3.2
Quality2.7
Difficulty32%
Would Retake179
Reviews32%
Would Retake
179
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
179 total ratings5
53
4
42
3
26
2
36
1
22
What Students Say
“He's a nice guy but a bad teacher”
PSYCHO104 - 2.0 rating“Though he does adjust marks and curve it as everyone always does terrible”
PSYCH104 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
22%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.94 avg changeRatings by Course
PSYCHB1
5.0
(1)104
4.3
(3)PSYCH105
4.3
(3)PYSC104
4.0
(1)PSYCH114
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
PSYCO0000
5.0
PYSCO372
4.0
PSYCH-313
4.0
PYSCH104
3.5
PSYC104
3.4
Reviews (178)
awesome prof
energetic!
He gave me an appreciation for psycology.
well, I took psyc 105, so he must have been good!
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AMAZING prof!! Made me WANT to come to class, very enthoused, great examples!
Great prof... funny, and interesting! =)
He made a boring subject a little more interesting. His bouncing around and mountain climbing anecdotes were really entertaining!
DUDE you ROCK!!!!!
Hurd's a great guy, one of my favourites.
crazy funny strange guy! great stories that made the class super intereesting
Hyper guy but did not seem prepared for this course. Explanations of some topics were vague. Found the course boring. Pete is alright.
v.v. hot! Funny, crazy, compassionate towards the numb-nuts.
Funny guy, very nice exams and just an overall great prof. Makes you want to come to class.
funny~ fair exams
Crazy! But in a good way!
Best prof ever. Made me change my major.
Very amusing, captivating guy. He has a real personality. Made me want to continue with psych. Thanks man!
Hilarious, engaging, and likeable. Very good at explaining concepts. His lecture slides are great, esp for visual learners. He treats his class as peers and equals. VERY easy on the eyes ;)
Absolutely hilarious guy. Won't catch him lecturing without a coffee in one hand. Good enthusiasm and informative, although lecture topics sometimes differ from actual test material.
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Excellent and hilarious prof...loves teaching, and if he doesn't, he sure fooled me. I recommend him over any professor.
awesome! this guy is totally hilarious and engaging. brought in a video tape he made of his dog showing classical conditioning! he is the reason i am considering majoring in psych!
Awesome guys! knows his stuff, makes it interesting! Really jumpy guy! I highly recommend him!
Totally awesome. Cracks fun jokes, played videos of his dog to demonstrate topics - made psych cool. Midterms and final were very well written and you know what's expected of you.
Awesome prof! Totally funny. Makes the class soo much more enjoyable.
I love him.He is a punk at heart and talked about Black Flag in his class. Any prof. who does that has my vote. Anyways, he is very energetic and helps kids with ADHD (like me) keep focused. NOTE: this doesn;t mean that the class is easy, studying is a must.
very very awesome! and such a cutie, must be all that coffee. The lectures are extremely interesting, and the course content rocks
Interesting prof BUT...totally incomprehensible when he tries to explain things by the textbook. You might as well not come to class-he tests straight out of the textbook - word for word practically.
He was highly recommended to me, but I don't see what all the fuss was about. He could be funny and interesting, but he could also be deathly boring and confusing. The tests weren't awful, but they certainly weren't easy.
A fantastic teacher. The course itself is pretty boring and you could honestly teach it to yourself. However, I go to class because Pete is hilarious.
Easy course, easy prof. He is extremely funny, however he is a bad professor, just read the book and you will be fine. No need to even go to lectures.
No need to go to his class. Just read the textbook! The tests can be tricky at times, but know the textbook inside out and you can't go wrong. He is really hyper and pretty weird at times, but can be enjoyable. Interesting guy, but when he explains things he speaks to the floor.
Great prof! Some of the lectures were a snooze, but for the main part he made them entertaining and funny. He doesn't carry that snobby PhD arrogance that a lot of other profs have. His nots are useless and the tests are a JOKE if you just read the text. Great guy, awesome class.
Loved this prof! He was always interesting and actually made me want to get up and go to class... very entertaining.
