2.7
Quality3.4
Difficulty39%
Would Retake110
Reviews39%
Would Retake
110
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
27
4
11
3
14
2
14
1
44
What Students Say
“She's very wonderful and nice”
GOV2306 - 5.0 rating“You do have to sit in groups that she assigns, but it's not that bad & facilitates convo”
GOVT2306 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.25 avg changeRatings by Course
PSCI4328
5.0
(5)GOVT2305
4.0
(2)PSCI4320
3.4
(5)GOVT2306
2.7
(54)GOV2306
2.2
(41)Difficulty by Course
GOV2306
3.8
GOVT2306
3.2
GOVT2302
3.0
GOVT2305
3.0
PSCI4320
3.0
Reviews (110)
Not very difficult, most of the material is just a slight expansion of common knowledge. Little outside work either. Attendance is 10 percent, but it's fine because she does her best to keep it interesting. Had a couple guest speakers who were pretty cool. Test averages kinda low but mostly because of people who don't care-pay attention and do well
I took Dr. Santoro's class on her first semester of teaching. She tries her best and wants you to succeed. She is open to meeting you in office hours or contacting through email. The material itself is very boring and she tries her best in getting the class to be involved. If you read on time and pay attention in class you will pass, no doubt.
She does care a lot about her material, and the class itself it's hard, but you do have to do work that you may not like. Showing up is 10%, and then theres a 15% area for you to do an application grade like voting or discussion posts. Her exams aren't too hard but the wording is kind of tricky. She's great for office hours
Her exams are extremely difficult. If you do not read the textbook and memorize her slides you will not pass this class. She is a good person, however, she won't budge when it comes to her exams even though a majority of the class does not perform well.
Dr. Santoro is an amateur professor and will certainly improve. Many students complain about her exams, they just do not pay any attention and obviously do not study. The exams are easy. Study 6 hours or so. You do not need to memorize anything. The majority of students that take this class are lazy freshman that shop online during lectures.
She did her very best to make the lectures as exciting as possible, and I always found them interesting. Light work load for the course in general, and the tests are easy. There are a lot of people who refuse to show up or are just plain dumb who think the class is hard. It's not. You should be able to show up and get an A. I enjoyed it very much!
Read the textbook before you go to class because of the clicker questions. Take notes in class because sometimes she says things that you don't think will be important but they end up on the test. Her grading is super weird so familiarize yourself before blowing off this class. I recommend other proffs for this course if you want an easy A.
Attendance is semi-mandatory, she spot checks six days a semester and if you miss more than two of the spot checks your final grade goes down a letter. Lectures are directly off the slides, and she vaguely answers questions because often times it seems she honestly doesn't know. Our review session was just "it's in your notes from class."
Artificially difficult... boring lectures, stupid TAs, attendance counts, lecture puts you to sleep, tests are cumulative, pants heavily while talking, is about to go to labor(Take the professor that gives take home tests)
Very hard class, lectures are very vague. If you ask a question she will tell you that it should be in the textbook. She reads off a slide show and when you want to study for tests you have no idea what to study for. The text book is difficult to comprehend and most of it is on her exams. Would not recommend.
Tests make me want to drive my broken down 2009 Toyota Corolla off the nearest cliff, jump off half way and just free fall to oblivion below
She honestly seems like she has no idea what she's talking about. Her lectures are very boring and for her tests, you never know what to study because she will not tell us.
She seemed great in the beginning, but she makes us sit in class teams and I normally love sitting in the front of classrooms, but my team was always in the back, so I'd end up falling asleep. Her exams are hard and she doesn't seem to know much about the material.
she makes you read a lot. if you ask a question about the test she won't give you a clear answer. speaks way too fast and her slides are packed with info. test are 60Q, 20 from book, 40 from lecture. attendance is random and mandatory. she makes you fall sleep during class. lectures are just her talking over politics and how that applies
i don't think she knows the material she is supposed to be teaching us. in class, she just reads off the slides & doesn't really expand on the topic and when asked questions she just tells the class to look in our notes. i honestly found the sub that came in a couple times to be more beneficial than the actual teacher. congrats on the baby tho!
