2.4
Quality3.7
Difficulty25%
Would Retake171
Reviews25%
Would Retake
171
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
171 total ratings5
28
4
20
3
16
2
39
1
68
What Students Say
“I was almost personally hurt when I saw the lukewarm feedback for Dr”
PHI336 - 4.0 rating“Presentations are a little dry, but it took me about 1,5 hours a week, and I have A in the class”
PHI306 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
34%
Textbook Required
32%
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3.5
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3.2
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306
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Reviews (170)
Be weary of this professor! I sent him an email with clarifying questions, 3 weeks later no response. He will write you back 2-3 paragraphs for your 1-2 paragraph DB post and take away points for odd reasons. He is scatterbrained and cannot be clear about his assignments. He uses Prezi and uploads 20+ videos on them for you to do the "lecture"
The class consists of a lot of discussion board posts where it's beyond me how you can get a perfect score. Also he says right about 100 times a lecture, this can be really distracting.
This guy is one of the worst professors I have ever had. He makes online courses 10 times more difficult by constantly changing his rules on discussion posts. This guy gets all wound up about how we post to the DB. He sends us emails that are pretty much novels. Oh, and he says "right" after ever sentence! You will be pulling your hair out with him
If you can, take another class. He has no clue how to grade his discussion posts, I almost think he just inputs random numbers. You just can't do well on them. Oh and like everyone else said, he says "right" at least 20 times a minute. It's beyond distracting
You can tell through his video lectures that he knows what he's talking about, but that's about it. I've taken many online classes that require class discussions but I've never gotten such low to mediocre grades on my discussion posts until this class. It wouldn't be such a big deal if they weren't the only things being graded beside the midterms.
One of the WORST professors at ASU. This guy grades harsh on discussion boards as much as possible. He's just simply unintelligent. His syllabus grade categories add up to 95% instead of a 100% and obviously has no idea what he's doing. Tests include a couple short answer questions, 6-8 multiple choice and an essay. There are 3 tests total.
If you can avoid this teacher do it. All his lectures are on Prezi and it can have like 30 videos sometimes, which are boring and says "right" a lot. His grading for DB are tough. Gives weekly quizzes, they are nog that hard. But gives two midterms through out the semester doesn't give you a heads up, he tells you the same week of the midterm.
No idea what other people are talking about, I thought this class is very easy for something as dry as syllabus. As long as you put some thought process together with like 300 words he grades fine for DB, plus he has a high curve for those. Presentations are a little dry, but it took me about 1,5 hours a week, and I have A in the class!
Avoid this class at all costs. He is a harsh grader, makes you sit through painful online lectures and honestly doesn't teach you much. I feel like I learned nothing at all from this class besides how to have my mind twisted. Dont take him
Hes incredibility hard and doesn't give any real information you can use for the outside world. Hes boring and I can honestly say I haven't learned anything. He has the most boring lectures ever! What a waste of my time and education!
Really enjoyed this class. Lectures were long but logical and thorough. No he doesn't give away free points for discussion board posts, you have to actually make an argument, because it's philosophy.... a 300-freaking level class in philosophy. Worst part of the class: my idiotic classmates, I don't think they've ever taken basic logic.
Professor Affolter is an amazing professor. He will always make time to see you and make sure you understand the material. The tests are open book, open note and are based on what is discussed in class and in the book. If you participate in class and put in the work, you'll get an A.
Lectures are clear and thorough, although they take a while to get through. It's nice because Affolter provides note outlines, which are very useful . I recommend filling them out. As long as you put thought into discussion board posts and test questions, you will get a good grade. He holds multiple test review sessions, and is very helpful.
Dr. Affolter easily had the best organized lectures of any online class that I have taken. This was an enjoyable class that took a considerable amount of time, but was well worth it. If you do the work and put in the effort; then you should have no problem doing well with the class. He really makes you think about the different sides.
Professor Affolter is a very tough grader and expects you to agree with his viewpoint rather than forming your own opinion (Isn't that what philosophy is supposed to be about anyways?). WAY too much work here. Four quiz's, along with a long forum and a long paper in every unit. TONS of reading. Plays favorites. I wouldn't recommend him at all.
Pretty good teacher, he tends to get off topic while he lectures but the content is pretty interesting. He's very good about helping with assignments, I went to his office hours and skype'd him, he was always willing to take time to help. Tests are based on lectures AND textbook content that wasn't in the lecture.
He puts lectures in Prezis and it's just flat out annoying to go through all of the "slide animation." He says "alright" after almost every sentence and it gets VERY distracting. Each week is 2 discussion posts & a reading quiz (2 questions.) His midterm and final questions are NOT online, so study for those. Prepare to argue, that's all you do.
Affolter is a disorganized mess! We had the wrong syllabus for our online class. He also did not have the right amount of points for assignments. He made huge errors in grading and had to submit corrections to the registrar. Double check your grades! The lectures are long and repetitive. This class was a waste of my time.