Hurd is on of the best profs!He's very jumpy, very cute and very helpful.I didn't miss any of his lectures!He makes such a boring material pretty interesting and funny.But his exams are not so easy.Compared to other psych profs he's the best!I really miss his lectures
Dr. Hurd is the most hilarious professor I have ever had. He drinks about 10 cups of coffee before coming to class and has so much energy. You'll never fall asleep in his class, nor would you want to. His exams are so easy. For the first midterm of the semester, go over the practice tests. At least 10 qs are from that. A great and dynamic person!A+
Professor Hurd is hilarious! He jumps around and talks a lot with his hands. He is very energetic, but his slides and lectures can be confusing sometimes, cause he'd jump around from example to example. All in all a good prof.
Ok, I understand that it's good to keep the class entertained, but I'm not paying 500 bucks to see this guy bounce around the room and talk at the speed of light. His notes are useless. School isn't supposed to be entertaining, it's there to teach you, and so far I haven't learned anything from this clown.
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Okay. This guy is so intent on being cool, that he has failed to realize this is not a requisite characteristic for a professor. Calm down man.
At first I liked him, thought he was cool, funny and interesting. Then I realized he was a bit much, well a lot much. Now he just annoys me. I think he is a good professor, but he really lacks in professionalism.
yeeeeah.
sucks
He is a nice guy, but sometimes can go overboard with his crazy antics. His notes told you what you had to study, they did not explain anything. When writing the exams, I really did not feel well prepared after sitting in his class. Entertaining at times, but he needs to focus on teaching the required stuff.
Although his lectures are a little difficult to understand, he explains examples from the text well. You have to go through the text in his class, which isn't too bad. He's hilarious though! I had a riot in his class.
Class is entertaining, but you dont learn anything. Sleep in every now and then and you won't be behind! Basically you have to read the textbook to understand topics and prepare yourself for exams. Class averages are usually pretty high even though midterms are a little tricky.
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The notes suck, you wont learn anything from them, so read the text book. If you know your vocabulary you will do fine. Nice guy though who loves the subject. You will generally like psyche if he is your prof. because he makes you want to like it.
Easy class, but don't expect to do well without some effort. I found him annoying, so don't bother attending class--read the text book in the time instead, since there is a total of one question all year that is not taken from it. Absolutely useless.
Notes are not overly helpful but he makes the intro psych material as interesting as it could be. Great lecturer to large groups; you'll probably enjoy going to class
Brutal. Going to his class was a waste of time. The notes were useless along with his lectures. Just read the text.
I went to 3 classes during the entire semester and ended up with a B. Read the textbook the night before and write down all the definitions and you'll be fine.
effing hilarious. pete was the best. if you want to do good in the course, just get a hang of the text and you'll be fine, you dont really need to go to the classes, but its bloody entertaining. best prof ive had so far.
Pete is a prof that really cares about what he's teaching, and he's hilarious. Sometimes he does try too hard though. His notes don't add anything to the text, so there's no point in going to class. I stopped going halfway through the course and still did very well. Same with most people I know. The curve in this course is killer, so watch out!
his classes were a WASTE OF TIME. it was so boring. yes he was funny here and there but that's not enough to be a good teacher. He mumbles a lot so basically to get a good mark, just read the text book and know the material inside out. The course itself is easy.
Absolutely hilarious prof. You don't really need to come to class, just read and know your textbook really well and you'll do fine. He mostly repeats the notes in class, and half the time in a rushed incoherent way, but he makes you laugh (he loved to use the word "goulie"), so if nothing else you can attend to get your dose of daily entertainment.
He tried too hard to be funny. It was too much sometimes. Sometimes you begin to wonder if his craziness is an act or for real. He mumbles at the end of his sentences. Wasnt boring...he had funny examples. Just read the text book. His class is interesting than other PSYC classes but it also means a lot of work...since his notes are crap
FUNNY guy. Be sure to read the Textbook, its where ALL the exam questions seem to be from.
probably one of the wikidest prof's i've had. sooo hilaroius so you want to come to the class and u remember his jokes while memorizing so it helps a lot esp during his exams. collaborates text and lecture notes so its not too bad! awesome prof tho!
