2.5
Quality3.2
Difficulty22%
Would Retake217
Reviews22%
Would Retake
217
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
39
4
35
3
21
2
41
1
81
What Students Say
“In all my years of post-secondary, Scott Beesley is one of the worst professors I have ever come across”
ECON281 - 1.0 rating“EXTREMELY fast paced lectures”
ECON281 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
50%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.82 avg changeRatings by Course
ECONA
5.0
(1)ECONUA281
5.0
(2)ACCT101
4.0
(1)ECON341
3.6
(19)ECON213
3.4
(43)Difficulty by Course
ECON331
4.0
ECONECON
4.0
ECON102
3.7
ECON281
3.6
ECON101
3.5
Reviews (217)
I find this guy very hard cuz we need to read at least 5 articles for each exam and about 20% of my marks comes from them. His lecture notes are too brief and should use better words to describe the concepts.
I believe his econ class was the only econ 101 class that was graded on a curve. We used a different textbook than ALL the other econ 101 classes. Reading the textbook does not prepare you for the exams no did the assignments. I do not recommend his class especially for an elective (gpa booster)
he is such an easy prof just do the practice midterms and finals and you will be fine
Have you seen this guys notes? They look like a four year olds' doodles, very obsessed financial crises and stuff.
No Comments
his exams are all similar to the practice ones .... the final is mostly repeated from the assigned homeworks and the midterms
Is an okay prof. Tries to make the material interesting. Course consists of 2 midterms, a term paper, and of course the final. Both sections, he tries to limit to an hour. So if you're in the T,R days, your classes will probably be around an hour. Notes are straight from textbook. Read the textbook, do the study guide questions and u should be fine
I literally didn't learn a thing from his class. I dun think class attendance is necessary since even I attended the class regularly, I felt like I didn't. You learn more from the textbook than from attending class. He's easy though.
Great professor. Very Clear and give a lot of study materials( old exams etc) does give extra reading however they are in no way excessive
The class was pretty easy, just keep to the textbook. The slides that he posts online just summarizes each chapter, although he's a messy writer haha. The articles that he puts up are interesting, although I don't know if putting questions on them in the exams are good. Overall, attendance doesn't seem mandatory, but a good prof.
poor teaching
PowerPoint is a good thing, use it!!
The prof is decently passionate about the subject, although the lectures did not sufficiently cover the material.Attending class was almost counter productive; the notes in class were bare bones and often at times were incomprehensible when on overheads. My mark jumped 30%+ from leaning the material on my own.
don't bother going to class - he doesn't want you to. poor teaching, but you can get an A from the text and his summaries online
Take his class! Amazing lecturer who talks about current happenings in money and banking. For the exams, make sure to have read the textbook as well as his supplementary readings. Honestly one of the best profs I've ever had and one of the nicest fellows you'll ever meet.
You gotta be kidding me. He flies through materials, throws a bunch of jargons at you, financial virgins. It's better off study on your own. I don't recommend.
Attending class is interesting if you're into the subject, but useless. He'll go off onto tangents and rant, but he won't get into the material enough. Class is easy though because he uses a test bank.
I wish he was more organized.
really messy and lectures are all over the place. He's a poor teacher who mostly rambles about his own opinions without teaching concepts properly
I really liked him! A jolly prof who definitely knows his material. I wouldn't recommend this course unless you know you like finance-related material. He uses a lot of jargon, but if you're interested in the material already, it won't confuse you. Don't take this course if you're just looking for an econ requirement. Easy midterm and final.
well, (no offense, just my opinion) i found that his lecture is useless. i can understand his class by doing the homework, google, wikipedia, and textbook.
Overall I thought that he was a pretty good prof; He explained things well and gave good examples. My only problem with him is that his notes were messy and hard to follow.
Lecture notes are written and organized by Lucifer himself. Look over the basic concepts in the text book and previous exam questions if you want to do well in the multiple choice. But for long answer questions, just do and completely understand previous midterm and final questions. Cause he uses the exact same questions with different numbers.
PROS: Jolly guy, will respond to emails with helpful info. CONS: Notes and solutions were completely incomprehensible, disorganized, which is in my opinion is lazy and completely unacceptable for any university professor. Students pay alot of money to take a class, a little more effort and organization would be appreciated. Midterms were very rushd
Decent prof - his notes ARE clear, yes it's a bit boring but come on, a basic econ course has to be. Nobody laughed at his jokes but they were work a chuckle. Midterms were a bit long but he scaled them ~11% higher which was fair
Honestly, don't go to his lectures. He strays off topic and doesn't really assist you much.. Notes are just scribbles. You can easily get an A if you read the book and do all the practice exams... The practice stuff is almost always on the real exams
His notes ARE NOT clear. Well some are okay, but the test solutions and practice were not at all which were the most important notes. Cracked some funny jokes every once in while. Sometimes explained things in a confusing way and very often screwed up on examples and we'd have to go back figure out where he went wrong. Sub par. But okay I guess
Not a great teacher. His notes are terrible, if you go online to the Aplia site and try to use his notes they are the same ones he writes in class that were scanned. Try avoiding his class.
Interesting class. Beesley likes to go on rants, and it turns out you get tested on what he rants about. His exams weren't too difficult. Class was interesting cause he goes on so many tangents you don't know where he will end up. Moves very quickly, his notes are a mess, i've never had so much reading in a class. Goes through a chapter every class
Came in excited about development economics... I'm now broken down by this class, its lack of structure and expectations. Super long midterm. 2 papers marked subjectively, with no basis to back it up (no indication of areas to improve)! TONS of testable readings (no focus)! Great guy but REALLY hard to follow!
