2.1
Quality3.6
Difficulty22%
Would Retake93
Reviews22%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
5
4
13
3
16
2
23
1
36
What Students Say
“Makes inappropriate jokes and has wayyyyy to many stories”
PSY255 - 1.0 rating“Next, this guy is awful”
PSY101 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
93%
Textbook Required
23%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.57 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY315
4.0
(1)PSY363
3.5
(2)PSY350
3.0
(1)PSY460
3.0
(1)PSY402
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
PSY
5.0
PSY350
5.0
PYS352
5.0
PSY361
5.0
PSY101
4.6
Reviews (93)
His class was very difficult. His test were hard, and he graded the term paper hard aswell. I feel like i learned very little from his class. Just be warned, your grade is basically your tests, so study hard. I have no suggestions on what to study though. I study what seemed to be everything(notes, book..), but nothing helped.
He was very hard and not helpful in the least! He read straight out of the book and would test on things not even covered. Even made us take a test during our "review" periods cause he didnt have enough time to cover everything. Horrible!
Very passionate teacher, works hard to relate material to the lives of the students. He seems to really enjoy what he does. He is easy going for the most part. If you study for his tests, they aren't difficult. The study guides provided are really helpful. If you don't study (those who put blue faces) you probably won't do well.
He is a nice guy but he is impossibly disorganized. The classes are difficult and frustrating, and they will take more of your time than all of your other classes combined. He counts lines in papers, focuses more on structure than content, and his tests are virtually impossible. Don't take him if you like having A's or B's.
First of all, GCU is a rip off. My credits (I had a 3.9) did not transfer when I went to a more reputable university. If you care about education, get out. Next, this guy is awful. His lectures were good and he was pretty funny. But, his tests were RIDICULOUS. I am a Psych major and this was the most insane class as far as tests go. AVOID!!!!!!!!!!
Such a nice teacher, but hard on exams
I took this class at GCU my freshman year. I transferred to another school (ranked higher and more well known) after the first semester. I am about to graduate and have taken many upper level psych classes so I feel confident in saying this one was horrible. It was not taught well and the tests were ridiculous.
He was absolutely the worst teacher I have ever had. The highest grade on each test for the ENTIRE class was a D or an F everytime. He did not help us and misinformed us all the time. HORRIBLE TEACHING. If you have a choice.... DONT take Barron!
For some reason, Grand Canyon University had a statistics class that was listed as an upper level psychology course. I took it as a requirement, but it was ridiculous. As a student who has taken advanced calculus, I feel confident in my ability to understand math, but Barron would hardly ever even write a problem on the board. All of his instructio
Professor Barron is a hard core instructor and that is why I pay to attend GCU. If it was easy, I would attend another University to get more bang for my buck. Keep up the good work.
Very tough professor!
This professor was so annoying. My previous PSY professor was great! He got me into switching my major. One week in Barron's class and I hated it. We never learned a thing. I know more about his children than I know about Personality Psychology.
I had heard he was a tough professor so I was ready for that. What I wasn't ready for was him going off topic for most of every class but still including everything we did not get to on the tests. He was very knowledgable about the subject. Test questions were multiple choice but hard to understand.
Prof. Barron is very intelligent & knowledgeable; however, you must ask questions to clarify expectations and to understand him. :) He does go off-topic often but if you can get past that & work hard, then you'll have a good experience. I've taken him 3 times (2B's, 1A). Study text and lecture for exams! He helps his students if they ask. =)
Oh my goodness. Avoid at all costs. He seems like a good guy, but he just can't teach.
Professor Barron was an excellent teacher. Most people think he is a difficult teacher. In my opinion, he is misunderstood. If you work hard and pay attention to the class material, you will succeed! He is even cited in the textbook. I recommend Dr. Barron! :)
Great guy! His class was not the easiest but I learned a lot! Very helpful and wants his students to succeed. study lectures and text for the exams and you should be fine. Pay attention when you think he is getting off topic because he is just giving examples of what he is trying to teach.
Friendly and nice but a bad teacher. He tells a lot of stories to prove a point but takes up half the class with useless information. He did not make his own tests, powerpoints, or study guides so it was hard to know what to focus on. Tests were insane since I didn't know what to expect or study more Still got an A I think.
He is kind and helpful if you seek out his help. He isn't very clear though and his lectures are very confusing at times mainly because he gets off topic SO often that you lose place. Test are kind of difficult and the book would be very helpful.Overall, he is alright. If your major is psychology you have to take him at least once - be prepared.