Great entertainment but the material itself was pretty dry. Don't rely on his notes from WEB CT as they are 80% catch phrases and inside jokes that need to be explained during his routine in class. If you want to do well, either commit to going to class or know the textbook inside out. His exam questions are from the online textbook exam bank.
he is so unprofessional it's ridiculous. Sometimes Pete, you can keep it too real.
I gave up trying to decipher the nonsense in his notes after exactly one lecture; rode the textbook to an A. He's a smart guy for sure, you've got to give him credit for that. Just not the best at teaching. He's the Janne Niinimaa of teaching. Will spaz and turn a simple concept into an impossible journey in only a matter of seconds.
Makes psych interesting! What a fantastic prof!
Pete is the nicest guy, and has the best stories but infortunately his class is all stories. The guy is brilliant but has trouble getting points across. His notes are awful and completely useless, I get all my info from the textbook for exams, you would probably fail if you just used his notes. I am so glad this class is over.
Horrible prof who mumbles too much. His notes are useless and full of slangs. Even if you go to class, they still don't make sense. Too lazy to reply to his emails or update his notes from last year. Would not recommend him.
by far the best teacher so far. he's really into what he teaches, and the classes were consistantly full from beginning to end of the term. the only class where i haven't fallen asleep once. haha pie in the face was hilarious
Worst prof ever. He needs to learn to be responsible of students' learning and learn how to teach. Notes don't make any sense and a waste of time to go to class. Rarely replies to his emails and very irresponsible. I would not recommend him for any courses.
This was my favorite class. Let's make something clear - you don't go to his lectures primarily to learn - just to relax and get a good laugh. I like that. His notes are a joke. But that's okay, because if you read the textbook thoroughly, you are almost guaranteed to do fine in his class.
I enjoyed his classes when I went. I agree with the others that going to the class seemed sometimes a waste of time, but we're supposed to read the text anyways (that we paid $ for), so what's the problem, at least he makes it interesting. It is also an intro course that a lot of people use as a fill-in for credits, so what's a prof supposed to do?
I started doing really well when i stopped going to class because what he says in class is a waste of time and is basically crap you dont need to know...I know reading textbooks is bogus but that's all he tests on..and most of his questions are from the online website to the old textbook
I agree, he is irresponsible and his notes suck. But the man is a great teacher. He has incredible passion for psychology and he is the next Jim Carrey. The man is absolutely insane and hilarious. He uses real life funny examples which really help to remember material if you attend class. But it really isn't necessary. Caffeine, bestest drug ever.
Fun class to attend, although I didn't attend many, haha. Study the textbook A LOT.. Do the practice exams.. Otherwise, I found it to be pretty easy. Really nice guy, funny personality, and gifted at teaching. One of my most enjoyable classes during my first semester.
He is totally unprofessional. He needs to work on that.
Easy class, and even easier tests. Very funny guy! a little bit hard to understand because he mumbles alot, but he makes the class interesting.
Hilarious guy, makes you want to go to class
Well, I don't get why everyone saying that his test are easy as I found them pretty hard, tricky maybe I should say... Class is sometimes entertaining, sometimes its horrible, its like you sit there for 50min and didnt learn anything. Lazy prof.
Boring class. The curve kills, you get a eighty something and thats still a B+.
Hilarious and entertaining. His unprofessional manner makes the class easygoing, but doesn't get in the way of learning. Definitely a favorite.
Very interesting classes!
I loved this prof. His enthusiasm is infectious. He has so many stories. He's the reason I loved coming to class, he had us all laughing so often.
Amazing prof really!~ He needs to work on his notes though. He makes lectures really funny and entertaining. Rather than going to the movies, take his class! The curve does kill though but I'm sure if you buy him a coffee, he'll give you an A. This guy drinks A LOT of coffee. I'm surprised he hasn't died of a seizure from caffiene overdosage.
if i were you I would pick another prof...unless you like learning everything yourself
The worst prof I have ever had. He does not know how to teach. Going to class is an absolute waste of time. That being said, he can be funny and the textbook is very good. But you will have to learn everything yourself. The good thing is that the material is very easy. I would recommend taking his class only as a last resort.