Loved this class. All you have to do to do well on exams is go to class, which most people don't. She reads off of the slides but also adds things in that help you remember the material. You do have to sit in groups that she assigns, but it's not that bad & facilitates convo. The textbook is compiled of research papers and can be tricky to read.
Her class might not be the most exciting and attendance is taken on random days but tests are word for word from the notes. If you pay attention on review day she hints at what to emphasize. Class speaker assignments are easy grade boosts. Just read the syllabus/study and its an easy A
Dr. Santoro grades on speaker responses, attendance, and tests. Speaker responses are hard to get full points and she doesn't post the rubric. The tests are very detail oriented from the textbook and the lectures. She reads directly off the powerpoint and cannot really answer question about the subject.
All quizzes are in class, which are graded pretty heavily in addition to participation. Reading the articles assigned makes a huge difference on quiz and test grades. She sets aside a whole lecture time for review before each exam. She expects a lot of you, but she's happy to help if you ask.
Super organized and structured course, no surprises ever. Very accommodating and helpful.
Dr. Santoro really cares about young ppl understanding gov. I'm not even close to a poli sci major, and I enjoyed this class. TurningPoint in-class reading quizzes are 15% of your grade, Attendance is 10%, Exams are 75%. The textbook is mainly for the reading questions. 70% of (exam) material is on ppts from lecture, so attendance is important:)
The exams are straight from the textbook readings and class powerpoint. The readings are no more than 30pages per exam, three exams in total. Clicker Quizzes used in class for attendance and reading quizzes. She's nice and explains teaching topics well.
This professor does seem to like teaching, but she reads off the slides and the exams have little bits of info she slips in during the lectures the exams are harder than you'd think. Uses clickers to answer questions in class that you need to pay for. Cheaper to buy the program for the app on your phone instead.
Dr. Santoro cares about the material she teaches and expects you to take her class seriously. As long as you show up, pay attention, and do your work you should do great! She's a sweet person and is ready to help students who are willing to put the work in. Great Prof!
Professor Santoro is one of the best professors I've ever had. She was very clear about what she expected from us and always had a great attitude! The people complaining about her class literally don't pay attention and are just petty and incompetent. She's amazing:)
Professor Santoro is a good choice for GOVT2306 because she clearly tells you what is going to be tested on all 4 exams you take, and the exams make up 80% of your total grade. As long as you read the textbook pages she assigns every week and listen to all of her lectures, you should be able to get a B or higher on every exam you take.
This was a great course! Professor Santoro is genuinely interested in what she is teaching. I took a lot away from this class.
Professor Santoro is a good choice for government 2306. Doing the class online was no problem, she was very clear on what would be on the test. Doing the class online we did use Honorlock. If you pay attention in class and study ahead of time you should be fine!
many things I want to say but there is no room. the app we use is $80. you have15 mins to put in an attendance code beginning of class &if you dont do it on time you are counted absent. you have to prove sick to join online &mental health doesnt count apparently. tests are hard &always weird questions. gl if you in there but i would not recommend
PSCI 4320. Although she is nice & the class isn't hard, she sounds like she doesn't know what she's talking about & I learned more from the 2 articles you have to read every week than from her lectures. No tests but 4 papers & a final paper & pop quizzes. Makes you buy tophat only to record attendance & pop quizzes which is a wast of money.
Hot take: Dr. Santoro is the best EPPS professor. She is an excellent prof and an even better person. Her classes are super informative and interesting. Yes, buying Top Hat sucks, but it never ended up being that big of a deal. Reaction papers are honestly fun and not hard to master if you engage with the material. Would highly recommend to anyone!
Well-structured professor and clearly outlines how grades are calculated. Uses top-hat for almost everything (including attendance), and tests are taken in class. Allows you to express your opinion on class topics. Limits the amount of outside reading which is nice. The only problem I had was that the lectures were too heavy with information.