Be prepared for the ride of your life. He is literally all over the place. This class is called lifespan development, meaning that we grew with a person from conception to death - I was lost half the time. The assignments weren't normally due when the syllabus says they were. If you like corny puns, he is your guy! EVERY DAY we heard a new pun!
Yes, he does have jokes and puns, but he is a good old school teacher. be prepared to write down notes and listen. He is very helpful and I enjoyed the class. I took this over this class over the summer.
Honestly, the most boring old man I've ever had to encounter. Shows up late to class and puts you to sleep with 30 minute long stories that have nothing to do with the material and maintains a monotone lecture.
Dr. Barron is a really nice human being, that being said he is not the greatest professor. He is definitely willing to help, but it's hard to understand what he is saying. He relies a lot on technology but does not know how to use it. Again, great person not a great teacher.
Is unorganized and when going through lectures I was not sure he fully understood what he was talking about which made it confusing.
At first I really disliked him for lifespan, but after having Prof. Barron a second time for Statistics, he has definitely grown on me. My advice is to sit in the front, and ask questions. He was always willing to adjust the homework and helped us out with every project. Yes he can be confusing but ask him to clarify. STUDY. Stats is a hard class.
The class material was not as interesting.
Worst Professor I have ever had. Always late to class and his tests have nothing to do with what he teaches on. If you see him on you class schedule you should switch right away.
Such a nice man, but the course itself is boring and difficult. There are quizzes every week, so you need to be in class. There is also a huge research proposal at the end of the semester. Get ready for a difficult class!
Barron likes to tell a lot of stories and thinks he is the most hilarious guy. Personally, I was very irritated by his jokes and stories and did not learn a thing. He steers off topic all the time and is not the best at teaching. I DO NOT recommend him at all.
Professor Barron is a very nice guy, but he is not the best teacher. If stuff comes up, he will work with you on due dates and such. He is available for extra help, that extra help is just not always very helpful. He talks in circles making it hard to understand. Statistics is a hard class in general, so having not the best teacher does not help.
Always off topic and we get through about 5 slides a class period (that class period is 1 hour and 45 minutes). He makes jokes of politics; considering this rating was done after the election he spoke too much of the election and was inconsiderate of the classes feelings. He WILL NOT respond to your email or individual forum at all. NEVER RESPONDS
Dr. Barron isn't all that horrible. Statistics is a hard class and he is most open to helping you if you are open to him. The best time for him to help you is in his office hours. Read the book and practice problems from the power points and you will be ok. Stats isn't a class for slackers...
Professor Barron was not a good professor. Tests are weighted way to much to where if you don't do well on the first one good luck with the rest of the class. PowerPoints were terrible. They do not line up with the book at all, and if you get behind in the 40 page chapters you're done for. He is a nice guy, but I do not recommend ever.
He get's off topic very easily and the PowerPoints he does never goes with the tests we do. Go into his office hours cause that's the only way you will get good help.
He was a really nice guy. Lots of dad jokes. But he gets off topic and the tests did not always match the study guide. It's the same kind of lecture everyday so it's so boring. Read the chapter before he does the lecture in class. That helped the most.
Barron is an awesome guy. Gets off topic, but he helps you when you need it and clarifies everything for you before you turn in your work and even before a test! Go to class because participation helps your grade a lot.
He will spend the entire class time on a tangent and will not get through the desired material. Not a fan at all of this professor. Do not take.
Dr. Barron is a great professor, and I really don't know why so many people are bashing him. This is my third class with him, and I've enjoyed all of them thoroughly. Yes, he tells some stories, but they do actually relate to the material, and it doesn't impact his ability to get through lectures on time. Just pay attention next time, people.
Lectures go off in any direction. Who knows what random fact not-related-to-class you will get an any given day? Goes on and on and barely talks about the content of the class. He is a very nice guy, but a bad lecturer. Get ready to read the textbook if you want to learn anything about the class. Taking a class with him is rough.
Professor Barron is a really nice guy but he cannot teach. I did not learn one thing in this class and I showed up to every class. He will go on random tangents about material not even related to the course. When he teaches it is very dry and hard to understand. His tests are hard and he does not explain assignments. Take him as a last resort.
Barron lectures every class and the only thing we didn't do as a lecture was a group PowerPoint. He tells stories about his life which are interesting and funny, but he tends to just read off the slides. He does give a few extra credit points on exams so it is important to go to class. I ended up reading a lot of the book, but he does care.