Honestly, his class was NOT as bad as everyone makes it sound! He's a nice guy who enjoys debates and class discussions. It was a tad hard, so everyone who is bashing him did badly.His handwriting is terrible but he tries. BUT BEST OF ALL HE GOT US TIMBITS ON THE LAST DAY OF CLASSES!
Messiest notes I have ever seen. Makes studying that much harder. Uses only linear algebra instead of diagrams, which makes the ability to comprehend the concepts difficult. You can tell he is a physics major...
Fantastic professor who LOVES what he teaches. That goes a long way in a school full of disinterested researchers. His notes are all over the place, but you get the hang of it quickly. The readings are easy, and so are the assignments. Best grades on the assignments are ones that took the effort to make it look nice with concise writing.
He's class is so boring and didn't make any sense!Only a few students attend his class at last .His test is difficult and there are 4 reading article required and they will be tested in the exam! Besides he always gives wrong anwser to the previous test
He is a great professor. What i like most is linking the outside world to class. Posted notes aren't that clear but they are the same as the textbook i don't know why student's prefer notes. Midterm and final are not that hard and easy if you are prepared.
Great guy. As others mentioned, notes are messy but he has gotten a bit better. Its more outlined. I personally recommend just reading the chapters yourself and the articles. Articles and his summaries are on e-class I had a B+ on the midterm by rarely attending class. 2 papers and it isnt curved. And easy marker. Would recommend for a gpa booster.
TAKE THIS CLASS! an easy A if you 1) read the textbook 2) do aplia to the best of your ability 3) do practice exams. going to class is counterproductive but you don't need to in order to succeed. i barely went an got an A
Scotty Beesely... The Man... The Imagination. no body will ever replace such an intellectual at the U of A. what ever you do in life, take this class. ~beesely makes it easy~
One of the best profs I've had at the U of A. If you have any real interest in Economics, you will love the lectures as well as the readings. I learned a hell of a lot in this class. One complaint is that he doesn't write any comments on papers, but he'll talk to you about it if you go to his office hours.
Thoroughly enjoyed this class, and listening to Beesley's insight on current events make everything he is teaching that much more interesting. Not to mention he has a hilarious sense of subtle humor. Reading the textbook and attending the class was what did it for me in this class, materially is relatively easy to comprehend if you are interested.
Amazing prof, i took him for 281, his midterms n final are on the good side, just study the past question. For 213, i loved him, he made the course interesting, thou his notes were not that helpful and the readings and text books he assigns help so much. His assignment essay are easy A's. He is very polite and knows his stuff, highly recommended!!!
Great prof, very helpful. If you want to learn some econ, take his class. His lecture slides have improved considerably though there is a few unreadable. If you attend class and practice old exams, you could probably get off without buying the text. Exams were based on, sometimes word for word, on his previous ones. Study em and you'll do great.
Beesley is a nice guy, helpful to talk to, but isn't very clear and has very messy notes. If he didn't follow the textbook so closely, I probably would've failed or nearly failed the class. Make sure you do his practice midterms and practice finals before the tests cause he will use the exact same questions off them.
As long as you do the reading before class (as he requests) it doesn't matter very much that his notes are messy. I think he's a great prof - interesting and passionate about what he teaches.
great guy. funny too if you understand his humour. if you are a left wing socialist or rather buy coffee for two dollars instead of one then avoid his class. otherwise its a must take.
easiest class you will ever take. He follows the textbook to a T so attendance is not necessary. Exam questions are straight out of the textbook and practice exams. Didn't go to class or even look at his notes once and i got an A. Highly recommend for an easy GPA booster.
Tended to ramble a lot in class and go off on tangents. Got after students for not participating, but didn't make any effort to facilitate class discussion. Gave a TON of readings without clear direction as to what would be tested from them. Had potential to be a really interesting and engaging class if only with a different prof!
I had Beesley for 213 so I knew what to expect. Honestly, read the slides and the book and its an A- minimum. He is willing to help during his office hours. He does go off on little tangents and rambles a bit. Attendance isnt really mandatory, but still a decent class and prof.
overall fair prof, he marks fairly and posts notes and practice exams. He is fairly disorganized, assigns a lot of readings, and attempts to conduct class through discussion. Overall its a good class, and he's a good prof.
I can't say enough good about Beesley. He introduces a new view of development economics and is a vault of knowledge on pretty much anything econ related. He is super helpful during his office hours and makes expectations very clear. Highly recommended.
Amazing prof very helpful, and extremely easy if you all the tons of practice he gives you will be literally laughing during your exam. such a nice guy hes a bit funny too textbook is recommended but some stuff on the textbook does not make sense i just asked him and it all made sense
pure awesomeness! love him. funniest person alive.
readings are important. class is very slack. over all a good prof.
Not an easy prof. If your econ is weak don't take his class. You'll not understand a thing he says in the class. Do read the textbook and do the practice exam.
oh my god. where do i start with this prof. i took this prof over the spring semester ( econ341 AND econ213) and i was floored with the amount of reading that both class encompassed. Were they all necessary and tested on exam? heck no. his writing is terrible. avoid it at all cost. too much material and hes all over the place. scary
Beesley is a nice guy but a TERRIBLE professor. He rambles, he gives you the grade on your essay without any comment what so ever, wanted class participation but would ironically ignore hands when they were up. Not extremely helpful during office hours either.
