2.1
Quality3.6
Difficulty22%
Would Retake244
Reviews22%
Would Retake
244
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
13
4
31
3
43
2
43
1
114
What Students Say
“Contradicted herself on a regular basis”
ECON200 - 3.0 rating“Professor always messes up in the lecture”
ECON200 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
62%
Textbook Required
44%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.13 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON400
4.5
(4)13422
4.0
(2)ECON448
3.7
(7)ECON200
2.1
(217)ECON200B
1.5
(14)Difficulty by Course
ECON200B
4.1
ECON200
3.6
ECON448
2.7
13422
2.5
ECON400
1.8
Reviews (244)
Made a ton of mistakes while teaching, especially in basic math. Contradicted herself on a regular basis. Not the most interesting lecturer either. Her quizzes were easy, but her final was quite hard. Still got an A without doing homework though.
She was helpful during office hrs. But her lectures are not that interesting, most contents are copied from the textbook directly.
Even though her lectures were kinda boring, she is one of the more reasonable economics professors. Very helpful during office hours. The midterm was very easy but final was a bit difficult.
Explained concepts well in class. She seemed to know the material very well and could explain it effectively.
She makes way too many mathematical mistakes during her lectures. I stopped going to her lectures in order to not get confused. She doesn't offer any extra credit, and the workload is too much for an introductory class. However, she's got a nice demeanor and is helpful during office hours.
Easy class! 5 quizzes, 1 midterm, 1 final. Midterm was super easy, final was easy. Professor was nice and good at explaining, although she would sometime make typos on her powerpoints. 4.0ed it by just going to lecture, doing problem sets, studying off of quizzes that she post online. & I didn't have to read the textbook at all
Super easy class, no hws just quizzes and exams. Textbook is somewhat required.
She was very dull and honestly just reiterated the book in lecture. I didn't see a need to ever go to the actual lectures apart to get participation point with the clicker questions.
All you need to do is preparing past exams that she handed out for exams.
Easy homework. Midterms are a bit tougher but not too difficult.
Melissa is a great professor! She's really funny and teaches you everything you need to know to be successful. I would definitely recommend her for introductory economics.
Lectures are pointless but you need to go because of the clicker questions. It's a fine class, you'll have to do a bit of reading and learning mostly on your own though. Interesting topic.
Melissa repeats stuff right out of the book so lectures sometimes seem pointless, she clarifies some examples and you need to attend lectures because of the participation questions.
Melissa truly cares of her students. She's funny too! Exam difficulty is medium. I read textbook for my interest, but I think reading her slides should be just fine to ace the exam.
She basically reads off her lecture out from the powerpoint. Boring lectures, don't expect a 4.0 in her class. Grades are relatively unreasonable
Dr. Knox was an overall good professor. She is very helpful and approachable whether it be after class or during office hours. Her lectures can be somewhat boring at times, but she does a good job of keeping your attention. Go to class for participation, take advantage of office hours early, and practice practice practice!!!
Melissa is great! She's funny and a great teacher. She really cares about whether students learn or not. There's reading assignment and a myeconlab homework every week which aren't too hard, though are sometimes time consuming. There are three written assignments much like current events. The tests are manageable but not an easy A
You have to go to lecture get your participation points (worth 9% of your grade). I didn't open my textbook & got above 90% on both the midterm & final (only tests). She covers everything you need to know in lecture (& posts lecture slides online) so if you go & pay attention, you'll be fine. There are 3 writing assignments but only a page each.
Tough grader.
If you study her lecture slides, you'll be fine on exams. She is a soft grader. I got a way higher grade than I expected.
Make sure you show up to class and take good notes. Her lectures are clear, and she really cares about whether students understood or not. The tests are reasonable and not very difficult. For the tests, master the lecture notes and quiz section worksheets.
no textbook, just notes.
Knox is not my favorite professor, but I will say I do respect her. You have to go to lectures for participation points, but her lectures are straight from the book, so there was no point in going for me. Also, she doesn't grade the tests or anything- I got a bad TA so I passed that class with a low grade.
The lecture was hard to understand sometimes so I read the book and tried to figure everything out. The class in general isn't super hard but you need to try. The writing assignments were easy and homework was ok too because she drops three lowest grades. Participation is important though.
Prof Knox is a great teacher, in my opinion. She goes through the slides at a reasonable pace and provides plenty of examples. Sometimes the online homework questions are a bit vague, but that's not really her fault. Would gladly take her again.
Prof. Knox is very knowledgeable and always answers student answers. If a student is still confused, she uses alternative examples to further explain her answer. Homework and practice exams helped me prepped for midterm and final.
Doesn't word things in an understandable manner. Note to people in her microeconomics lecture: those LC questions that seem to make no sense are your best sample of what the midterm and final are like.
Melissa is a great instructor, she explains econ concepts well and breaks them down to a basic level. That being said, her exams are extremely tough though, and it seems like she's better suited to teach the higher level econ classes. Attendance matters for participation credits but the book is better to teach the harder concepts than her lectures.
She's a good lecturer, but her tests often include questions that haven't come up in class or the homework.
My class's curve was lower than normal during our quarter, but because we had a normal standard deviation, she didn't curve grades. My TA wasn't helpful, and she could be very emotions-based during lectures and office hours. I personally found it to be a bit unprofessional on her part.
One of the few lecturers in the econ dept who is clear on the course objectives. Her tests are straight forward and the best way to study for the tests are through exercise sets and previous exams. It really shouldn't be too difficult to get the median grade.
This class was pretty easy. Three small writing assignments, weekly homeworks, midterm, and a final. Just read the book and you will be fine. Her lectures are clear. One problem was that she made many minor mistakes on old tests and the online hw. However, if there was a mistake she would give 100%.
Melissa gives good lectures and goes through concepts well and explains clearly. She cracks jokes sometimes and gives breaks during lectures. You have to attend for participation marks through PollEverywhere. Grades are exam heavy and writing assignments are pretty straight forward and easy 10s is your TA is nice.
Knox uses content directly from the textbook, so I found that there was no point in going to the lecture. That being said, I felt like it was a waste because attendance was mandatory. Another con was that she did not let us use our laptops in class. Easily avoided though, just sit on the balcony where she won't see you. Overall, just read textbook
Homework and participation are easy grade boosters. The tests aren't terrible and she offers many past exams to practice with. She made quite a few errors with Poll questions, homework, and practice exam keys but she was good about clarifying. Her lectures were straight out of the book but she always answered important questions in class.