His notes did not make sense. his lectures are pointless because it's straight out of the textbook except for a few things he might use in his exams.
yes, he's VERY funnny. however, most of the learning is easier to do from just reading the textbook. tests are not too bad as long as you do the readings you'll be fine.
His lectures and notes are useless. Going to class is an absolute waste of time. His exams are based purely on the textbook and his notes are terrible.
Why go to the class when you test on the text that you don't refer to in class? Why even make lecture notes? I stopped going to class to avoid his random shouts and squeals that seemed to delight the first years. If you have any desire to learn Psychology then get out of this class. PS get off your skateboard.
He was a funny professor and all but the class was pretty pointless to go to. The tests were completely based on the textbook. The class was definitely a good break from other classes though. It made the day go a bit smoother.
Super funny. I love the class.
Good stories and interesting lecture...that has nothing to do with his tests. Don't go to class, don't look at lecture notes. Learn/memorize straight from textbook.
Great prof, really interesting. Provides personal stories as examples that are entertaining and occasionally help. Tests are decent, if you review the textbook you're fine. Highly suggest for a first year psych class.
Don't listen to what these people say... For our final, Peter is making a lot of it based on WHAT WAS SAID IN CLASS. So read the textbook, and go to lectures so you don't get screwed over. Oh btw, Hurd was a pretty good prof =)
His lectures were kinda random. I didn't really ever go to class, but it depends what kind of a learner you are. Know the textbook really well and glance over his lecture notes to see if anything there's anything that's not covered in the textbook and you have no reason not to do well.
Well going to class is absolutely useless if you are trying to learn. If you just want mild entertainment, then I would go. New textbooks this year though and he still tested on the old text for midterms which was frustrating. Final based on new text though & was one of the easiest tests I have ever written.
Lectures are completely random, as are his notes. Read the entire textbook for exams. Watch for a few questions that are not in the textbook or from his lectures. Funny guy though
This guy's first mid term was easy... it was strictly text book memorization. On the second midterm, he used questions from an older text book which he did not specify was used for his course at the beginning of the year. The class average was fail and if it wasnt for the curve i would have. He made it up in the final though. EASY straight up tex
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Good luck trying to decode his notes. Study the textbook, although if you happen to catch him on a bad day he will make the exam from a textbook the class isn't using.
Peter Hurd is probably one of the most interesting professors there is. He constantly likes to share anecdotes, but he tends to get off topic and eventually you're not sure what the point to the story was. I recommend copious amounts of studying the textbook, with particular focus on experiments.
Excellent, engaging professor. Really passionate about what he does. Highly recommend for first year of Psych. Lectures are hilarious but have no relevance when it comes to the tests, study the textbook inside and out.
He was a very interesting prof and included a lot of good examples from his personal research and experience. Go to his classes but be sure to read the textbook thoroughly. Most of his questions are from the textbook company.
Overall a fairly decent teacher. His lectures tend to go off topic at times, and the textbook is highly recommended throughout the entire course. His exams are about 90% based on the textbook, 5% from his notes, and 5% from verbal information.
Peter Hurd is an extremely dynamic professor and puts a lot of effort in to teaching. You can get by in this course just by reading the textbook (which is a really great textbook by the way), but my friends and I went to class just to see his antics. Really great guy.
Absolutely terrible at teaching and talks about the most random things in his lectures; basically going to class is extremely pointless. He's lecture notes are all over the place and really hard to understand and I think he focuses to much on being funny. Exams were easy if you study. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE TEXTBOOK INSIDE AND OUT!!
Great prof! The nature of the course means that you'll spend your time learning the textbook and not his lecture notes, so attendance is not mandatory. Learn the textbook inside and out and his tests are fairly easy. Even though going to class may not be necessary, he is such an entertaining and animated prof that it can still be interesting.
