Lots of notetaking but if you go to class you will pass!!

lots of notes. GO TO CLASS!! tests are alright if you pay attention.

He really trys to get feedback and class participation. Good Guy

Goes fast through lectures. Tests are pretty easy. Very knowledgable.

lots of notes, but tests are not hard, pretty easy class

Tests are easy, you'll pass if you pay attention,

one of the nicest profs i ve ever had...really cares about students

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great teacher

He is the nicest guy ever, and a great teacher, very fun and enjoyable class

Tests are easy, Papers are awful (he grades them hard)

Great prof,Learned alot in class,Really cares about students, very nice guy!

easy, but boring

Very Boring. Helpful on papers. Tells you what you need to grade to get an A.

Pay attention it wont be too bad.

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nice prof, boring class, tests can be tricky

very easy teacher...take home exams arent bad, helpful with assignments

Easy class, take notes, read books, great teacher

2 Tests, 2 Papers, Notes, & Movies

Easiest class ever! No tests, wrote papers in short amount of time, got an A-

Really great guy, new way to learn history (no textbook), tests are tricky

WONDERFUL take his class if you can

Very easy class, don't even have to show up and you can easily get an A

Coolest most helpful prof I've ever had

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Lectures are boring; nice guy; workload not bad, but can grade papers tough.

he's allright

Easy class, i never go and i'm doing fine, doesn't respond to emails though

Awesome!!!

really nice guy, very helpful with assignments, knows his stuff, take him if you can

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Topics are redundant, but he's very helpful

loved this class! knows his stuff. very engaging, interesting topics, best history class i've taken. fairly easy class if you are willing to pay attention. all-around excellent prof, but he doesn't answer emails.

Fun class! Great teacher who makes discussion interesting. The tests weren't very hard, and the papers weren't too bad, either. Especially liked no textbook!

Easy class, nice teacher, take him if you can.

His class was had papers & tests. Nothing really new from high school history & you watch movies for almost every topic.

he's a really nice guy. Very understanding and will listen to you and weight things differently should you score poorly on an assignment just to help you. Easy class, reccommended.

This was easier than high school American History. Got an A with almost no effort. Can't beat a reccomendation like that.

Tests & Papers - Watch movies & pretty much review of high school material. Makes things easy and understandable

He is very helpful and understanding, very dedicated to students and paper topics are interesting

He was very helpful and made class lectures interesting. Recommended highly for one of the best history classes at GVSU

Just a nice guy. Interesting class, papers weren't too bad either.

Very easy prof! Doesn't make you buy a huge text book! Boring class at times...but so easy that it doesn't matter.

Nice guy, great lectures! Easy papers, easy exams! I never liked history before this class! I enjoyed this class and received an easy A!

The sexiest man on the planet--and soooo smart. Girls, tell your mothers he's available.

Great professor, learned a great deal. He is very considerate and helpful, one of the best at GVSU.

i didn't like the class but the prof was okay. try to take in the afternoon if possible.

Good guy. Sometimes boring class. I would recommend him for your HNR civ class. He's really laid back.

A nice guy, and an interesting topic. My only complaint is that his lecture is somewhat loose. Later in the term he started giving out lecture notes that helped. Class assignments are reasonable. Knows his subject very well.

Great professor. Extremly laid back, which makes for a good classroom atmosphere. The readings were excellent and I learned a lot. He cares a lot about student learning and wants you to get as much out of the course as possible. Take this professor for as many classes as possible.

Great guy. Very helpful, very nice. Cares about his students grades. I would reccomend him to anyone. Really knows his history.

History of Sports, fun class interesting lectures. TONS of reading. Much of reading covered in class tho. Really nice guy and interesting teacher.

Very nice guy, not too exciting, but easy to follow. He grades papers fairly easily. I would definitely recommend him for your civ class.

Real nice guy...very fair professor...grades papers fairly easy as well...takes in to account we have busy schedules...overall a good prof!!

The class has a fair amount of reading and goes into some depth, but Montagna is very helpful and understanding, and seems to have a good sense of what things people are likely to be confused about, and gives those some extra attention in class.

