If you take him, take the night class. Exams are take home in the night class. Don't read the book until you look up stuff for the exam. One quiz on Africa, one paper, four exams that are all easy to do. JUST TAKE THE NIGHT CLASS!

Great teacher! Gives a lot of notes, but he also shows a lot of movies. Day class exams were take home too. Knows his stuff, interesting to listen to.

take home tests! woot woot! however, he expected us to learn all the countries and rivers in africa??? what's the point of that? BORING class, but easy A.

This guy is sooo passionate about geography!! I still am not not excited about geography after taking the class but he teaches you a lot and knows his stuff! Plus, he's a really nice guy. Take home tests, easy.

I really enjoyed his GPY of Latin America class! He truly loves geography and is always helpful. Do take notes, you'll need to have them at some point!

You will take tons of notes, but the class is not hard. Map quizzes were easy, and he gave us take home tests which were not difficult. Nice guy too if you talk to him.

Penn's awesome...he is so knowledgable and excited about what he does. He made me want to change my major to geography (which I"m planning on doing) Lots of notes, but it's interesting stuff. He's a great guy

so yeah, he covered the middle east and brazil a little too much for my taste, but this is a no-brainer class. he does know his stuff, but he's too reliant on overheads and taking notes, which he talks to fast to get them all down... but he's alright

Somewhat boring lectures and readings, but all in all class is easy if you pay attention and do the readings...

Boring class (at least for 3 straight hours, it is). Avoid taking the night class...the only good thing is take home tests. He tries to make it interesting with videos and he does know his stuff. But it is an easy A

Easy class, but extremely boring. Take home exams are great!

Good teacher, will help you out if you ask him. My best Geography teacher by far. Sure sometimes its a little boring but what do you expect, its school. Oh yah, don't miss a class he takes attendance usually. Take hame tests are long but sweet.

Penn is a good teacher. He is very bland and the class is extremely boring, but the information is clear. Do not take this as once a week 3 hour class. You'll never go

He is boring but the class is easy. Make sure you actually go to class because he hands out assignments without notice so both times I skipped I missed a 20 point assignment.

He is a very boring and unclear prof. Although if you ask him for help, he'll be more than happy to assist you. There was 2 take home exams which were really long and easy. Watch out for the 1st exam, that one is not take home. You may find yourself skippin his class A LOT!

I had him for GPY 235, and purposely took him again for GPY 335. He is definitely a hard teacher, but he is extremely smart and very helpful. Take home exams are nice, and the research paper is not difficult, just takes some time. He is one of the most experienced profs. I had had at GVSU.

Wonderful and smart professor. Don't take this class if you are a slacker-if you care about your education he is one of the best prof's at the school. Extremely easy to approach, helpful, clear, organized and great first hand knowledge. Test are a challenge. Don't take it as a summer course if you have other classes-A LOT OF WORK!

His lectures have good content, poor delivery...obviously knows his stuff, but simply stands there and drones for the entire class, not much discussion, not very exciting. He is a nice guy and is willing to help, no question, but not the most interesting teacher.

WOW...if you like SWS courses, you will love this class. You will write more papers about things you never wished to care about. He is the nicest guy and is flexible but give me a break...he assigns 2 page plus papers every week and then one big paper at the end of the semester. Multiple choice tests??? What are those? Be Prepared to write...

Professor Penn is a very knowledgable person. His class is very challenging and helpful. I recomend this class to anyone who really wants to learn about the world.

Dr. Penn, was very helpful and knowledgable. I am very glad I took his class, it was not easy, it was challenging and worthy to take it. I recommend this professor to anyone who really wants to learn and take college learning seriously:)

lets you know what you need to know for the tests and is great if you don't get easily bored

Prof. Penn cares about students learn real geography. He is not easy but it is worthy to take his courses. I recommend him as a professor if you really want to learn and analyze different issues around the world.

He is really interested in the field of geography, and has worked on many projects around the world. He gives study guides for exams, most of the exam covers notes from lectures and films. Easy points can be earned on just memorizing the maps.

Prof. Penn is a very read and informed person. He has and shows a lot of field work, specially from Peru. I learned a lot from his class. I recommend taking his class if you really want to lean things that you will be aable to use in real life.

During lecture he states things that are common sense. So it is shocking when his exams roll around and you know none of the answers! He is a wonderful person, but maybe not good for teaching. Avoid him when registering for this course.

What a nice man. He remembered my name at the end of the year out of a lecture of 100 students...not many take the effort to do that. Slides/class is sometimes confusing but he is so nice and map quizs are easy. Sometmes he can be boring but it is GPY--nice, kind, and willing to help!

He is an excellent Prof. If you go to class regularly and make an effort for the two or three projects he assigns, then you will have no problem passing the class. He does a lot of power points. Exams are fairly easy.

Don't listen to the people that say he's hard or unfair. Just talk to him. He's a very nice guy and if you talk to him and participate in class, he's really easy. There's two in class exams and one take home. He gives you what will be on the exam, so make sure to study that and ur notes. You take a lot of notes, but he tries to make it interesting.

A nice guy, very helpful and willing to work with you if you have issues. A lot of kinda busy work stuff, just things to fill the gradebook. He knows the subject and likes to critique the textbook. Exams are short answer and essay so get ready to write. Research paper and presentation are a big part of the grade so start on it early.

Prof. Penn was great in his lecturers. No matter what other reviews say about him, he covers everything that you will be tested on. He lets you know what to focus your readings on and your tests reviews. If you have any doubts, you have to speak out. Any teacher will help you. He makes material interesting by giving recent examples.

