2.5
Quality3.7
Difficulty50%
Would Retake94
Reviews50%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
24
4
18
3
4
2
4
1
44
What Students Say
“I thought he was great and plan on taking him again next semester for another class”
PSY457 - 5.0 rating“The class was always lecture”
PSY101 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
22%
Textbook Required
86%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.75 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY629
5.0
(1)PSYCHOLOGY
5.0
(1)PSY
5.0
(1)PSYCHPHYS
5.0
(1)PSYCHOLOGY101
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
301
5.0
457
5.0
PSY301
5.0
PSYCH
5.0
PSYCH101
5.0
Reviews (94)
Late for class 80%+. Brimming cup of coffee always in hand.
No Comments
A bad professor, a bad department head, a bad psychology program.
He's a wonderful prof as well as dept head
While the subject is a little tough, he is an EXCELLENT professor. Keeps it interesting, and knows when we've had enough for the evening. Pretty funny too.
Professor Rusiniak cancels class several times and ends class early frequently. He is not interested in teaching and it shows in his lecture style, especially the content - which is outdated and boring.
As a Department Head, Rusiniak is difficult. He makes decisions that many feel are personal and unfair.
Gives many opportunities for grades (ex. 2 quizzes but he takes the best one) Jumps around a lot and doesnt explain things clearly, doesn't give enough time for note taking.
Best course I ever had. Material is complex but fascinating. His style of instruction is clear and engaging. As an instructor and dept. head, I found him professional, sincere, fair, caring, and helpful. Outstanding.
Relates lectures well. If you attend class and are awake, there is no excuse for not doing well. Tests are fairly straight forward and the week's outline is provided to you. All you have to do is fill it in as the week progresses.
I think he is a good teacher and is well organized. I would like to take him for a future psy class. the only thing I can say thatis bad he tries to rush at the end of class and I don't like that.
He was a great teacher and very helpful. He explained everything he taught very thoroughly and never turned down a chance to help his students. He is a funny man. Quick with notes, but you should be fine. I recommend him to all my friends. Hes great!
A horrible instructor who treats students unkindly. His department head strategies are personally motivated behavior that hurts students emotionally and academically.
Professor Rusiniak cancels class several times and ends class early frequently. He is not interested in teaching and it shows in his lecture style, especially the content - which is outdated and boring.
As a Department Head, Rusiniak is difficult. He makes decisions that many feel are personal and unfair.
Very engaging professor. Committed to the material and does an excellent job relating it to the student. Grading for the course was very fair. This is the type of class that will have a lasting effect. I am impressed.
Gives many opportunities for grades (ex. 2 quizzes but he takes the best one) Jumps around a lot and doesnt explain things clearly, doesn't give enough time for note taking.
No Comments
Horrible teacher. Does lectures by slideshow which is bad, but is even worse when he will leave three slides up for a combined two minutes and one slide for five to ten. Rambles on so fast, you can only understand bits and pieces.
I agree with the previous commment. Confusing lectures make note taking difficult. Asking for clarification garners a rebuff - "It's in the reading!" As if that's an excuse for being an unmotivated and confusing lecturer.
I was thinking about having a frontal lobotomy. Instead, I took this class. Same thing.
seems to have teacher burn-out....class often out early.....no enthusiasm.....interpersonal skills lacking...lectures dull and confusing.......
Serious Prof. Very objective and fair. Lectures were well-developed. Those who want an easy class should not take Doc R. He demands a lot of himself, thus demands a lot of his students. You will learn the biological basis of behavior from this man.
I really felt like he was a good professor. His class was challenging, but fair. He was very helpful, and always willing to explain things if you were confused. He used real-life experiences to help relate the material. I enjoyed his class a great deal.
Unfair, impersonal, and strange, he has no accountability as a department head and cannot give good lectures. Classes are not hard, just bad.
Has ego the size of jupiter. It makes up for his lack of other talents.