Professor Santoro was okay. The class is what you'd expect, lectures and only grades by tests and homework. She gives a lot of freebie quizzes throughout the semester which is nice. The lectures aren't super engaging but some of the content is interesting. Tests are very tough and cover a lot of material.
She was okay but grading was all over the place. We did not even know our grades until mid semester where she gave out the way to calculate our overall grade in the class. Lot of lecture material , tests are lecture heavy and have a lot of information mainly from the slides and some information from the weekly readings.
"After two warnings, each student will lose two points on their final course grade each time a phone is seen or heard". This is written on her syllabus word for word about cellphones. Take it as you will
Professor Santoro was an excellent lecturer. Participation in class is mandatory, but without discussion this class would hardly be fun. The assigned readings every week were really interesting to read and never felt super strenuous. Professor Santoro is very experienced and knowledgeable in her field. Overall a fascinating class.
The class is graded by weekly quizzes (completion) and 3 tests. There isn't a final. As long as you pay attention in class, you should be okay.
This class grade is based off attendance, weekly participation quizzes, and three exams which are each 20%. No cumulative final. Tests are VERY specific and contain a lot of content from lectures and readings. Exams are taken IN-PERSON, closed note. Lectures are boring and not engaging but attendance is mandatory. Overall not a great experience.
The professor does elaborate on the material but spends too much time on articles and topics that aren't on the test. She is much stricter when it comes to the tests and attendance when compared to the other professors who teach the same course. In my opinion, you would be better off taking another professor if you want a more laidback class.
Santoro is very lecture heavy and requires mandatory attendance. The weekly quizzes are completion grades and all the work is fairly easy, but she is one of the few state and local government professors to do in-person lectures.
Professor Santoro was a great professor overall. Expectations were very clear, and the lectures were really interesting. As long as you pay attention to lectures and the weekly participation quizzes, there should be no surprises on tests. 10/10 recommend
I believe she is one of the few govt professors that has her tests in person closed book. This makes her class a bit more challenging however she clearly outlines what you need to know for the tests and encourages you to come to office hours for help. Quizzes are participation but help with preparing you for the 3 tests.
The professor uses TopHat for attendance, so you basically have to pay to prove that you showed up. Otherwise, a fairly simple class. Most of the information is covered in the lectures, though you may have to do some reading outside of class.
25% attendance. Exams are 15% each, closed note must memorize it all. Its annoying during finals to memorize+waste brain space. Shes a good prof, and knows what she is talking about and exams are easy but its just cumbersome. If you have no other options shes the okay option.
Lack of organization, knowledge, and engagement made the course feel like a waste of time and money, and did not provide the educational experience that students deserve. The classroom environment felt cold and impersonal, which made it difficult for students to feel comfortable asking questions or sharing their thoughts.
I would advise against taking this professor as her teaching style is awful. The amount of material covered in a single test is extensive and requires a significant amount of preparation, even then there is a possibility of not fully comprehending the exam. Don't take her class, you're better off with a different professor.
If your major is somewhat related to political so yes, I will recomend this class because you will have to put yourselves real hard to study and memorization. However, your major are completely different like engineering, cs, or bio major,vvv, this class is not worth your time. There are more proffessor that can make your academic easier.
This class has been made unnecessarily difficult. Take this class with another professor! There are a bunch of other options.
Pretty great class. Material was not hard (it's state government...) and tests are very easy: just show up, read, and pay attention (normal college things). Dr. Santoro is a wonderful professor on top of that, one of the most caring I've met. She's very wonderful and nice. Standard govt class, not difficult. Hope to take her again later on.
The class isn't difficult. Just show up and take notes during her lectures. The weekly reading quizzes are helpful for preparing for the exams, so remember to take notes on them. Overall, the professor is really nice, and if you have questions on any topic, you can ask during class or attend her office hours.
this is an easy class, try and you will pass.
