough. Keep up on the readings though.
Great guy. He is really enthusiastic about teaching and love what he does. If you actually read the material he assigns, the class if easy.
As a High School teacher, I can tell you that all History majors have to take him. He teaches you what a historian should be. I was the most comparative thinker at his end of the year party. He is great!!
McFadden is a great teacher. He's very intelligent and really knows his stuff. He's approachable as well and more than willing to help. I would not call him the easiest professor because of his expectations, but it is not impossible to get an A in his cla
interesting class, he gives great lectures because he knows so much. there are 2 papers, not a hard grader. midterm and final, gives you questions beforehand in a huge studyguide.
Best professor I have had at FU. Great lecturer. Incredibly helpful and nice. A lot of work, the midterm is difficult, but all the hard work is worth it. Great class
Great teacher and I HATE history! Not too much reading, papers which I actually enjoyed writing and easy tests if paid attention in class. Lots of group work.
Smart, knows what hes talking about, but very hard class. His study guides are a little bit out of controll. Gives 40 essay questions to study and only five are on the exam.You learn a lot, but the class is a little overwhelming with all the journals, a book a week and huge study guides.
Great professor, very enthusiastic and interested in the course and his students. Really interesting class - all about Iraq and Afghanistan. He's going on sabatical but if you have an opportunity to take a history class with him do it. A lot of reading, but it's interesting and you can skim
McFadden's the man. Three short papers anda long one but not terrible for a 300.
Mc Fadden.. somehow I managed to have him for 3 HI courses.. the only 3 I ever took. He truly cares about what he teaches and is willing to help anyone who asks. He is a little tough on his tests, but you can make it up on the papers. Take at least one class with this man!
Class was hard, make sure to keep up with the readings, papers were difficult but managable, tests and exam he gives the questions ahead of time. He is a great teacher and he knows his stuff, reading the text will help boost ur class participation
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He is a really nice guy, and a pretty fair grader. If you're a good writer and know how to "compare and contrast", the papers are easy. The tests require a lot of unneccesary studying, but you learn a lot. He is so enthusiastic! why was this flagged?
Really really nice guy. Very helpful. Loves it if you improve as the year goes on. I'd reccommend him especially for an upper level history.
He is a nice guy, but he requires way too much work. Currently, I am working on his final review packet. It has taken me four hours to get through half of it. He knows what he is talking about, but if you aren't a history major you should opt for another teacher to meet your core requirements. I wasn't expecting him to be this tough.
nice guy but not a very good teacher. reallyyyy likes class participation and puts you in small groups every class. not really a productive way to teach. requires entirely too much info to be learned for the midterm and final and only puts about 1/4 of what is on the review sheet on the actual exams. find someone who has taken him before!
Great professor. Class is a lot of work but he makes Russian History much easier to understand.
The first half of the semester he was awesome and he made history interesting which was good for the non-history majors. Second half he was all over the place and no one knew what was going on. His midterm and final is ridiculous with the packets with a million questions. but the papers are pretty fair and you go to his office hours.
McFadden is the man. The class is tough because you need to keep up with world events and keep a NY Times journal, but you learn a lot. He really makes you care, and he is such a nice guy . The midterm and final are long (essay) but the classes are interesting. Take him!
nice guy, but the class itself is horrible for students and he knows it. would say avoid at all costs, but he's the best out there. final exam consisted of 60 essay questions and 70 identifications, he only picked 6 essays and 10 id's. loves class participation and there's group work almost everyday
Really nice guy, loves history. I did not like the class too much, threre was group work almost every day (it was like the students were teaching the class.. not him) his midterm and final are crazy (he gives you a LONG list of essays and IDs and then only chooses a handful for your to answer) We also had to hand in several short papers (3-5 pgs)
McFadden is really nice. He's liberal, but willing to hear other opinions. There is a lot a group work during class, which I didn't like. He's not a tough grader and always willing to help. He gives a massive reviews sheets for tests, although only about 10% of the stuff on the review sheet is on the tests, which was kinda annoying.
McFadden is a nice guy and very passionate about history but I can say I honestly learned nothing from this class. He doesn't teach at all and the kids basically teach the class. Midterm is impossible. we had 65 short answers and about 10 were on the exam. The final was a paper but it was impossible to do well on it. overall very hard class
So hard
extremely difficult ; gives a packet of 60 essay question and 100 identifications for the midterm and the final. need to know ALL of them, but he only picks about 6 out of 60 essay questions, and 5 out of 100 id's. too much work for a core class.
Unless you are a history guru, I would avoid this class. His class lectures are easy to take notes on, but it's no match for the intense 60 question + study guide he gives for midterms and finals. Need to read 2 LONG and absurd books, and write 2 papers. Class only for History-lovers
Studying for his final will make you want to dig yourself a grave. WAY too much info to learn for a CORE class. Avoid unless you love history and are willing to undertake a LOT of work and read 2 LONG novels ontop of textbook readings. Nice guy, hard grader.