This is one of the best econ profs overall. The difficulty lies in the fact that there is heavy dependence on the textbook, you must pre-read the chapters throughly, or you won't understand the lectures. His notes are messy and hard to read, but he is a easy essay marker. The exams are fair, with no surprises at all.
Pretty good prof. Very knowledgable, and has real world experience to base his opinions (not just a blind academic). Although his written notes are poor due to poor handwriting and organization, the content is very good. I love how he politely shuts people down who ask dumb questions or ask dumb questions.
Kind & knowledgeable prof. Would take his class again.
He presents interesting material but is very disorganized; his notes are all over the place and are barely legible most of the time.
beesley the nicest guy, he is abit disorganized but honestly i read the book before the class and knew exactly what he was talking about all the time, his exams are a joke do his practice exams(which most people dont do) and youre guaranteed an a- if you truly know the material youll easily get an a. helpful during office hours and funny guy
His notes and graphs are messy yes but read the chapter before coming to class and you will be in the clear. Do his sample exams as the midterms/final look EXACTLY like them. I personally found the man hilarious and effective, so I plan on taking 281 with him. DON'T TALK IN HIS LECTURES! He has a good ear and he goes absolutely nuts.
He is actually horrible. Yes, his tests are fair and decent if you read the text book, but this lectures are a waste of time. He will start talking about something that seems important, and then stop half way through and say "anyways…" and not continue. His notes are illegible and minimally helpful.
Had Grodon Lee. He broke his shoulder mid-way through so we ended up with Beesley. Note are horrible. He is rude, and sloppy. Final was insanely hard. I thought I was prepared and I might have got 50% at best. With gordon I was sitting in A- to A range. With Beesley's final, probably F-C+ range now. Overall he is awful. Go with Anyone else
A pretty good prof actually, not as bad as some of the comments say. It's true that his notes are messy, but if you read the book before coming to class, you don't need to copy down everything he writes, and just listening to his explanations of the material makes the class interesting. Exams are fair, he gives hints to exams if you come to class.
Do practice midterms, and finals go over text his class average was almost a B so high for a first year course, the very definition of a GPA booster. Going to lecture not necessary but he is a funny guy , don't talk during lecture it drives him insane
Attending class is not neccessary, textbook covers almost everything in his lectures. But his lectures can be very interesting if he stays on track. Do the old midterms and finals as he recycled some of the exact questions on this term's tests.
His note is messy. I didn't attend the class after midterm. But his sample is very useful. Exam is almost same like samples.
Don't take his class ! His notes are messy and not helpful ,he just want to get through the chapter and don't care if people follow or not,he just want to get over it! Midterm is based on the practice midterm but class average is extremely low 53% for the first one.Image a lot of people drop half way through his class,u struggle the whole semester!
Amazing classes! I have gained so much insights on current world issues and developing countries. He assigns copious amount of readings along with the textbook but they are all very interesting. Also, he is an easy marker on essays, just follow the rubric and you will get a high mark!
I've now taken two classes with Professor Beesley and I have nothing but good things so say about both experiences. He presents the material in a fun, casual fashion and is an approachable, laid-back fellow. The tests and assignments are very fair and pretty predictable if you do the practice questions.
I have taken 3 classes with Scott. His tests are very predictable and straight forward. Very helpful if you go to his office hours!
laid back guy, too much reading of which i barely did half and still got B+. both the papers are easy one is on a developing country and the other on a commodity. His exam questions for the written are also doable. Class was boring, Horrible notes. he should use powerpoint or something
Easy class and super interesting prof! He is entertaining and gets off track easily but when on topic he explains the material well. Class attendance is not necessary, just read the text book, the aplia powerpoints and do the practice exams. Definition of a GPA booster
Knowledgeable Professor. But he makes simple things difficult. Unclear English, TOO MUCH readings AND he tests them in exams. You need to finish all of these and have a good understanding on both readings and handouts, then you MAY able to finish his exams!!! Two essays are easy but still need many sources online, so you need more readings!
Take it from someone who got an A+ and is in engineering. The textbook is not difficult, he tells you what he's going to cover and when, and as long as you skim the textbook before class you'll know what's going on. If you don't you won't, he really assumes you did, but it's not hard for you to do. Online assignments are also super easy.
had little interest in the course content prior to registration but this prof really opened my ears. he's not the best lecturer since he can tend to ramble at times and get off course, but he is incredibly knowledgeable and very helpful after class. there is alot of reading but if you're willing to go to class you're guaranteed to learn much!!
Scott is an OK prof. He makes concepts WAY harder than they have be. Trying to be proactive by going to his office hours didn't help much either. Just read the text book, do ALL the practice questions! He tests on what is expected, but doesn't carry down part marks so if you make one error, you get the whole question wrong. Lectures are boring!
Boring prof. Very easy but could write a lot neater. Not really useful at all, he just tells your to see someone else. His exams are easy if you do the practice. Don't bother going to class, its either you sleep in a nice warm bed or sleep in class. Don't get a textbook but do the practice problems if you can read them.
The most boring, uninformative, unhelpful, and sarcastic prof you'll ever have.
I changed my minor out of economics because of Beesley. Never again
This teacher was horrible. His lectures are a waste of time, he rambles about everything he thinks is wrong in our country, instead of focusing on what we're supposed to be learning. I learned nothing in his lectures, the only way I'm doing good in his class is because i teach myself with the textbook, the textbook is really good!