Affolter will challenge you but is always there to help if you are a dedicated student. If you do the work and write good arguments then you will succeed in his classes.
First time taking a PHI course. I was nervous because it was an upper-division class and Dr. Affolter's reviews were terrifying. Fortunately, Dr. A made the material clear and compelling. His lectures are terribly long, but typically interesting and necessary to go through. If you make interesting arguments and read/watch lectures, you will ace it.
This was an eye opening course and Mr. A is a fantastic teacher!
Accelerated Online class was very straight forward. Readings, Lectures, Reading Quiz and 2 blog posts every week. Midterm and Final were only tests and worth basically all 80% grade.
I was almost personally hurt when I saw the lukewarm feedback for Dr. Affolter here. I've taken three of his courses and would take more from him if I needed more of the classes he offers. He is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about actually teaching his students. If you put in reasonable effort and engage in the course, you will succeed.
Dr A really cares for his students. For any questions he was always available to set an appointment on Google Hangout, plus answered email questions within 24 hrs. The material is not easy but with study an A is certainly possible. This class does involve work with a combination of exams, quizzes and written papers but you do learn the material
He's really amazing makes himself super accessible goes above and beyond he is a fair but tough grade but you definitely see an improvement in both comprehension and writing skills at the end of his course. He genuinely cares and is an all around sweetheart. Love him
It is evident from the start that Dr. A is extremely knowledgeable, but it's difficult to follow some of his lectures. Material is presented in a confusing manner and your left to tackle the reading mostly by yourself. As long as you give an honest effort you will pass. A lot of reading each week, with two discussion posts + replies.
This class wasn't what I'd anticipated from the course name, Bioethics. I thought we would be discussing new innovations in medicine and biological sciences, but the class was essentially just the ethics of long established medicine. Basically 2 discussion posts and a reading quiz a week, a midterm and a final. Exams were most of the grade though
Exam weighted extremely high. And the grading criterias are vague. really tough person. The reading material is inconvenience to watch
- unclear grading for exam essay & short answer questions - vague grading for term paper - all you do is debate - lectures were long - I spent hours every week just watching and taking notes for his lectures, which you need to do to do well on tests
Class was not impossible, but definitely very tough & time consuming. EXTREMELY long & repetitive lectures w/ lots of boring movie clip examples. Take good notes because the exams are quite difficult & specific. I bought the textbook, but never used it. Gives option for extra credit quizzes & paper, I only did the quizzes. Not an easy A.
Class definitely requires a great deal of time and effort. I spent several hours learning the material each week. You need a decent understanding of the material to do well on the tests. I'd say to really study the lectures and then have a general understanding of the readings. But, Affolter knows the material is tough and wants you to succeed
Dr. A makes you work really hard to do well. But, you learn a lot in the process and he is very caring and goes out of his way to make himself available.
If you're looking for a good online philosophy class, don't take this one! He gives bad grades with zero feedback and is passive aggressive in his emails. I got a low C on my paper and he commented "good work" and no actual feedback. The class is also the most useless and boring of all the PHI classes at ASU. Strongly do not suggest.
Dr. A is a great professor, but you really need to work for it. What you put into the class is what you get back -- if you are working really hard, participating, and communicating with him regarding optional essays, he will put in time and effort to work with you. This class required a lot of reading and the reading is extremely dense.
This class has heavy workload. Seems as if Dr. A wants you to strictly focus only on his class, even though you have other classes to worry about. One week we had over 100 pages to read for the class, and that does not include the other philosophy classes you take during the year that are also heavy reading. Don't take this class, it's useless.
Avoid! Grading is inconsistent; it's impossible to tell what is a good answer. The final is 50% of the grade. You can make 100% on everything yet drop a letter the last day due to arbitrary grading. He is disorganized, his lectures are not clear, and he doesn't keep his end of the deal with papers; he alters due dates because of his own schedule.
Professor gave me a very low grade and argued with me about my choice of topic for assignment even after I showed him my notes (and confirmed my notes by rewatching the lecture) from his lecture about appropriate topics. Lectures were confusing and sometimes contradictory.
First off he doesn't open quiz assignments until the day before they are due (In the morning). I knew I had to leave when we had a 1000 word writing assignment, where he literally said "I don't care what format you put this assignment in, as long as you cite your sources." Then he gave everyone C's and D's for not using MLA format.
Reading quizzes which test you on the opinion of the author or instructor(himself) and not what the actual concept is about. You can also never find a straight answer to the quizzes as he summarizes vaguely by using his own words. Doesn't give any information on his tests and assignments. Opens up the submission late. Avoid this class.
I think Affolter means well, but only focuses on his own opinion and the opinion from the book. He doesnt use enough of his time teaching the actual theories. I respect his opinion, but not when its the only thing he wants to talk about. All he wants to relate everything to is his dissertation and personal life. You will not learn anything.