Not the easiest teacher, but I would suggest this class. You don't need to do the readings because he explains it all in his lectures. His midterm/final study guides are ridiculous, but if you work on them in a group, it works out. Plus, he grades them super quick. He always let us out after 50 minutes 9/10 times. Papers are easy with effort.
He gives hudge review packets and tons of reading but he is a really easy grader
Final was impossible way too much gave a packet of 50 in depth questions and only assigned 5 or 6. He needs to realize this is a CORE class and many students will never apply this historical information to their lives. I studied legit close to 15 hours for his final it was miserable. Very outdated teacher doesn't use technology. Avoid at all costs.
As far as professors in the history department for HI10 go, McFadden is by far one of the better options. He does give study guides for his exams which are overly extensive, but there's no reason you have to answer every question on the study guide. If you pay attention to what he lectures on he will tell you what to focus on studying.
McFadden is a great guy but a tough grader. He will critique you on things you did not include in your essay. He does not really consider personal effort and really just goes by what you give him. Not a class to take for core, really should be taken only by history majors or people who love Russian history.
His lectures were so boring and pointless. Easy grader but mandatory attendance. I hardly ever read the textbook.
Dr. McFadden is on of the best teachers at Fairfield! He works tirelessly to run multiple classes and departments as well as maintain countless office hours. He really cares about his students. He's a great academic advisor as well. His classes are so interesting for both majors and non-majors. Definitely take his class! You won't regret it.
Would not recommend taking for your 200 level history. He puts over 100 terms/questions you need to know for the exam on the study guide that are unnecessary. He is picking when it comes to grading too.
McFadden was not only a great history professor, but a great professor in general. He really cares about the wellbeing of his students and really wants them to do well. He let us out of class early nearly everyday and I was always prepared for tests. I had the flu during finals week and he was so accommodating and let me take it at a later date.
Good teacher, but boring topic, I took him for the History of Russia. He assigns a lot of readings, and sometimes they can be difficult to understand. He gives 2 papers, and 2 tests and a final. Tests are easy IF YOU STUDY. He gives study guides. All tests are essay-written, so you really have to know what your talking about. You can't B.S.
Lectures short and concise but effective. Homework reasonable, grading extremely reasonable.
Professor McFadden is very nice but assigns a lot of reading. I got away with not reading most of them but the amount of informations on the midterm and final does get overwhelming. He is an easy grader
Honestly the lectures in this class were totally pointless. Attendance was mandatory and the class was so boring, especially at 8AM. He didnt teach, he simply assigned groups and they would summarize a part of the textbook for the class while he sat at his desk and didnt teach. Excessive study guide for midterm/final. Don't take him!!
Professor Mcfadden loves group work so you'll be split into groups probably every class. Assigns ALOT of reading for homework but it's not that important because he goes over it in lecture. Class can be boring but It's not awful. Papers aren't too bad because he sets you up to write it during class. Exams aren't that hard if you study.
Had him for History 10 in the summer so his style might be different in 18-week classes. He's very busy so he gets down to business fast. He spent most class time on group work and asking questions to review the text reading. When he did get time to lecture on a topic he cared about he was dynamic and really passionate! Journals were great too.
McFadden is a great person and knows all about history. The class can be boring during lecture, but we always got out 20mins early. I never read the book or the novels which the papers were about and I did fine. But, studying for the midterm/final is terrible because he gives 60 possible test questions yet only 5 are on the test. Not an easy A.
Dr. Fadden is the best! Super easy, gives questions for midterm and final beforehand, 3 essays and extra credit available. Also lets his class out super early and is very chill! I would def take him again!
His class started out slow with group work to recount the readings and we always got out early (he doesn't really lecture). In the second half of the semester there were a lot of papers and assignments with unclear instructions. McFadden's a nice guy but this class was really hard to keep up with.
McFadden is a decent professor. You do the readings in class and go over them with him, and then he lets you out usually a half hour early. He lays out exactly what you have to do for the take home essays and the case study, and he always accepts longer papers. The reading can be alot, but other than that he is a good guy.
Hes a nice guy and lets the class out early. Besides that his feedback is nonexistent and his grading is lined up to get you a B or B+. Everything was self taught. If you want a B or B+ without working too hard take him. If you are aiming for an A, find Galileo to help teach you.
Do not take him for spring 2021, he handled online/hybrid classes awfully. I did not learn one thing, he did not give one lecture & he had us come to class for 20 minutes instead of 1 hour and 15 minutes. I don't know about him before the pandemic, but with the online components he was really bad. He also expected you to read 150-200 pgs per class.
He is a pretty good teacher. A lot of the material you have to teach yourself, but he is always available outside of class. You don't have to do the readings but definitely need the textbook to do good. Makes you write a journal after each class.
McFadden was a good 200- history choice. A good amount of work consisting of 2 essays (not much prep needed). Two in-class exams (decent amount of studying for), a final project (based on in-class work), and a take-home final. If you put the effort in, you will get good grades on everything. He normally won't kill your grade, but the work is neede
I agree with the other reviews. There is a lot of work and a lot of papers. But if you listen to what he says and infer what he wants, he'll give you an A. Half the time he didn't even read our papers and gave us an A-. Just do the work and listen, you'll be fine.