A really nice guy. Grades papers fairly easily. There is a lot of reading but he does a good job of covering the important topics in class. I highly recommend him for your civ class.

I personally think he was a great professor. He definitely knows his stuff, and he is a very understanding professor. Grades very fairly and was just a real nice guy!

A very fair, understanding, and helpful human being. He sincerely wants us all to do well and is more than happy to help. He is also a friendly and personable guy who understands we have lives outside of his class. I will take him again and again!

Great teacher, explains what he wants to get across clearly and helps if you don't get it. He has a good sense of humor and talks to the class like he is on the same level as us. Just a good guy, the kind of teacher that you can learn a lot from.

Nice guy, talks to students and listens instead of just lecturing. I don't know how other history classes are set up, but I didn't learn must history, just the differences between two books. good attendance policy.

He is a very nice professor, he knows what hes talking about and is very helpful. He doesnt give any quizes. just participate in class and you will get a good grade.

I love this professor. I learned so much in his class. It's such a laid back atmosphere, and he's always willing to help. He knows his stuff, and is passionate about it. I would often stay after class and just talk to him. He's a great guy, and he's fun to talk to. I'd love to have him again in the future!

He's a nice guy. I actually learned quite a bit, but not like typical history classes. There was very little memorization, just opinion stuff which was nice.

Great class. He takes two books with opposing views and allows the student to build their own opinion. No quizzes, two tests straight from the books, two short papers (3-5) and a final. No lame projects or busy work. Class is open forum. Probably one of the best professors in the history department.

I love this man. I hate history, but he made it interesting. I learned alot. He is sooo helpful and will answer any qustions. He will look over your papers as many times as you want and tell you exactly what you need to do to get an A. Test aren't mad. Take this class!

I LOVE THIS CLASS! Prof is great, interesting, helpful, basically everything you would want in a teacher. VERY knowledgeable. Provides awsome study guides that the exams are based on. 2 exams and 2 essays. Always available to look over your essay. Take this class! Its very interesting and GREAT professor!

Super helpful and cool. Very knowlegable but not annoying about it. Sort of nervous sometimes. A great guy.

The professor is really nice and always willing to help if you need it. The classes got really boring because all he does is talk, and it really drags on. If you just try to pay attention and fill out the study guides..you will be fine!

Awesome prof and class. The first week or so is bland, but once you get to the modernization of sports, it's much more interesting. Two papers, two in-class exams, optional final, short (five minute MAX) presentation. Having a solid thesis is key for the papers; if you get stuck, go see him. He's always willing to help and very approachable.

He is an encyclopedia with legs. He's very motivated by the material. Doug is approachable, but I wouldn't recommend him for underclassmen that aren't history/GSS majors. He looks for you to deeply analyze history so this is DEFINITELY not the professor if you're a memorization kind of person. He's v. dedicated to helping you get better in History.

This class was very easy. He gives you outlines of exactly what he'll talk about and where to find it in the book. Tests are only over what is on the outline and he is always available to help.

I took him during Spring semester, and it's a lot of work, especially as an SWS class. Montagna is super friendly, though, and discussions are actually interesting in his classes. The readings are short (the book is only about 200 pages), and he grades very fairly on papers. He also lets you do rewrites.

He knows what he's talking about. Don't bother getting the main textbook, but the Andrew Jackson book and the other textbook are required for the papers. 2 exams, 3 papers 5-7 pages each. I'd take him again. He does take attendance.

Awesome professor. Makes class extremely interesting and is a very fair grader on papers. For an SWS it wasn't bad 3 papers not very long or hard. Tests took a while to study for, a lot of big concepts and a lot of them on the study guide. Take him.

Montagna is a great prof and a very nice guy...but his teaching partner, Hewitt is terrible. His portion of the class was interesting and engaging and he was always available outside of class and is a fair grader. :)

Great professor. He does a really good job of telling you exactly what he is looking for in your paper, and he is always willing to look over it. His discussions are quite boring, but his questions are fairly straightforward and he gives you several easy opportunities to earn participation points. He is also a great person to talk to one-on-one.