He tells entertaining stories and is extremely charismatic, but his notes aren't helpful. It's usually not necessary to go to class because most of the questions on the exams are straight from the text. On the bright side it's easy to get a good grade if you're willing to read and memorize the text and he's hilarious. Overall, I really liked him.
I'm going to miss MWF's with Peter Hurd since he was my secret crush, you WILL go to class because he is such a babe you will just want to stare at him all day and also he's hilarious so whats not to love? On another note, STUDY THE TEXTBOOK and go to class because he will test on obscure things he talks about like "anogenital distance" ;)
Talk about a crazy, funny, eccentric, cool guy. He makes it worthwhile to learn the stuff and makes it out to be interesting (which it is). His lecture notes aren't full, but just read the textbook. I'm definatly going to miss sitting in the front row and watching him spill his coffee when he was telling an exciting story... Gunna miss ya buddy!
His notes i find are for the most part useless, except for the history section. He is an awesome prof, ridiculously funny, and very refreshing. He has his redeeming qualities which keep me from skipping that class on a regular basis.
His tests were insanely hard. Class average for both midterms were failing. He is sort of funny in his own way, but lecture notes are absolutely useless and overall, a very poor prof. If you have him, switch!
Very entertaining prof. Very simple tests. Relatively straitforward material. Overall: Wonderfull class/prof combination
Awesome prof! I never wanted to miss class because he always made it so interesting!
Peter Hurd is a crazy professor because of all the caffeine he gets from coffee! His lectures are kind of random at times but he manage to keep the class very interesting. Easy A if you read the textbook an look at his notes. Midterms and Final were non-cumulative!
I LOVED him! i loved going to his classes! such an attractive prof haha his classes are pretty useless but hes a funny guy. midterm exams were hard and the final wasnt too bad. read ur txtbook!!
First midterm was pretty easy, second midterm was hard, final was pretty easy. Make sure you study all the biology esque stuff as he likes to test on that. Attendance wasn't really mandatory but once in a while he went over stuff not in the textbook. Tell lots of stories and is a pretty interesting guy.
104&414 AVOID HIM! He's entertaining & on a personal level you'd love to sit & talk to him b/c he seems like he has interesting stories- BUT on an academic "holding your GPA in his hands" level he's bad news. He goes off on tangents & he's hard to follow. Tests are all over the place & impossible to study for. If you're stuck with him, go to class.
He's very interesting, and knows how to apply concepts for ease of studying. He makes you want more after each class. However, his notes have little to do with the exams so you have to read the textbook. If his notes were written better then he'd be one of the best profs around. Thanks to him I'm going to take more psych classes.
Peter Hurd is more concerned with making the class laugh than with teaching his subject matter. This got really annoying after a while, espcially when his jokes weren't funny. His notes are incomprehensible and what he says in lecture, pretty useless. Read the textbook, it's the only way you'll survive.
Great prof. Very helpful one on one and also responds to your questions over the email regularly. Tests are hard however but if you read your textbook and look over his notes you should be fine
This Prof is awesome! He adds many humorous stories to his lectures that keep you listening and laughing. As long as you study you will do well in his class he doesn't add any tricks to his test. I loved him.
Pete was hilarious, until it came to the tests. Then he was pretty mean. They were RIDICULOUSLY HARD!!! And only half of the test material was covered in class.
Very enthusiastic however his slides were handwritten and were incredibly hard to read. Illegible writing on slides leads to a lot of frustration when studying. Most of study time was taken trying to decipher his handwriting.
Pete was an awesome professor! however his slides were SO CONFUSING and extremely ILLEGIBLE, and exams were HARD! I received a B+ or higher in ALL of the pre-reqs to this class and had to drop it.... not good.
Hurd's lectures feel like he is just rambling on. I would try to listen closely and follow along but would quite often getting lost in what he was saying and miss things that were already said. He is funny at times. He only posts an outline of notes and uses them as the slides. Doesn't give a lot of material. Just read and study the textbook.