Although he is very passionate about philosophy and you can tell he enjoys teaching, I do feel that he doesn't speak in a way that is suited for his students. For example, he uses many historical references and uses vocabulary that makes his point unclear at times. 3 quizzes every week and one essay per unit. Only a midterm and final for tests.
Not recommended. There are three quizzes on reading per week, but the reading isn't too bad. Unit responses every week are KILLER. They are graded very harshly and weigh heavily on your grade. He also posts assignments and quizzes super late. I feel I have not learned any useful information in this class. Not worth it.
Prof. Affolter is a nice person. he is very passionate about ethics, but if you have a different point of view than him, don't present it in you papers. I spent around 2 days on the first paper, and ended up getting a C on it (the paper was not aligned with his views). i spent an hour on the next paper, but got an A (aligned with his views).
Online. This review is actually for PHI 320 Not that hard if you can think critically and read. Really good for ethical issues for future doctors and researchers. Professor seems cool. Prepare for essay questions by understanding concepts. Be good at writing. No, I am not the professor I am a student giving a good review.
My head spins every time I go to class. You can tell he's passionate but he makes ethics hard to grasp. There are 3 reading quizzes every week and a Unit Response every other week. It's hard to get full points. One time I argued against Affolter's viewpoint... don't. That was my lowest score. Find an online textbook (life is easier with control F).
The professor was okay-ish. I just didnt like his class, i didnt feel motivated to go to class, there is a quiz Online before every class, theres an essay almost every week. I was done with class from week 2. Just dont take Ethics if you dont like, especially dont take it with this professor
Dr. A is very knowledgeable and the lectures are pretty interesting. Everyday before class reading quizzes are due and after every unit there is a unit response essay which sucks and is very tedious. These were the only assignments we had so if you did them, you'll be fine. The only reason I wouldn't take again are the unit responses.
The class is very theory-based and Dr. Affolter was not able to convey the ideas presented to us in a clear manner. He also included his personal beliefs on the theories in the material, which I thought was inappropriate. The only thing he grades are 2 tests and quizzes at are made up of 2, 4 point questions, which made them hard to pass.
Dr. Affolter is an amazing lecturer, class is entertaining and attendance usually not mandatory. The readings are interesting and you learn a lot in the class. The grading on the weekly papers do tend to be a bit hard and random, but the midterm and final are very fair. Dr. Affolter is passionate, I want to take him again
He is wonderful and cares about what he's teaching. He's just very long winded and the excessive and jilted hand gestures made it difficult to focus on the topics in his lecture videos. Otherwise it's a nice class to take.
The worst online lecturer I have ever watched. His videos are riddled with mistakes, loses his place and is unclear. Grading is harsh and does not give feedback on doing better. Do not take if at all possible. I can bearly stand to watch his videos to finish this course. Take Dr. Watson if you have a choice. He has phenomenal online lectures!
Buddy just reads off the slides. Mad boring. We literally just sit there while he reads his slides WORD FOR WORD. He then goes on and says the exact same thing in different words. Doesn't help. A lot of self learning needed.
This is why I should never just listen to my advisor and take a course they recommend without me researching the professor first. He is an analytical philosopher so the way he describes arguments was confusing to me, and I did not find the lectures helpful in any way, even after watching many times. Nice guy and wants you to pass but just horrible
He is an awful professor who doesn't make the grading criteria clear and then punishes students for it. Doesn't reply to emails in a timely manner like other professors. Avoid at all costs if you can
Dr. A is passionate about teaching and his caring for students really shows. He is the only online professor I have taken (so far) that participates and guides students on discussion boards. He offers great feedback on term papers and responds to messages in Canvas quickly. If you work hard and reach out to him, he will help you succeed.
Dr. Affolter is a great professor. Those of you saying he is a tough grader is perhaps mistaken, as it may be possible that he is an appropriate grader and its the first time you've experienced sincere criticism for the sake of learning. He is more than willing to give his time for his students to succeed. Are we here for learning or for grades?
Just dont take him
I am not one to normally complain about a professor, but this is just ridiculous. There is contradictory grading scales in a few places, so I couldn't even tell you what I'm expecting my grade to be. It's the last week and he hasn't graded most of my discussion posts, and the few he did had zero feedback, so I've gone the whole session blind :(
I should've went with my gut when I saw his rating. Has passion for the subject, but words everything weird. His grading scale is strange so you have no clue what grade you have all session. If I had one regret in my life, it would be taking this class.
Terribly unorganized with inconsistent, unclear grading criteria. Didnt grade the majority of discussion posts until the last week of class, and was given no feedback on discussion posts. Was so unorganized that in meetings he would confuse me for students in a different class. Semester ended days ago and grades are still pending.
Its hard to get in contact with the professor via the community forum and email. Quizzes have weird wording. The two exams have 3 parts and the multiple choice is worded weirdly, too. Took a looooong time to grade discussion boards and essay/short answer. Turned in grades after deadline.