I took Prof. Santoro for Gov 2306 freshman yr fall. It was awful, the class was ridiculously hard and I dropped it 3 days before the deadline and retook it in the summer. I tried again w an upper-level poli sci class, again, awful. Ridiculously hard grading on the few papers that make up your grade, 0's if she disagrees with ur formatting, just bad
You can take this class with an online version of it. This prof made gov harder than it is.
I took her last semester and she is the worst professor in the EPPS program who truly doesn't care. Yes if you try you will pass but the mental strain that comes along with the terrible attitude, vibes, and effort that Santoro gave will never make up for the A especially when everything was self-taught DO NOT TAKE HER
She's not a bad professor, but she's very professional with her work and how she presents herself. To succeed in her class, read the textbook & lecture slides continuously. Homework/quizzes were really easy so mainly focus on the exam portion. Some of the quiz questions were also in the exam so make sure you review them.
Very organized and makes the content easy to understand.
Attendance required, weekly quiz, and group presentation; she is easy, but you HAVE to show up!!!!
Professor Santoro is amazing. Attendance is not required, but HIGHLY recommended. Lecture slides are posted online. Weekly quizzes are completion only, and Exams are online and open note. Her lectures are also engaging she doesn't just read off the slides. She also does exam reviews. I would highly recommend.
Attendance not mandatory, 3 unproctored online exams and weekly completion grade exams. she is amazing take her i have not been to class since august i have an A (but remember to do the quizzes lol)
Woah. This was an amazing class and so important to have during an election season. I have never taken a class so creative and engaging in my entire time at UTD. I am so much more knowledgeable about misinformation and news in general now. Do yourself a favor and take Fake News when Dr. Santoro offers it next. You will love it.
Good course! Learned a lot over the semester. Readings were occasionally heavy but not terrible to get through. Also not terribly long compared to other courses! Overall would take again. Oh and definitely participate, it is a significant part of the grade.
This was a really fun class. Attendance is mandatory and participation matters. The reading material was super interesting, and I will definitely be revisiting some of the papers we read. There is a group project and a few papers to complete throughout the semester. The lectures were so engaging and creative. I definitely recommend this class.
Professor Santoro was really welcoming and you could tell she loved teaching about government. Took this during the election so we had engaging discussions. Online textbook (TopHat), online weekly quizzes and in-class questions that were participation grades. Online tests (open-note) taken anywhere you want but during class timing.
The professor is okay, she seems like she likes the class but it feels like high-school all over again. You need to purchase TopHat software to do the readings and HW. The lectures are okay and overall the class is fine, you just need to attend and do weekly participation quizzes.
Professor Santoro is great. She provides two versions of calculating your overall grade that you can choose from. Overall grade consists of 3 exam scores, (maybe) attendance, and participation-based quizzes on TopHat. Exams are open-note. She is knowledgeable of concepts and feedback is timely. I recommend taking this course with her!
Dr. Santoro is knowledgeable about local government topics. She is respectful to students and very clear on how you earn your grade. The test contains 60 questions, which sounds like a lot, but you will get an excellent grade if you carefully follow and review her lecture.
She had 2 diff grading ways: don't have to go to class and exams are graded with a higher percentage, or vice versa. Read off of slides and used TopHat for (easy) weekly quizzes, weekly reading, and exams. Exams you could take at home/online. Although lectures were boring, she was very knowledgeable and knew what she was talking about!
Overall fairly easy and straightforward class. She is great at lecturing, attendance is optional but not attending can't hurt your grade, and quizzes are participation based. Her exams are fairly easy if you studied for them, but one thing is because they're online you can basically cheat and likely a lot of students probably did do that.
Decent professor. Lectures are just her reading PowerPoint slides with the occasional class question via TopHat. TopHat is a required purchase. Weekly quizzes are based on participation not accuracy. 3 online exams that are open note and can be taken outside of class. Has a pet peeve about students wearing headphone/AirPods in class.
Nice enough professor. There were no proctors and all assignments/ quizzes/ exams were online. She was not great at teaching but not bad either, but she's a good person and tries her best.
Tests are in the testing center. Lectures boring. Class unable to focus. No point of taking this class. Some questions in the test are not even from the lectures. I would say pointless even.