Lectures were hilarious w. interesting stories & experiences. Sure, you have to read the custom 400 pg text. Tests are from (now type written!) lecture and text-- mostly text. 2 MC midterms (non cumul.) 50 ques. and the final is a cumul. MC exam. 10% of grade from research partic. You will enjoy lecture -- he is animated and excited about his work.
Its obvious that hes passionate about psychology and seems like a good person. However, his lectures were almost impossible to follow, with tons of personal anecdotes and jumping back and forth between topics. If you read the textbook cover to cover youll honestly do fine in the course, but dont expect to learn much in the lectures.
The lectures did not cover everything you need to know for the tests. I would recommend spending a lot of time studying the textbook and doing the online practice questions. The MC tests are very straightforward, there's just a large volume of info. Its worth coming to class though. He hints at what will be tested and is an engaging speaker.
One of the few classes I feel like I didn't learn anything. iClicker Qs, 6 in-class assign., 2 midterms, and final. Pete goes off on tangents and it is extremely difficult to follow his lectures. eClass notes don't match up with his lecture notes. The textbook terribly organized as well. Can receive a good grade if you make sure to study hard
The curve in this class was wild. He claims to write "difficult content" on purpose but the only reasons the exams were hard was due to the confusing way he worded questions and lots of incorrect grammar. Overall I learned nothing but a good grade is not hard to achieve if you read the textbook. No need to go to class.
He is not good with technology, and his lectures can drag. He is a sweet guy though, and makes it clear what is expected of you.
Took his online class and has soooo many videos to watch and the longest textbook to read. The class averages for the exams were very very low and is a very draining class, not a GPA booster. Im first year sciences and this class stresses me out more than anything else. Marked on 2 midterms and a final, 30% each, seems like a really nice guy though
Do not take this guy's class if it's online. He has no idea how to run technology and that forces him to spend three hours on one chapter for lecture videos. Plus you have to read a 40-page chapter from the textbook per week. His tests are ridiculous and he does not prepare you for what will be on them.
Took professor Hurd's intro to psych course online. He provided no course outcomes or any info about what the class covers or what is important. His lecture videos are boring and hard to follow. Weekly synchronous meetings are basically a waste of time. Most of the learning is done through long textbook readings.
Weekly lectures were posted where he would ramble about topics and make no sense. Weekly assignments where you answer a question about a concept. Some of them were easy, some made no sense. No rubrics either so the TA marked inconsistently. There was really no point in watching many of his lecture videos unless it pertained to an assignment.
Awful prof, rambles on during lectures, takes forever to get to the point, clearly only cares about his research, made no effort to provide students with useful resources to prepare for the test, it was essentially "memorize the entire textbook." Seems like a very lovely and funny person, just not a good prof.
So basically hes a mess and super disorganized. Honestly youll just have to read the whole textbook to learn anything. If you want good notes and lectures he is NOT your guy. If you want to be able to skip class and just read the textbook on your own youll be fine.
Dr. Hurd is a good guy in general, he's really nice and he's funny but he's not the best prof, specifically for online learning. You basically just read the textbook and watch 2 hours of lecture videos a week. He also didn't really give out reviews for exams so you never really knew what to expect on them. A good guy but not the greatest prof.
Loved his class, he always made it fun and interesting. you could either show up to the live lectures or wait to do it on your own time which was nice, but led to bad study habits on my end. the tests were all really unusual, as many students rarely got over 70%, but in those situations, he changed it to a bell curve. U don't need the textbook btw
I got the online class, he never teach anything, and I wastold to watch his video. And sadly I can't learn anything from his video. don't take his class, please.
He is a pretty fun guy but if you're taking his online class, beware. no assignments/ tests other than two midterms and the final. no practice questions to test your knowledge. there will be 2-3 hours of videos you can watch each week where he talks about fish studies and things that contradict the textbook - our only source of information/learning
He is so funny and his lectures add to the textbook info quite well as he brings in applications of the knowledge. However...I can't tell if I'm just bad at reading or if his exams make no sense. I thought I knew my stuff for the first midterm and I got a 76 which is fine but I just think I could have done better if the exam was in plainer English
He's a nice guy but a bad teacher. He only posts lectures and makes the test super hard. The online zoom is optional and he only answers questions during it. He has to change the grades every test and always says "oh sorry it was too hard". He puts stuff on the test that you don't learn. Definitely don't take this class!