Hes a little boring but he usually only makes his class about 30 mins then you get to leave.. his essays and journals are easy
Professor McFadden a VERY textbook heavy teacher. If you don't understand the reading then your screwed because he doesn't care. His teaching style is sitting in his chair and pointing at power points while he drones and doesn't stop. He barely even teaches and expects us to understand and memorize everything on the first go. Do not take him.
Prof McFadden is not my favorite. I have class at 8am and im out every time by 8:15 because all he does is read off a 5 page powerpoint and expect us to take notes as he races through each slide. Be prepared to read 40+ pages for hw each class while writing a paragraph. Midterm and final study guide are 100+ questions and only 5 are on the exam
Let me start by saying that this isn't a class but a book club.......the most expensive you'll ever pay for. The class is about 10 minutes long as he goes over 5 powerpoint slides while he is comfortably sitting doing the bare minimum. No lectures, no class conversation, no talk regarding the current Russian-Ukraine events. Very uninspiring class.
Classes rarely lasted more than 15 minutes. He would present one powerpoint with no more than 8 slides and then dismiss class. He doesn't give any additional information other than what's on the slideshow. Very boring, learned little but also very little outside work. I didn't read at all outside of class on did fine.
The only homework he gives is journal reflections from class. He only keeps us 20-25 minutes out of the hour 15 class we have which is super nice. Lectures during class then will have us discuss, so the class itself is easy. He assigns a lot of reading, but you can get by without doing it because he goes over it in class. 2 take home essays.
15-30 minute lectures; 30-300 pgs of reading assigned per class; a few simple writing assignments; easy enough exams; very little homework. Prof. doesn't do much justice to the topic and doesn't seem to care much about teaching in-depth. Easy to get good grade if you participate and do some due diligence. Take him if you want short lectures.
Every class is like 30 minutes long. All you do is split into groups and discuss the reading. A couple essays and a semester-long journal. Very easy but you learn very little
His class was a literal book club where the students would teach each other. It was obvious he either did not read the book or didn't care. Once a class, he would say a one-liner to show off his wisdom to the class. He crying once for literally no reason. I cannot believe that he is a professor at all. Not a bad guy, but not a good teacher either.
Dr. McFadden was so inspirational, he inspired me to not care. Let's all be like McFadden and not do anything besides pretend like we are doing our job. He expects us to a read a book every week - sorry grandpa this isn't 1898 anymore. It is an easy class but if you want to actually learn take someone with a functioning brain.
it was a student-run class, that is why he didn't teach. you can't blame the man for not teaching in a class that he wasn't supposed to teach in. furthermore, a display of emotion should be something positive, not negative. the man cried when we discussed the holocaust. who wouldn't? stopbeing dramatic
Dr. McFadden teaches the "ignation way" and believes that every student should do all the readings before each class just to go through slides for 15 minutes then he ends early. He just doesn't teach. Journals are due for each chapter at the end of the semester. His guidelines for take home/in class essays are all over the place & unclear.
Student led class discussions but every class was like 20 minutes long. Very easy grader with easy prompts to answer if you have half a brain. I've taken 3 classes with him and each one is pretty much the same. Definitely not for everyone but if you like history and being self-taught he's the guy for you
this class lasted 10 mins almost every class besides for movies or tests. highly recommend
almost always only goes 15 minutes, little work, exams easy
His lectures are so short and he will move on regardless if you have the notes written down, because he just reads off of his slides. He's available to meet outside of class but it is not terribly helpful. Does not give much feedback at all and he will not go out of his way to help you. I would not recommend taking him if you have other options.
Class is 15 min, but exams are hard. Budget a lot of time to read/study before midterm and final and you'll be fine. It is very easy to get a B, but it is possible to get an A. Handful of papers, they can't be BS if you want a decent grade. Gives extra credit.
Classes are 15 minutes at most which seems like a good reason to take this class but its not worth it with the amount of work given. Journal entries weekly, many papers (not explained properly), and tests that do not match the sylabus. He is very disorganized and will change the date on assignments to earlier as he forgets what he had said before.
He genuinely has no idea what is going on. Classes are 15 min but exams are hard. Weekly journal and a huge paper at the end of the semester. He changes his mind on due dates, answers to questions, etc. I honestly don't know how he's still a teacher here
It is a quick class that last 30 mins max but it is just ridiculous. He wants us to read a whole book almost every week then come to class and teach each other instead of him lecturing us. Gives study guides which he will not use. Does not give grades back so no one has any idea what they have in the course until the end. I would not take him again
class being cut short is not worth taking this class. He teaches absolutely nothing and makes you read a 600-page book in one week with multiple papers. The exams are hard and require a lot of studying since he doesn't teach
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
87%
Textbook Required
33%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.80 avg changeRatings by Course
350
5.0
(1)HI
5.0
(6)RUSHIST
5.0
(1)HI254
5.0
(1)HISTORY
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
350
5.0
RUSSIAN
5.0
HIST30
5.0
HI30
4.1
HI250
4.0