3.2
Quality3.2
Difficulty26%
Would Retake83
Reviews26%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
83 total ratings5
29
4
13
3
10
2
16
1
15
What Students Say
“If you do the reading and just regurgitate what he tells you you should get at least a B”
SOCRACE - 2.0 rating“Grades his class out of 100pts”
SOC204 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
90%
Textbook Required
77%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.01 avg changeRatings by Course
SOC399
5.0
(2)ALS199
5.0
(1)SOC1
5.0
(1)SOC460
4.3
(4)SOC437
4.2
(13)Difficulty by Course
SOC1
5.0
SOC
4.0
SOC316
4.0
SOC460
3.8
SOC437
3.6
Reviews (82)
Very good instructor - I enjoyed his class immensely! Common sense exams and fun lectures. Only complaint is that he doesn't really look at people when lecturing. :S
No Comments
a great sociology instructor and also my advisor.. i have been at this school for 4 years and he is one of the few instructors with a brain
No Comments
By far one of the best teachers I have ever had. Very intelligent, and gets you interested in the subjects he is teaching about. Really good person.
No Comments
Good teacher! His lectures aren't too bad and he's actually a nice person. I really liked his class and would take another.
Dr. Plaza knows what he's talking about and has a good balance of lecture, video and discussion. The workload is not bad at all and he's a tight guy to talk with.
Boring, I fell asleep in class everyday. He's not too hard though. Posts all the lecture notes. Must pay attention in class to in class examples & videos because they're on the tests.
Dr. Plaza is an awesome teacher..... One of the TA is cool, but TA chick was horrible..I recommend him as a teacher.
Sexy and definitley hip with what is going on currently. Enjoyed his class, but definitley appreciate his willingness to work with on campus groups, spreading diversity and homosexual friendliness.
What a great teacher! Open door policy, very helpful and trustworthy.
INSPIRING! Dr. Plaza is one of the BEST profs I've had at OSU. He is serious and very respectful. No eye contact because I think he is a bit shy. GREAT material! Interesting projects. LOTS of opportunities for extra credit. Expects students to work and think critically. Dr. P is the reason I became a Soc major. HIGHLY recommended!
The topic in itself was interesting but he had a horrible way of presenting it. Not great with keeping track of grades. I turned in an essay and got a B- on it. When final grades came out, I had a D- in the class because he didn't record the essay. He wouldn't change it either after I showed him his error. Don't Recommend.
The class did not seem that hard, and it wasn't, but somehow I ended up with a B+ when I had done all the work, been there at all the attendance quizzes and did extra credit. I also got good grades on the exams, so it made me a little mad. Good professor to take this class from.
Dwaine is my favorite professor Ive had at OSU so far. He was there to help me inside and outside of class. He didn't mind dedicating time to show me stuff about sociology majors and helping to explain himself every time I had questions. This is a class that is hard to fall asleep in because it's so interesting. The homework load is light. VERY GOO
nice guy..attend class and pay attention because all videos and examples are on test
easy topics, nothing that knocked my socks off, says the word 'clearly' alot, keep count to amuse urself. that pic of him is old... he has a receding hair line and expanding belly....
I don't recommend him. His super-harsh comments on one of my papers that I put a lot of thought into made little freshman me cry. If you don't write what he wants you to write, you will not get a good grade.
By far the best teacher I've had so far. He used a wide variety of teaching methods which aid every type of learning style.He was very passionate about changing the way his students view the world. The class material was extremely interesting which made assignments easy. Tests were a little hard but if you show effort, he'll grade you accordingly.
Dwaine Plaza is consumed with his own ideas and beliefs and if you disagree with them or say your opinion in an assignment, he will make you do it over. He has T.A's that grade every single thing and acts like he isn't bias when he completely is. He is arrogant and pompous and disregards your opinion completely.
Hard grader. But is willing to help you get a good grade if you ask. Really knows his stuff and is GREAT at presenting and teaching it.
Dr. Plaza is not my kind of teacher. He likes to talk! A lot! He interrupts groups during their presentations so he can talk. Whenever I am trying to make a comment in class I get cut off halfway because he wants to throw in his two cents. He doesn't help facilitate your critical thinking. You have to do that yourself.
Dr. Plaza is very Knowledgeable about both past and contemporary social issues. He expects that you will be able to back up your own opinion and not make a blatant statements. He gives lots of feedback to help me improve my grade.It is refreshing to have a teacher who expects high performance from his students and doesn't teach to the test.