I do not write reviews often, but this professor is just bad in regards to grading. If you care or worry over grades DO NOT TAKE HIM. He will take off points without giving reasons as to why. His grading system was so messed up he literally changed the grading system AFTER THE SEMESTER ENDED. He also didn't grade most work until the last week.
Affolter is an educated individual that clearly has a strong passion for the subject of philosophy, yet it is clear that he somehow slipped through the cracks of whatever benchmark is supposed to be upheld to obtain a teaching position. I wish more characters were given so I can further comment on his singing lectures and poor communication.
If you show up to class everyday, and pay attention during his lectures, you will be fine. There is quizzes that are completion based, along with two midterms, a final exam, and two mandatory papers. Also, if you attend office hours he will really help you with anything you are struggling with. This is a tough class if you do not pay attention.
I have three more courses to take to earn my degree, and this is by far the most disorganized and unengaging course Ive taken in my academic career. Not only are expectations unclear, but grading is inconsistent. Also, monotone, lackluster lectures, dense in Calvinist partiality spoiled my positive experience with other professors at ASU.
I 've taken a couple classes with Dr. Affotler and really enjoyed them both. It's clear he's passionate about philosophy, and frankly I enjoy his pop culture tie-ins during his lectures. There's a lot of reading, and he can be a tough grader, but these are upper division philosophy courses. They shouldn't be a walk in the park.
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. At first sight, I knew he would be a horrible professor. His lecture videos are excessively long, his test questions are made up of questions that are vague, and he loses his train of thought often. he adds confusion to an already complex subject. He seems to love the subject but passion is only one part of a great teacher.
Super passionate about the subject, and what he teaches is interesting. Keep in mind his class is designed to teach concepts and making sure you grasp them. Quiz and test questions are worded in an almost philosophical manner making them sometimes hard to decipher. Grades are weighted.
This class was a solid course. You have to do a lot of writing and discussions, but if you try well enough, you should pass no problem. The midterm and final are the make or break point for the course unfortunately, even if you have a 100% going into them, but you can earn bits of extra credit here and there.
Do not take his class if you are not passionate about this stuff. He is a tough grader, looses train of thought easily, his lecture videos are so long. Honestly, don't take him if your looking for an easy A, because you wont get it.
passionate but awful grading system.
Im going to be honest, I dropped this class a few weeks in so my feedback is based only on the small amount of time I was in class, but it was a nightmare. The workload is insane. Everything he says is extremely wordy and therefore I didnt even understand most of the assignments. I just dont think online teaching is the best method for him.
He is a clearly passionate professor but this was not an "entry-level" course. He expected you to have background knowledge on ethical terminology and people. Class discussions strayed from true course material. Quizzes and essays every chapter and tough midterm and final. If you like this stuff, this class is for you. If not, pick something else.
insane grading policies, doesn't post ANY grades until well after finals. will put your financial aid in jeopardy with grade ambiguity. deliberately words questions confusingly because has obviously spent too much time in academia. gives bad grades for seemingly no reason with no feedback. erratic grading courtesy of TAs. avoid avoid avoid!!!
Horrible professor. He gives so much work. 4 discussion post , replies ,quiz and an essay every week. His wording is awful which is confusing. He doesn't grade on time waited until the day before grades were due to submit work that I turned in the first week of class. DO NOT TAKE. midterm and final he just takes of points no explanation. AWFUL
This course has a lot of lectures and reading, I would not double up on courses in the 7 week format while taking this if you have a full time job. If you are not a political philosophy major, set aside time for additional research or for office hours otherwise risk loosing points on your mid-term and final.
While he is a well educated and passionate man, I do not think that he allocates it well into his teaching. His lectures are much more confusing than they need to be and he takes forever to respond to emails! He is also a horrible grader! Don't recommend!
DO NOT take this class if you are not passionate about politics AND philosophy. 7 weeks is a very short amount of time for lots of material to cover. It may just be the fact this class is online, but the course is set up so strangely and it was confusing & not very conducive to learning. The material IS interesting, but it's not worth all the work.
His lectures usually consist of scenarios and are worded weirdly that it is really hard to understand sometimes. He does not have a clear grading criterion and only releases the grade a long time after the class is over. He does not release the grade, you won't be able to track your progress. That is a major thing for me.
The practice quizzes heavily deviate from what was taught in the class. Furthermore, the resources and handouts given to students will have instructions that contradict themselves - it's utterly bizarre. Due to the lack of proper instruction, seeking out online resources not directly affiliated with this professor was mandatory. Avoid this class.
I dropped out of this class fairly early not because it was hard but because this professor does not know what he is doing and I'm convinced doesn't even know what he is teaching. His teaching style is extremely confusing, he also always goes off-topic and will use THE WHOLE class time even though he does not need it. He also never explains things
Super interesting class. if you don't attend class the lecture is posted on canvas but it won't be as easy to understand so just go. we submitted unit responses every week that was basically a 400-500 word essay on the theory we learned during that week. we only took a midterm and final and he said he does do three exams some semesters.