In all my years of post-secondary, Scott Beesley is one of the worst professors I have ever come across. He is impossible to follow in class, notes are disorganized, and writes like a 6 year old. I'm sure he has a good heart, but this man is not a teacher. I left the class without learning anything. I hope he puts in the effort to become better.
Bad teacher ever!!!!!All the notes aren't organized, writings are unclear. Not enough time to finish the exams. Never attend his class again.
Scott might not be the world's best prof but his exams are extremely easy. He posts more than enough practice exams, and they are practically identical to the current exams he gives. If you read the text book and do the practice you are set. Class is not mandatory but it is definitely helpful as he does tons of practice in class.
I liked him a lot. Attending class is not mandatory, but it's really helpful because he sometimes asks very specific questions on the midterm. Reading the textbook is also very essential to getting a good grade.
Humorous, fast pace, if you follow his steps, he will bring u to 384 with high bracket, he is so far the only teacher who talks about real life events rather than just example. not easy to get good marks, but low marks makes u smarter than the ones with high mark in other class. choose him if you care about understanding rather than marks
Very unclear lectures. They typically jump around and have no real structure. Mostly goes through new articles. It is very hard to figure out what to write down and often talk about principles that are not prerequisite for the course. Lectures are rapid fire and sometimes you walk out not having written anything down. Books somewhat interesting.
In Econ 213 he's great. He posts every article to read online, and the chapters to read for each lecture. The last day before a midterm or final, he'll handout all of the in-class handouts that you might have missed if you didn't come. Tests are pretty easy. Marks essays fairly. Only downside is his writing is awful and impossible to read.
Took 213 and it's an easy class and GPA booster for econ majors. Show up to class and get the gist of his opinions on most subjects, read the required chapters of Easterly's book, and make sure you memorize the few handouts he gives and you're guaranteed a good mark. Papers are easy. Lectures are actually interesting as well.
He's really a good prof. You can just do the sample exams and get great grades. He wants you to be succeed not to fail you.
Beesely is awesome! His class does take some work and actual understanding but he is super helpful in his office hours. One of my favourite prof at the U of A. He is also really funny, just don't click your pens in his class.
His notes are very bad and he doesn't really know what he's talking about; he's always correcting himself and stuff. I would not recommend this professor.
Good prof
Lectures not clear at all. Talk alot with little useful stuff that is difficult to differentiate. Writing unclear and unorganized notes.
spends most of the lecture ranting about the economy, terrible writing/notes, exams are completely different from his teachings as he copies and pastes from exambank
He spends his lectures rambling about the economy . He gives us extra readings that only add extra load to the textbook material. It won't even get tested in the final. Would not take again.
He insists that the "restricted/free Aplia" will expire, saying that you need to "purchase" online Aplia or buy a new book for access for the whole semester. This is a lie. My restricted aplia is active months later. Tip: Ignore Scott, save your money, buy a used book, and use the restricted Aplia. Restricted access to Aplia DOES NOT EXPIRE.
I personally can't speak for how he teaches his 102 class, but Beesley was an outstanding 213 professor. His examples and discussions are very pertinent to development economics, and his tests are fairly simple and fair. Unfortunately if you don't like him, you won't be able to find another 213 prof, and he is the only instructor for the course.
tough tough tough
Do not take his class. His lectures are disorganized and useless . His lectures are also mostly focused on the additional readings he assigns,he almost never teaches us any info from the book or how to use any of the equations or curves that we are supposed to learn in the course! That or he spends class ranting about the economy...
I had scott for 102 and did not like him at all gave alot of extra work and tests were vert hard. This semester had him in 213 and he was awesome. He fit better teaching this course and it was very interesting. As long as you do the readings and can write a decent paper its a easy A. I would definitely recommend taking Econ 213 with him !
Easiest class ever, he copy and pastes all his old midterms and finals that he provides and uses the exact same questions on the finals and midterms you receive. If you go memorize his old midterms and finals you will go into the exam knowing over half of it and be able to answer all the long answer parts.
Go to class. Read the chapters assigned as well as all of the online articles (they are tested on). The people who did poorly did not go to class and it was obvious. He can be scattered in his lectures for sure. But he posts all of his notes online which are VERY easily applied to the midterm/final.
Dr. Beesley is a great lecturer. His lecture is kind of useful. Not hard to get high grades.
hes all over the place. Puts scribbled papers on the overhead, (what he calls notes) and has no clear direction or format. He offers you an unreasonable amount of resources, (2 lengthly books, physical handouts, numerous online postings, terrible notes). Unfortunately the only professor to offer the course. Thankfully, tests/papers are reasonable.
Econ 213 is a very heavy opinion based coursed. I never went to class due to personal issues and Mr B was always available. The few times I went to class I could see his passion for the area and wish I went to more classes. Look over the practice tests and start early on papers and you can be successful
This was my third attempt at Econ281. I found Scott super helpful and always pointed out things you should know for exams. He even ended up having a bonus question on 2nd midterm due to him thinking it was a little tough. He held a two hour session after his ECON213 final and was super helpful. He always responded to emails in an hour and cared.
Lots of reading, his writing is terrible. He doesn't even talk much about the course material and things that we need to get tested on. Instead, he made the material he talk about in class and the readings he give (like 10 of them every midterm) worth 15%. Spent 90% of the time on his own story and personal standpoint instead of actual notes.