When I read this site before I took the class I was terrified. But I soon clamed down. I thought Dr. R was very nice, easy going and made it easy to get an A. The material was but through no fault of his own. I thought he did a good job explaining the material and he even tried (*key word) to be funny with comments so dorky they end up funny.
EASY!! You get a pre test, which you go over in class, before you have to take the test... Then, the test is just like the pre test so you already know all the answers. It can't get any easier. He's a good professor, but if your looking for an easy A, i'd definatley go with this guy.
Can you spell misery? It is spelled "R-U-S-I-N-I--A-K." He doesn't do his job; he wanders off to socialize and drink coffee. I was lucky to have some psychology in high school and feel sorry for all the other people who didnt because he simply DOES NOT significantly teach what you need to know, or prepare you for the final.
No Comments
Hes a good guy... easy class as long as you attend... somedays more exciting then other but good teacher to take
he gives pretests that are almost all gonna be questions on the test. The tests go mostly off the lecture. He makes some dumb jokes...overall not a bad class
He is a good Professor
Mostly boring lectures. Tests are fair and somewhat easy. The text was actually interesting, for a textbook. Don't take in the morning if you are prone to sleeping
This class is a groaner. Kenneth Rusiniak is an unclear lecturer. Each class is a maddenly difficult to understand presentation. His lecture style has students scrunching up their faces and looking at each other out of the corners of their eyes.
Interesting class, but its all lecture. If you have him, don't bother buying the book.
Horrible professor. Worse one I ever had, even including high school. Was rude and downright bad lecturer. Don't take ever!
Bottom line: This is a 400-level class for Psy. majors...so it shouldn't be an "easy" A. It's not bad if you read, study the handouts, and take notes on his lectures; they deal with studies that you need to know for exams. If you need help, ask him. He may not seem like it, but he really does care about his students and wants them to do well.
Hard-to-understand lectures. I love the quote. He's hard to understand and retorts "it's in the reading" to questions that get asked. Shut up and listen, seems to be the message. Class participation is not encouraged.
The main reason to avoid this class is Kenneth Rusiniak. Students exchange painful glances and shake their heads.
Bottom line: This class is bad if you can avoid please do. If you need help, ask him, and watch how he doesn't like it, he would rather be somewhere else, which is why he always lets class out early.
This class is not easy. If you attend class and take good notes, the quizzes are not difficult to pass. Tests are a mixture of lecture and textbook related questions. He does not test on things that were not covered in class. Do not expect an A without alot of studying. I think the lectures are interesting, but I like this type of material.
The professor stumbles through this stinker of a class with zero chemistry. Nothing fresh or original. It's purely conventional and never rises above the level of high school quality.
Fascinating, impressive, and humorous - but for all the wrong reasons. I dropped quickly, but the bad teaching had me laughing so hard I was almost in tears.
I really liked this professor, his lectures are interesting and he's always willing to answers our questions, no matter how irrelevant they may be- he even said, "I care more that you guys learn what you want versus keeping up with the syllabus." He tells you what is going to be on the quiz and 90% of exam questions come from the workbooks online.
Afterwards, you cannot help but wonder where to find good classes at EMU.
I took his psychology class during the summer after taking 5 years off and it was great! I was nervous, but class was interesting. He went by slides that were available online if we needed to go back. Tests were very easy as he gave a pratice test before each one. Tests based on lecture notes. I would recommend his psy 101 class.
Trudges endlessly through painfully under-developed subject matter. Constantly looking to his notes, the pacing allows students to linger endlessly on every confusing statement before another is unleashed with cringe-inducing certainty.
A confused, poorly executed mess, it stumbles in opposite directions, like a bad pantomime with two guys in a horse suit.
Web enhanced class, practically gave you the answers to tests by providing study questions to answer. All test questions came from study questions. Tied all material together nicely. Very helpful and approachable.
Physiology of psych was a hard class but if you attend lecture and read the material you will do fine. Dr. Rusiniak is an awesome professor and is always available after class to help or direct you in what you need to do. He is probably the best professor I had at Eastern and should be recognized for his dedication to the class and students.