DO NOT TAKE HORRIBLE . He does not know how to grade. Grades everything last minute. You cant even ask questions about your grade because they aren't done. Everything disorganized. I wish I had never taken him.
BIO312: Very test and lecture heavy. I hate philosophy, so when I found out I was taking a Biology class with a philosophy teacher I was worried. Hard grader too, grades were disabled throughout the entire 7 week course - so I had to calculate my grades myself. Plus, I NEVER understood him. Was not very helpful in clarifying things. AVOID AVOID!!!!
Professor is a joke. He offers a final paper option that replaces points off midterm and final and allows you to receive a letter or recommendation. The final paper that should have helped my grade, dropped it to a B. Find literally any other professor or course. He also turns off the option to view your grade so you never know how youre doing.
Dr. Affolter is great! He is easily accessible. He provides meaningful feedback. His lectures really drill the information home. The book is FUNNY and easy to read. I use what I learned in this class DAILY. It is practical, applicable, and honestly fun!
The class was bland, but not difficult. Black and white power points, textbooks, and weekly reading quizzes. The TA did most of the grading, which all seemed to be fair. He's extremely religious and has a difficult time leaving that outside of class. Super awkward guy, just too intelligent for his own good.
Would have been an interesting class if the professor wasn't so boring. I did not like the way prof Affolter taught the material. He expected you to know all of this additional info even though it was an intro class. If you like philosophy this might be a good class for you, but if not, don't take this class/prof
There were reading quizzes given every week and Unit Responses every two weeks. The required books barely applied to the lecture, only for reading quizzes and Unit Responses the quiz questions were so abstract and incomprehensible. The lectures were very difficult to understand and Affolter never answered emails diligently.
I am not fully done with the class yet, but I am counting down the days! The reading quizzes are impossible to answer with his UNCLEAR wording. He seems to want to trick the students on these questions to really see if they watched his long lecture videos that make no sense. His review sessions were useless. The essay will hurt you more than help.
It’s a lot of work. I wouldn’t recommend his “extra credit.” It’s either a final paper or weekly quizzes. They’re extremely difficult. He is very helpful if you ever need him. He does respond to emails.
Super interesting class! Take notes while doing the reading!!!!!! but still recommend going to lectures (important clarifying points are made during lecture. He is also super critical of the textbook which means you can't just rely on the readings for responses). SUPER religious and morally conservative which can make discussions awkward.
Professor Afforlter's class is demanding with a lot of work but his presentations make it so easy to understand and he answers questions through follow-up videos. Before the midterm and final he held study sessions where he was available to answer any questions you have and does an overview of the information that is going to be on the exams.
Lots of lecture and reading. Check articles ahead of time to anticipate how much you’re reading! Tons of examples provided for each concept. MC quiz questions are fairly easy if you understand the content. Provided follow ups and held review sessions. Made an in depth study guide for exams. Very interesting and thought provoking!
This was my first philosophy type class and I was not really interested in this subject. Dr. Affolter, however, does well to make the topics interesting. You don't have to read too much which is relieving. The lectures cover a lot of what you need to know. There's even fun movie clips to watch which inspire you to watch those movies.
On the grounds of teaching ability, I would rate him low. Its all lecture videos and no way of actually touching base when you need more information on a subject. The pace of the course is ridiculous and leaves no room to actually comprehend and learn the material. It leaves it all up to google and looking at boards to understand whats going on.
Class is hard enough as it is, could use a professor who actually teaches.
He seems like a nice guy and the vibes are good, but his lectures are all over the place and unorganized. If you want to understand the material at all, you will have to put in the work to teach it to yourself outside of class. I appreciate his willingness to debate with students and answer everyone's questions, though
The professor expects a lot of its students and grades harshly on discussion boards and exams. Would not recommend
BOOK IS MANDATORY !!! Don't really need to go to lectures but would recommend it. just read the book!
I honestly could not grasp any of the lectures in this class and it was hard to understand. Maybe it just wasn't the class for me but i did drop the class because i was so stressed about it.
He assigns readings and quizzes that are due before classes then during class lectures on the exact thing you just read but does it worse. the test are hard and go further in depth than he or he textbook went. also after every unit you must write a 800+ word paper about a topic from that unit. i do more writing for this class then my english class
Very demanding and the lectures are boring and not helpful. He grades very harshly and the tests are hard and its so much writing.
dont have to go to lecture theyre normally really boring and just cover what the assigned reading was. I recommend taking notes of the readings to help study for exam. VERY HARD GRADER. I could write a masterpiece of a essay and get a C+ on it. Unclear with some of his points, but as long as you read mult.Choice and short answers can save ur grade
He was not a great professor as his feedback was extremely subjective on reading responses and I was unable to improve even after office hours. The TA was an extremely hard grader on assignments and left no feedback to improve on. Also, the lectures themselves were just the prof's opinions and were not structured whatsoever (rambly).
