2.9
Quality3.8
Difficulty15%
Would Retake116
Reviews15%
Would Retake
116
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
27
4
24
3
19
2
23
1
23
What Students Say
“Really nice guy, loves economics”
ECO360 - 5.0 rating“I think class is over b/c I just woke up”
ECO312 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
51%
Textbook Required
69%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.20 avg changeRatings by Course
495
5.0
(1)ECO21131
5.0
(1)MICRO
5.0
(1)ECO360LABOR
5.0
(1)FIN312
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ECO613
5.0
ECON312
4.5
ECO480
4.2
ECONOMICS
4.0
ECO21131
4.0
Reviews (116)
Too geeked about economics. Teaches over classes heads. Will explain when asked.
He knows his stuff - can be boring - still a great teacher
VERY HARD.Talks and talks-doesn't ask questions to see if you're understanding
Great guy, very nice, but class is boring and monotonous.
Hard class, lectures are not the most interesting. Knows his stuff, but is hard
Very boring
Pretentious, avoid at all costs. Very unfair.
very boring, teaches above students level, difficult to understand
No Comments
EROGANT; TEACHES OVER STUDENTS HEADS; THINKS WE'RE ALL ECON MAJORS
Extremely involved exams, helps with comprehension of ECO information... study!!
Tough class. You better have a good grasp at Econ 200 if you take him.
lectures offtrack, voice trails off, runs through lectures too fast, never ready
Pretends like the class is easy, until you get your test back, you beleived him.
hard but not impossible - a stickler for precision
Very Hard. Don't take his class!
Gets a bad rap but doesn't deserve it.Smart and helpful professor. Take him.
ok, but has no business teaching
gives lots of extra credit. quizes are a breeze. just watch out for the exams they are very tricky.
Avoid taking. Lots of unbeneficial work. Not organized as far as assignments are concerned, just makes up lots of work for you as he goes. Difficult to plan for. He will answer questions though. In short avoid!!!
No Comments
Great Professor, willing to work with you. Can sometimes get off track, but a good class.
This guy is a bit boring but he gives lots of extra credit and the quizzes are really easy.
Better as an upper level prof. He assumes you know a lot of econ. He is funny and has realistic expectaitions of Grand Valley students
NOT A FAN
find another econ teacher
Very helpful professor. Overall, good class. Would take again.
not the best econ teacher...
He tries to make economics fun, but there is no hope. He is nice and homework is easy, but the exams are challenging.
Basically all power point slides, put on BB so if you miss it's no biggie. Homework is an easy 2 points (5% of your final grade). Nice guy but is boring more times than not.
ECON SUCKS!!! He is nice and willing to help, but his teaching is confusing.
Nice guy & willing to help if you're stuck on anything, but the exams are really hard. Class is really boring, and he sometimes rambles making it hard to follow. Be willing to work.
Very, Very helpful. Really not as hard as everyone says, just suck it up and put some time into it.
Good prof, gives good grades. He is helpful and the class is fun.
WOW, what an awesome professor. Totally loves what he does, extremely helpful. The man is hilarious. Overall, i would take him again if I could. Sicilian rocks!True tests are hard but he does prepare you for it and if you study you will do fine.
Sicilian is awesome. He made me love labor econ. After the first test you are fine. Study the review sheet he preps and you will be fine. This prof is awesome, loves his topic and totally knowledgeable on it. And his is funny. Definitely made me to wanna go to his class. It was an 8:30am. Tak
He is a good professor. Class is not that hard, it you come to class and study you will do fine. He is a little boring but he is really nice and helpful. One of my better teachers.
Very nice guy, enjoys what he teaches. Not grade for attendance. Not really hard, but not really easy either. Don't like Econ, thought his class was bearable..
Really, really nice guy. Knows ECON is boring and is ok with that. Really helpful when you need extra attention. Tries to make it interesting and easier to understand.
Really nice guy. Class was really easy, but it's Econ. He did try to make it interesting though. Drops lowest exam score and quiz score.