Super clear with instructions and knows the material well. Textbook reading and lectures go over the same material so pick your poison. Each lecture includes poll everywhere- have someone send you the questions so you can answer from your bed. Practice midterms were extremely helpful and definitely worth doing.
I really liked her way of teaching. She is also super approachable and helpful. Her lectures are interesting and sometimes, funny/relatable. DO THE PRACTICE MIDTERMS!!! She posts a lot of them along with the answer keys.
Overall a pretty easy class. She uses poll everywhere for participation and the homework is super easy to get 100% on since you have two tries to do it. Has one midterm and a final, but the final isn't cumulative. Additionally, as long as you do all the practice midterms you should be pretty prepared <---- I CANT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!!
Melissa is a decent lecturer who seems unorganized a lot. Content is interesting but she makes the tests unnecessarily difficult. I studied for the final exam for three weeks, probably a collective 48 hours, and ended with a C on the exam and a B (2.9 because of the curve) in the class. How well you do depends on your TA, who are mostly all bad.
Class was relatively easy, lectures were kinda boring. Has PollEv questions each lecture.
Knox was an okay lecturer, read mostly off her slides which were taken mostly from the book. You can get away without reading the textbook if you pay attention in lecture, one or the other and you will be able to pass the class. She did poll everywhere, so I recommend attending lecture. Isn't super hard to pull an average grade with minimal effort
She has a terrible ability to manage her lecture, in other words, she is just copying and reading the content from the textbook we bought. And sometimes, she does not even know what is she saying.
My sincere suggestion is that never take her class since taking her class is more about self-learning. However, there is still one thing that you can learn from her lecture, which is endurance of boredom.
Get ready to ready because lectures don't really help, she has said more than once during lectures that she's made the slides the night before... rather disorganized. She gives off a disorganized, careless, unprepared vibe; thus hilarious. Seems like a kind woman, I just don't look forward to lectures.
Super disorganized, half of the time she doesn't know what she's saying. confuses the students, and gives out wrong info. Tests are unnecessarily hard and long! But they are similar to practice exams. Was planning on majoring in econ but not after taking this class.
Knox is a nice person, but was very disorganized. Wrote slides late at night before lecture and exams were difficult. Sure the practice exams are your best bet to study but don't assume the exact same questions. It will be rewritten differently.
super unorganized, so be prepared to teach yourself a lot of the material. pretty lenient grader though and gets most of her test questions from the textbook, so make sure you understand the concepts the way its written in the text. also posts lecture notes online. quiz section isn't graded but really beneficial so I recommend going every week.
I joined her class a week after the class started, I interrupted her in her research session but she heard me out and gave me a code to get in. You have to get MHCampus which I personally find better than Pearson Lab. She moved the assignments back a week for every so I could catch up, and she has been very easy to communicate outside of class.
One of the worst professors I've had so far at UW. Lectures were disorganized and useless. Knox would provide examples 1) we hadnt learned/covered in reading or 2.) would finish it with "but you wont need to know that for this class". Homework & lecture are nothing like the tests, and the the exams are hard and barely similar to practice exams.
If you have other choices, don't take this class. She teaches one thing but the tests ask you for another. Knox likes to talk about her dog during the lecture, and other things that are irrelevant to econ. Even though she said "you don't need to know this," that term is on the test. Get ready to learn by yourself.
Professor Knox was always friendly and bright, however the classes grades were majorly determined by 2 exams (70% of overall grade). Participation in lectures is mandatory and graded. She also added questions to the final on subjects that were never covered in lecture. Multiple assignments due each week, but no significance towards final grade.
Gave out handouts but don't give out the answers. Test things that were never covered in the lecture and simply assume we should know it ourself. Talks about the most random things during lecture and confuse everyone. Never organized. Paid 100 bucks for the textbook and realized its not helping bc the text is nothing like the test.
Nice lady, the content of the class is rather simple through her explanation. But the weigh of the test is terrifying. In my semester, it's 65 percent counted for one midterm and the final, which is really unbelieveable. Have several polleverywhere in each class. Recommend a digital text book with the code for you to access the online homework.
Knox was nice enough in class but she rarely used any economic examples in class that she made herself, and if she did they were often incorrect. She also canceled our last lecture before the final for a personal vacation. Also threw multiple problems onto the final containing content she never lectured on. Wouldnt recommend taking her class.
Your grade is pretty much only based on how you do on the midterm/final which sucks. There are 3 one page papers but the TAs grade them easy. Knox is definitely easier than the other one and 10am is a better lecture time. Also technically you can do pollev from home. If you don't procrastinate studying for the tests you will do fine in the class!
Grade is based mostly on midterm/final but if you pay attention in lecture, read the book, and do the homework, you'll know everything. Don't believe the people who say she puts things on the final that weren't taught because I got an A and certainly wasn't doing any outside reading/work. Get the online book/hw straight from publisher to save money
Shes like the Michael Scott of professors. Randomly spewing out words hoping she will be able to complete her thought. Read the book and do the poll everywheres in class in order to pass.
Boring professor that reads straight from the book. Only reason to come to class is the polleverywhere she does in class. She doesnt come up with her own examples (I believe because she doesnt understand the material herself) and many times when questions are asked she says Ill come back to you on that
Melissa Knox exemplifies a burned-out, tired professor who actively wonders why she's still teaching. Luckily, she is an experienced educator, as well as economist, so she maintains sufficient knowledge to accurately teach this course. Unfortunately, her lectures cover about 1/3 of each test, i.e. the textbook does all the teaching and she doesn't.
Knox simply regurgitates the textbook, word for word. You barely use 10% of her lecture teachings, as the slideshows are almost entirely copy-pasted. All you need is the textbook. Do not take this class with Knox if you can, she is not a teacher
She uses the same lectures from year to year so she just reads off the slides and sometimes seems like she doesn't really know what she's talking about. Overall a really nice person who works with you if you need help but meh.