Will make the hairs on the back of your neck crawl. Every week it's three hours of butt-numbing tedium. A painful, dismaying headache of a class.
Stupefyingly awful! As you sit through this, you feel your IQ drop minute by minute.
This is a shabby bag of goods. Evidently, "It's in the reading" is the be-all, end-all excuse for bad lectures.
It's lifeless, robotic delivery adds nothing to the less than formulaic course proceedings.
a dull class that feels like it's on autopilot. it's about as interesting as sitting through your neighbor's holiday slide shows
Very hard, lots and lots and lots of material. Took it online, not sure if that was the smartest choice.
Just read the comments out of curiosity; I had him for Experimental Psych 27 years ago...he's apparently as bad as ever. I can't remember learning anything from his class; the only saving grace was playing with the rats!
Professor Rusiniak is my favorite! He is funny, helpful and makes this somewhat difficult material easier to learn. If you get the workbook it helps a ton as he takes exam quesetions from there. He is more than fair also - just study the packets he hands out. I recommend him for everyone. :)
Dr. Rusiniak is a difficult teacher, he gets so off topic all the time. Sometimes sitting in class is just painful, but if you work REALLY REALLY hard, it is possible to get a good grade.
His class is hard but if you go to class, pay attention and study then it's pretty easy to get an A. He pretty much only tests on what he talks about in class.
I dreaded this class before the semester started, but it turned out to be an awesome experience. This prof is funny and cares about his students. He gives handouts of all the materia. There are quizzes over the material (which he warns you about) and they are easy. Great class. Learned a lot!
I took this class in the spring semester, completely online. It was a lot of work but since it was my only class at the time, it was managable. A few simple discussion board assignments, a 30 question per chapter study guide, quizzes and papers due each week. He grades pretty liberally if you do the work. I expect an A.
He gets side tracked so easily and my class was WAY behind the other psychology classes due to his inability to get through the required material.
The prof seems to have given up trying or caring.
You have to put the work in to do well in this class, but it's not hard to do well if you do. He provides notes for every lecture which are extremely useful study tools and the quizzes every week are easy and keep you accountable for the reading. I thought he was great and plan on taking him again next semester for another class.
The class was always lecture. Sometimes he would go off topic. However, the quizzes were okay if you studied. He gave 3 exams and an optional final. He eliminate the lowest test grade out of the four. Overall, this class was an alright class to take.
The material seems to be of his choosing and at his discretion without any thought about what students need or what could be useful.
Kenneth was a really GOOD professor. You could tell that he really enjoys teaching this subject. He didn't give study guides but he did hand out notes for every topic to help guide your studying. Just go to class, do the readings and you will get a good grade. I had no interest in this class but after taking it I love the subject and professor.
Utter lack of fervour and originality. There are some laughs along the way, but they are all unintentional.
Boring class that unravels in such a flat and predictable way that students find themselves crawling the walls.
A horrible experience with a huge disconnect between pupil and teacher.
Outdated material with an overall lack of freshness and charm.
He is extremely nice!!! Such a helpful professor. I was scared when I read all of his reviews prior to starting the class but was surprised to see how much I liked him and his class. I would take more classes with him if I could :)
Great class. He's funny and fun, and really makes it obvious what you need to study for the exams. The quizzes are easy and bring your grade up if you actually take the 5 mins to study for them. Easy, fun class.
His class is challenging, but if you attend class and pay attention then the tests are easy to study for. The quizzes are really good tool to use when studying for the test. Also if you can get the study guide book that goes along with the textbook, a lot of his questions come directly from that book.
I took the online version of this class. I didn't learn anything even though I did well. He's not an easy professor to get in contact with and more often than not I had no idea what was going on or when anything was really due. Due to the lack of interaction, the class seemed like an afterthought for him and he was almost too lax about everything.