Great guy, great sense of humor, and completely understanding of the fact that econ is tough and a lot of us are just taking it as a gen ed. Drops lowest test score and quiz score, and homework is graded credit/no credit. Attendance not required. Lectures are pretty clear, and he's very willing to help. Overall, just a great prof.
Been teaching too long. He can't teach. He thinks everyone loves econ and treats everyone like they are being groomed as econ majors. AVOID
This is my 2nd time having him, and this class is much easier than the 200 level. His quizzes/exams can be a little tricky, but he's REALLY helpful if you ever have any questions so take advantage of that!
overall it was pretty good, test were short essay and pretty easy. In class was boring, and he doesn't makes sense a lot of the time. You should have some knowledge of ECO before taking though. He assumes a lot.
Nice guy. Class is kind of hard and boring but he does a good job teaching it.
The first thing the professor states, "This class will be hell." What he meant by this, was that he was going to make a perfectly legimate subject and make it hell for his students. Unfortunately, I cannot recommend taking this course with Sicilian at the helm.
He makes this class very hard to understand. It is perfectly easy class, if you read the book, but his exams are only off of what he teaches, and he makes that very difficult. He can never give a direct answer to a student that has a simple question. He really doesn't understand how to TEACH. Difficult class, but not very much work for it.
I've had Sicilian before and he's been great, but he just isn't up to the difficulty and depth of material covered in this course. He wastes far too much time in lectures with poor communication and so has to speed past the things that matter. This course is primarily statistics and should be taught by a math prof with a little econ background.
This class was marked with a general malaise on whether I learned anything or not.
Loved this class, he is hilarious! Super nice guy, enthusiastic, always willing to answer questions even if he just explained what the person is asking about. He is a picky grader, but he gives a straight A for 90 and above. Many people don't bother to show up for class, which is probably why so many people think he's so difficult.
Nice guy. Willing to help when asked. Could do more calculations and less power points though. Grades harsh on exams for minor errors. Very vague about exam topics for only 3 exams, so a lot of material needs to be studied for each one.
Prof. Sicilian was a nice guy who is passionate about economics, but he does have trouble communicating the principles. He can get side tracked and ramble at times. Overall I understood and still did good in the class, but the tests are at least part essay and you need to know what you are doing.
Seems like a good guy. His lectures make the material easier to understand, but he doesn't seem that organized, e.g. he'll say he will post something and forget. His exams are part m/c and part essay, so you have to know the stuff. Weekly homework that counts toward your grade and two writing assignments. Overall, not bad...I'd take him again.
Helpful, and wants his students to be successful. His class is difficult but if you know look over the review sheets he post on blackboard you should do fine.
.............I think class is over b/c I just woke up!!!
I love the previous review!!!Paul is extremely scatterbrained and you have to take everything he says with a grain of salt. If you're really interested in ECO, he's a great prof. If you just want to get ECO credits outa the way, probably not the best choice. I personally enjoyed his class.
prof. is a really nice guy but he does have problems staying focused on material in class. not very good w/ explaining in class but amazing at clarifying if you go to his office hours. thats the only way i understood the hw. i only used the book to reference graphs and do the hw.study his online review sheets and re-do hw problems for exams.
Decent class. Kind of boring, but at least professor is always smiling.
he knows his**** but sometimes in class will stray away and start talking about something completely irrelevant, then he realizes hes only got 10 minutes left. i think its cuz he overly enthusiastic about economics and wants to tell us everything about it, even when its not relevant to class.dont take him in the morning and avoid 1 hour classes wi
Awful class. He's a bearable person but he jumps around a lot in class. You'll go into the tests with confidence and come out defeated. The tests are very tricky and, for me, no amount of studying helped.
Really nice guy, loves economics! He is always willing to answer questions even if he just explained what the person is asking about. Gives partial points on wrong answers to questions. Show up to class, do the homework/readings and you're basically guaranteed to get at least a B!
Nice guy, very enthusiastic. However, he sometimes gets off topic and confuses ECO 495 (Capstone) with ECO 480 (Econometrics). It's helpful to have econometrics before taking 495 because STATA is used frequently but it's not necessary. Otherwise, he's very helpful and the class was two projects on economic impact studies plus homework. No tests.