Her lectures are mostly just restating the textbook. It's an hour and a half long of very boring lectures, theres a couple poll everywheres each class which count for participation credit. Most of the class is graded on 2 very difficult tests. Only good part is that she provides lots of practice tests which are helpful.
her lectures were not really helpful but were accessible. choose a good TA for econ200, they are make or break. she is a super nice and bubbly prof, provides good practice midterms and tests were not too hard. study terms in addition to practice tests.
Uses Panopto and teaches straight from the textbook. A very average professor who teaches some difficult classes. Grading criteria are sometimes a little hazy but Knox provides decent lectures and practice problems and checks all the boxes. Don't expect an amazing time but she gets the job done
Due to the pandemic, Prof Knox's course structure changed a lot. Homework worth 50% plus 35% Quizzes and 15% written response(easy 100%). Quizzes were take-home and you would have plenty of time to ace them. HW were on Cengage and she took the highest score-so also easy 100%. Your GPA would be based on a formula and won't be curved which is nice.
Definition of mediocrity. Just reads off the textbook every lesson for the past few years. She's friendly enough and uses Panopto but that's about it. If she didn't use Poll Everywhere there would be no point in showing up to class. Grading for tests is also vague since the TAs do them.
Absolutely horrible. Lectures are boring and a regurgitation of the textbook. Wastes time during zoom calls and does not speak concisely. Assignments are not clear. Grading and material is tough, but this professor obviously does not know what she is doing. Her class, lectures, organization makes me want to hurl my textbook at the wall.
Horribly average. Enough said.
So repetitive. You don't even have to go to class. the Poll Evs are useless and annoying
I dont even understand what the professor was there for. She didnt teach any of the concepts during lecture, and didnt even grade any of the assignments herself. I luckily had a good TA who was good at explaining the concepts, but when it came to exams I didnt know what I had to study for. Have fun teaching yourself if you take her.
She hardly does anything for the students and screwed up on her slides half the time, confusing us even more. If you take the class with her, just read the textbook and talk with others. She makes the content more confusing than it actually is. The only reason why you would attend live is for credit, not for the actual content.
Professor Knox seems like a really caring person, but she is not the teacher that you want for ECON 200. In the online format, there's reading, multiple asynchronous lectures every week, and one synchronous. However, in the lectures, Knox just repeats straight from the textbook and often has incorrect examples that she discovers while lecturing.
I didn't learn anything from her lectures. Everything is in the textbook so just read it then you'll learn. She also made it hard for international students to do this class during this pandemic, providing no timezone accommodations during midterms. Good luck.
She's terrible at teaching the contents of the course. Most of my class got more confused as she attempted to explain. She can't relate the economic models to real-life examples and leave the students wandering in the sea of meaningless formulas and graphs. Her lecture sounds no different than an audio version wikipedia, with even less structure.
Avoid. Regurgitates information from the textbook in a significantly more confusing way. Unable to provide any real life examples different from the textbook. Eventually stopped watching the lectures and stuck to the textbook. Provides study materials and answer keys with incorrect calculations right before midterms. Nice lady, shoddy professor.
2 papers + 4 discussion posts + 4 problem sets (one of them gets dropped) + plenty of readings. This course is totally doable and her grading is relatively generous. The avg for the second paper is 53/55. Saw many negative comments on her introduction to Micro, but she is decent for 400 level courses.
She's a nice lady and I'm sure she knows the material, but teaching is not her strong suit. Spends a lot of time saying the same things over and over again, doesn't add any new information not in the textbook and leaves a lot out, frequently had errors in example questions. Very little homework assignments and generous grading
She merely repeated information from the textbook and barely prepared us for the tests. Halfway through the course, I realized her lectures were useless, and stuck to reading the textbook instead. Completely botched half the class's grades and did absolutely nothing to fix it. Not at all accomodating and a disappointing professor to say the least.
Does not really teach, however, she is very considerate of everyone's grade. So she will curve your grade. You will have to teach yourself.
Professor Knox has made some improvements. She takes some time to respond to emails, but she gives helpful feedback on writing assignments if you email them to her. Attendance is optional, ultimately most of the course falls down to performance on tests. Tests test higher-level thinking than homework does, but it's entirely possible.
She's a nice person but reading from the textbook is not the same as teaching. Workload isn't ridiculous, the main problem is this class is super competitive because it's a business school pre-req.
Nice, understanding, but a bit disorganised. Ik a lot of people don't like her, but I hate reading, so her reading the textbook is perfect for me! Also, her being very repetitive is good because it helps reinforce understanding of the concepts. But the key to passing is having a good TA. Have Alice, Lucy, or Cheng and you'll pass or even excel!
Prof Knox isn't a bad professor herself (hence the 4/5), but the class itself is pretty tough and cutthroat because it is a prereq weedout for various majors (JSIS, Business, etc). Tests basically determine your grade and they are timed, so if you don't pace yourself/are a bad test taker then buckle up. A good TA is really important too.
She is a nice person but not a good professor I have to say. The lecture doesn't have many useful materials and let's be straight, it is okay even if you don't go. The testbook is really important if you want to get high credits. I read it for 3 times. The exams are quite difficult, it is best to practice with previous exams. Good luck!
Prof. Knox is disorganized and ineffective. Her lectures were meaningless and she often didn't know how to solve problems students would bring her during office hours. I received a 4.0 in the course through reading the textbook, going to every T.A. office hour session, and doing every extra problem in the book. This is a self taught course.
Professor Knox gives excellent lectures, with engaging content. Attendance isn't mandatory, and you're encouraged to watch the livestream or recording instead of attending in person, which I love, since I can watch the class at my own pace later. There are a few writing assignments, but they aren't extremely difficult, and exams are chill.
Knox is a solid professor. TAs are your best bet for seriously grasping the material, but she is exceptionally nice and tried very hard in my class to make sure everyone was on the same page and provide resources. For our writing assignments she gave us a downloadable example and links to at least a dozen articles we could use to write about.
Melissa is very nice, and I think better in a smaller class setting, but still is not the most engaging and seems unsure of herself a lot of the time. Very responsive to emails and gives feedback when you ask, but class time is not well used and it seems like she doesn't know what she's talking about some of the time.
Just about the most okay-ish professor, not great, not terrible. She's very nice, but the class is more or less self-taught in my experience, since her lectures are just diluted and confusing rereadings of the textbook. Just study the material, practice the exam questions, go to TA sections if you need, and you'll be fine more or less.
