2.8
Quality3.6
Difficulty36%
Would Retake112
Reviews36%
Would Retake
112
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
20
4
28
3
15
2
25
1
24
What Students Say
“I am an A/B student and am currently failing this class”
ECO201 - 1.0 rating“Great information but just a few levels above where the level of a UP course should be”
ECO202 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
61%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.49 avg changeRatings by Course
ECO
5.0
(1)ECO205
5.0
(1)ECO411
5.0
(1)ECO360
5.0
(1)EC0202
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
201
5.0
ECO204
4.8
202
4.0
ECO205
4.0
ECO301
4.0
Reviews (112)
Very helpful, uses great examples and explains things thouroughly
strong profess, good examples nice guy interesting to listen to
overall good guy, interesting style
No Comments
Easy class but it is sooooo boring!
No Comments
Make sure you read in to the questions
He is a good teacher, but he is lost. Easy grader 80% is an A-
I'll trade you 10 hours of painting my room if you change my oil. That's pretty much what I learned.
he's a cool guy (minus the ponytail and green pant/purple shirt combo EVERY day) but his class is pretty hard. hard tests/quizzes..all essay problems and stuff.
No Comments
good prof, class was a bit weird, book sucked, tests were a bit long but not hard
Keep your records!!! He lost 2 exam grades of mine and I needed to dig them up for him. w/out proof, you'll be screwed.
This is one strange cat, but you have to love that Canadian grading scale - 80 and above is in the A range. Conduct study sessions at O'Kelly's before the tests.
I learned alot from him and would suggest him to anybody. I did have to go to his office, but he was willing to help. He understands that not everyone is going into economics and that not everyone understands it.
His tests are from nowhere. This Canadian guy seems like he's lost. Asks questions during class and sometimes even invite you to come up and do some stuff on the black board.
Moderately easy class if you go once in a while. His quizzes/tests are straight from his notes.
Lectures go until the very end, but a very fair guy. Sometimes gets a little off topic. Overall good and interesting and uses CANADIAN grading scale.
All you do during class time is listen to him & take notes. His notes are all over the place & sometimes don't make sense. The class is a U.P. so there is a lot of writing. He's funny sometimes & his guizes aren't hard if you study.
He writes his notes on the board and theyre all over..kind of annoying. But overall he's a quirky nice guy. Very fair and willing to help. Study for the quizzes and you'll be fine.
This teacher is overall a pain in the ***. His grading system is sweet, 80% is still an A-, but his tests are nearly all essay which makes them hard! Don't take him if you can avoid it.
Worst experience ever. If you bust **** you might pass this class, avoid if possible.
he is a helpful prof but very confused..he is obsessed with graphs and makes everything easy very confusing. tries to hard on stupid topics..his exams r like long essays..take him if u think u can handle it..otherwise helpful guy..
Whole grade depends on tests and quizzes which are impossible. Grading can be unfair. I went to ask him why I did so poorly on a quiz and he told me I should have gotten more points. Notes are all over the place and hard to use when studying.
His notes are very unorganized. He is extremely boring. All you have for grading are testsand quizzes. It's one of those classes where you think you know the material then you get your test back and you get like a C on it.
i would recommend NOT taking this class...he is a very hard teacher and grades VERY hard...i didn't do well at all and would take someone else if i were you
Pretty solid.... funny guy.
Fun but still difficult.
His notes are nonsense. His notes are scattered. His tests and quizzes are essay, and are tricky, and IMPOSSIBLE to score points on. the class is based on tests and quizes... DONT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU HAVE SOMEONE ELSE!!!!!!
One of my favorite professors right now. If you just pay attention and come to class you'll do fine. 80 percent for A is pretty generous if you ask me. Some lectures are boring but how do you make Macroeconomics exciting?
impossible to get an A
If you show up and have a intrest in econ or even history its not too diffucult.
Very confusing, unorganized, and grades really hard! All essay tests, and he makes the simplest concepts way harder than they have to be.
very easy final, and the curve makes the tests easier, just read the damn notes and maybe some of the book and its a no brainer, im sorry i dont know what the others are talking about, but i got an A just because of the final and the rests of the tests were quite easy to me, maybe he changed
Great teacher...as long as you go to class & take GOOD notes you will be fine. You just need to GO. Hes amusing too, he makes what could be a VERY boring class, a little fun :)
Dr. Irwin is very intelligent and this was an interesting class. His tests and quizzes are graded difficult but he has a flexible percentage scale. Very good class for Econ or History Majors.