Very knowledgeable and pretty funny. His classes are fairly easy, but there is a lot of writing and critical thinking involved. There shouldn't be a reason why someone would do poorly in his class. Just attend class, do the work, and ask questions.

Jim Penn rocks, people who rate his classes are hard must be stupid or something. For one thing he knows what hes teaching thoroughly and uses a ton of his own research so class is interesting but you have to be there because the book won't help you a ton. There is no lame homework. He grades exams and papers on concept know them and have examples.

Very good teacher, easy to follow and understand. Will help you out on any questions you have. Tests are fair but you must know the material.

Hes a nice guy. Not my favorite, but he explains things well and goes slow. He prepares you for every quiz and exam. You must attend class because a lot of discussion topics are on the exam. Really easy class.

Easy to understand but there is a 12 page paper and 10 minute presentation. Exams are mostly take home but take a long time to complete (3-4 hours). Jim is an extremely kind man and was a pleasure to listen to.

I really liked him! If you go to class and take notes you will do fine on the exams. He really tries to get to know students and if you go to his office hours he is very helpful:) All exam questions are taken from his power points. I recommend him:)

Really great professor! Class can be a little boring, but for the most part he makes it interesting. If you do the assigned readings, come to class and take notes, its an easy A! He is open to questions and very willing to help. He is very passionate about geography and wants to share it with his students. I recommend him completely!

He knows what he is talking about in his field, but i feel theres some communication error. He seems uninterested in teaching, and would rather spend his time actually doing geographic studies. I didn't enjoy his class but i did enjoy discussions. Great person to talk to, average to learn from.

Very nice man but not a very easy class. You need to attend class or the powerpoints wont make much sense and need to study for exams. Not a bad class, but not an easy A.

Prof. Penn is passionate about Geography and enthusiastic about the material he teaches. His lectures are very long and his expectations aren't always clear. It's easy to get bored during lecture. He shows videos in class and assigns readings from the textbooks to read on your own time and references them on the exams.

Lectures are long and dry but Penn really knows what he's talking about because he has a lot of experience in Latin America. A few homework assignments throughout the semester but they don't take long. The midterm and final are both take home. One long research paper and presentation but other than that the class is pretty easy. Show up & get an A.

I actually enjoyed this class. But, if you dont have any interest in Latin America, I dont suggest taking it or youll be very bored. Professor Penn is a really nice guy and very knowledgable on a huge variety of topics. The lectures are long, but you dont have many homework assignments and both the midterm and the final are take home.

Professor is very knowledgeable about subject. Has a lot of real world, personal stories to share related to class material. Very interesting class.

I took Dr Penn for GPY362 and really enjoyed having him teach the class. He's very knowledgeable in the field of bio geography, and brought a lot of his personal experience to the class. There was a group field trip to a chestnut farm that included amazing food, and he gave one group project that was a little rushed but graded fairly.

Jim is very respected in what he teaches for this class because he has so much experience with it. He knows a lot about all the types of crops because he has traveled all over the world and been to farms with these crops. The class mostly consists of lectures and readings. There is a group project with a paper and presentation. Great professor.

Super easy class! I barely showed up all semester and I'm finishing the class with an A. His lectures are interesting and he genuinely just wants to see that you put effort into your assignments and he will give you an A. If you can take this class do it!

I had a great semester with professor Penn. He was nice and his lectures were always interesting. I learned a huge amount from this class. The workload isn't too bad and if you do everything you will easily get an A.

I honestly like the guy. He complains alot about his personal life but its negligable. he essententially gives you test answers in class when he says "note this". Class is super easy. Tests are open note and theres basically never homework. Want a chill prof w an easy couple credits? Take Penn for GPY 220.

I don't know why his ratings are so low. Professor Penn is fantastic! His classes were long, but they were very informational. His tests were easy and open note, the homework was a little tedious but not hard, and Professor Penn is very nice and helpful. He asks us our opinion on class and the assignments too. I'd 100% recommend him to anyone!

Professor Penn made this spring synchronous online class easy and interesting! I went to each weekly online class session and made sure to take the best notes possible. He is very chill and understanding as well! Great guy, not difficult.

Don't listen to the others... Dr. Penn is amazing! He is such a caring, passionate professor. He is always accessible to students and provides excellent feedback on written work. His exams are 100% essay answer questions, so don't expect an easy A--he will make you think--but if you are invested in your learning, you will do just fine.

Professor Penn has a wealth of knowledge on this topic through his connection to the Amazon. 90% of assignments will have to be typed out. Same goes for mid-term and final, but they're simple if you find interest in the material.

Professor Penn was really entertaining. His lectures were interesting and he used a lot of his own experience to drive the lecture. Notes have to be taken by hand, exams are based off the notes, but all exams are take-home and open book/note. We only had 3 homework assignments all semester. Easy class, but I learned a lot! I would take him again!

Penn is an older guy who knows what he's talking about. Lectures pretty much whole class but he is very nice and awesome. 4 exams with 80 questions that are all take-home. A few other take-home assignments that aren't bad at all. You will need textbook for exams but overall pretty easy to get a good grade while not paying too much attention.

Was a wonderful professor. He had such an interesting life and you can tell he really cares about the world around him. Definitely recommend going to his office hours at least once to see all his plants and crystals. Easy grader, would take off barely any points on my take home quizzes even if he left a lot of feedback to correct.

The class was interesting but he wasn't clear on grading criteria sometimes and didn't know certain things when asked.

Professor Penn is a knowledgeable and engaging lecturer. While his classes can be a bit dry at times, the workload is manageable, with take-home exams and minimal homework. unstuck study proved helpful for preparing. Overall, a solid class option.