2.7
Quality3.4
Difficulty25%
Would Retake108
Reviews25%
Would Retake
108
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
19
3
20
2
22
1
29
What Students Say
“Jan Duffy is terrible as a professor”
ACCOUNTING285 - 1.0 rating“Avoid this professor there are betters professors teaching this class”
ACCT285 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.15 avg changeRatings by Course
ACCT2845
5.0
(1)ACC386
4.0
(1)ACCT285
2.9
(70)ACCT386
2.6
(7)ACCT387
2.5
(11)Difficulty by Course
ACCT386
4.3
ACCT387
4.1
ACCOUNTING285
4.0
ACCT284
3.6
ACT285
3.4
Reviews (108)
No Comments
No Comments
No Comments
She has a good grading system, but she goes SOOO fast.
This class was extremely easy...sleep through it and still do well
No Comments
She refused to answer questions during the test, even for clarification. She said there were just too many people. That is great. I am glad I am paying thousands of dollars to go to school here.
She cares about the students and whether they are understanding or not. She is a very fair grader. If you go to class and do your Homework you will do fine.
Great person. Cares a lot.
No Comments
I had her for 285 and she was good there. She is now unprepared for class, has her favorites and lets everyone know, and is often unclear as to expectations. The textbook is also very poor as it does not explain things well.
Cares about her students, always available when in her office; not just during office hours like many prof's here.
She doesn't like to give extra help even if you go to her office. She is hard to follow in class, and the textbook doesn't help that much either. The homework is the best way to learn the material.
Hard course. The homework is the only way to get through it. The book stinks and she goes fast through lecture. To concerned about the CPA exam and not enough about helping students learn.
Class was very challenging. She was there during office hours and offered some decent help but you had to have a good knowledge base behind your questions. Doing homework is a definate key in the class. Tests are challenging but relevant.
Challenging class but if you attend class, and do the homework you will do okay. The tests are difficult to complete in 1 hr.
She's a nice lady and willing to help, but I didn't think she went over the material very well at all. Maybe it's my lack of accounting ability, but I thought it was hard and she didn't explain anything very well. Tests were very tricky.
Duffy goes thru examples on the overhead. They will help when doing your homework. ALSO, make sure you do your homework!! I found that between your homework and her study guides online... the exams are very similar.
Poorly organized, afraid to use basic tech(like laptops + overhead display),rude(walks away from you in mid-sentence),has class favs,terrible choice in book("I choose it because it's not very long"),can't stay on topic(1/3 class time non-relevan
If you enjoy nonsensical, pragmatic ramblings and sentence fragments splurging from a professors mouth you should enjoy this class.
Excellent teacher, keeps you interested in class. Will help you w/homework or project if you ask.
Very boring lecturer!! She rambles incoherantly about dumb stuff. She doesn't curve the exams (even though the average was a 14/25). She made fun of a student's question in the homework. I just wish I could use explicatives to describe her on this....
Likes hockey players.
This class is not too bad. If you go to class, you'll be fine. She does tend to get off topic though. Still, the tests are almost the same as the practice tests, so if you actually study, and submit the hw, its easy
This is honestly the worst teacher in my two years here at iowa st. This person cannot teach and she has no desire to help her students. Honestly, try your best to avoid her at ALL costs. She does not curve the course when over half of the class failed
All you need to do is go to class, do your homework, briefly study for the exams, and make your notesheets that you get to use on each exam. Those that don't all of these will do extremely bad. If you do all the above then you will get an A or B easily.
No Comments
Duffy is a love/hate type. Student love or hate her and she loves or hates students. If you do well and consistently work, you will be loved and do well. If you are a ****en fool who makes her laugh, you will be loved but not do well. If neither....
She is very arrogant and rude and criticizes her students and calls them dumb. She even said she makes her tests extra-hard and she was right about that.
Avoid her at all costs!
This class was rather difficult... but if you really try hard and do all the HW and go to class once in a while and then u should get a C - B
She makes this class so much harder than it should be. It's almost as though she expects to us to know things already, which is completely unfair.
It's a hard class and Duffy makes it even worse. Her explanations in class are worthless. I personally think you'd be better off not going to class, but DEFINITELY studying. That is what helps you do well in class.
THIS TEACHER IS BAD!!! I did get a 94% in the class, only because I'm good at accounting. This woman is such a bad teacher and would have no problem giving out all F's. Shes just a total B**** and wont curve. What more can I say?