Great professor. He shows a lot of movies, and his assignments are straightforward. He makes class fun, and is easy going and easy to talk to.

He is an interesting professor. He makes learning about history easy, not always the easiest to listen to but shows videos often and is willing to help on every paper. He explains papers a lot, and is always willing to answer questions to help you do better. The books, what few there are. are pretty easy reads and doesn't assign a lot of reading

Doug is a great guy and he genuinely enjoys having class with us. He is not looking to hurt your GPA, he grades with the assumption that you are a capable student. Also participation helps your grade but cannot hurt it, which I like. The books are fairly straight-forward, taking notes in class is very helpful if you don't want to read.

Nice guy, but he talks very fast. You have to write notes the whole time he talks. He uses PP, but only for pictures. You have to come up with things to write from what he says verbally. I had a hard time because he always rambled and didn't repeat things. But overall he is pretty good guy.

I hated history but I always looked forward to this class, He is an awesome prof and will give help to anyone who wants it.

A solid and relatively easy prof that is pretty lax about the class (but not so lax that it is a detriment). If you're a history buff, you won't really learn anything new, but if you're not a history person then you should do just fine as it really focuses on 3 things in detail rather than cover a wide range of topics.

Very nice professor. He is willing to help outside of class and is very flexible if you need him to be. Focused on 3 books all semester and 3 papers. It was fairly simple and while repetitive, easy to keep up.

Assigns small books and online articles for reading. Class is discussion based. At times seems disorganized or stumbles but is very knowledgable and open-minded. Very approachable and willing to see drafts for papers. Gives good constructive criticism on papers, so follow it and you will do well. Midterm was fairly tough but interesting.

Knowledgeable, nice, and open-minded. He is exceptionally flexible (more so than any professor I've ever had) and likes giving out As. If you don't get an A, he will be sure to tell you why and offers all of the help you need. Brings donuts on quiz days!

the notes and reading material can be boring but all of it is bearable and the quizzes and exams come directly from the notes so pay attention and there is no possible way to fail! as a side note, he is obsessed with Game of Thrones

I LOVE Doug. He is very kind and goes out of his way to help students with anything. He has also gone out of his way to establish a relationship with us outside of the classroom. He is the most flexible professor I have ever had and will move due dates upon request. His discussions are very clear and it is very easy to get an A in his class.

Alot of the class was around reading the books you're assigned then discussing them in class. Basically he's give us a test outline, I'd print it out, study what I needed to know, and got an A on all the tests. Papers are most of your grade, he's helpful when it comes to clearing Essays up. Papers are a little tough, but put in the work.

Montagna actually cares about his subject and his students. He is flexible and willing to help as much as possible. Would definitely take one of his classes again.

Professor Montagna is awesome. He doesn't lecture from a power-point, he basically just talks the entire time, and you have to write down the information yourself. He assigns four tests and two papers, but is clear on his expectations. It's not hard to get A's on them. Tests are all short answer, but if you cover the basics, you"ll get full credit.

Not intimidating at all, friendly and makes class a minimal stress thing. Very understanding and helpful.

I really enjoyed Professor Montagna. His lectures go deep into the topic and he is very clear when teaching. His review guides are amazing. There are 4 tests and 2 papers which are not hard to get good grades on. The books required are cheap (4 books at $5 a piece). Although I never read them, I did use them for the papers. You get 6 absences.

Good, interesting SWS class. If you need to take one, this is a solid choice. His grading system is clear cut, with a schedule given at the beginning of the semester for every assignment. Tests are easy if you pay attention to lectures and go over the power-points, though they are all writing. As long as you put in a little effort, you'll be fine.

Professor Montagna was such a nice professor! I took his online HST 205 SWS class and it was so easy. There were only 3 papers to write and discussion boards every week. He always emailed you if you needed help and is very understanding. I would definitely take a class with him again.

The sweetest man to ever walk this earth. We were all crying a little bit when we said goodbye on the last day. He's kind, supportive, and will do whatever you ask of him, whether it be peer editing or a job recommendation. I look forward to being in his classes in the future.