Dr. Irwin is a little weird. His notes are all over the place on the board, but if you can get them in some kind of order, it's pretty easy. His tests and exams are all essay, but you get a lot of flexibility on what to answer. Excellent grading scale. The book review is harder than advertised.
He was absolutely impossible. I went to his office multiple times and he never helped me. He could never explain why the girl next to me got more points than me for the same answer. His tests were RIDICULOUS!
OMG! I love this Prof. He is soo hilarious I enjoy going to class, Ive never even missed one. However, if you were to miss one, it would seriously hurt your grade. Hes a great teacher, knows his stuff, but the exams are pretty hard. Entire grade based on them too. If you keep up you will do fine!!
O.M.G get out of this class right now if you miss one class then you are seriously screwed. His test are impossible and you whole grade is baised on two test and a final it is so stupid. Get a new professor
This class is like a soap opera, if you miss a couple days the lesson is still in nearly the same place as when you left. Did poorly on quizzes, yet Aced the test! How Does That Happen?
He's great! Fun guy, real smart, knows his stuff~if u try ull do good~and he works with u too, the people who dont like him are the dumb ones that dont come to class~his lecture on drugs is the best~luved him
sounds like kermit the frog, i guess i can't hold that against him, he is from canada. his notes are really scattered, sometimes i think he forgets what he is talking about.
I'm not dumb, I didn't like him, and I went to every single class. He's a really hard grader and it's really hard to know what he wants from you. Very scattered...takes forever to answer emails too.
Okay, these people must be genius status who are giving him a good review. I've never gotten below a B and I took credit/no credit and got NO CREDIT. He is confusing, spiratic, & unclear. He wears green EVERY day....I went in his office for help and he didn't answer my questions. Terrible teacher. Most people I know got a C+ or worse.
Nice guy, but not the best teacher. He's really unclear in lectures and tends to give out useless information. A lot of the class is discussion based, but it's hard to have a discussion when you don't know what's going on. Not the best teacher, and I wouldn't reccomend if you've never had an economics class before.
Nice guy to talk to in his office or outside of class. However, in class is where it counts. Other professors are much more organized and relate relevant information you need to understand the ideas. In his class, he comes up with outrageous models that you have never seen before so he cannot possibly gage what you have learned unless you use a oui
The worst teacher i've ever had. Get out!
I hated this class and the way it was taught. He understands the subject so well that he expects his students to know it just as well as he does without telling us anything. Why would I be taking this class then? Lectures are very confusing. Models are even more confusing, and they don't even represent what we are talking about at the time.
Do not take this class. He is terrible at presenting the material in class and everything on the test is based on the lecture. If you miss one class perior you're screwed. There is no reason to ever take this prof.!!!
Horrible horrible professor. get out!!!! very unclear and exams are so hard
Hardest class I've ever taken. I have higher than a 3.5 GPA and I'm just hoping to pass this class. He structures it all on econ so the econ students are doing great while the environmental students are failing.If possible, do not take this class with him.I'm not one of those students who don't come to class and still think it is hard. It is HARD!
This guy doesn't answer anything clearly and concisly. He just wants to hear himself talk. It's annoying as crap. My GPA will be falling after this. He can't teach. Get out while you can.
I earned a C+ in the class. My GPA before the class was flawless. Still, it was the first time that I felt challenged in my university career. Irwin makes certain you understand the principles through his models, that is for certain. In the beginning, I didn't understand much. Then a light switched on. I am taking him for ECO 202. Thanks 4 yr help
it was a hard class, but its college! He really challeneged me and because of him I am starting to understand the subject! At first I felt like I was going to fail, but once you get used to him and his notes its actually pretty easy. Never skip the class and do the practice problems he gives you and you will do fine. He does call on people randomly
At first I didn't like him cuz I thought he was a bad teacher and I kept failing the quizzes, but then I went to talk to him to have him explain what I was doing wrong. He basically told me exactly what he was looking for as the answers. After I talked to him, I did fine. So if your having problems just go to him for help and you'll be okay.