Read the book, do the homework, all extra credit and you'll do well. I got an A in fall, 2004. Its a huge lecture class with several hundred people in it. I think that's the problem. Accounting needs one on one, small class instruction.
When she wrote things on the board her hand covering her work and she scribbled things down in an unwarranted rush, which made her impossible to follow. The book showed me how to complete the course not her. I ended up getting an A as I studied from the book and her homework and past tests.
she was bad. I tried to get help in her office hours that was a waste of time. I had to teach myself everything. I would recommend someone else for this class.
She is a terrible teacher. Picks out the most minute things and tests over them. Yes the class is really hard but she makes it worse. Take it with Doran.
Anybody that doesn't do well in this class deserves it. To get a decent grade, show up to class, take notes, and make your notesheet for the exam. Those that complain here don't come to class and prepare little for the exam. If you put in a little effort, she's pretty easy.
She went off on tangents to try and support the material, but all it did was make her lectures hard to follow. The tests were very difficult and required critical thinking, but I felt as though I could have studied from the book and learned just as much.
She is not the best teacher, but she tries. If you are any good at acct, teach yourself from the book, homeworks, and past exams instead of getting confused by her. Definitely study all old exams for each test, usually the questions are the same or have similar concepts. Go to lecture for points!
Don't take her if you have the option!!!
Sometimes I felt she threw curveballs on the test. She isn't very helpful if you are super confused. Utilize additional instruction.
She will do everything in her power to trick and confuse you on the tests.
she was alright, class was easy
She was easy but didn't really explain a whole lot. an easy A
DO NOT GET HER!! I got an B- in the class and still hated her. She goes off on tangents and confuses you. She tries to get you to remember things her way instead of just teaching the material. The tests are terrible too. Its like she tries to teach you on the test. No WAY!!! boo
She goes off on tangents ALL the time. Her lectures make no sense, and the Team Exercises are REALLY hard. Her tests are full of tricks.
She's not that bad. She's very willing to help you if you have questions. If you study the old exams, the questions are very similar. And take the time the make a good note-sheet for the test. That makes a big difference for me. And show up to class to get the free points.
She's very undestanding. SHe's as flexible as she can with class.
She really is a bad teacher. You have to learn all the material on your own time. The key is to copy all the practice problems in class exactly as she does, and use as a guide to doing homework. Also, put your practice and homework problems on your cheat sheet and you will get an A or B. Learned nothing and got an A.
she is the worst teacher i have had in college. she doesnt explain any of the examples she gives you and wastes most of every class talking about absolutely nothing. you have to teacher yourself if you want a decent grade in this course.
This is the worst class I have ever taken in college. She is the worst teacher I have ever had. You must go to class and read the book multiple times. I wish anyone who takes this class the best of luck because you are going to need lots of it.
She really needs lessons on how to teach. She rushes through examples and doesn't explain them very well. She makes it clear that there's NO curve at the end of the semester. Tests are difficult and account for 2/3 of your grade. You can use a cheat sheet, but it doesn't help much when you aren't being taught how to do the basics of the problems.
She blows.
By far the worst teacher i've had. She doesn't care about you or how you're doing in the class. Theres no curve and the tests are hard. Do not take this class with her.
She teaches her way and if you don't understand she really doesn't care. The exams are hard so you really have to prepare well for them on your own. Take Whittle or Newbanks if you can. They are better!
Examples in class are relatively easy. Homework can be tricky at times. Tests are straightforward but a bit long. Managed a 98% overall in her class by simply studying consistently, paying attention in class and making sure I understood everything in the homework. Logic is your friend after you learn the core rules of accounting.
Decent Teacher who is hard to stay awake in class, but if you go to class and keep up with the easy stuff online you should be fine. Her test are very similair to the ones shehas posted online so I would highly recomend going over them and you should manage no worse than a C in her class. She does not have a curve which is also a negative.
COMPLETE WINDBAG. She goes off on 10 minute stories about completely irrelevant information and instead of explaining things just says you can figure it out on your own. She acts nice enough, but is terrible at explaining things in any sort of understandable terms.
Take attendence for extra points. Team exercises are a joke. The homework is good, but does not prepare you for the tests. Half of the test is math type stuff, the other half is strait out of the book. Yes, she does pull little tiny details out of the book and puts them on the test to make sure people are reading it. Avoid if possible.
This class is fairly tough but I think she makes it easier. You get a page of notes front & back for each test, you can do homeworks as many times as you want so those are easy points. There is one group project which is also easy points. Didn't really use the book, just went off of in class slides.