His lecture videos are way too long and you HAVE to read the textbook. There are two midterms and a final that are very hard. Though he does adjust marks and curve it as everyone always does terrible. Take another professor if you can.
Hurd seems like a great guy but I took his class online and it was basically me teaching myself all the material from the textbook. He posts videos of lectures but they are so long and he goes on so many tangents, if he gets the videos up on time. Your grade also come solely from 2 midterms and the final as well as research participation.
This is one of the only online classes I've taken where I felt I really learned something. His lectures had lots of interesting additives that teach you more about the field of behavioral psychology. If you speak with him one-on-one he is really patient and helpful. Great prof and good dude!
At first, I was quite unsure about Pete but if u want a good grade it's an easy class. Read the textbook and watch the lectures. He uses a bell curve for the grades which helps a lot. He makes funny jokes about Sigmund Freud which spices up the class. Overall he's a good guy and do recommend
I really enjoyed Prof. Hurd's class. His lectures were prerecorded and sometimes a bit confusing however on the zooms he gave very clear answers to questions and the textbook was very helpful. Grades on a curve to ensure everyone gets a grade they deserve. Really nice guy and made the optional zoom lectures worth while to attend!
Pete is a very kind person and he loves the field of psychology, however his teaching style is difficult to learn from. He doesnt provide notes in his lectures and often goes on side tangents in his video lectures. My biggest advice to Pete would be to make notes so students know what he is looking for at exam time b/c his exams are VERY hard.
Lecture videos were not helpful in this course at all. Didnt have any clear notes. The tests were hard. If you dont read the text book as ur not going to do well.
The assignments initially made me uncomfy but you get a better handle on them with feedback as the course progresses. If you want to better interpret statistics and research, take this class. You learn how to be critical consumers of scientific material. Workload wasn't heavy but you have to reflect on the weekly assignments to do well.
Gives assignments instead of midterms and the final is just questions to answer which made it easier to understand the course material and explain yourself. It also was less stressful and made me actually learn the material. Super nice guy and would definitely take again
I would not recommend this prof. He always got off track in his lectures and never taught the same material that was on the exams. He was obsessed with talking about fish. The only thing that will save you is reading the textbook
Hurd is a great prof! Psych 372 was smaller in class size and formatted to be more of a discussion class. You do have to do some before-class reading for these discussions, but it makes it really interesting to be able to participate in talking about interesting studies. Hurd is always there to answer questions, and is super funny.
hes a nice guy but does not teach, he rambles on and there are no notes to follow, the only reason Im passing his class is cause I have another class which does closely to the same material. The midterm exams are all written and they are 9 to 12 questions where your answer has to be specific or you get 0.85/1. I took psych 302 and wished I dropped.
very nice, but the assignments can be confusing, and without a rubric its difficult to really know what they are looking for (ie. docked marks for not providing a definition, despite there being no indication that i needed to define that term). however, pete listens to the issues students have voiced, and tries to make it better :)
Dr. Hurd is the worst prof. His assignments are impossible, there is no set marking scheme to how they are graded. There is no rubric for what the responses should include, and then marks are taken off for things I didn't even know I needed. Unhelpful over email, expects you to have a higher understanding of the material, without teaching it.
Hybrid class, with one weekly discussion (basically a seminar) and small weekly assignments. You had to do a very small quiz during the discussions, but they were extremely easy. The final is a written assignment similar to the weekly ones, which you have plenty of time to do! The textbook gave me all the answers I needed for the assignment!
Don't normally leave these but I really had to give a forewarning to any students hoping to take this course: DON'T. Professor is a real interesting person in a mad hatter type of way. Teaching? Forget it. No lecture notes, almost every lecture video has the phrase "gosh I hope that made sense...anyway" with a bunch of scribbles and circles...
