Worst class ever! Yes he is a nice guy but his voice is horrible and so is his teaching skills. The material was pointless and couldnt even try to make it fun and intersting. It was my hardest class of the semester and i also recieved me lowest grade of the semester which is ridiculous considering its an elective! Dont take him if you can help it.

His tests are SO HARD. His grading scale is much different than most teachers but that's because of how hard it is. Oh and the extra credit, all's it says in the syllabus is to write about an article and I somehow did get the full pnts. Class is SO FREAKING BORING too.

He is SOO boring. All his notes are online and class attendance isn't mandatory. He gives 10 random pop quizzes which are hard, unless you go and actually stay awake every class.

OMG!!! I would rather poke my eyes out with forks than go to this boring class. No one ever comes to class. Pop quizzes like every other class. Test arent too hard. I would say sit near the front to hear him clearly. He is odd and random with dry humor and a voice that sounds like kermit the frog.Just wish his teaching style was different.

Horrible!!!He does not update grades. He loses assignments. He doesn't knoe how to speak up so, you can barely hear him. He doesn't respond to emails. He does not make any sence and on not of that he is BORING! I HATED going to his class! I normally don't rate professors but I had to make an exception for this guy!

TERRIBLE! I have never hated going to class so much in my life, he went off on weird stories and his tests had nothing to do with notes. he wasn't helpful with anything, in his review sessions he wouldn't answer questions because "he already went over it all in class" . He went the whole lecture time every class, and his mic almost never worked.

TERRIBLE...his lectures are so boring. i could hardly pay attention. he gives pop quizzes at least once a week. i thought it would be an easy class but it was really hard. sweet guy but would not recommend taking it. B.

Awful teacher. Very boring. One would think ASTR would be interesting, he made it far from. He's the type of teacher that tries to trick you with test and quiz questions. I would not suggest taking this class. I found it very hard to stay awake in his class bc all he does is stand up front of class and click his PowerPoint. I took another ASTR class this summer and actually really enjoyed it. This teacher made me hate the field of ASTR.

I have no clue as to what happened to the James Higdon described earlier but the one I currently have is a very poor teacher. He never answers emails regarding questions on the course. Any extra credit mentioned earlier hasn't come up (or is hidden). Enjoys seeing people stumble over his pop quizzes and tests. Any interest i had in astro is gone.

AWFUL! Great guy, and you can tell he is passionate about the class but I had to use this class at one of my five withdraws. I am an honor roll student but it was absolutely impossible for me to stay awake in this class. He rambles and doesn't make it very interesting. I would recommend taking something else.

This class is so boring! He stands up in front of the class and lectures for the entire class. He gives pop quizzes that are hard so I recommend going to class. If you can take another class instead of this one I would definitely recommend doing that. I normally make very good grades but not in this class.

Worst Class ever. Extremely boring teacher and doesnt make any sense at all. I make all A's eaisly and I'm failing this class with only 3 weeks left. I studied for a test for 2 weeks, read the entire book, talked to him at 5 times and still got a 64 on the test. This is the hardest class I've taken AVIOD IT IF YOU CAN!!!!!! you'll thank me later!

James Higdon is a nice guy and very passionate but really doesn't teach a good class. his powerpoints and summaries are useless on his tests. he finds humor in people failing it seems like. be prepared for huge confusing sentences and words he doesn't explain. i get A's and B's but will likely get a C in this class. AVOID THIS CLASS.

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! I have never been more frustrated with a class in my life. He does not use info from book or PowerPoints on test, and then yelled at the class for cumulatively failing the last test. He drops the lowest test grade but that doesnt make a big difference bc all grades are so low anyways. TAKE ANOTHER CLASS IF YOU CAN.

Very dull. Very vague. Friendly man, but quickly loses contact with the student brain. Gives random quizzes. Subject material may confound and confuse to those who don;'t understand Astro. He often attempts humor, but usually fails.

I hated this class. He gives about 10 pop quizzes, and the 3 tests he gives are extremely hard. The class is really dull, and he doesn't do anything to make it more interesting. Attendance isn't mandatory, but if you don't go to class, chances are you'll miss a pop quiz. I don't recommend him.

I took this class as a science elective, hoping to learn the basics of astronomy (like stars and constellations and visit the planetarium). Instead we memorized facts and Higdon never related the material to something useful.

4 exams including the final. 8-10 pop quizzes randomly throughout the semester. Attendance isn't mandatory, but you may miss a quiz (twice). Lectures were unbelievably dull and boring. Find another class.

STAY AWAY! If you don't love and I mean REALLY love astronomy, and if you don't love studying very hard, then this is not your teacher. No attendance needed, but he gives pop quizes. Tests are extremely difficult, no extra credit, and no study guides. Save yourself the headache and stress...find another professor!

This class is EXTREMELY difficult. The lectures and long and monotonous. He gives about 8 pop quizzes that are 10 question TF. There are only 3 tests A-E, but he usually throws a few dumb answers in their so you can generally narrow it down to three answers. DO NOT take this teacher.

Lectures are so long and hard to understand. The tests are nothing like the lectures or text book. I studied for WEEKS for every test, barely passed. He knows he is hard.

This guy isn't very respectable - he doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in his students' ability to pass or to even pay attention. He seems a little arrogant about how much he knows at times, too. He'll try to be funny, but it doesn't help his lecture. He never explains things on simpler terms.

the beginning of the semester was the easiest, and it progressively became harder with more intensive material being covered. tests are very difficult; you NEED to study weeks prior in order to get a decent grade. pop quizzes are a thing, so be sure to show up. he says he'll post practice tests but he usually forgets so you have to bug him.

The powerpoints uploaded to his website didn't have most of the material he spoke of in class. Attendance is optional, but for the love of god, go. He's understanding if you're sick and can't attend class, and he's a hilarious dude. His exams are confusing, as was the homework.

If you're not good at remembering tons and tons of info at a time, PLEASE don't take this class. Also, there are no study guides, no study sessions, and NO way of knowing what will be on the exam. Also no extra credit. Higdon is a pretty cool guy and you can tell he knows his stuff but this class itself is too much for an introduction class.

This is a rough course. The material is difficult enough, but his teaching skills and tough tests only make it significantly worse. The lectures are uninteresting. Lots of information you have to know, and he doesn't do a great job of informing you what will be on the test (If anything, his information for preparing is misleading.) Not recommended.

Dr Higdon basically just goes thru Powerpoints and he often erased his own notes on the board. We used the $60 lab manuals ONCE, and due to that he made the 3-4 HW grades of the class worth 20%. His tests were pretty easy sometimes but probably due to class averages being in the 50s. Overall, I wouldn't recommend him to anyone taking Physics 1.

Professor Higdon started out the semester with interesting information with the main topic of the class (our solar system). However, in the last lecture, he verbally attacks and criticizes religious beliefs and states opinions as facts. Additionally, he goes as far as quoting uncited sources and people who hold only honorary science degrees.