Dwaine thinks he knows his stuff, but he puts a lot of opinion into his lectures. He can be very rude. If someone gets out of their seat to go to the bathroom or to put an assignment in the front, he thinks they are doing it to disturb him and calls them out. Got the vibe of a "know it all". But his grades are based on papers/tests..so good.
Dr. Plaza is a wonderful instructor who takes seriously his job of elucidating social inequality. If you are someone who has benefited from societal ascribed privilege, you may be irritated he says so. His classes give a voice to those who have historically been silenced. Come to his class prepared to LEARN.
For the record - Don't take an ALS class! Such a phenomenal waste of time. If you know how to write your name and weren't raised in an isolationist cult, you don't need it. But Dwaine is a nice guy, friendly and the work is literally the easiest I've done since 9th grade. He made the class fun, though it was a little too touchy-feely for my taste.
Plaza is a great teacher, he shows that he is interested in the subject he teaches and wants his students to be to. He's willing to help students clarify and understand better what he lectures on. Sometimes can be annoying because he cuts people off in mid-question or answer, but I think he means well. Nice guy, recommend SOC437.
Dr Plaza was the best professor I have ever had. He is passionate about what he does and he allows students to experience multiple learning environments. I appreciated the writing to express myself-- he did not rely on scan tron exams. It means lots of work for him. He is also HOT looking
Awesome teacher. Clear, engaging and fun. He's a powerful speaker and extremely knowledgable.
His lectures were painful to sit through. The topics he talked about were extremely interesting but he found a way to make it all so boring. I was unclear about one assignment and he had no sympathy when I went and talked to him after class. He always gave off a pompous attitude.
WORST PROF EVER. Lost my paper & gave me 0pts for it, then told me it's not his fault because "he has so many students to keep track of". Grades his class out of 100pts. The 1 paragraph writing assignment was worth 3pts. My final grade drops down 3% instantly. I was told he's famous for doing this... Lectures are painfully boring and long. AVOID!
great class!
Talks fast during lectures, however is extremely knowledgeable and easy to approach. Takes the time to get to know student's names (if they engage in class). Tests and assignments are easy to succeed in if you just put a little effort into it. He also provides extensive study guides for the midterm and final... very rare for a professor to do!
Interesting class and enjoyed the videos. His TAs do all the grading for him. Attendance is MANDATORY; missed 2 classes and got 9/10 in participation. Blackboard grades are also constantly changing so you aren't sure of your grade because they keep taking things off and on.
Very great. Knows his stuff and clearly passes it on to his students. Can be dry, but if you engage in his class it's great!
He is very helpful and gives great lectures. I liked how he was very professional and was never rude.
He has little tolerance for people who don't agree with him and is unclear about his expectations for writing assignments. If you do the reading and just regurgitate what he tells you you should get at least a B. If you think for yourself or try to counter his dogma with other valid sociological theories your grade will suffer.
Professor Plaza is one of the brightest professors I have had at OSU. He really teaches students about modern forms of racism and how the media works to perpetuate stereotypes. YES he is hard on the stuff we write but it makes you a better writer. Very cool dressed professor--easy on the eyes.
He can be unclear about assignments & guidelines, but is understanding if it was not clearly communicated. He does grade hard, but if you are taking a 400 level class you should be able to understand the concepts & do the work. He is willing to meet for extra help if needed. His class would benefit from a socratic teaching style, as it is dry.
I really loved this globalization class. Plaza made the international concepts very clear. He linked colonialism as the key to understanding the current problems. I really liked the videos he showed and the assignments and presentations were very clear. Plaza made the students present material that was new and interesting. I would highly recommend!
Would not recommend. He likes to get on his soapbox a lot. Uses outdated material. Assumes everyone in the class is a 19 year old with no life experience.
I loved Plaza's class! This class was a real eye-opener to all sorts of issues in this world. It is a very interesting class to take, Assignments are minimal, but you MUST attend lectures. midterm/final exams are half things he discusses in class. If you need help he is VERY understanding and helpful. Def recommend him!
Dr. Plaza had compelling lectures, but overall he made this course much more difficult and cumbersome than it needed to be for the students to comprehend the material. Yes, 400 level courses are designed to be more difficult and rigorous, but he blatantly made things much more time-consuming than even close to necessary.
His expectations are high, but he isn't clear on what they are. He grades fairly tough, and not soon enough to know how to improve on the next assignment. He's a nice guy, but he can't handle letting people answer his questions without interrupting them. Likable outside of the classroom, almost unbearable as an instructor.