Challenging class, learned a lot about using regression analysis. I wish it was more mathematical based, instead of just believe this to be true. Plenty of stats, some math and econ. Helps to take this class before ECO 495. For any serious econ major you should take this or even finance majors for time-series data. Not a GPA booster.
nice guy and knows his stuff but this class is impossible in the summer.it would be helpful to know calculus before taking this, i never took it and struggled.the material is overwhelming in a longer class. do not take in the summer! most people fail the majority of quizzes.
Professor Sicilian is a great professor, his lectures are clear and helpful. Tests were not incredibly difficult, extra credit was available (which helps a lot). To do well, you must attend class.. it's the only way to know whats going on. I would take him again for 312.
A professor that truly loves economics. He is my favorite teacher and probably one of the best econ teachers GVSU has to offer. This class is hard but you learn a ton. He teaches you some calc and recaps stats in the beginning.Plan on spending 20+ hours on each of the 2 group projects.He is very helpful with email responses.throw the book away.
Worst Econ Professor I have had at GV. Can't keep his lectures straight, forgets his lecture slides, and he spends most of his time talking about subject material he covers in other classes that isn't related to what he is teaching. I attended every class and I still had to teach myself all the material.
Prof. Sicilian is by far the best econ professor at GV. This course does not require any calculus as some students claim. I never opened my book, paid attention in class and got an A in the course. Sicilian is very helpful outside of class as well. Take any class you can get with him! I learned a lot!
Fantastic professor, he loves the subject and he's great at explaining the material. Book is used for homework problems, offers some extra credit. He's very helpful . and he's absolutely hilarious. I took him once, and I'll be taking him more, best prof i've had at GV.
One of the best professors at GVSU. I am a senior finishing up my economics majors and have had professor Sicilian for 4 of my classes. His classes are challenging but never leave you feeling overwhelmed. He knows his stuff and is more than willing to help out students.
The Economics Professors at GVSU are terrible. The old school methods of teaching don't do the students any favors. P. Sic. was the best even though I switch my major as soon as I realized there was no... real world application involved.
Paul was honestly one of the worst professors I have ever encountered. His slides are extremely useless and he mentions formulas that are not in the book, nor on the exams. The subject matter is challenging alone, but Professor Sicilian takes things to a new level. I found I was better off reading the chapters myself rather than taking notes.
If you can avoid it, do not take a class with Paul. His slides are extremely useless, as well as bland. He goes off on tangents throughout his lectures, that have nothing to do with the subject matters. Also tends to get nervous while lecturing, and in turn is not effective.
Professor Sicillian was one of the worst professor I have ever had. The class was needlessly difficult and he would teach us things we didn't need to know for the tests or exams. I have never studied harder than I did in his class. I spent at least an hour in his office everyday before class and studied a lot outside of class. I failed. Do not take
Worst professor I have ever had. He's a nice guy, however his teaching methods are the worst I have ever experienced in any school I've ever been in. Literally anyone else on the planet could've presented this material to me in a less confusing way. Tests and quizzes are comprised of surprise material that is not on study guides.
He might have ADD. He jumps around talking about many different topics at one time. He draws a bunch of graphs on the board and class can get confusing. I had class during his office hours so I don't know how helpful going to them would have been.
This prof is so hard to understand and doesn't seem to care about how the students are doing in the class. One of the hardest classes I've taken here at GV. Would not recommend.
Tough class, his lectures are long and he stumbles on his words a lot. Loves to use graphs and clalculus so if your not great at math don't take this class
Professor Sicilian is great at making a difficult subject easy to understand. There is no homework throughout the entire course, and for his tests you can choose which answers you would like to answer. It definitely makes things easier for this difficult subject.
He was very hard to listen to lecture. He rambles and gets nervous a lot while he is speaking and gets off topic quickly. He loves what he does and know a lot about economics, he just isn't good at explaining it. If you aren't an economics lover, I wouldn't recommend!