I don't see why everyone thinks that he isn't a good teacher.I didn't have very much knowledge of economics, but I understand things from him very well. He gives practice problems before quizzes.I just make sure to have him check them and see what he wants for an answer.quizzes are similay to examples in the notes.quizzes are similar to practice.
I took him twice, first time i aint pass, so im takin him again. His style takes some getting used to, but its strait off his personal website. He did make things seem confusing though, but he's a good guy. He'll try to clear things up.
Great teacher. Grades exceptionally hard. If you want to learn take this course. If you just need credit and a good grade go elsewhere!!
I learned a lot from this professor that will help me in other classes. He made class interesting and let us decide what we covered. Great professor, very helpful, if you don't understand something ask and he'll explain it and make it clearer. A great professor that I'd recommend to anyone.
Environmental Economics. Nice man, but very liberal & lets you know it. Finds a way to throw in "anti-right wing" reference into almost every lecture. Apparently doesn't realize at least half his class is made up of conservatives. Tree hugger who wears basically same clothes to class everyday. Quizzes very tough. God help us with the test!!
If you know nothing about econ like me I'm sorry in advance. He means well but what he asks on the quizzes is way beyond anything in a 300 class asking you to manipulate models to fit a scenario that you covered in class that was already changed so you never saw the orignal model to startt with. Just frustrates you.
Nice guy, good teacher. Must attend every class to get notes because the book is useless. Everything you are quizzed and tested over will be in your notes. He even adds test questions to your notes so you know ahead of time what will be on the test! Interesting lectures, tried to make econ interesting for college students and does a good job!
Class is challenging even the Econ kids say so; Some what of a liberal which is fine for the other half of the class which are tree hugging hippies; not enough environment in the environmental economics; good luck will need assistance from others who have taken the class.
Wasn't too tough of a class, i apretty simple u.p. Was really hard to understand the first few weeks, the way he words his sentences and talks is kind of weird, but you get used to it. Basically go to class and take decent notes and you should get at least an a or b at least.
I have had him for 360, 306, and 201. He certainly isn't the most interesting professor to sit in on, but unless you are a complete moron you will not struggle to get a B. He gives you study guides for each exam that are damn near the same as the real exam, and he posts all notes from lecture in the library. Plus he spends 20 min/day telling jokes
Is he a bit of a scatter brain? yes. I truly think Dr. Irwin is just too damn smart for his own good. He is legitimately one of the most knowledgeable profs I've ever taken. If you can challenge yourself to actually LEARN in any of his classes you will do well and enjoy it fully. GO to office hours (for any class) if you don't you're wasting your $
Worst ever. It was almost impossible to know what he wanted from us even after going to him repeatedly to ask. The tests are really hard to prepare for bc his notes are very confusing. Also you cant read his notes on the board because his of handwriting. You have to go to class bc he calls on everyone but no one knows what to answer
Worst ever. It was almost impossible to know what he wanted from us even after going to him repeatedly to ask. The tests are really hard to prepare for bc his notes are very confusing. Also you cant read his notes on the board because his of handwriting. You have to go to class bc he calls on everyone but no one knows what to answer. THE WORST.
He is always there for clarity and makes himself easily available. Once you learn how to take his exams they arn't that bad. There are no clear answers, you have to prove your point in your answer. So what I did was learn one thing and make sure I knew it enough to make a correct answer. You can also chose questions to answer from a question bank.
Great teacher. Really goes over things. You dont have to attend class but he sometimes gives u test questions in class. Very interesting to listen to. No quizes/hw and his tests and exams are waited. highly suggest taking him.
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! He is very difficult and never explains anything even when you ask for help. His notes are terrible and he never makes any sense. Also is extremely boring and hard to listen to.
alot of notes, writes all over the place. constantly repeats himself. all exams/quizes are writing. boring.
Goes over material well and often enough so that you learn it well. Writes all over the place when giving notes but you get used to it and it stops being a problem. Interesting enough to make a boring subject interesting. Prepare to get called on during class to answer questions. No homework but there are a few small projects/papers.