EXTREMELY fast paced lectures. He thinks he's teaching a final year course when its just 281. 4 classes Almost 4 chapters. He expects you to have thorough ECON 101 and 102, and doesn't make time to revise any previously studied concepts in class. Although, he is a funny prof (somewhat strict).
Scattered work. Fast paced lectures. Graded by few things - doesn't leave you much space to cover up anywhere else besides through confusing exams. Unhelpful book - had many mistakes and unclear explanations.
Very good lecturer& grader Super approachable Caring about the teaching matter & his students
Mr. Beesley is incredibly lazy. He gives zero feedback on written work, makes horrible, messy notes, talks a lot about news stories in class instead of teaching the concepts (which he rushes through), and goes off on tangents in class that make it difficult to determine the point of what he is saying. He is a nice man, but should not be a prof.
I got two A in his class, econ101 and 281. You must do all the samples he gave, its really useful. And go to class to take notes although its not madetory. DEFINITELY TAKE HIS CLASS AGAIN! SUPER NICE PROFESSOR! Highly recommended
While proficient in his grasp of the course material, his delivery of the course is lacking. For a first year course his notes and teaching is hard to follow most of the time.
He's not horrible. If you want to understand his lectures, read the textbook before class. His lectures are dry and he gets off topic frequently (he likes to talk about his wife a lot). BUT it's not difficult. And he posts his old exams to help you study! Nice guy but I wouldn't recommend his class.
Best bet is to read the textbook before attending the lecture (or even just skipping the lecture altogether if you already understand the textbook). He goes quickly which isn't a problem if you already have a grasp on the material. Simple exams (compared to what I've seen other profs give) especially if you do all the practice exams first!
Lectures are fast paced with very little explanation, if you dont already know the material before hand dont expect to learn anything in class. On top of that lecture notes look like they were created by a child essentially rendering them useless. Overall nice guy, knows his stuff, dosnt know how to teach.
Beesley isn't the greatest lecturer but he definitely knows his stuff. Super accessible even if you can't make it to his office hours and cares about his students. Overall, great guy - show up to class and go to office hours and you'll do well in the course.
I don't like this guy as a professor. goes really fast in lectures. and confuses me so much because he makes mistakes in online handouts! hand writing is messy. he really needs to brush up teaching skills. sweet guy outside of class though
His priorities with economics are not with economics itself but rather with the calculus behind economics. Do not take this course expecting to learn about economics, as his material is better suited to managing the equations behind economic theory. His exams focus very little on actual economic theory and read more like advanced math exams.
Beesely is such a gem, and I loved this class with him. You MUST show up however, and you must do the readings, as you are directly tested on them. As long as you have a good general idea of the course material and you have kept up with all of the readings, you will get a great grade and learn a lot of really interesting stuff too.
Lectures are really fast and horrible, for an introductory Econ course this prof sure talks to us like we're 4th year students. To be able to do decently well in the course you should read the textbook and go see him during office hours, as he will actually help you there. Great guy, but attending lectures won't be enough.
This may be one of the worst profs I've ever had. His lectures are extremely fast paced and he never explains anything. I've never had a prof who makes so many of his students feel stupid. If you ask a question, no doubt he will just say "it's intuitive" or comment on how those doing poorly should and will just drop out. Honestly a 0/5.
He gives so many examples for you to practice, which is great considering some profs don't give you anything. You need to go to class & do all the practice material he provides to get a good grade, so you need to put in some work. All his resources reflect his tests & he gives so many hints in class. Just ignore his side comments and you'll be okay
Hes rude and not helpful. Goes out of his way to be mean when you ask for help.
I took this class remotely, which should be considered to the other ratings who went in person. Professor Beesley is somebody very, very knowledgeable about the course he teaches. He takes great care to make sure you understand what's going on, and has such an abudandance of released material. Do these and the course is an easy A!
Mr. Beesley was an amazing professor! He is very funny and gives good feedback on any questions you might have. It was very test heavy, only graded by the midterms and final but that didn't really bother me because he made the the tests relatively easy and he posts lots of examples and notes. He is easily the best professor I have had this term.
He is VERY rude. Don't email him unless it's really needed. You will get rude replies. Also if your first language isn't english, please don't take this course with him unless needed for the degree. I had to go over all the lectures multiple times to completely understand. You wouldn't have time to study for other courses. Very stressful.
He's an overall good professor. You can easily get a good mark just by watching all of his lectures and understanding the concept pretty well. Questions on the midterm or final are exactly the same as the ones in his lectures and handout practice. He also gives you plenty of examples to work with. I had him for econ 101 as well and it was the same.
TBH, he's a good prof but he goes too fast on some important things. When you ask him to slow down, he won't care becuase he thinks there is too much thing to cover. I just swapped his course to another professor and it looks like Scott is not capable of teaching things.
can't teach very well, does only calculations an rarely discusses the economic theories behind them. Has illegible handwriting. Would rather remove comments on rate my prof than improve his lectures
extremely boring class and he does not make it any more exciting. You cannot read his handwriting and the notes are all over the place. He's pretty rude and acts like he knows everything.
Beesley was the worst professor I have ever had to say the least. Our final grade is made up of 2 midterms and a 50% final. His eclass page is unorganized and lacks proper material for adequate learning. His whole teaching structure relies on his projector out of the 90's that they used to use in elementary schools.
the worst prof you are ever going to have. Avoid avoid avoid. Very coincided and leaves rude remarks all work. Rushes through everything and you cannot read his handwritten notes. Will make you feel stupid if you ask a question. do not take any of his classes.
not very good. hand writing is very difficult to read and the work used is generally old. rude to students for no reason. avoid the class if possible.