For midterm 2, she came to class latemeaning we had to start the exam later. She only gave us 4 extra minutes instead of the 20. Didn't get the full time to take the exam. Lectures aren't that useful, but she has practice questions that help. The homework she gives isn't too hardtry forming a study group. Writing assignments aren't too bad.
Professor Knox is a nice professor and is pretty responsive to posts on Ed discussion however her lectures aren't engaging at all and can be very boring. This whole quarter I had to teach myself the material through the textbook. Do the practice exams if you want to pass.
prof knox is totally accessible and was great at keeping things equitable and do-able. she is a slow talker, but you can speed up her lectures and the homework is easy and helpful.
Study and you'll do well
By no means take this class if you are already emotionally fragile and/or bad at math. I am both and this class broke me. Material isn't terrible but help on subjects is very hard to receive through TA's or Prof Knox. Lectures are pretty much just diluted textbook material, just read it and you'll understand it better.
Just take!!!!
Overall a good experience, clear grading scale from the syllabus. Grade mostly depended on three midterms, but the lowest score was dropped, so as long as you studied for two midterms, you did not have to take the third at the end of the quarter. Most of the content was either in lecture notes or the textbook.
Professor Knox was okay. Oftentimes it felt like she did not know what was going on and her lectures were sometimes haphazard. She was okay at learning about ECON but my main understanding came from my amazing TA as I was left confused after Professor Knox's lectures. However, Knox wants you to do well and succeed and is accommodating.
Melissa just reads the textbook back to you. In my experience, neither the TA or professor taught me anything, I learned by teaching myself from the textbook and homework. If you struggle with self-teaching I don’t suggest taking this class. Chegg saved my life with homework assignments.
I put in the bare minimum for this class and fell smack middle of the class. You can do either readings or go to class and you'll be fine. Homework is half completion based and half correctness. You'll use diagrams you've probably never seen before but with practice, you'll be fine. Class is curved, though it won't make much of a difference
Lectures often felt long and boring. Tests can be rough and tricky but doable if you really understand the content and do practice tests. There were multiple times where she couldn't answer questions in class in a reasonable manner and made me more confused with her explanations so that isn't ideal.
She sometimes doesn't understand her own material, despite being in an intro-level econ class. Required to read the textbook, which sucked. Not everything was covered in the main lecture. Homework and test were pretty easy though. Still, she comes off as a genuine and caring person.
Terrible at teaching, her example often confuses herself to a situation that she would have to say "I don't know..." and think of something else. Also, lecture PowerPoints are full of mistakes, at the same time she often pauses out of no reason. so if you are taking the course as a 100% beginner, try to avoid this course unless you have to.
The lectures are very boring. The class is very boring. I am not learning anything and the very ripe hour of 8:30 in the morning. It was a waste of my time. I don't think I have ever hated a class like I have this one. I say avoid it at all cost. Also paying $140 for a textbook you use for 2 months should be illegal.
The lectures are very boring. The class is very boring. I am not learning anything at the very ripe hour of 8:30 in the morning. It was a waste of my time. I don't think I have ever hated a class like I have this one. I say avoid it at all cost. Also paying $140 for a textbook you use for 2 months should be illegal.
Quiz sections are another lecture you are not learning anything. only pro in this class is the TA's during office hours.Professor doesn't go over new content in lecture and teaches backwards.Hard grader. Has a poll quiz in the middle of lecture at 8am without teaching us how to solve the problem before. Overall bad teaching skills.
Such a boring class. No one is going to learn anything at the early morning of 8:30am. Doesn't really teach you anything, but expects you to know how to do it. You either understand it, or you don't.
class is essentially self taught through the textbook and accompanying website for reading quizzes and problem sets. lots of homework that does not prepare you for the midterm exams, which count for 60% of your grade, and said midterms are unnecessarily difficult considering the lack of preparation and teaching Mrs. Knox does in class. avoid!
This is my second year taking Econ, and wow, is this class difficult. Get ready to attend lectures and understand absolutely nothing. The textbook says one thing, while the professor says another. Be prepared to struggle when completing assignments. If you want to be your own teacher and teach yourself the material, take this course.
Sucks anything interesting in econ out and feeds it to you in lectures that are useless. Kids scrambled to look for any outside help before the midterm. Tutors told us the class is entirely self-taught w/ Melissa. Exams have nothing to do with hw assignments. Study purely the previous midterms. Don't let this class deter you from your major.
All professor Knox does in lecture is literally just read the textbook, and reading is required so the lectures are ultimately pointless but attendance is required. Everything talked about/done in lecture has no correlation to the problems we do in quiz section and on the exam. She also breathes really heavily into the mic during lectures
HORRIBLE! Lectures are confusing, boring, and come straight from the section. Nothing is gained at 8:30 in the morning, she does nothing to help you for quiz sections or exams, and you really have to teach everything to yourself. Don't take anything with her!
Awful! She just regurgitates information from the textbook but makes it 100 times more confusing. The exams are basically all math and she makes it difficult for no reason. She's not at all helpful for learning the class content. Attendance is technically not mandatory, but she does poll every where's for a grade, so you basically have to go.
A prime example of how some professors can't teach anything. "Professor" Knox just spits out a bunch of information in a way that's too confusing for anyone to get a grasp of it. She's very unhelpful and has no knowledge in economics. Don't take anything with her.
just like a piece of shit
If I could give her a 0, I would. Worst professor I have ever had. She was extremely unhelpful to me and she made the exams more complicated than it should have been. If you can, AVOID her.
The only reason why I'm actually doing decent in this class is because I've taken AP Econ. There's so many 1/5 stars given to Professor Knox, which is understandable if you're learning Econ for the first time but I feel like she would be willing to help if you just go up to her and just ask. She's low-key strict on grading (~96 is a 4.0).
midterm and final are worth 60%, and writing assignments are worth 20% of the final grade. material on tests is completely different than hmw and practice problems. She doesn't teach in lectures just reads off slides. If you do the hmw, readings, attend lectures, and study it won't be enough to pass the extremely math-heavy tests. GO TO TUTORING!!!
melissa is a good professor and she really tries to help you understand, for me the class material was too difficult and im not doing well, but during office hours she is so helpful and answered every question i had even if it was an obvious answer.