Definitely my most boring class, not a hard class but very boring :(
You definitely need to take a lot of notes on the lectures and watch the outside of class supplementary videos to do well on exams. I learned so much in this class and I think Professor Plaza really wants to engage with students and make an impact, lots of lectures and readings but you never get bored.
At the end of the term I had a lot of stressful life events come up. I didn't tell him until it was dead week, and instead of being snide, he was very understanding and gave me and extension. My fiance was in the hospital and he said something like "your focus should stay with helping her, and focus on the paper later" BUT can also be very strict!!
His Race and Ethic Relations course is from the view point of Critical Race Theory and expand Marxism view point. As a Conservative, this class clashed with my beliefs having me conflicted on how to do assignments. Assignments felt as though I had to give into this view point. Ultimately, Dr. Plaza graded me fairly. But the class is one sided.
Dr. Plaza is a great & humble teacher. You can just listen and you'll pass the midterms and finals. He's interactive and he memorizes students' names if they recite.
I took two classes with Dr. Plaza In both classes he failed time and time agin to give clear grading instructions, and takes weeks to grade them. He expects assignments that are not essays to be formatted like an essay. Do not waste your time or energy with him unless you want your GPA to plummet.
I really wanted to like prof. Plaza, but he is one of the most confusing teachers I've ever had. His canvas and assignment deadlines are hard to find let alone understand. I couldn't submit my essay because he didn't have a place to submit it or said when it was due. Get ready for random quizzes that you have no idea when they are.
Prof Plaza really does care about us learning and I want to like him. A few things to beware that I struggle with: our grade calculations are locked until end of term, his modules are all over the place, constantly asking for googling participation in class, no Canvas display for certain due dates. Positive: Zoom option so can still participate
Mr. Plaza is incredibly inconsiderate, his lectures are very boring and hard to digest, and he is one of the most confusing teachers I've had. His canvas page is extremely hard to navigate, his "syllabus" is outdated and very unclear. He graded my friend's and I's paper and his response was copied word for word on our completely different essays.
I don't hate this class but would not recommend it to anyone. Class is lecture-heavy, but not unbearable. The worst part is that grades are locked for the whole semester. If you come to class and listen you can pass.
Overall, the content of the course is good. There is a lack of flow. There were so many terms that you had to know, rather than concepts being taught. Midterms and finals were 100 questions. He would give study guides of over 100 terms you would have to know/sort of memorize. There was also lack of Canvas organization.
This was my first time with Professor Plaza, and it was such a good experience. I knew nothing about sociology prior to this class, but I learned so much in such a short span of time. I enjoyed his teaching techniques, and the concepts we covered in class were very easy to follow. I definitely plan on taking my future sociology courses with Plaza.
Readings are dated but always covers current events. Can attend via zoom. Weekly pop quiz. Project/paper based course - heavy but he grants extensions. His teaching style isn't for everyone &sometimes seems abrasive. But if you talk to him, he actually listens and helps. As a student w/disabilities that's so hard to come by.
Professor uses the Socratic method, be prepared to have a laptop or smartphone in class to look up answers to his questions (he encourages this). Each week consists of a pop quiz which are short and easy if you do the weekly assigned reading and documentary. He grades fairly, gives good feedback, and is very accessible out of class. Nice person.
I had Professor Plaza for several classes at OSU. I also did one term as a research assistant and one as a teaching assistant. His lectures are meant to make you think and get deep into understanding your own self and society.
I took the research methods class It's a boring topic, but Prof. Plaza really tried to make it interesting and applicable to sociological research. However, there are tough projects and you have to learn statistical analysis software, don't take this class if you already have a difficult schedule. The midterm is extremely challenging, prepare early
The other sociology professor for this course is hands-down better.
I loved my class with Plaza. Great teacher, everything you need to know are in the lectures. We had pop quizzes frequently which is probably the only downside but they were always short and he typically gives you the answers the lecture before. Gives you the option of participating through zoom.
Very tough grader, expects a lot from you but doesn't tell you what he expects. When given feedback every sentence began with "you need to do..." and felt pretty disrespectful. Online course with multiple hour long lectures a week. A whole assignment didn't exist on Canvas and was only found through Canvas messages. Unorganized and arrogant.
There was an assignment for the term that couldn't be found anywhere but CANVAS MESSAGES. When nobody had turned in the assignment he said he had no choice but to dock everyone. Needs a good look inward. Lectures were so unbearably long and yet irrelevant. Unless you want to be talked down to for a term, don't recommend
Prof. Plaza was a very good professor! He makes sure his students are educated on current events, and ties all of his lecture topics to many relevant events and situations. His Canvas is set up in a really confusing way, and assignments do not show up except for in the syllabus. There are also pop quizzes every week based on assigned material.