Do not. I repeat do not take a class from this man. His notes are worse than 14th-century medieval handwriting & his tests are harder than the bedrock that supports our god-forsaken classrooms.
Surprised to see so many negative reviews. Scott is the type of guy that calls it like he sees it. Very blunt but also kinda funny. Wont hesitate to call out students talking during class which I appreciate. His notes definitely could be more organized and legible but he was clear on expectations regarding papers and quizzes, which I were fair.
Some students might not like his style, but frankly, they just don't know what makes an excellent professor. The man is really wise, honest and knows his stuff, and to top it off he has unmatched real world experience you won't find in an ivory tower.
His class was great. Granted your whole grade is based on 2 midterms and a final, they were all fairly graded. His teaching style may not be for everyone, but if you attend all the lectures you will do fine. He provides extra videos and tons of practice problems that are pretty closely related to the questions on his exams.
Goes so fast that you cannot keep up with lectures notes. Handwriting is difficult to read. Says notes are on eClass but are actually practice problems that have no work shown on them, just the answers only. Only does math, barely any theory which is what the tests are mostly based off on. Might have to rely on the textbook instead of his lectures.
He's very disorganized and mumbles so often, and then he's so messy, and it's just so annoying to come to class because he can't teach. If you have him just use your textbook because its not worth coming to class.
Worst prof by far. His lectures are all him rushing through math and not explaining it well at all. I went to every lecture waste of my time. If you email him for help he will tell you to get the notes from other students for the "missed lecture". Rude and a very bad teacher. I didn't learn any of this class from him. DO NOT TAKE.
While some like his style I personally found it challenging to follow. He skips a lot of theory and steps when doing math and has rather messy handwriting. It does not help that your grade depends only on exams.
SB had some incredible insight for developing countries and I truly learnt so much in this class. It is all qualitative and his exams are very straightforward. He provides a lot of very interesting materials and allows students to take their assignments in any direction. Go to class and take notes, and you'll do great in this class. Would recommend
My experience of this class was as followed: you typically taught yourself the basic concepts of each chapter and in his lecture, he would delve into the more complicated examples that involved a lot of messy graphs and confusing algebra. Even though I read the textbook ahead of class, his lectures were still hard to follow and went by too quickly.
Professor Beesley is a very knowledgeable person, but that knowledge is sometimes too much for an introductory class. He makes up calculations for each chapter and you will not know how to do them if you do not attend the lecture, specifically after chapter 6. His exams however are relatively easy as they are based on his old exams.
For an introductory econ class he doesn't make it easy as most of the time he's rambling on about something unrelated and talks at uncomprehendable speeds. Everything if soley based of the textbook and your only graded on exams. Luckily the exams are not that difficult as he does pull a lot from former exams that he provides.
Honestly not a great prof as he is very unorganized and goes way too fast, BUT his tests are extremely easy and the textbook he uses is quite good. Attendance is definitely mandatory however as the textbook doesn't cover any calculation based questions. Whole grade is made up of 2 midterms and a final.
This class was very difficult, and he taught it as if we already knew everything despite it being an introductory course. He talks really fast, mumbles and has really bad handwriting/unclear lecture notes so it's super hard to follow, I ended up having to teach myself from the textbook. IF YOURE NOT A BUSINESS/ECON STUDENT DON'T TAKE HIM!!
Very good professor
Pretty good prof. You don't need to attend lectures at all for this, really, read the textbook and you'll be fine. Do the practice exams before exams because he literally just rephrases the questions from the practices for his actual exams. Really great guy to talk to as well.
Beesley is a unique person who is strongly opinionated. He seems like he is very educated, but doesn't know how to teach. I stopped going to his lectures after the first midterm because the tests were 80% theory that he doesn't teach inclass. The other 20% of the tests is math that other classes with different profs didn't have to do.
Mr. Beesely is definitely knowledgable in his field, however, his teaching skills are not there. He is very scattered and his notes are the most atrocious thing you will read. To do well and understand concepts in this class you MUST get the textbook.
His lectures are very difficult to follow along with (disorganized and unclear), and the tests were not reflective of the content he covered in class. The practice questions posted on eClass would often be much more difficult than the exam, so it was unclear as to what you should be studying in preparation. If you take his class, use the textbook!
I am purely reliant on the textbook since as somebody who is not super invested in bus/econ, I have no idea what he is talking about. It was and is a waste of 50 minutes that I could be using on the textbook. It seems like he understands the content very well, he's just terrible at teaching it to his students. 90% is rambling, 10% is content.
This guy is terrible. Im currently sitting at an A- but thats only because Im teaching myself with the textbook. Do not take this class if you want to be taught because there is 0 teaching. The guy just talks to himself and pretends he's doing something.
Pains me to give the guy a 1 star rating because he seems like a good dude and he is very knowledgeable about economics but I aught myself the whole course using the textbook as his lectures are just messy handwritten notes. The only reason the class average isnt sub 50 is his practice exams that are very similar to the real thing. Pretty funny tho
Prof Beesley is an enthusiastic prof who makes the course enjoyable. He does sometimes go off on a tangent but he is a very fair marker and very knowledgeable and accessible. As long as you attend classes and follow his study guides you will do well
I think I only got a good mark in this class because lots of people did really badly on the 2 midterms and final. The final is worth 60% which is a little unreasonable. His handwritten notes are a struggle to decipher. If you skip class make sure to read the textbook and do the practice problems. Hard to hear sometimes.