Doug is a good man. Far and away the only good professor I had in my year at GVSU before transferring. Took his honors American civilization class and it was pretty interesting. Not too hard at all as long as you give yourself ample time to work on the papers.

One of the nicest professors I have ever come across at Grand Valley. He is always open to meeting with students for help and to help in any way. I highly recommend him for any HST 103 class, he is a gem!

Montagna is amazing! I took him online so I probably didn't learn as much but he was so nice and helpful. The class is pretty easy as long as you read and do the quizzes and papers. but if you don't know the material, good luck. You have to read 3 books and have to write 3 big papers. There's a few timed exams and quizzes but nothing too bad.

Overall he's a pretty easy professor & he's usually available during office hours to help with papers. The one gripe I have about him is an over-emphasis on Native American history during a class about Revolutionary America; I'm not saying this part isn't important, but the amount of time spent on that vs. the American Revolution was pretty large.

Super nice guy, I loved him. His lectures were actually very informative and even though the tests were all essay questions they were straightforward and not too hard as long as you studied. He will get to know his students and ask them personal questions, I really enjoyed talking to him!

Cool and understanding guy. Tough grader but nothing too bad. Textbook is free online so you don't have to buy anything. SWS was lots of writing and reading though, although that's not up to him. Topics were interesting too.

Decent amount of reading but doable. He is very nice and lenient when it comes to due dates and the papers do not have to be excessively long. Gives detailed feedback and if you plan more than a week ahead to do the assignments you should do great in the class.

Professor Montagna was a really good professor. There was a lot of reading, but all of it was worth while and I learned a lot. All of the papers really stretched my writing, but sometimes the prompts were a bit vague. Due dates are in the syllabus, so stick to it and you'll be fine. I would definitely take Professor Montagna again!

Mr. Montagna is a great professor if you are looking to complete your history credit. He is very straight forward on expectations, however he doesn't use blackboard that much. He is very accessible outside the class room and has no problem answering any question after or outside of class. Class is mostly lectures with 3 exams and 2 writing papers.

Very lecture heavy but interesting. Has discussions every week switching off between groups. All the dates for when your group has a discussion is in the syllabus. Has a few bigger papers throughout the semester, but i would say overall he is an easy grader! Super nice and understanding.

Professor Montagna is incredibly nice and caring for his students. He takes the extra time to help anyone who needs it and is a relatively easy grader. Classes are very lecture heavy, but he goes over reviews before each test (3 of them) to make them easy to understand. Overall 5/5 would take again.

Took as online SWS class. Majority of it is papers, quizzes and exams which are all writing. Have to use 3 different books which aren't took bad. You learn a lot and you get to submit drafts for papers that are peer reviewed by him and a classmate. Grades fairly easy, but if you need a SWS history course, take this class.

Great professor that allows 10+ absences and is super lenient about not being ready for discussion or jumping in when you need to make one up. For SWS, he gives you very in-depth study guides and covers all the material in class so as long as come to class you will do well, only minor downside is he grades tough top papers receive a 93-94%.

This professor is very nice and understanding. He wants to help in any way he can and as much as he can since it is an online class. There were quizzes, "exams", and short/long papers throughout the semester. Although it sounds like a lot, all of these were based off of our books and the prompts were always clear and he made lectures videos to help

Professor Montagna is a great professor. If you want to succeed in this class pay attention to the lectures and make sure to stay on top of readings. He does grade fair on the test only if you are understanding the content and material you will do well. The only reason not do do well is if you are not keeping up with course material

Really nice guy and professor, His class was pretty easy to follow. Pay attention during lectures, show up, do the assigned work and you should have no problems!

This was my second time taking this professor and I really liked the class. I thought the workload was very doable and directions were always clear. He is a tough grader but as long as you put in effort, he will give you a good grade

Gives off nice uncle vibes. He clearly loves what he talks about. Please be nice to him. There are tests every other week or so but they're pretty easy if you pay attention and look at the study guide. It's basically a super easy grade boost and you leave class early.