I had this teacher for law & econ, and it was an absolutely terrible class. He is unorganized and scatterbrained making it nearly impossible to follow lectures. The lecture notes are fragmented and incomprehensible, test are poorly written, usually 5 essays with 30 minutes to finish, grading is inconsistent, and the text is terrible.
Do not take any of his classes. I had him for ECO 110 and another for next semester but I dropped it. His lectures don't make sense, he's terrible at explaining things and he doesn't respond to emails. I suggest you stay far away from any class he offers.
STAY AWAY!!!! Horrible teacher!!! Notes are all over the place doesn't use a power point or anything just writes everywhere. Calls on students to give examples every 5 seconds when he should be teaching the class. Doesn't use black board or respond to any emails. Most of all his test are horrible and rarely gives full points.
Worst professor I've ever had. Unclear, indecisive, and unnecessarily difficult. Avoid AT ALL COSTS.
The professor is funny, but he makes the material a little hard to understand. His class is based on just his lecture so take really good notes. He is very helpful so if you are having trouble just go to his office hours. It helps. He will also curve the class. If he knows who you are and you go to class, he is willing to help you with your grade.
Favorite Professor I've had. He kept the class interesting and informative. He gives you access to all of the information he covers in class online. There are a lot of notes, but his tests are exactly what was covered in class. Questions are always repeated, and not difficult to understand.
Very confusing professor. He is undoubtedly a very intelligent man and he knows what he is talking about, but he is awful at explaining things to students clearly. Extremely hard grader. I never knew what to expect on tests or what answers he was looking for. I would suggest avoiding him if you're looking for an A.
Not a really good professor. Notes are all over the place. Rarely gives out full credit on tests and exams and is always calling on students during class when it would be better for him to explain the material better. Would not recommend this professor!
Like a few raters said earlier he rarely gives full credit for answers on test and he words the questions in unnecessary and difficult ways that makes the test that much harder, and his lectures are really boring..,If I were you I wouldn't take his class.
DO NOT TAKE HIM!! He is very hard, he grades incredibly hard and you will not do well on his tests and exams! His nots are all over the place and he talks down to his students. AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS!
Professor Irwin was the hardest professor so far for me. He grades reallyyyy hard, and you are unsure of what is expected. The notes in class are all over the place and super confusing. He is willing to meet with anyone in his office hours, but he still is unclear. Tests and any assignments are super hard. I would try to get someone else.
Dr. Irwin is very nice and pretty funny, but his teaching style is tough. He's all over the place with notes and goes on tangents, and I found him to be pretty boring. With that being said, he does want you to do well and will try to help you understand the material.
Avoid him at all costs. He is SO confusing and all over the place. I did not learn one thing in this class.
Dr. Irwin is a nice guy and tries to make the class interesting. However, his teaching style is confusing. His notes and lectures are all over the place and you really don't know what to expect on the exams, which are the only grades in this class. Ive taken AP Macro in high school and got an A and I was still lost all semester long. DO NOT TAKE!!
Jim really gets that we've been trained to do busy work, reproduce memorized answers, and only work for the grade rather than understanding; that's not how he runs things. Jim doesn't use blackboard, but it works out in the end. He weighs your tests and exams in your best interest, and wants you to learn. No homework, just 3 tests and 3 exams.
Avoid this class! His lectures are very confusing, all over the place, he looks down upon you in class if you ask a question. Presents something off topic and talks about it as if it has importance and then at the end says "But you don't need to know that" Grades differently every time. Says what an A should look like and then changes it
This teach gave me so much anxiety. He will start writing on the board and then move to the complete other side and discuss something that "we don't need to know" & returns back. I cannot follow someone like this. I have never withdrawal from a class but I am seriously considering it due to the lack of teaching skills. Do not take this professor.
Professor Irwin is too smart to teach this class. That being said this wasn't the worse class and i felt like i actually learned a lot. Lectures are slightly confusing but make sense towards the end of every class. Only homework is to study for the test and exams which are your only grades. Look at his reviews and take notes and you'll do fine.
Overall super nice guy but lectures are confusing and don't prepare you well enough for exams which count for all of your grade. Material can be complex if you're not a microeconomics wizard. You either know it or you don't so good luck.