She's ok. There's no curve, so make sure you understand the material if you want to do well in the class. With a bit of effort I'm maintaining a B in the course. Take the course with someone else if possible.
very clear explanations, had clear office hours avaliable
Gives you a 160 of the 400 points with homework and a project (which are real easy). So as long as you don't completely bomb the tests, you should get a decent grade (and she allows you a note sheet... I recommend putting the practice test she does in class on one side, all the defns from the chapters on a another side).
If you go to class and follow along you should have no problem. She also provides with old tests that are pretty close to what the exams will be.
She was very helpful to me, she took the time to answer any questions I had!
do not tk her @ ALL costs.class aver on tests r arnd 50%, she offers rework, but if u miss 1, you receive NO rework points.she tells students she likes 2 show every1 how smart she is by making the tests hard even 4 her.she took our same tests, (shes bn doing acct over 30yrs),it tkes her 45min 2 do &gives us 70min 2 do the tests.u hve guts 2 tk her
Pretty close to useless teaching style. She is very random and does not show things well in a visual manner. She is a talker, and you will hear multiple stories that have nothing to do with accounting. Overall, the tests need to be studied for, although you are given an entire sheet of paper (front and back) for notes to use on the tests.
He is a great professor for this subject. The material is difficult, but she helps students understand the material and there is rework on the exams (a major plus). I would definitely recommend her for this class - she may only teach it in the fall though. Overall, she was better in 387 than 285.
Teach yourself the material and save a lot of time (she really draws out what she teaches), although she does give bonus points for showing up. Tests are nearly the same as previous semester which she supplies, study those. She is helpful though if you need clarification.
Pro: none, Con: wordy...wordy...wordy..and terrible at teaching......
She gets off on tangents which makes class so much worse. You never use the book.
This class is relatively easy, especially if you have a little understanding of Accounting. She gave attendance points once in a while that went towards homework points. Buy the book online (or not at all) instead of the loof-leaf one from bookstore b/c they won't take it back. She is a fairly good professor and she keeps class kind of fun.
if you like stories and learning any thing then you will like this class
She doesn't know how to teach. She laughs when you don't understand something. I never once opened the book. I hardly went to class. I used my cheat sheet & got an A-.
Very good teacher and very easy class. If you have to take this class, I would recommend taking it with her if you want to get a good grade with minimal effort.
She is by far the worst teacher i have had at ISU. I go in dreading class and more often leave early because it is painful to sit in class. Most of class is spent on her stories. When she does teach its decent but always interrupted by a story so there is no flow of knowledge coming from her. Homework is easy, project is easy
She does take attendance sometimes but it just totals in with your quiz and hw grades (and most people max out on these points without going to class). She does have quizzes in class though. PS: She's a bit crazy, and likes to talk about stuff that doesn't pertain to class. Fortunately she is helpful, and knows how to be productive when she wants.
She is great
I don't feel like I'm really taking it in and learning the material, it's hard to understand and I don't think we spend enough time on or do enough examples in class
She uses a team based approach to this class this semester. There were two tests. Online homework and quizzes were not too bad. Class time was split between quizzes and team exercises. She gives very little lecture. Overall she is a great professor who relates very well to students and gives clear explanations. Take this class with her if you can.
Horrible professor and person in general. Class was all about her life stories and tests were hard. Team works kind of helped. She is the coordinator of the Master of Accounting program. Don't bother going to her if you are interested and have a gpa below 3.0. She will just make you feel very dumb and embarassed.
Not the most helpfull teacher. She basically gives you worksheets and then walks around all class period. Doesnt really teach or lecture at all and talks a lot about stuff not even related to accounting. Probably a better advisor than teacher.
I hate accounting, but Duffy presented it in an entertaining and relevant way.
She was great! Things were made clear, and she's good about responding to emails and concerns quickly. There's a lot of homework, but it's all relevant so it makes it better.
Not very willing to help. Rarely did we go over examples in class.
Well, she rarely give lecture in class but a lot of problems to work on. I honestly learn from doing the problems and the examples form the book. She gave us a project to do at very beginning of the semester. Take her as a challenge or stay away from her. Start your project earlier!