I made an account just to leave this review. Professor Plaza is so unorganized. His canvas and notes are just so confusing and messy. His "notes" to help you follow along don't even make sense. His lectures are also so incredibly boring, and he is very rude and stuck in his ways about everything. Good luck. Take another SOC.
Dr. Plaza was an amazing teaching. We discussed so many current and prior important topics that correlate in today's society. It was great to be in this class everyone has their own voice and no one feels like they cannot speak on their opinion of what's going on. I wish I could take every class with Dr. Plaza. -Nelson
Worst professor I've had in my whole college career. The first assignment had no rubric, the second assignment had a rubric sent out the day it was due, and the later assignments had rubrics but that didn't matter as he sent out Canvas messages changing what he wanted. Lectures all over the place. Take 316, 318, any class he takes with someone else
This professor can be good at lecturing at times, but rambles on about seemingly pointless topics and is not understanding when you are sick. The professor is also very unclear about what exactly is on the exams and expects you to remember all examples + items brought into class and what topics they were used to talk about, which is overwhelming.
Mr. Plaza is very opinionated, highly discourages open discussion, and is not personable whatsoever. His main focus in my class was indoctrinating students with critical race theory and gender ideology, even though the class was simply called "Introduction to Sociology". He penalizes students if they don't regurgitate aspects of his pushed agenda.
Terrible lectures, 2 hours of him yapping nonstop. His slides are giant blocks of text with typos and random photos. He shows videos in class that can be highly offensive, he had pornographic videos IN CLASS. His tests are hard and include information not related to the actual subject. DO NOT TAKE HIM!!
Worst professor I've ever had. Rubrics were vague and completely useless. No structure. Shows explicit, pornographic videos in class, which was uncomfortable. Also talks about studying it openly...Feedback is just as bad, makes you feel stupid, not constructive. I wouldn't recommend. If you have another option, choose literally anything else.
Attendance is mandatory. Mid-Term and Final contain questions about random items brought into the class, which seems odd to have on the big tests. When you present questions about current issues if they relate to the class, he just hits you with "I wouldn't let other's tell you what to think. Here is X to educate yourself."
He is very rude to students and does not respect many people. He gives mean and disrespectful comments for papers. He talks for 2 hours and shows very explicit videos regarding women. He is highly opinionated and gives midterms and finals based off of his personal opinions NOT EVEN WHAT IS TAUGHT IN CLASS. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!
Professor Plaza thinks way too highly of himself. Make sure to study every single statistic and little fact during lectures because that will be 50% of the exams. He prioritizes making sure you are totally engaged in every class, instead of rewarding students who learn the actual sociological concepts and theories.
By far the worst professor I've ever had. Half the questions on the midterm and final weren't in the study guide or curriculum. He asked stuff like, Who narrated this random 10 min video from a month ago, something never mentioned in class. 50% of the material on the tests you can't study for at all because he makes up the questions on a whim
He is rude to students and constantly disrespectful. His paper feedback is mean, he's yapping constantly, he asks the class to look up a statistic and stops class until someone does, and raises their hand to tell him. His exams are based on his own political opinions/agendas, not what he teaches. AVOID THIS CLASS AT ALL COSTS, WORST PROFESSOR EVER!
not good; i would not recommend this professor at all
Put simply, Plaza is a good professor. He's passionate, empathetic, and cares about his students. However there are downturns, his lectures can become very boring and repetitive, there is no peer to peer interaction, and you basically just sit there and regurgitate information. Not a horrible time, just a rather boring one.
One of the big issues I had with this professor was that the final and midterms had truly bizarre questions. One that stood out to me from this last final was "How many African Americans attended OSU in 2024?" This is a common theme in both the midterms and finals and comes off like he ran out of questions and just started pulling out random bs.
He is very political, has no sympathy for being sick, and has a very odd way of teaching in his lectures. He has no respect for the students and selects 5-6 students that he will only pay attention to. He shows interesting videos to try and "teach," but they end up just being uncomfortable.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
90%
Textbook Required
77%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.01 avg changeRatings by Course
SOC399
5.0
(2)ALS199
5.0
(1)SOC1
5.0
(1)SOC460
4.3
(4)SOC437
4.2
(13)Difficulty by Course
SOC1
5.0
SOC
4.0
SOC316
4.0
SOC460
3.8
SOC437
3.6