26 (2 question) reading quizzes, 7 (800 word) essays, midterm and final. This class did not need all this work to understand the topics. Attendance is not required but heavily encouraged since the midterm and final have questions only understood if you went to class. Prof. is very religious and his lectures are incoherent. Interesting topics though
if you don't do well on the midterm expect to be sitting at a C stressing that you'll fail the class if you don't do well on the final. He doesn't leave feedback at all which really makes it hard to know what you did wrong, especially if you feel you did well. Overall if you want an easy class and this isn't required for your major dont take it
This professor helped me throughout my course. Made it easy to understand and fun! He really cares about what hes teaching and even his students. Anyone not taking his courses should rush to do so because he has been the best professor I have had at this school. I was dreading the course but that changed when I saw how he conducts his classroom.
A good teacher and available for help with understanding course material. Lots of reading and lectures and tests are very important to your overall grade. I took an accelerated course and the material was hard to grasp in such a short amount of time.
Dr. Affolter is helpful and has thorough lectures. There is no required book, he provides various reading materials and sources to read. You do assigned readings, case studies, discussions, and quizzes every week. It's not enough just to repeat the jargon, you must understand the bioethical concepts as well and put them into practice. I liked it.
mini lectures that are really easy to understand and thorough. weekly reading quizzes and discussion posts, but grade is dependent on midterm and final (open note). take the time to look thru the material and you should be fine. There's optional weekly tests and essay to buffer your grade, but they tend to bring your grade down.
Professor was very accessible and approachable to answer any questions about the course. There were weekly readings and quizzes along with an optional paper or weekly test which would help reduce the pressure off of your grade being based on exams. Do the readings and keep active in the course to do well.
Personally I cannot stand the way he sets up the classes. It's disorganized and all over the place. The material is not what I was expecting at all. I was excited to take this class but honestly it was just kind of boring. He is passionate so I will give him that but for the lack of substance, Im confused what he is so passionate about
This teacher is kind of a mess. It was the most stressed out I've ever felt in taking a class. The lectures and textbook seemed very opinionated, I feel like when it comes to learning it should be unbiased. Also the amount of lectures, quizzes and discussions are so unnecessary.
There will be long lectures in every class with additional reading and quizzes due before class. The reading quizzes are twice a week and only allow you 5 minutes to answer two questions over 5-35 pages of reading. He does drop the 4 lowest reading quizzes but they are borderline impossible. I would not wish this class on my worst enemy.
do not recommend taking this class. you will be wasting your time and money. lectures are extremely boring and difficult to understand. you will be doing more writing than you do in an english class. heavy heavy on quizzes, tests, and essays. Absolutely do not take if you do not have to, or at least not with this professor.
the almost weekly 1000+ word essays aged me 10 years, but at least the 2 lowest scores are dropped. study material given is accurate to what's on the exams
Do not take this class, and certainly do not take this professor. His lectures are boring, confusing and unnecessary to do well in the class. His slide shows are full of spelling errors and have minimal effort put into them. Seven different papers, twenty pages of reading a week, and difficult quiz's and tests make the course unreasonably hard.
Instructor is very approachable, very kind, and very enthusiastic about what he teaches. He is willing to offer help and work with students. He offers many resources for the final, midterm, and end of unit papers. Your grades are a reflection of your effort in his class. I recommend you give this class a chance.
Please do yourself a favor and never take this class. The lectures have so many grammatical and spelling errors that you cannot make any sense of them. 1000-word essays are due every week. 2 quizzes a week which require heavy textbook reading. Nothing he teaches is accurate to the exams. My biggest regret was taking Affolter's Intro to Ethics.
Whatever you do, please do not take this class unless you want to have a huge work load. For an intro class, the 1000 word papers and 2 quizzes every week was too much. The lectures are hard to follow and do not relate to the tests and quizzes. Save yourself the energy and don't take intro to ethics with Affolter.
HORRIBLE! Lectures are so boring and he rants instead of teaches. Other students didn't understand what we were learning. There are reading quizzes every week and he does drop two. Mid term is open note open book so he expects deeper responses. He wasn't very helpful when I needed it and theres 7 mini essays you write one after every unit.
Save yourself and do not take this class.
Lectures do not match the curriculum, we have probably learned 4-5 terms in three modules that people in the same class with a different professor learned in the first week. We have been on the same topic since week 1. Mentions all of these study guides for exams but there are nowhere in sight. The entire class is just disorganized and confusing
Taken online during summer - The professor really cares about his students and responds to messages promptly. He's very understanding and flexible so long as you communicate. Lectures were hard to watch, but not the worst. Tests were easy as well. I would take this course with this professor again.