This class was horrible. Professor Santoro didn't explain the material clearly, and the tests barely covered what we had learned. The lectures were unorganized, and help was minimal. Even with effort, I left confused and frustrated. Hurt my GPA for no reason. Wouldn't recommend. There are so much more better professors out here.
Horrible, can't teach at all. A detriment to students' education in state and local gov.
This professor has a horrible teaching style and tests are very very hard.
This course is a mandatory course yet she makes it unnecessarily tedious. The exams are in the testing center. You are allowed to bring one page of notes but they have to be handwritten and the testing center takes them after the exam. You aren't allowed to wear headphones in class, which I wouldn't mind if our tests were NOT in the testing center.
DONT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. ALL OF HER TESTS ARE IN THE TESTING CENTER AND IT COVERS MATERIAL THAT SHE DOESNT TEACH.. THERE ARE BETTER PROFESSORS!!!!
Her lectures are incredibly boring and make it hard to pay attention. She doesn't teach in a way that helps anyone understand the material, and then the test is unnecessarily long, hard, and full of things she never even covered. Overall, she's just a terrible teacher.
inefficient teaching style, for a mandatory lower-level course everything is a pain to deal with
Really boring teacher. Tests are ABSOLUTELY NOTHING like the review or the in class slides. Unnecessarily hard and attendance is mandatory for learning things that aren't going be on the test. Avoid at all costs.
test are wayyy to hard.
A lot of people are salty because tests are now in-person at the testing center. However, if you just spend a bit of time writing down all info from slides + quizzes onto the paper she lets you bring to the exam, it's not hard at all to get an A. But, if you want an no-effort-at-all A I would recommend other professors.
Her lectures are her reading off her slides. The exams are kind of difficult and are taken in the testing center. While the first one was mostly based off the slides, the second one contained questions that were not even from the textbook. Overall it was too much work for a class that most people are only taking to fulfill their core requirement.
The tests are hard and lectures useless
Don't take her she is a horrible professor doesn't even help students do better in her office hours.
Very strict, very antagonistic to people chattering in class or just wearing headphones. Where I've seen other teachers laugh off things that annoy them, Santoro takes it as direct disrespect. Requests for extra credit/curves, and input on the class is met as a direct attack by the professor.
This class should be an easy straight forward class but this professor complicates it for no apparent reason. Highly advise not to take this professor if you want to keep your GPA. If this professor is the only option take this class another time. It is worth it.
making you take tests at the testing center instead of Tophat. This course should be easy, but she somehow made it way more challenging than it should be. A lot of readings. Get offended when students wear headphones in class like someone just insulted her entire family? This class should be an easy A, and she makes it hard to even get a B.
Pretty average class, content was not too difficult. She lets you have a handwritten page of notes for the exams; preparing it is tedious (takes an all-nighter to copy everything from the slides) but worth it. Weekly quizzes graded based on completion and appear word for word on exams. Decent lecturer, so I didn't use the textbook unless specified.
mandatory attendance and weekly reading quizzes (graded for completion) worth a big chunk of your grade at 40%. the tests are pretty difficult, but she lets you have a one page front/back cheat sheet, so if you write down everything from the slides + extra reading its doable. would choose another professor for an easier a.
Requires lots of reading. The tests are 60 questions and quite tricky. Some questions weren't in the book/slides. Weekly quizzes graded based on completion. Tests are done at testing center except final which was in class. Allow one page cheatsheet. The class wasn't supposed to be hard but she made it hard. Choose another professor for an easier A.
Absolutely the worst professor for state and local government possible. Choose anyone besides her. She does not provide any useful information, and her tests are extremely challenging, covering topics that have not been covered.
Professor Santoro is not a great professor. She mainly reads from slides, requires testing-center exams with only handwritten cheat sheets, gives no curve, and her tests don't match lecture or review content. If you're taking this course to fulfill your govt core requirements and boost your GPA, DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR AND CHOOSE SOMEONE ELSE.