Hear me out. If you are a self-studier you will be fine in ECON 200 regardless of the teacher. Melissa is kind and helpful (when you ask for help) however, it is a LOT of self-studying. You get to make your own cheat sheet on exams and I would recommend you review the example exams (actual previous exams) she gives as a study tool.
dont do it
Horrible. If you have it at 8:30 you won't learn a thing, the lectures are pretty much pointless as she is reading the slide word for word and gets lost in her own words, as well as being incredibly boring. Sometimes I feel like she doesn't even know what she's talking about. You pretty much have to teach yourself from the textbook and the homework
She's nice but just regurgitates information from the textbook but makes it 100 times more confusing. The exams are basically all math and she makes it difficult for no reason. She's not at all helpful for learning the class content. Attendance is technically not mandatory, but she does poll every where's for a grade, so you basically have to go.
I like to give professors the benefit of the doubt most of the time but I struggled to do that with Knox. I felt like no matter what I did in class I was always behind and not understanding the content. The quiz section was unhelpful and when I asked questions, I felt like no one could explain the right answer to me. Take from a different professor
Her lecture is ok, though it is terribly boring and she's just repeated talking about the same thing, but she covers almost everything on textbook, and explaining them in a much more confusing way. You have to buy a MH connect account to do homework, and the account is not helpful for you to learn. She is too annoying for this lecture over an hour.
where do i even start. Walking into this class I was prepared to learn everything, literally 3-4 weeks in I was so confused. I took notes and everything but I still had no idea what she was even teaching. I started to fall behind and then the midterm hit me like a truck.
This class is a self-taught class, and you won't really learn anything even if you go to the lectures. The lectures are somewhat required, only because she does poll everywhere. choose a different prof if you care about your grades and mental health.
Lowkey the class is not that bad but she doesn't really give a lot good examples most of the time. I learn more from my TA than from her.
You do not learn anything by going to her lectures. Even if you get high scores on all the homework and writing assignments, you won't do well if you do bad on any of the midterms which are extremely difficult and do not correlate to what is in her lectures or the homework The most boring and difficult class I have ever taken, would not recommend.
There are pollevs in lecture that are required otherwise you lose points, but lecture is pointless since she just reads off the slides. She doesn't include examples or go into depth about material on exams/homework. You learn more on your own and TA section. 8:30 am lectures were so boring and not worth it. Do NOT take course if you don't have to.
Absolutely not. The concepts are not hard at all but she can't teach. She cannot even understand her own lecture material and constantly ask the class if she is right. If you want to attend pointless lectures watch a confused professor and then go home and teach yourself all the course materials then this class is perfect for you.
While the content itself was not hard, Prof. Knox did not teach it well. 60% of the grade are midterms which were 10x harder than hw/lectures/reading, and the math is barely taught until you take the practice exams. The class was more difficult than it had to be due to her teaching. Quiz sections are the only useful part of the class.
Lectures were pretty pointless, as she confused herself while reading from the slides, and overall was disorganized. 60% of your final grade come from two midterms, with the midterm content unrelated to lectures. The only thing that saved my grade was attending quiz sections and going to my TA's office hours to get help. Wouldn't recommend.
Melissa Knox is not the type of teacher you will make friends with. If you do watch the Panoptos, (which I highly recommend as attending in-person lectures at 8:30 am is cumbersome), get ready to hear her heavy breathing. She sometimes has difficulty answering questions when she seldomly offers students the opportunity to ask questions.
Self taught class for me. Knox organized class well imo--weekly updates abt what to do. Lectures have participation from PollEv but you can do online if you follow live recording. Use practice exams and study group to study for the 2 midterms! TA office hours helped me with hw assigns. Knox hard to follow but read textbook for clarity.
This class is just stressful. Just take some other econ professor. Trust me.
Literally worst professor ever. She doesn't know the content that she's teaching and her lectures are horrible. Lecture slides are exactly from the textbook that she made us read before class. Lectures are mandatory with Pollevs. I had a 92.3 in the class and she curved it to a 3.7. Do not take Econ 200 with Professor Knox.
she was helpful during office hours, and that's the only reason why she gets 2/5 instead of a 1/5. I got 92.5% and she gave me a 3.7, and a 95.5 is a 4.0 for the class this autumn quarter (4.0 changes depending on how well the class does). I think this is a weed out class or smt so dont take this class if ur not applying to foster or smt.
Melissa is a very organized professor, which I really appreciated. If you read the textbook that she assigns and do the homework, you have a good foundation to do well on the tests. If you like math like me, you will love this class. Melissa is a slow presenter so lectures can be pretty boring.
Prof. Knox puts effort and care into her lesson plans, but often has difficulty articulating concepts and her lectures can drag a bit at times. Studying the types of problems from past midterms and using online resources to self-study is essential to getting a good grade.
Very disappointed, my parents spent their savings for life to get me to college in America, then i received this poor level of education. Professor Knox does not care about her student, she does not like her job, past papers are full of mistakes, made a powerpoint 7years ago and use it till now. any one of the TA can teach lecture better than her.
I'm absolutely baffled by Melissa's teaching abilities and knowledge; she seems really clueless about economics and it rubs off heavily on her students who are left frustrated and stressed by her lack of helpfulness. Avoid if you can.
Knox is average, I like her as a person, all lectures can be done virtually which is nice at 8:30 am. She def wants us to succeed and the workload is manageable (two chapters and chapter quizzes, one hw assignment, a week; sometimes writing assignments). Overall manageable but I'm scared of the curve. Tests are hard - mostly taught in quiz section.
Prof. Knox and the class were very organized, and while her lectures can drag on a bit at times, she does get the necessary information across and if you actually go to lecture and do the reading/homework (pretty manageable workload), the class isn't excessively hard. She posts old exams which are your best bet for studying for the midterms
She is seriously the kindest person ever and was incredibly accommodating. However, her lectures were useless, and her exams were very difficult. It is impossible to succeed in her class. I passed with a 69%, and that's only because of my tutor, who essentially taught me ECON200 twice a week for 2 hours. Practice exams are very helpful for studying
Respectfully, I don't know what everyone is on about. I really liked Knox. She was very understanding and considerate. She cares about her students, and gives extensions on assignments and helps you out. One thing is that the lectures are just reading off the slides, so I recommend going to your TA section.