The assignments can be tricky, but the textbook and Unstuck AI are great study tools. Professor Hurd is funny and tries to improve things based on student feedback. Overall, a solid class if you engage with the material.
kind of a crazy guy tbh. the lectures were all over the place but he genuinely does want everyone to succeed and understand the theory behind stats. exams had no calculations, just short answer Qs to explain statistical concepts. 2 midterms (25% each), 8 labs (20%), take home final (30%). textbook isn't needed. nice guy, but wouldn't recommend.
Awfully disorganized class. "Lectures" were irrelevant tangents sprinkled with random learning outcomes. Exams/labs seemed easy but graded harshly. I would get marks like 0.57/1 or 2.84/3 for not having extremely specific definitions that weren't even explained in class. Never answers emails. Interesting course but there's no structure whatsoever.
Pete Hurd is very disorganized. His Canvas was a template, no course information or lecture slides. He projected a random list of semi-topics and rambled for 20 minutes. He has no degree in psychology and brags constantly that he is going senile. Seems like a fun guy, but a terrible instructor. I switched into James Farley's section, much better.
Seems fun. Unfortunately, he lectures like a toddler that's telling a story and getting consistently sidetracked. If you absolutely must take this course from him, I recommend taking a look at the lecture notes he posts after class. You might need to google definitions, but at least you'll get a gist of what he was trying to say.
I dropped his class so fast, I don't think they should've let him teach a 100 level class, he didn't seem interested in the content himself and would always go on a little ramble no one can understand lol. I think he can be a strong prof but def not for intro level psych or first year students. to first years: get another prof if you can.
Dr. Hurd is one of the weakest profs at UofA. His lectures are full of rambles and if you don't use Achieve and the textbook, you don't learn anything that's on the test.
Pete Hurd needs to be avoided at all costs. He is hands down one of the worst profs in the faculty of psychology. He is an extremely scatterbrained individual, and he knows it too. If you are seeing this review, take this as a warning and drop the class - unless you want to use the textbook primarily to teach yourself.
As long as you spend some time studying for the midterm(s) and final, you'll do great. He does often ramble but I feel as if it engaged me more with the material, since he made the class seem like a great time.
Lectures were very unorganized and difficult to follow. Almost entirely textbook based
Please do not take Pete Hurd. Tests are half-based on a $150 textbook, half-based on his lectures. In said lectures, he puts up jot notes and expands upon them, which wouldn't be an issue if he posted ANYTHING for us to review what he says. Instead, he could talk about something for 2 minutes and it could end up being 10 questions on the final.
I learned more about his personal life more than the course material. He shows up to troll and not to teach; for a whole class we learned about how the probability of a son being gay increases by 1/3 with each subsequent older brother but ultimately learned it would not be tested. At least this explained why my uncle with 7 older brothers is gay.
First, the notes he posts are not similar to the slides he uses in his lectures. I mentioned this before, but nothing has changed. The notes he uploads are without explanations. Also, his exams are 50 questions in 50 minutes, and he even says they're difficult. Psychology is already a heavy subject, and he doesn't make it easier.
You can do well in this course without going to the lectures, all information required can be learnt through the textbook (luckily it's a good textbook). I went to his lectures because sometimes he would mention topics that will be in the midterms or final. Overall the class itself was pretty easy, the final was not cumulative which was nice.
If you half-listen to his lectures (which are very entertaining) and read the textbook that's required to do the quizzes, you'll have no trouble with this class. He basically tells us what's going to be tested during lectures, and his tests are a very reasonable level of difficulty. Super cool guy, enjoyed this class a lot
He's not a great professor and does not teach the material well so you really don't need to attend lectures, reading the textbook is enough for a good grade. His tests are reasonable though and he lets us know what to expect which I appreciated, he seems like a nice and funny guy but just can't teach. The course is light though so it worked out.
While he was very funny and nice, his lectures are incredibly hard to follow and he sort of just rambles on about nothing most of the time. I had to do most of the learning on my own and the class sort of felt like a waste of money. He used weird conflicting material that didn't really work. But he took accountability and fixed it towards the end!
Super easy tests if you read the textbook chapters, lectures are so fun and entertaining.
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