He doesn't care that nobody understands the material, and that the whole class is failing his quizzes. Tells us to get it figured out before the exam
There are literally 8 grades in the entire class and if you do the "extra credit" he drops your SECOND lowest quiz. He talks forever and you cannot even follow it because he is goes off on tangents. You will NEVER get out early. Do not take him unless you want your life to be a living hell.
DO NOT TAKE if you aren't an economics major or interested in this information. He jumps around and gives practices questions that have nothing to do with the actual quizzes and exams. My class continuously did terrible and he didn't do anything to help us out. Take any other professor
Teaches with graphs but tests on conceptual concepts. Doesn't care if the class average for a test was 67% and blames the students. No extra credit available. If you do poorly on the tests you're in major trouble. He knows the info but is terrible at explanation. Avoid if possible. Class is passable but with a lot of extra work
I took Professor Sicilian for my senior econ project and learned almost nothing in his class. He has a hard time staying on topic and often jumps from tangent to tangent making it almost impossible to listen to him lecture. His grading criteria is very unclear and he grades tough. Avoid if possible!
I really liked Professor Sicilian. At first, he was a little difficult to follow, but he responds quickly when you email, and he is very accessible if you go to get some extra help. DO NOT hesitate to use office hours if you are struggling!! He gave me some great suggestions when I was struggling with a particular concept, and I got it.
495 will be a pretty tough class no matter who you take it with. Unfortunately GVSU requires econ majors only take theory classes until this very last one, so it can be somewhat difficult. Sicilian is fine. He can't complete a thought, and before he knows it a 15 minute chat takes the entire class. Lots of homework from book. Project isn't bad.
Explains concepts very well, gives plenty of extra credit, is lenient on grading. He can be a little combobulated at times but will always make an effort to help students.
He gets off topic, but lectures are important. The info in lecture is exactly whats on test, and he'll always give extra help. The class is interesting, but only really graded by tests and one project. Make sure you can explain things well. Didnt use book alot; you can get away w/ sharing to save money. Always ask for clarification, hes super nice.
Professor Sicilian means well, but his lectures are all over the place and soooo hard to follow. He gets sidetracked very easily and is the most unorganized professor I have ever had. I ended up doing well in the class because I love econ and am good at it, so don't take him if you aren't either of those.
Not the best professor he seems nice and knows what he is talking about but a horrible teacher. I took him as a hybrid but all his lecture videos are all over the place. Barly goes over any examples in the text or in class. very graph and calculus heavy. Just avoid not worth taking even if he's the only teacher for the semester your better of wait
I have ECO 495 entirely online. We are using R and he does not explain how to do the assignments in his lecture videos. If you ask questions, he seemingly gets angry at you. I am an economics major and not a computer science major, so I do not know how to code in R. He also made us buy a book he only mentioned in the syllabus and not in banner.
This is the most confusing, unorganized classes I have ever taken. I am genuinely sad that this was my econ capstone course as I have learned next to nothing. If you like R you may enjoy this class. Paul cares and does try his best, it's just that he's not great at teaching... Take anyone else if possible.
Professor typically gets off track during class, but the class is immensely easy.
He does a pretty good job explaining topics and jargon. Had a few small extra credit options. Overall an okay professor.
Basically speaks fluent in graphs making it very hard to understand ever. Study the graphs is all you need to know. Course material isn't hard but I don't want to have this professor again.
He is available outside of class. I found his lectures to be good, however, needs more real-life and hw examples at times he talks in jargon making it difficult to follow. Class was online so I could pause what he was saying so that helped a lot. He does not use textbooks and assigns a group essay. He is caring and is a decent professor.
Paul tends to ramble on and doesn't cover anything that is related to your homework or final project. This is one of the most unorganized courses I have taken at Grand Valley. He is the only professor available for the capstone which is a shame because the Eco 300 professor was outstanding.
Nice guy, awful professor. Rants about irrelevant topics mid-lecture and when he does "lecture" he does it in a way as if he's assuming everyone has taken an economics course. There's a homework assignment every week as well as an extra credit opportunity which is nice. Jacob Clifford on Youtube is the only way I'm learning the content
This class was by far way harder than it needed to be. Paul gets off topic in class CONSTANTLY and he also is always behind. Even with teaching yourself through the textbook, you still will have a tough time on quizzes and tests because it is mostly based on PowerPoint, which often is tough to decipher. Nice guy, just not a great professor.