The students who wrote nicer reviews probably had the advantage of being good at math econ to begin with, as Melissa does nothing to help your knowledge of the subject in any way. She makes everything 100 more times confusing than it was in the textbook, from which she just lectures out of every week. Tedious and frustrating experience, must avoid.
Respectfully, Knox is a really frustrating professor because she doesn't know how to explain anything related to Econ, which only confused herself and the students. So much unecessary reading and homework, which you can barely do since she can't explain the concepts. But it gets even worse when it comes to the exams. Just avoid at all costs.
all she does is just explain the textbook in slides. She barely explains how to solve homework that'll show up in assignments. Go to quiz section and get close with your TA, ON GOD that's where the real learning happens. being in Melissa's lectures is pretty much a middle school teacher reading you a Geronimo stilton book during reading time. B.O
She has her own slides that summarize the content in the textbook. She teaches extremely slowly, and I absolutely cannot stay attentive in class. She pauses with every sentence she speaks. If you want to learn econ, DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!!!!!
I genuinely like Professor Knox. Her lectures may be hard to follow sometimes but she is very accessible outside of class time and her exams are pretty standard and clear. The homework is not too much and there are opportunities for extra credit. Would take her classes again.
She is a nice person Does not explain the content clearly and how she got the answer She Read off the textbook into the slide. YouTube, read the lengthy textbook. and go to TA is your best shot Planning to spend extra hours each day to get better grades if you have never taken AP micro. in high school and your math is average
Professor Knox has all the makings of a good teacher but is held back by her lack of actual teaching, which is a big hold back. Students are expected to read the textbook before heading to class, only for the Professor to regurgitate the exact same information back at them without any new content. Would only recommend taking if you need to.
Professor Knox is a kind and caring professor. However, I learned more from the textbook than from actual lectures. Her lectures are slideshows, which she zooms through, and it is hard to learn the course content and stay focused. I recommend going to quiz sections because they actually work through problems and concepts.
The teacher just rereads the chapter that was due before the lecture. Doesnt know the answers to most questions. Learned nothing from her lectures. Go to quiz sections.
I got a 4.0 in this class, but it's a complicated course and you need to study a lot. Lectures get boring, the #1 thing you NEED to do are the practice exams she provides, they help a lot. Homework was very specific, it didn't represent exam questions very well. Readings felt unnecessarily long / specific, but provided a good outline for lectures.
She was very nice but her lectures weren't the most useful. She just repeated the textbook so if you were confused on anything, best bet was to self study. The midterms were very easy and as long as you understand everything from the practice midterms she gives, you can easily get an A.
Perfectly adequate intro-level econ professor. Class was straight out of the textbook, and lectures were boring, but that makes some sense for a large, introductory class. The work isn't hard if you do the readings and pay attention in lecture, and the work is tedious but never hard to understand. Knox makes lots of resources available as well.
Your grade is very heavily based on exams and lectures are generally not informative. In my experience, you will need to read the textbook very closely to understand the course material as I didn't get much from lecture.
Easy class, but many topics feel mathematically unmotivated and imprecise as a result of the endeavor to avoid calculus like the plague. An acceptable teacher in her own right. Nothing particularly inspiring about her teaching, mostly directly draws from the textbook. She cares, but acts like a high school teacher when expressing it.
She seems to be confused by her own lecture slides.
She makes so many mistakes which confuses students
She has given incorrect examples at every single lecture she has given so far, confusing students.
She messes up once a day leaving everyone confused and doesn't really teach. Had to teach myself through the readings.
Knox's ECON200 class covers the material well, but lectures can feel dry. The textbook is crucial, and practice exams are essential for preparing. unstuck AI was a lifesaver - highly recommend using it alongside other study tools.
never prepared for class, always scrambling because she messed up her lecture slides, content does not meet the standard for what she expects on tests.
The teacher does not come to class prepared and her slides always have mistakes on them. She is not very helpful in office hours. The continent that is covered in class is a lot easier than what you see on problem sets and tests. The class does poll-everywhere as way to assign participation points.
Always makes mistakes in lectures
Professor always messes up in the lecture. Once in the lecture said, "my brain isn't working", when answering her own question.
Honestly, the worst professor I've ever had. She's always unclear and confused in class. DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS!
Read the textbook, do the practice problems, do the practice exams. She is just there to read off her outdated lecture notes.
she often does not engage in effective teaching. Many lectures feel unstructured and lack clear explanations of key concepts. While she is approachable during office hours, the class feels more like a collection of slides rather than an interactive learning experience.
If you need to take Econ200 DONT take it with Knox. She makes a ton of mistakes and confuses herself with her own lecture slides. It's honestly embarrassing and UW is doing their students a disservice having her on the faculty. If you have no other choice, some TA's are helpful but expect to teach yourself everything.
Professor reads over slides that are less helpful than just reading the textbook. Work independently if you want a good grade.
She does make a lot of mistakes on her slides, and was relatively unprepared for lectures this quarter due to trying out a new textbook. Lectures are largely going over the reading, but helpful for working through examples. You get points for attendance - kept track of with poll everywhere. Do the practice problems and you'll be fine
Professor Knox gets confused by her own slides every class which makes it nearly impossible to understand what she's teaching in class. Lectures are boring. Very strict on exams and isn't willing to easily work with students on rescheduling. Please don't take her class.
Professor Knox is very unprepared and unprofessional. She messes up on every slideshow she prepares for classes, does not seem to know what shes teaching and gives very difficult tests. The readings are fine but they just stack up a lot. Study guides do not match tests AT ALL so just study literally everything learned. Shes the worst professor ever
Horrible lectures, gets things wrong in class every day, usually at least twice per lecture. Homework is so confusing, went to office hours and she needed help answering her own homework. TAs are also not great, don't help during section at all. Good luck if you're planning on taking micro with her.
Doesnt have her lectures correct. Wrong information always
Subject is interesting. Class could be very engaging however her execution is horrible. Never seems prepared for lectures, long pauses in between slides. Sometimes the answers to questions/examples we work though in class are wrong. Practice problems don't match up to exams. Previous exams do not match up with current. Very confusing and scattered.
DO NOT TAKE HER. You'll learn more and save your GPA watching youtube videos. The worst teacher I've at UW
She gets her example questions wrong.