Over 20% of student dropped his class and the average GPA ended up being a 2.2. Don't take this class if you don't wanna lower your GPA.
Would always get side tracked on the lectures and his lectures are ACTUALLY useless that after awhile I stopped going and just started learning the textbook on my own. He made me dislike econ as his notes are messy but the exams are easy as the format is very similar to his practice exams but overall if you have a choice, choose a different prof.
SB is an awesome guy, he knows his stuff inside and out. I recommend you go to class, it is the only way to do good since he drops many hints on what will be on the final exam. Read all articles and expect to be tested on the said articles.
Don't bother with it unless mandatory. Lectures didn't correlate with the exams whatsoever. The lectures were entirely math based but the exams were almost exclusively theory. The saving grace is that the final was so very easy (and multiple choice) that you can pass while going in blind.
Very confusing notes and lectures. I had more success learning with online resources. I had to teach myself the course.
I dropped out after the third class because the professor was going way too fast for me to comprehend the material and he did not do a good job of explaining what we were learning.
don't do it. like genuinely the most distraught i have ever felt from a professor
Very difficult to understand his lectures, his notes are very confusing and don't help at all. Read the textbook if you're gonna take the class, I've had to read and teach myself the course because he only goes through the graph and math part of econ and doesn't teach anything about the theory.
aight, so he is a bad teacher who tries his best to teach. the guy rambles on about off-topic things. he cares for his student and he's a nice guy but he cannot teach. most of the economics teacher in the school are mid to bad. if u take his course, be ready to do a lot of self teaching, he does put up resources online which are helpful.
He goes rly fast in class and doesn't take time to explain the examples such as the graphs and math calculations. Always in a hurry to finish the lesson. Grade is on midterms n finals. The midterm though is really similar to the practice midterms he has posted on eclass. If u do the practice u should be fine for the midterm(if u read the book too)
just can't teach, his graphs are literal scribbles.
This is genuinely the worst teacher I have ever had in my entire life. DO NOT take this course. I am genuinely surprised that with all the complaints he is still allowed to teach. He is EXTREMELY rude, doesn't define a single concept and goes way too fast. I have been to almost every class and have left more confused than I came in. SO stressful.
I want to withdraw so bad. I regret taking this course. He is the worst teacher ever dude. I am a good student, and this class screwed me mentally and emotionally. He doesn't teach, he doesn't answer questions and he's extremely rude. I don't know what to do man like just don't take this course.
Beesley's lectures are about 20% on topic at best which would be fine but its near impossible to tell when something is relevant to th class or a personal opinion/tangent. Notes and graphs are near unreadable due to being loosley scribbled down with unclear annotations. Imagine having the audio of 3 people talking over eachother visualized.
Man simply cannot teach and often gets sidetracked during his lectures, you don't know if the niche topic he spends 10 minutes talking about are relevant to the course or not. His notes are resemblant of Egyptian hieroglyphics. at least his exams are similar to practice ones I took this class as an easy elective but man I regret it so bad.
I'm a first year student, so transitioning into things is already hard, but Scott Beesley made university so stressful and hard for me. I honestly do not think Econ 101 should be this difficult, but if you have a profressor like this guy be prepared for the worst. No theory notes, just handwritten scribbles. Teach yourself if you're in this class.
His notes make are almost useless and unreadable. Changes topics mid teaching which just confuses you even more. Please avoid his class as 90 percent of his notes are like a toddlers drawings. Never taught us how to calculations and just expects you to know how. Use Wizeprep if you take this class.
The only redeeming thing about him is that he posts a lot of practice material online. His notes are illegible and the lectures are pointless to attend as his only goal is to finish the topic as quick as possible in order to let everyone leave early in an already short class. He also cancelled classes for 3 weeks without finding a sub.
If you want a light course load, take this class. We only had 2 midterms and a final, no other assessments. His midterms are almost identical to the practice midterms he posts. Read the textbook and do textbook problems. Dont bother trying to comprehend what he says in the lectures. His graphs are soooo confusing.
The only redeemable thing about SB is the fact that his practice questions on e-class are very similar to the actual test questions. He often goes off topic and his drawings look like they were drawn by a toddler. I have been to every lecture and I haven't understood a single concept this guy has tried to teach.
Honestly going to Beesley's lectures isn't even helpful because he talks in a very muffled voice and also the midterms/ finals are heavily textbook based. Whenever he doesn't finish teaching us the chapters in time, he basically makes us self study anyways so get ready to cram. He does curve the grade but it's because the average is so low.
just avoid this prof. for your own sake
His tests are not hard but your gonna have to learn on your own. He only goes over exercise questions and there messy and hard to read. If you want a prof that can actually teach I would suggest gainer.
Don't take any courses with Beesley unless you want to teach the entire course to yourself. His lectures are very confusing and his notes are very disorganized and messy. I would avoid this professor.
choose a different professor for your own sake
Its so over for me.
Take his class if you hate yourself
he's about as good as a teacher as hellen keller is at listening to music.
I honestly cannot believe that the university has allowed him to teach for this long. He prides himself on being a "teaching professor," yet he can't teach at all. He draws random diagrams that make no sense, and by the time you're halfway done copying it, he's on the next random one. If a class does badly on a midterm, he blames them.