He genuinely cares for his students. I am terrible at math so I was nervous for Stats, but he worked with me whenever I was willing to learn and I ended up doing okay in his class, considering I struggle with math.
Don't know why he isn't fired yet for being such an awful professor. He will help you, but it has to be on his time
Not a good teacher. Does not explain the material well. Does no example problems on the board. Super boring and hard to follow. Does not provide helpful feedback. I learned nothing at all in this class. It was difficult to get a good grade.
Worst professor Ive had in the psychology department. Gets way off topic then randomly gets back on topic and asks class a question and gets upset we dont know the answer then continues to answer his own question. In addition Ive tried contacting him in the individual forum and have never heard back. Strongly recommend switching out of his class
Not at all as bad as I heard he was going to be! A lot of students were on their laptops, not paying attention, so of course people are going to say he's a bad teacher when they do not get the grades they want. Pay attention, write notes, and DO THE STUDY GUIDES he gives! They are super helpful for the tests! He's a good guy, and wants to help.
I had Professor Barron in another class and unfortunately he was the only professor teaching this course. He is all over the place as far as his lectures go and he gives a lot of quizzes for this course which are super difficult. It is super hard knowing what is on the study guide because his study guides are long and he does not use every part.
He's a sweet, nice guy. He does get off topic more often than not. Notes/powerpoints aren't clear. He's not a terrible professor, but the class was set up terribly. The final grade is based off very few assignments. He's not accessible via messages, and email is not much better. I would recommend switching professors, since PSY402 is already tough.
Makes inappropriate jokes and has wayyyyy to many stories. I wish i could actually get more content in his class. Also never gets back to you email or individual forum
He really does go off topic a lot and makes inappropriate jokes here and there. Regardless he tries his best for you to succeed in his assignments giving us the opportunity to make revisions on papers. Just make sure you can teach yourself some of the content. In lectures, it can be lost in his jokes and stories. He's also unresponsive to emails
Funny and nice person, but horrible lecturer. Majority of his class periods are spent by having off-topic conversations. You will have to teach yourself a lot of the material on your own time. His Powerpoints/study guides do not match the tests at all. Loud Cloud is essentially useless as he refuses to use it aside from grading.
Super nice guy, however he walked in 15 minutes late every class holding a McDonald's iced coffee. Paying attention in class won't get you much I learned more reading the textbook during the lecture over listening to him. Grades were never put in a timely manner, and when asked about it he would come up with an excuse.
Larry makes it very difficult to even like this class. The notes should only take 30 minutes, but Larry shows one slide and then goes on a tangent for 20 minutes, so he takes the entire hour and 45 minutes to go over ten slides. The main issue i have is he makes sexist and innapropriate comments. Its not a hard class, its just unenjoyable.
He goes off on tangents all the time. He jumps around and when he does get back to the slide we were supposed to be discussing he speaks so fast you can barely write it down. He will spend 25 minutes on a story and then 1 minute on the topic. He is very nice and tries to make the class engaging but it is difficult to know what you need to learn.
Awful class, awful teacher. Do not take. Class is based on powerpoint lectures, but everyone in class just does their homework because no one knows what he is talking about even if you try to pay attention. Tests are on the harder side. I had to self teach myself and depend on clarification from classmates to understand what was happening.
Prof Barron is nice & funny, but is terrible at teaching (this course). I'm surprised he's been at GCU for over 30 years. He gets through maybe 5 slides per class because he goes off on tangents. If you can, get another professor!! This course is hard enough as it is, and he makes it even more so with his teaching style. Prepare to teach yourself.
Prof. Barron is kind, approachable, and extremely willing to help. You can tell he wants you to succeed because he will accommodate a students needs & is very understanding. This class is kind of boring, extremely lecture heavy, but I enjoy Prof. Barron, he has a lot of knowledge. He does have a lot of stories, but they relate to our topics.
Larry Barron has seen his time in collegiate academia. He does not adjust to the current generation in terms of learning style, practicality, and social cues. He is a good guy but he has like 8 tests planned throughout the semester. He starts each class by asking questions to the class that no one knows the answers to and it is a waste of time.
I am literally writing this review in class... If you love a monotoned, very rude "professor" by all means take Barron. He jokes about inappropriate topics and prefers to administer quizzes after lecturing on new material that is not even on the quiz. I really do not understand how he still has a job. I am your average student, DO NOT TAKE HIM
DO NOT TAKE HIM! I wish I would have looked on here before I took him , he is a nice guy but I dont understand his method in teaching I literally had no idea what he taught the whole semester. He will give a whole lecture and make you take a 40 question quiz. He never answers emails and the study guides dont help for the quizzes .