He seems to care and know a lot about the material but seems to struggle to explain it. The whole class is just listening to him talk and looking at slides. There is a problem set every week, but they still don't help to understand much. We had 4 quizzes, 3 exams, and 1 big project. He goes off and talks about random things a lot.
I can see that Paul is a nice guy, but an awful professor. He rambles on and goes off topic a lot, and the course is so unorganized compared to other classes I am taking. He tends to speed through his Powerpoints without actually teaching anything. The entire course is so hard to learn with him as a professor. Very sweet man though.
Knows a lot about the topic, but is not good at explaining things & teaches as if you've taken an economics course before. Very "my way or the high way" kind of grader & will mark you down lots if you don't explain something EXACTLY as he wants it. I met with him in office hours once to go over a test & he was condescending to me and about my work.
Great guy, just didn't teach the subject well. The tests and quizzes were difficult and if you didn't write something the exact way he wanted it, he could mark you down. His lectures are also a little boring so it was hard to pay attention which didn't help.
Avoid
Unfortunately, this is the final professor for ECON majors at GV. Paul is not good at lecturing, gets sidetracked every 2 minutes, and makes it hard to sit through a class. There is little value added in this class. The standard at GV needs to be higher than just having a nice guy as the professor, especially for a capstone.
Loves to tell stories and falls behind in class. Hard to understand what he is saying because he talks super fast and when writing on the board it is hard to read. Don't recommend taking this class. Loves to use the word jargon.
He loves to go on tangents and cram everything left at the end of the semester, I hated this class. He isn't a bad person, but tests and quizzes are very hard. He will go on tangents and after go "I don't know why I told you that..." His power points are nice, but he goes through them quickly. He is hard to understand and pay attention to.
He constantly forgets what he's talking about in class which only causes more confusion along with the lack of clarity. Its obvious that he has a passion for the subject, but it seems that he forgets that no one else knows what he's talking about. He only looks for specific answers so nothing you say is right. Very frustrating class.
Was a bit sporadic, but a generous grader. Will have to learn some things on your own.
Professor can go on tangents and grade harshly, but the content is interesting. Unstuck Study AI was a lifesaver for comprehending the material and preparing for exams.
Prof Sicilian is terrible! The lectures are not helpful whatsoever and have no relevance to the work he assigns. He also does not include point values in the syllabus and you are left wondering if you will even pass if you are struggling. Quizzes are hard and worded horribly. R studio is not taught well by him. I had to learn using other resources.
Rambles about stories that are not clearly related while using heavy niche vocabulary (jargon). I went to the office hours of a dif. Econ prof to learn the material and be successful in this class. The exams have multiple choice and short answers and don't come back quickly. The professor is disorganized in his lectures. Be ready to teach yourself.
Paul is a great guy. Very kind and funny. However, the class is very tough. The class uses R studio the whole time - and he expects you to already be a master at it. Spent many hours a week to get a C on homework assignments. Quizzes were difficult - but the final paper is not too bad. Unfortunate that this is the capstone for Business Econ majors.
This capstone is a stats class. All semester was R Studio regressions with no discussion of the Fed, macro trends, or the current government shutdown's impacts. With so much happening in the economy, the narrow focus was disappointing. As my last class at GV, it leaves me with a bad taste. Paul's a great guy, awful curriculum for a Econ capstone.
This professor actually cares about this subject and enjoys teaching. He reads right from a powerpoint so lectures are boring. We used mcgraw hill for all of our homework and you got three attempts per problem, and it took your average score. Quizzes were hard, but you would know what was going to be on them. Chat gpt was my best friend.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
51%
Textbook Required
69%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.20 avg changeRatings by Course
495
5.0
(1)ECO21131
5.0
(1)MICRO
5.0
(1)ECO360LABOR
5.0
(1)FIN312
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ECO613
5.0
ECON312
4.5
ECO480
4.2
ECONOMICS
4.0
ECO21131
4.0