The professor genuinely couldn't answer a question clearly if her life depended on it. This class was absolutely horrible—honestly, O-chem is an easier class. 60 questions at the testing center, every word that comes out of her mouth is useless. Don't even understand why or how she became a professor. Anything is possible nowadays ig.
She sucks. Horrible professor, so many better one. Save yourself, save your GPA.
The only reason I did good was not to come to her lectures and study all on my own. The one time I came to class and asked a question she didn't even know it. What is the point of you standing up and teaching. Useless professor.
Hated this class so much. The only reason I passed was cuz I am a bio major going into prelaw. I need this class to become a future biologist lawyer
Very delusional professor. She believes she is helping students with her reviews but it is actually a waste of time. Going to her class in general was a waste of time. Can't believe how much this hurt my GPA.Please do not take her.
This class depicted my future, but cuz of her, my future is ruined.
Saw all the horrible reviews for Gov2306. You though that was bad. Gov2302 is even worse. She cant teach to save her life. Tests have stuff she doesnt even talk about. But if you want to listen to a topic and understand less then take this professor.
Horrible class—would not recommend. The only reason I even passed is that I'm a poli-sci major who already dropped chem and chem lab, and this was basically the only core class i had to docus on besides public speaking.
Teacher is a little weird. First of all teaching methods are overall garbage. Second of all if you ask a question she gets kind of defensive and almost argumentative. Has a weird policy for headphones but that is kinda understandable. Other then that do not recommend this professor especially in the midst of all other classes to worry about.
Her “teaching” was a disaster—confusing rambles, endless circles, and explanations that never explained anything. Every lecture felt like a puzzle missing half the pieces. If teaching is a skill, she definitely skipped the lesson, because we learned nothing unless we taught ourselves.
This class was pretty easy. There were just three exams and some reading quizzes. While her lectures were not the best, as she mostly read from the slides, it could have been worse. Easy exams, since everything from the exams was information that was on her slides or in the homework readings.
Don't recommend. The class consisted of quizzes that were completion grades and 3 exams (a cheat sheet was allowed). Two of the exams were in the testing center, the last exam (not cumulative) was in person. If you don't plan on majoring in something related, don't take her. Makes things more complicated then they need to be. Not hard, just boring.
Professor Santoro was quite literally the worst professor I have ever had. She starts the year off by smiting students that have headphones on, acting as if her entire family was crucified. The exams test the most nuanced parts of the slides, that have barely information on them. The 'A' threshold is a 94 with 60 question MCQs. DO NOT TAKE!!!
I saw a lot of peoples reviews on her and I just want everyone to know that it is not an exaggeration. Worst prof. I think this class single handedly dropped her overall rating down a whole point but it is totally justifiable. Can not teach well. Can not answer questions if your somehow genuinely interested. I would write more but there is a limit
Shout out Humza (TA), the only good thing about this class. #goat
The only professor that doesn't allow take home tests for GOVT 2306, and you have to go to the TESTING CENTER to take the tests. Idk why we couldn't have just taken them in class.
I suck at history/gov in general, but this class was so easy! Dr. Santoro and the TA mentioned countless times during lectures what was on the exam. Exams are in the testing center, 60 mcq, from a question bank, but we get a cheatsheet for the exam. Weekly quizzes are COMPLETION GRADES, and attendance is 20% boost to your overall grade :)
One of the best professors I've had. I didn't care for formatting, necessarily, because of the implausibility of group project coordination, but she made up for it elsewhere. ALWAYS accessible in office hours; glad to take another look at your exam if it wasn't -- you felt -- graded fairly; will happily assist with exam prep, etc. Would take again.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
74%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.25 avg changeRatings by Course
PSCI4328
5.0
(5)GOVT2305
4.0
(2)PSCI4320
3.4
(5)GOVT2306
2.7
(54)GOV2306
2.2
(41)Difficulty by Course
GOV2306
3.8
GOVT2306
3.2
GOVT2302
3.0
GOVT2305
3.0
PSCI4320
3.0