DO NOT TAKE HER, I PROMISE YOU. YOU ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT TAKING HER CLASS. I WARNED YOU...
the tests are very dumb she teaches one thing and puts another on the test, plus she messed up the equation sheet. L teacher overall do not take
Do not take this course the course is very disorganized. She teaches one thing and the tests are completely different. Lecture slides are also taken from the book.
And you thought paint drying on a wall was a bore? My goodness, her lectures could be used at Guantanamo. She doesn't seem to be coordinated, whether it's delivering her lectures, assigning the actual homework (wrong answers, wrong problems), or even solving her own problems. Try to avoid this class with her as the professor. You have been warned!
Her lectures were copied and pasted from the textbook and didn't help at all. She didn't seem to know what she was talking about and could barely teach her own slides. The exams she gave were absolutely nothing like any of the practice material she gave us. Try to avoid at all costs!!!!
This professor is genuinely just not fit to teach. I liked Econ previously, but Dr. Knox showing up every day with the wrong slides, answers, and reused problems from a curriculum she doesn't even teach is an issue and every class felt like a waste of time. I attended all my quiz sections and even TAs didn't know why her answers were always wrong.
I thought her lectures were far below par. However, her tests are relatively easy and are basically copied from the practice tests
For exams being 60% of the final grade, they are quite difficult and nothing like the practice exams she provides. She's kind, but sadly cannot seem to understand her own slides, often uses outdated presentations, or just has the wrong numbers. I would try to take this class with a different professor, or be prepared to do a ton of self studying.
Expect to teach yourself everything in this course. The lectures are not helpful and the textbook and problem sets are not enough to prepare you for the exams. The most helpful part of this class was the quiz section and even so, it felt rushed and unorganized.
Professor Knox wasn't helpful and didn't know how to teach the material. Her powerpoint would be a copy and paste from the textbook and her practice problems would be wrong. The TA's were way more helpful. There was no practice problems you could really do to practice for the midterms and the one that she created half the answers were incorrect.
Professor Knox struggles with communication and providing timely feedback on assignments. The TA's grading often lacked transparency, with references to materials like answer keys that were not made available to students. The course feels disorganized overall.
While there was some disorganization in lectures and incorrect practice problems, all of the materials and information was available to be successful. The course required some extra effort outside of lecture but the teacher is knowledgeable and cares.
Kept getting homework keys incorrect, horrible lecture, accused the whole class of plagarism because some people wrote their first writing assignment on supply and demand, which we "weren't supposed to know yet" despite the fact that econ is BS easy.
Didn't seem to know her material at all, always messed up her own lecture problems, didn't prepare us for the exams, and the practice tests were nothing like the actual ones.
I have never written a review here in my 4 years at this school but I have literally never had a worse professor. Granted I'm not a business major but she messes up practice exams, actual exams, and straight up is wrong about what she does and doesn't put on exams. Not to mention they're 60% of your grade.
The TA's teach the class. The only things I learned were from the TA's. She gets her own problems wrong all the time, and when someone asks a question she doesn't know how to answer it. It's nice knowing everyone else has the same problems with her. I wouldn't let her teach 2nd graders.
doesn't know what she's teaching
A lot of people complain about professor Knox but this class is not bad!! She does tend to get practice problems wrong but the key to success is to find a group of people you can work with to do the homework and make sure you study your TA worksheets and practice past exams and you will get an A as they are very similar to the actual exam!
does not actually teach anything, literally just repeats whatever is in the textbook. she messes up on her own lecture slides, and even messed up a problem on our first midterm that threw me and some others off. will not respond to your emails, so heavily rely on asking your TA's for help. overall, I have not learned a single thing from taking econ
Professor Knox deliberately doesn't have students fill out the UW course evaluation because even she knows how bad her reviews would be. She is so boring and unhelpful during lectures. Her slides, homework, tests, and equationsheets have all had numerous typos. If you handed her one of our tests, I guarantee she would fail.
I literally have a video of her drawing a question mark on a participation quiz slide that she wrote.
I kinda don't think she knows economics actually. Super unprepared for every class and makes a lot of mistakes with answer keys. You're gonna have to just read the textbook and teach yourself, concepts aren't difficult but you gotta lock in
I am warning you right now do not take this class with this professor. Her slides, homework, tests have errors, she even messed up questions on both of our midterms and confused everyone in the middle of tests. If you absolutely have to take this course get ready to teach yourself. Avoid at all costs.
Did not learn anything, tests were not related to material
I really wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and say that she is not as bad as everyone says, but unfortunately, I cannot. The exams were really difficult and unlike what we see in class; she set us up for failure. She messes up on almost everything, including actual exams. I do not recommend.
What other people say about this professor is true. Lectures are not related to tests and I felt like I had to teach myself much of the material through chat gpt or khan academy. This is a weed out course and if you don't need to take this, for the love of god don't take it.
Terrible. Sorry
terrible teaching and awful sense of professionalism
Dr. Knox consistently made mistakes during lecture, homework and tests alike. She sometimes struggled to answer the questions she presented during class, and I'm not sure there was a homework assignment all quarter without some kind of inconsistency or error. Class was dirt easy, I made it out with a 3.8 on almost entirely common sense.
not as bad as people say. just read the online textbook and do the practice tests. final and midterms were similar to the practice ones. do the homework and submit the 2 assignments on time. was pretty accommodating when I emailed her about issues outside the class. that being said, TA sections are still the most helpful part. go to them.
not as bad as people say, but not great. the online textbook is free. READ IT, do the homework, submit the 2 assignments on time, and go to TA quiz sections. some easy extra credit on both exams. she was accommodating for issues I had outside of class. none of the work was that difficult. exams were very similar to online practice ones
The majority of your grade is determined by the exams. The exams are heavily curved, so they aren't that bad. However, the exams are pretty difficult. In my class, the mean score for the final was around 45%. As long as you take notes and do the practice exams, you'll mostly be fine. Reading the textbook will help a lot, but it's not required.
I don't think it was Prof. Knox's fault this class is so difficult. If you show up to lectures, read the textbook, and take advantage of EUB tutoring, you can pass. I ended with a 70-something % which curved to a 3.5. Pay attention in class and you'll be fine.