The material is difficult but he is very helpful if you do not understand. He will explain it over and over until you get it. His quizzes are very easy (he tells you what to study to do well). The material is very interesting for the course and you will learn a lot.
Unendurable. Each class I wanted to make a break for it.
He is such a great professor! Very funny, helpful and clear on his expectations. The material isn't easy but he gives you helpful handouts. You must attend class in order to understand the material. If you attend lecture and study the handouts his exams will seem easy. There are no surprises with him. His main goal is to help students. He is also a great advisor; easy to talk to, nonjudgmental and caring.
Oof. He is rough. His lectures borderline on ridiculous. He loves to go off on tangents and tell stories that really serve no purpose. His due dates were all over the place and not updated for the summer semester, which made it difficult to know what is due when. Avoid, if possible.
No. No. NO. Please don't take his class. 1. Told us to buy a $200 textbook with the internet code, it is the end of the semester and we have not used the code or the book for that matter; although the book does help to prepare for exams. 2. He does not do what he says when it comes to quizzes and assignments for points. 3. He glazes over lectures!!
While we did not use the textbook that he swore we would be, he still presented information that is interesting in the field of psychology. Quizzes are based off of lectures and exams are pulled from those quizzes. Show up, take notes, pass the quizzes and you will do just fine.
The textbook wasn't really necessary for the class, if you take good notes and read over the outlines he gives you, the quizzes will be very easy! He's a very fair teacher, entertaining and makes this class enjoyable. Just attend, listen, and review your quizzes. Not very quick at giving grades back, but I would recommend to take him! Very cool guy
He takes forever to grade. I didn't feel the need to attend class as almost nothing from the lecture was on the exams. However, they were posted online, which was nice. The book is necessary to pass them, along with the study guides. Easy class to pass, but dryboring to attend.
Weekly quizzes that are based off of lecture. I did fine without buying the book. He has outlines posted on EMU Online. His lectures are really fun to attend, and the material was interesting. He cares about his students success, and bases exam frequency on that. I would definitely recommend this class and professor.
This class was easier than anticipated. If you have any sort of biology or science background then this class will be very easy. Some students found it challenging but I assume they hadn't had this type of coursework before. He lets you know exactly what to expect so pay attention and you'll do well.
He is pretty helpful if you ask him questions. I found this class pretty easy, but I studied quite a bit, too. He has quizzes basically every week over the material from the week prior... he gives you all the information you need to know on them, just study. Doesn't give out study guides for the exams, but he lets you know what's on there.
This class and teacher are a joke. He is computer illiterate and hasn't replied to a single email all semester. The first day of class he didn't have the break down of what we are doing done. His lectures are a joke. goes off on tangents. Copies tests from online quizzes. The class is easy but grueling. It's boring, unorganized. Do not recommend.
LOVE HIM! As long as you go to class you'll pass. He tells you EXACTLY what's going to be on tests and quizzes. No homework or projects. Very nice and funny. We also start every class with meditation time. Take this professor! You won't regret it! Don't buy textbook.
He tends to go off topic a lot, and I mean a lot and it is very hard to follow lectures, so that makes tests difficult more so than it should be. Some of the topics he doesn't make clear and I would not recommend this professor.
Dr.R was an alright guy. He went off topic a lot during the semester and the lectures were hard to follow because of that. He never responds to emails and dont bother getting the book because I never even opened mine.
I love attending this class. I am taking it once a week at night. He makes it interesting and brings us dinner! As much as I enjoy the lectures, the exam is over the book, not what we cover in class. So youre kind of stuck teaching yourself
Typical quizzes and exams, he drops the lowest quiz and if you have an A you won't have to take the final.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
22%
Textbook Required
86%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.75 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY629
5.0
(1)PSYCHOLOGY
5.0
(1)PSY
5.0
(1)PSYCHPHYS
5.0
(1)PSYCHOLOGY101
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
301
5.0
457
5.0
PSY301
5.0
PSYCH
5.0
PSYCH101
5.0