He is completely lecture based but just repeats the same things over and over again and delivers his lectures in a very condescending pretentious way. half his class is just useless antidotes with him and another person arguing where he makes himself into some rational logical hero and the other person into a bumbling example of ignorance.
This professor has no business teaching students. His lack of attention to detail caused issues for students the entire semester. From forgetting integral WORDS in his lecture (therefore effectively teaching the opposite of what he mean
He leaves feedback on student reports that doesn't even match the report. He forgets to turn on his microphone every class. He mixes up his classes, and accidentally turns off the quizzes at the wrong times for the wrong classes. He then has the audacity to ask students to register for future classes so that he doesn't lose his job next semester.
900 word essay's due at the end of every unit, lectures mean absolute nothing. quiz before every class expecting us to read 8 pages of nonsense before class to answer the quiz. wrote more essays in this class then english
This is the worst class I have ever taken. The teacher talks and you will never understand the gibberish coming out of his mouth. Lectures are pointless. Attend every class, pay attention and try, and still get a D. Do not take this class.
If you are not a fan of writing, it's definitely not a good class for you. The papers, however, are not hard if you understand the lectures . He provides a detailed student example of how to do the paper with a guideline of how it should be taken by paragraph. I would reccommend showing up to each lecture and participating.
Prof Affolter is a really good man but he's not the best teacher. The lectures are directly from the slides he posts, so its pointless to attend. He likes to go on tangents about his personal beliefs and life and strays away from the actual lecture. There is quite a bit of reading and reading quizzes due at11:30 am every day there is class.
Doesn't allow phones and computers, long readings and reading quizzes every week, many essays, exams long and difficult, said he will be taking attendance next semester. Uses socrates method to call on people. Hate this class
Dr A isn't a bad guy, just wouldn't recommend taking his class if you are a busy person and don't have time to write 1000-word essays every two weeks. Attendance isn't mandatory, his lectures are boring, the slides he posts are the same thing he goes over in class. The 11:30am deadline for everything is very annoying, but he's understanding.
Not the best, not the worst prof., lectures were tedious at best, but that's more of a criticism on the class rather than the Prof.. Teaching style is better suited to smaller sized classes (not 200+ sized).Not good at wrapping up class on time. HW consists of brief readings, and 6 unit papers (800-1000 words).
Awful course and prof. His lectures make every topic even more confusing and you're better off learning them on your own. He'll go off on tangents in the lectures and his power point's are probably made 10 mins before class. Lots of hw: 3 weekly quizzes, weekly course rating, unit essay after each unit (8-9 total). Final is worth 39% of grade.
everything others have said is true. lots of weekly home work and annoying 1000 word essays (youll write 9 by the end of the semester). Loves to talk about himself so class is pointless to attend as he won't talk about the topics. if he does, he over complicates it and makes it harder to understand. take any other professor.
what even was phi 101. didn't take away one thing. soooo many essays that didn't make it clear on what was supposed to be written. didn't help they were 800-1000 word essays. i was actually excited to learn about philosophy then after class 1 I knew it wouldn't be good.
Affolter has very boring slideshows and is a heavy test grader
Awful teacher in my opinion. Please save yourself from this teacher, he is one of the worst. He does not teach properly, he always drifts off the topic and the topic is hard by itself, for someone who never took Ethics or philosophy. The final exam is 40 percent of your grade and if you mess that up, you are bound to get a bad grade. SAVE YOURSELF
The workload is intense, with frequent lengthy essays and quizzes. But the professor is enthusiastic and offers helpful resources. Use tools like Unstuck AI to make the most of this challenging yet rewarding class.
Whatever you do, do not take this class. He is an awful professor. I couldn't even tell you what his lectures were about and the final is graded very heavily.
Do not take this class. Find literally any other professor to take. He's awful, so monotoned, grades hard, and overall I didn't learn a single thing. He's not good at explaining any concepts and there's no point in going to class if you don't understand the readings assigned (you won't, nobody does). Lots of unit responses take forever to grade.
The way the class is set up just isn't that good. Every week or two everyone is assigned a new reading to look over. The readings generally just feel like word vomit, and they're just hard to understand. That's not on the professor, but it just makes the class difficult. On the bright side, you hardly need to attend lectures as not much happens
For the love of everything, do NOT take this class with Affolter. You would have to write 800-100 unit responses every 2 weeks about some long complicated excerpt that he barely covers and explains in class. Going to the in-person is pointless cuz he goes off about his life and has a word doc as notes that doesn't have anything on it that can help.
Kind of snarky and wayyy too many essays
Professor Affolter had very interesting lectures... not in the way you would think. He post all of his lectures. He does use very extreme examples witch are helpful but at times grotesque. He also is very unclear with grading and grades pretty harshly outside of the final essay and paper. I dont think he is a "Bad Teacher"
Do not take this class!! Lectures were very hard to follow and 800-1000 word papers every other week. Did give 100's on some assignments that he seemed weren't fair to students. Grading on papers and final was harsh but not mid term. Was able to use notes and lectures for midterm and final. Lectures went on rambles and didn't learn anything.