Doesn't even understand her own problems she creates. She lacks a level of professionalism and does not teach. Might as well skip lectures and just stay home and have the textbook teach you
The way this course is structured (assignments, grading, etc) is not too bad compared to some other departments. However, Knox is a TERRIBLE professor; she has no idea what she is doing and her lectures are absolutely useless. Every single lecture there a mistake, and when she was blundering she was monotone and unclear. Take it with a TA section.
Didn't learn anything in this class. Lectures I found to be pointless. TA wasn't great either. My method of studying was trying to learn the practice midterm to best of ability --> we had a new textbook my quarter so everything had a lot of errors. Practice midterm didn't even have full solutions
Avoid her if you can. Very awful prof. would have give a negative rating if i can. dont know how is she still emplyoed
The class was super easy, though Melissa didn't really teach tbh.
NEVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AGIN.
Lots of textbook reading. Lectures I found to be pointless and boring half the time. TA wasn't great either... Can't skip a day of class because she said "idc abt ur doctors notes etc. everyone has one chance of not coming and starting from the second one, points deducted." (hm think about those that has surgery or smth)
Like she can't teach, she make you more confused after the explanation. I understand better when I'm trying to understand it my self. Something I hate about is when doing the poll, she don't post the QRcode or the name out for you to enter.
Lectures are completely useless, she is reading directly from the textbook, with the exact same practice problems. No in person office hours either
Great professor, was worried by the comments here, but after taking her class, Melissa is a great prof. She gives all the resources you need and practice exams are super similiar to the exam. She always has office hours and is super kind and knowledeable, and very approachable. Just make sure to go to class and quiz section, and you should be fine.
WHat she taught in lectures is soooo different with was tested during midterms. TA were bit more helpful. The powerpoints were so old.
Knox is honestly not as bad as these ratings seem. If you do everything that she assigns (readings, problems sets, writing assignments) you'll be fine. She can be confusing sometimes and even confuses herself when lecturing but its not terrible. I only went to one office hour before the exam but from what I can tell she was pretty helpful.
Genuinely a horrible person, makes consistent mistakes in lectures and fails to correct them. In exams she always announces midway that tells us she found a typo somewhere. Final grades were released right before deadline to go on transcript, meaning there is no time to regrade. Not quite sure how she passed her own bachelors. Worst prof so far
Lectures felt pointless...I genuinely only learned from YouTube and the textbook. Melissa consistently confuses herself and makes mistakes on slides. Unfortunately, my TA isn't much better. The only good thing is that the tests are pretty similar to the practice ones, and there are only 2 midterms (no final).
The worst teacher I've ever had. Her lectures are word-for-word with the textbook but both make super easy concepts super complicated because neither are good at explaining. Exams are worth 68% of our grade and there are only two of them, however they're similar to practice tests she provides. Problem sets are unnecessarily difficult (4hrs each)
Lectures consist of her being confused and repeating what's in the textbook, with required attendance for participation credit. 2 (hard) tests, worth more than 60% of your grade. HW is confusingly worded, with many questions where partial credit can be rewarded. TA is useless and quizzes in each quiz section. DON'T take this class if not necessary.
Knox is genuinely an awful teacher; the methods are dated, and it's not worth your time going to the lecture. I understood better by teaching myself. You need prof. Midnight if you don't have him you have should try and switch.
Everything that was taught in class is essentially verbatim from the textbook. I would barely consider it worth it to go to class since she doesn't clarify anything, and the majority of questions go unanswered. If you have options for professors when taking econ200 DO NOT TAKE IT WITH KNOX.
Changed a crucial formula midway through the final and lectures were never effective. Had to reattempt a large portion of my final, which led to me dropping the class. Would never recommend.
During lecture I wish I could throw myself off the balcony with how she gets her own problems wrong. Your whole grade depends on two tests that realistically aren't that hard, but somehow get graded like giving you anything besides the average will take money out of the TAs paychecks. Do not recommend and if you take he course god bless your soul.
Its possible to get a really good grade in this class if you just use the practice exams because its the same questions as the final. As far as her teaching, she doesn't know what she's talking about. She gets confused, her slides are a mess and just copies the textbook verbatim. Teach urself and you will pass.
Where do I even begin? Professor Knox has few examples so much easier than the actual exams. It had me questioning what the hell did I even learn. Little time on the actual examples, 90 percent of class time is yapping and bad handwriting.
lectures were basically just the readings so a bit boring, and she can come off as a little disorganized, but nothing crazy. honestly not that hard of class, just do ur readings and problem sets and I feel like you'll be fine. if u put in the effort, u wont fail lol
Take ECON 200 at CC or with Midnight!! She made mistakes every lecture and the only way I learned is by going to EUB Tutoring. The two exams are worth 64% of your grade so if you do bad on one of them, you're cooked. If you do take ECON 200 with her, make sure to look at previous exams, she doesn't change the format & asks the exact same questions.
Doesn't understand class material, even thought she is teaching the class. Super confusing when teaching and finals don't make sense. No help extended.
Horrible. As my first professor at UW I didn't have high expectations but after ending the class I feel like she should have even less than a 2.1/5. She easily gets confused in the middle of her lectures (the ones she makes...) and is not helpful at all when you have a question. If you want to learn just read the book.
The professor was going over materials very surface level with expectations on a deeper knowledge when doing homework or exams. Provided a textbook that was not related to her teachings whatsoever. Made the class way too confusing and hard to succeed even with many hours spent studying for it.
Slides are directly from the textbook she provides. Gets sidetracked often during lecture. She is okay at helping after hours, but it's usually not sufficient enough for midterms. Some of the sample midterms have incorrect answers/reasoning. It's best that you study with the textbook and practice a lot, her lectures aren't too helpful.
Honestly, she's not as bad as most reviews say. The topics that are covered are basic and easy to grasp. You mainly just have to be ready to read the textbook before lectures and you'll be fine. Her midterm and final are very similar to the study guides she provides, so as long as you can do those, you'll be good for the tests she gives.
Class seems to be taught backwards, covering intermediate concepts at the beginning and basic concepts like supply and demand at the end, causing unnecessary confusion and disconnect between concepts. Generally disorganized, unclear, and lacks confidence in material (constantly confuses herself in lecture). Each test is worth 32% – terrifying.
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