Mr. Barron has a rep that has students scared the 1st day people walk into class. The class has a ton of assignments & quizzes but he explains everything, provides study guides, & is available outside of class. Students complain b/c of their grade, but if those students actually tried & put the effort forward their grade would reflect their effort.
Not a tough grader, just do your essays. Very funny and loves to tell jokes + stories which made class fun to attend. Material was boring, but its experimental psych so understandable. You really have to study for his tests to pass, but it wasn't too bad
Can't skip class or you will not pass. Class was super hard but because cognitive neuroscience is hard to learn. Larry did his best to help us understand the material. He was very caring and accommodating. Must study for his tests, but it is really easy to still get a good grade with your essays since he is not a tough grader.
Larry is not that bad as people say. His instructions are clear for assignments and his lectures are very helpful for quizzes. Do not waste time on study guides. However, he does get off track sometimes and his class is quiz heavy due to GCU's curriculum. Experimental psychology is not that exciting to me, but Larry tried his best.
He basically just lectured the entire time. He often mentioned inappropriate things in the classroom and went on long rants about matters very loosely related to the topics, this made it very hard to want to listen. There is a semester long project that is very important and he does not help at all. Online transition was terrible!!
He is very big on lectures, but the main problem is the fact that he does not respond well to private forum messages and emails. In this class I had emailed him so many times about assignments and he never got back to me to the point where I would have to track him down and ask him in person. Though he told me he would fix the issues he never did.
Please try not to get Barron! Im not sure how he has been at GCU for so long. His lectures are really messy and most of the class doesnt pay attention. He also does not EVER respond to emailsabout attendance, CLCs, or assignments. Ive tried contacting him on the Forum on LoudCloud and by email. I learn more on my own than going to his class.
prof. Larry is very nice, but he is not very good at lecturing, he gets off topic easily. when it comes to review guides for the exams, it is very hard to have the right answers because he docent have them on the slides, you have to go online and search them, making it harder to know if you would get it right on the exam.
I have never met a more disorganized, lazy, and unresponsive professor in my whole life. Dr. Barron would focus more on cracking jokes than explaining the material. His quizzes were never what the study guide listed and his lectures felt eternal. He never responded to my private forums and took two months to input an exam. Avoid at all costs
I had professor Barron for a blended/on ground semester. I tried emailing him with questions and used the private forum, he never responded in time. His classes are all lectures which he will read off a powerpoint. His assignments were sometimes unclear, and he rarely talked about the papers in class.
I have never had such a lazy professor. He doesn't respond to emails or individual forum. His lectures turn into stories about his personal life. He is very monotone and difficult to listen to. He always tries to make jokes that no one understands and he just awkwardly laughs at himself. Definitely lost brain cells in this class, but it was easy.
Do not take this class! His lectures are monotonous and often just him telling stories about his life. He is insensitive and makes jokes that are entirely inappropriate for any situation, let alone a classroom setting. The class itself wasn't particularly difficult, just paper heavy. He is a bit unclear with his assignments, so you may have to ask.
Honestly professor Barron is not that bad. He does get off topic and tells a lot of personal stories that do relate to what he is teaching. Most of the students do not pay attention because it is a pretty easy course compared to other healthcare courses. He is flexible with grading and stuff.
This teacher is fantastic. I don't understand all the bad reviews. I am someone who has trouble with a lot of teacher's teaching styles, but Larry Barron is a great one that I respect. He's been at the school for decades for a reason. There wasn't a single class that he didn't put a smile on my face. He uses fun stories and jokes to help us learn.
Super nice and sweet but can get really repetitive as he reuses the same dad jokes almost every lecture, overall good prof though
I wish I listened to the other reviews and dropped this course with this professor. He is really as bad as all the other reviews say, maybe even worse. Nice guy generally but his instructions are unclear for all assignments, tests have questions that were not covered in class, and lectures are so fast and random. If you stay be ready to read a lot.
very nice guy but his teaching style is outdated. he is very helpful if you need it but there's a reason that nobody shows up to class and is always on their computers. I have never had a class to which I was more confused after taking it. Take this class online or with a different professor. VERY test heavy but doesn't teach whats on the exam. RUN
Is a super nice guy but I did not learn anything. He talks about his personal life pretty much all class and will talk for a whole hour and 45 minutes. Super easy grading and there weren't any tests, but the curriculum is changing so there will be tests now. I would switch out if you can. Attendence is mandatory but you can leave early.