Take any other professor for Ethics. Quizzes based on the readings are due before class. Lectures are useless, restating what the textbook says. No point attending. There are "Discussion Days" in which students barely speak and he just reviews chapter concepts. There are 6 800 word essays, some a month apart and others a week and a half apart.
Puts grades in very late so its hard to keep updated with your grade
Easy grader (guessing because nobody can understand the material and too many bad grades look bad on him), 800-word papers due every other week, lectures are pointless
Honestly, if you are a good student who does not slack off you should be fine. It certainly isn´t the most fun class you will take but it also isn´t horrible. It was an easy A. I will admit that learning how to write his papers is a little difficult, coming from a freshman, but once you get the hang of them they are relatively easy.
Coming from a high school with poor education, this class was extremely tough for me. The texts given in class are difficult to read, you can't really scan it or else you'll miss the points the philosophers make. He gives a lot of essays along with quizzes before class and then reviews it AFTER you've taken the quiz, it doesn't make sense. Terrible
I took his class online and throughly struggled to stay on top of the reading, to the point I really only had time to read one of the texts that explained everything and nothing from the actual philosophers. Very overwhelming- lots of reading and various lectures, there is four discussion posts due every week, a reading quiz, and a module wrap up.
I had a great time with his class. This is a philosophy course, it's not going to be easy and consumable. He requires readings of the original philosopher's text and they take a lot of time to process, but it's worth it for the assignments. Provided timely/good feedback and was flexible with extensions bc I made an effort to talk to him.
There's a 800-1000 word paper for every unit. His lectures sometimes explain the readings, but often he goes off on tangents and gets lost. Sometimes spends most of the lecture talking about things that aren't relevant to the test or class. Not too bad if you do all the readings though.
so many papers lectures legit made no sense i felt like i was an 8 year old in a college lecture easy assignments tho
I registered late and Dr. A was very understanding and pushed back several deadlines to allow me to catch up with the material. Second course I have taken with him, he was still a great, engaging instructor with very reasonable expectations for his students.
Dr. Affolter clearly outlined his expectations for written assignments and consistently graded in accordance with those. He was very active in the discussion posts which was helpful in gauging how well I understood the material. The course did include quite a bit of reading but.. philosophy in general requires a lot of reading. Great professor!
Dr. A was a great instructor who clearly cared about student success. Maybe unsurprising for Philosophy, he seems to have a very rigid code of ethics for how he manages the course and grades his students. I like the fact that he wanted to grade papers anonymously. He's cool. Only possible complaint is that his grading scale doesn't offer A+
He kind of just rambled about the material for lectures and not a ton of value. Regular essays for the class, but he was a very generous grader. I learned a lot overall.
Professor Affolter is very straight forward with what he expects from his students, a quiz before each class, very easy and will get right if you do the reading. And a response after each unit, of your choosing from a subject from that unit. Is really good at making connections with philosophy and real life. Its obvious he cares about his job.
He does not end class early and often goes over the scheduled time. He is open to feedback and encourages questions or challenges. He is accessible outside of class. The class is lecture-heavy and sometimes includes tangents. Tests are completed in class and are open notes.
The grading is very harsh. You're mostly graded on exams, (8 exams) which you can only have one retake per semester. They're worth a lot of your grade. Also the video lectures you're provided with the woman in them doesn't speak clearly and there's no transcripts nor accurate captions. Textbook that you need to get is very very expensive. (Used)
Dr. Affolter is really awesome actually. He responds quick to emails, and works hard to answer my questions in zoom.
very tough grader on midterm essay section. midterm and final make up over 50% of total grade. assignments are easy, just 2 question quiz, and 2 discussion posts every week. overall, easy A. midterm and final are pretty easy. lots of reading, but i wouldn't recommend actually reading them since he goes over content from readings in lecture videos
takes forever to answer emails, and answers emails after the assignment is due. his review sessions for midterm and final are useless. his lectures are boring and not engaging (the content itself is interesting, he just doesn't present the info well), just reads off the screen and gives wordy, bizarre examples which are barely relevant to the topic
Dr. A rarely ends class on time and always takes attendance. He'll go on side tangents while lecturing and often leaves slides unpresented. He gives you access to all the PowerPoints and makes videos covering slides he missed in class. Sometimes he spent more time talking about his personal biases more than the course content. Wouldn't recommend.
I would have enjoyed this class so much more if the exams weren't worth more than half the final grade. The material is interesting but the lectures made it really boring. I wish he would post the online class's lectures bc they seem much more straight forward without any of his long tangents. The group assignments every other class were fun tho.
Dr. Affolter clearly cares about student success and is willing to put in time and effort to help students understand. There is a lot of material, but it is very interesting. The two exams make up a majority of the final grade and lots of preparation is essential. If this topic interests you, I would recommend. Very interesting and engaging.
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