The class is relatively easy. Read all the class notes, do all the homework and LearnSmart Assignments, and definitely do the practice exams. Duffy is super boring in lecture and doesn't add much to her notes, but the class is well organized so you can skip class as long as you keep up on assignments
SHE WAS NOT HELPFUL. TOOK LOTS OF TIME DURING CLASS TO TALK ABOUT HER PERSONAL LIFE. I EMAILED HER A COUPLE TIMES DURING THE SEMESTER AND SHE NEVER EMAILED ME BACK. NOT CLEAR WHEN GOING THROUGH EXAMPLES IN CLASS AND IF YOU ASK FOR CLARITY SHE TALKS TO YOU LIKE YOU ARE STUPID. DO NOT TAKE CLASS WITH HER IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO. WON'T CURVE CLASS.
Talked too much about topics not applicable to the material. Didn't take a ton of time to really go through the material to make sure everyone understood it and if you asked a question she would not give a direct answer. If you don't have a good understanding of accounting, choose a different teacher.
Terrible. Makes nothing clear and talk to you like you were born yesterday If you ask her to slow down or explain something. She goes way to fast and her test questions are designed to trick you. Avoid taking this class with her at all costs
Being in class really helps, but there is no credit for going at all. Your choice. She readily answers questions and has a weird sense of humor that sometimes made my morning. There are no curves on tests, which makes you work harder for your grade. Many opportunities to get a lot of points; AKA do your homework!
Textbook readings are for points. Start the project as soon as possible. Go to the exam review sessions and make sure you have an understanding of the financial statements for the final. Homework was not hard (there is a check my work button). Max out the homework, and study hard for the exams. Exams are multiple choice. Going to class helps ALOT!
Lectures were tough to endure as Duffy would spend 80% of the time talking about topics that did not relate to accounting. When she was on topic she treated the class as if we were all accounting students and skipped over the basic concepts. Use the learnsmarts and homework help tips to help teach you the material.
Not helpful at all. Went in to talk about a test and she had nothing helpful to say. Doesn't talk about accounting in class. I would not take a class with her.
This class is definitely difficult with Duffy as a professor. She only lectures on each chapter one day and if she doesn't finish you're on your own to learn it. During the lectures she gets off topic a lot. The tests are very difficult! It is also a team based learning class so you work in groups a lot to do worksheets.
Talked more about Hillary Clinton and Fantasy football than Accounting. She clearly has little knowledge of how the real world operates. Rambles you right to sleep. No attendance points so feel free to skip. I went roughly 20 times total and got a B. There has to be someone better who teaches this class.
Jan Duffy is terrible as a professor. She barely lectures, and when she does it is for 30 minutes tops. She hands out worksheets and expects students to know how to do them without knowing the material beforehand. Overall, awful professor.
She's a difficult grader who often shows up to class not knowing how to complete her own work and providing incorrect answers. She also expects the students to know the material before it is taught. Tests are very difficult and she refuses to curve. Avoid this professor there are betters professors teaching this class.
3 day/week class. One day you do a team assignment, one day is a lecture and the last is a individual/team quiz. The quizzes/team assignments are usually pretty difficult unless you read the book and the exams are very difficult. Not a terrible teacher but it might be an easier class if you took it with someone else
Jan Duffy is the worst professor for all lower level accounting classes. DO NOT TAKE HER FOR YOUR CLASS. She refuses to help people after exams, she rambles during class and teaches formulas incorrectly.
Jan Duffy is totally underrated. One day of lecture. One day of team work. One day of quizzing, per week. I don't love the structure of the class, but Prof. Duffy is really funny and she has nice real world examples, like: "This is how it's done technically, but this is how it works in reality." Class content is important for Biz majors! Learn it!
Jan is alright. I personally did not take a lot away from the class and found myself cramming the practice tests so I could do well on the tests. She does, however walk through every problem on the practice tests, gives study guides, and has clear expectations of what will be on the tests. Also very helpful in office hours.
Need to be at class because there's a lot of activities that get you points. It all adds up because exams are difficult. Rambles on during lectures. Seems to expect you to just know things. Does give clear explanation of what's on exam.
Tests are extremely hard and she expects you to know everything. Do not take this class with her.
2/3 of the class is just one big group learning session which can be really good or really bad. Jan is a really knowledgable professor and really cares about her students. She is also really funny and tries to keep lectures light. She's a solid woman
Doesn't care about her students, terrible at examples. Makes you feel stupid for asking questions.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
35%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.15 avg changeRatings by Course
ACCT2845
5.0
(1)ACC386
4.0
(1)ACCT285
2.9
(70)ACCT386
2.6
(7)ACCT387
2.5
(11)Difficulty by Course
ACCT386
4.3
ACCT387
4.1
ACCOUNTING285
4.0
ACCT284
3.6
ACT285
3.4