Really nice guy but should not be a college professor. He will talk about the lecture for about 5 minutes then start talking about his family, or will start telling stories about something completely off topic, which really confuses me because I have no idea if what he's saying has anything to do with what were supposed to be learning
Professor Barron will spend the majority of the class telling personal stories (some relate to the material but most do not). In the time that he actually spends teaching, he tends to just read off the PowerPoint word for word. He is genuinely a nice guy and his class is relatively easy. Overall I didn't mind his class but I wouldn't take it again.
Professor Barron is a good teacher but spends too much time on personal stories. Study guides are clear & helpful. Usually goes over the guide before the exam but rushes through it in the last 10 minutes. Time management skills could use improvement, but overall a nice guy, made learning the material interesting, and cares about his students.
I had to teach myself all the material in order to do the assignments. The professor is nice, but talks about his personal life and didn't know what any of the assignment instructions meant. But, if you are good at teaching yourself, you can show up, not pay attention, and do the assignments on your own for an easy A since there are minimal tests.
Literally the worst professor ever. We were never able to finish our notes since he spent the entire time talking about his personal life. Exams were confusing and had questions that were never included in the notes he gave us. Kept you there until the very last minute, sometimes past, and took attendance by name calling to make sure you were there
This class wasn't too hard, but Dr. Barron gives study guides that are no help on the tests. I failed pretty much every single one and only did well when I googled quizlets before. He does not respond to any emails or messages through Halo. He keeps you the whole class and says jokes the whole time. I took naps or did homework in class.
Really sweet guy. But if he has an hour and 45 minutes to talk, he's using all of it, even if it doesn't make sense to continue into the next topic. His lectures are very dull, and he doesn't really teach much, he just tells the same stories over and over. Lectures just feel like a waste of time at this point. You'll have to teach yourself. Switch
Dr. Barron does not properly prepare his students for success in this class. His study guides do not relate to the content on his exams. He barely understands the requirements for his own reports and worksheets. His classes are the only ones that don't have open note for exams. Steer clear if you want to understand lifespan development or do well.
Larry Barron is a nice guy, but always shows up late to class and dismisses class out exactly at an hour and 45 minutes. He lectures for the whole hour and 45 minutes, monotone voice, and occasionally tries to joke. This class was so boring and hard to pay attention in. The assignments are difficult and extremely time consuming but has a grader.
Barron does not prepare his students whatsoever for exams, projects, or papers. The only resources given to students are note outlines he typed out 20 years ago that contain outdated and irrelevant information. His exams are nearly impossible to get an A on because he teaches material incorrectly or just never covers the content.
The WORST PROFESSOR EVER. If you get assigned to his class, SWITCH IMMEDIATELY. You will have to teach yourself the entire course because his lectures are so boring and help you with nothing. He doesn't understand his own assignments. His review guides will not help you at all with exams. All he does is talk about himself and irrelevant topics.
Overall, I think Dr. Barron is a good professor. His lecture style is outdated and sometimes his stories take too long to tell, but I think the stories helped me learn! The exams are easy in PSY357; he gives you extra credit questions and a curve. However, if you're not an auditory learner, his class may be difficult for you.
Mr. Barron is an old professor, he is retiring next school year so lucky you who have to take this class. The class was easy in my opinion, all you have to do is do your homework and be in class for participation, points do add up. He does only talk about nonsense and his family. It is a pretty pointless and you will not learn a thing.
Professor Barron is a caring and funny teacher. He wants students to succeed. His lectures were sometimes boring and hard to sit through. Additionally, his directions for papers were confusing. Participation matters in this class but he grades very easily. He will go through study guides and what to expect on tests.
Dr. Barron is the sweetest man ever. In class however, he rarely lectures on the actual topics and just tells stories. You have to learn all of the material on your own, but he is an easy grader when it comes to projects. If you take him, you're better off just doing other work during class.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
93%
Textbook Required
23%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.57 avg changeRatings by Course
PSY315
4.0
(1)PSY363
3.5
(2)PSY350
3.0
(1)PSY460
3.0
(1)PSY402
3.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
PSY
5.0
PSY350
5.0
PYS352
5.0
PSY361
5.0
PSY101
4.6