Seriously guys, please don't take this course with Scott if you don't have background knowledge about ECON 101. This course didn't have to be as hard as it was but this prof made it absolutely horrible for me. His graphs are literally chicken scratch and unreadable... Please please don't take him as a prof if you actually want to get a decent mark.
Horrible
Don't take his class, you will learn nothing from his lectures.
Would not recommend Beesley again. Ever. His pace is unlike any other professor I have seen so far. Even if you go to his lectures, the notes are confusing, and if you do not go to a lecture, you will completely fall behind and not catch up. The language he uses in class is something I would not call "Professional" by any standards. ANY PROFF>> SB
He is probably the most-hated first year professors, I did not hate the class. It's difficult and he teaches it very poorly, however, if you self-review and pay attention/ take good notes it's doable. I would try and avoid the class, however if you get in the class it's not the end of the world. Midterms are recycled, but final is more difficult.
Not a great dude.
If this is a mandatory course for you, for your sake get a different prof. If you cant get a different prof, definitely buy the textbook(only reason i'm passing)and if this is not mandatory for you, just save yourself the emotional trauma and don't do it. PS his exams are almost identical the the practice exams provided so make sure to study those!
For this course you only get graded off 2 midterms and 1 final exam. The two midterms are each worth 25% of your mark and the final is 50%. There were no assignments at all. I did not attend much lectures because I found them useless and a waste of my time, I found it better to learn by myself.
Sinply was not a good teacher. Seems like a nice guy, just not someone I would want to be taught economics by. His graphs are literal scribbles and he often gets sidetracked during class. Be prepared to do a lot of self teaching in his classes. His exams are extremely similar to the practice ones and sometimes even reuses questions so do the pract.
Beesley is a funny guy and very knowledgable, but for an introductory course I found his teaching very difficult to understand. His explanations don't make sense, and his graphs are impossible to figure out. However his practice midterms/finals are very similar to the real ones. Used AC/DC Econ, WizePrep, and textbook to learn most of course.
One of the worst teachers i've ever had. His lectures are horrible and his notes/explanations are awful. I never learnt anything and even stopped going to class because of how useless his lectures are. I had to teach myself through videos from other professors because I didn't learn anything from him. I 100% do not recommend.
His lectures are pretty much irrelevant, as they don't pertain to the material on the tests very much. Just had to read the textbook and teach myself the whole course.
Beware the tale of pirate Beesley, where if the students don't understand the concepts at the pace he teaches them, will drown into the sea; swallowed whole by the megalodons that lurk below. He'll give you side quests that are beyond what you're actually expected to do for Econ 101.
Miracle that James Scott Beesley is a teacher considering his voice sounds like he has balls of mud in his throat and his penmanship is subpar to say the least.His way of explaining concepts is drawing confusing graphs that look like straight vomit. His exams are similar to the practice, but be prepared to teach yourself cuz this man cant teach.
He embodies every problem at the university; his handwriting is difficult to decipher, and the course lacks a proper schedule. The grading for the entire course is subjective based on his preferences (biased). The classes are more akin to political science than economics; The tests are repetitive. Skip class, skim old exams, and get an easy A.
Funny guy but lectures were not good nor informative. Notes were extremely messy
He was not dedicated to the work at all. The fact that he got positive on COVID test that led to off-class and also abusing uploading lecture notes without giving speech for over a long period of time was the reason that i struggled a lot with that class.
Worst prof ever doesn't know how to teach goes so fast in class, always in a hurry to finish and notes are unnecessarily unorganized and unreadable. The only good thing abt the class is that his midterms are similar to his practice exams. I didn't learn anything from the lectures all of it was from the book (basically self taught myself the course)
I would avoid taking this class. His methods and way of teaching is simply so unorganized and chaotic which is clearly reflected in how the course is structured. Don't even bother taking notes in class because they are a complete mess. Also, the textbooks assigned are ancient and I mean ANCIENT. If you don't need to take this class, just don't.
He's not a nonchalant jit
You will have no idea what he is talking about. He skipped class for 3 weeks when he was sick and didn't get a sub. His first class back from that he held the second midterm where everyone did better than the first because he wasn't there to confuse everyone during the 3 weeks of classes prior. You will end up having to just read the textbook.
Stopped going to his class after the first 2 weeks cause his lectures were very confusing. Learned everything by myself through the textbook. Luckily the exams were piss easy so not a lot of studying is required. Exams were also very similar to the practice exams he posted from prior years. If you can self study, the class is ok. Funny guy though.
Funny guy but doesn't teach. Worst prof to be honest in your first year as it make your year terrible.
in my econ 101 class, he only had 3 graded tests. his lectures are disorganized and hard to follow. if you like jokes then take this class because he is quite funny but do not take this class if you value your GPA.
Who knew a 100-level class could be so confusing? Sit in the front of the class or you might miss everything he says. He goes on long tangents about random things and then proceeds to say that it's unrelated to what you're learning after you've taken the notes. No assignments, tested entirely on exams. Dropped the class and took it with Gordon Lee.
You could have done better
Not so good at teaching, but, tests were very similar to practice tests and class wasn't that difficult. Read the textbook and do his practice problems. Lectures were very disorganized but I overall found the class to be decent.
I don't know why this has to be said, but I don't think this needs to be up after his tragic passing on September 14th, 2024. May he rest in peace.
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