Dr. Irwin is a great guy. Goes into detail and gives examples in class that are very similar to what shows up on tests/exams. The class is graded generously too ,90% is an A, 80% is an A-.
Teach yourself, and use youtube video. You will get marked down of your sentence structure rather than your correct answers and knowledge. Not organized. Extremely bad feedback.
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF!!!! Very hard grader, confusing, goes too quickly, and goes off on tangents that have nothing to do with what we're learning. He gives no extra credit or homework so the only thing he grades on are tests and exams which he is VERY specific about when grading.
If you miss a lecture you will have no idea what to do, lectures are hard to follow, will talk about things that don't matter, not helpful in office hours, doesn't use blackboard so you have no idea what your grade is, his exams are ridiculously hard. I have never failed a class all through grade school or college and I failed this one.A&B student
Really smart guy and gives a well rounded overview of economics. Makes you think, but highly recommended
Very intelligent guy but very hard to keep up with his lectures. His thought process will seem scattered to most as he goes on tangents about the given topic. Great information but just a few levels above where the level of a UP course should be. Exams are tough as he is looking for the exact wording as given in class, his office is wild messy
Dr. Irwin is a very nice guy but he is literally too smart to teach this class. I am an A/B student and am currently failing this class. He is so confusing, and it's impossible to follow him. All class he lectures and writes on the white board. There are only tests and exams, no homework. Do not take!!
Dr. Irwin is a great professor! Taking notes on the lecture and reading the textbook are a must for this class. Attendance is also important, for both the participation grade and also because his lectures directly discuss what will be on the exam.
Dr. Irwin is a great professor if you are interested in the subject he's teaching and are willing to do all of the required reading outside of class. Really smart guy, but pretty unorganized. Lectures can be hard to follow, but if you pay attention and take good notes you will be fine.
He is a bad professor and makes things a lot more complicated than they need to be. He can be funny but that is not my biggest concern in a class.
Do not take this calss with this professor, he is awful. He spends 30 min on deeper thinking then tells you that you wont need to know this. Then spends maybe 5 min on what you actually need to know. His best quote was I dont answer questions I just ask them
There are two exams you take during the semester that is worth 40% of your grade. There are also three tests you take that is worth 20% of your grade. The final exam is comprehensive and is worth 35% of your grade. If you do bad on all of your tests and exams then he will take the final exam as your total grade. Very sloppy note. No study guide.
Funny guy! But tough professor.. grades tough and very hard to follow in class he will go on for 15 minutes about something then say "And you guys don't need to know any of that" after you just spent that time trying to scribble notes to keep up with him. If you do bad on all tests he does make the grade on the final your final grade
Jim is really quirky but knowledgeable. Takes attendance with flashcards and asking questions but the questions are super easy. Grades are based on tests, exams, and attendance. The tests/exams use problems straight from lecture. Easy A if you take good notes in lecture. Also, he made a dry subject pretty fun since he is funny.
Kind of eccentric, but in a good way. He's brutally honest about what he lectures about and isn't going to fluff up his speech
Worst prof I have ever had. I am an Econ minor, I have taken many econ classes, and this was the most difficult class I have ever taken. He grades hard and contradicts himself a lot, so it is difficult to know what the correct response to questions are. He is so unorganized it is almost impossible to follow his lectures. No idea how I passed.
Jim definitely knows what he's talking about, but none of us know what he's talking about. His lectures are hard to follow even if you're paying close attention, and the few grades you have in the class are hit or miss. I asked him a question about what test material I should be studying (a simple yes/no question) and he said to ask my classmates.
Dr. Irwin is a difficult professor to understand at first, but once you do he makes it very clear what he wants on his exams. There is no homework, so your grade is based strictly off of tests and exams.
Coming from a no econ background he really helped me understand the subject. He makes things as easy to grasp as he can, and while he calls on people with flashcards to answer questions its no problem if you dont know. I started off knowing nothing about econ and left feeling like I learned something. Great teacher would take again.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
61%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.49 avg changeRatings by Course
ECO
5.0
(1)ECO205
5.0
(1)ECO411
5.0
(1)ECO360
5.0
(1)EC0202
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
201
5.0
ECO204
4.8
202
4.0
ECO205
4.0
ECO301
4.0