2.9
Quality3.1
Difficulty53%
Would Retake122
Reviews53%
Would Retake
122
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
30
3
29
2
29
1
16
What Students Say
“Unfortunately his explanations are unclear, he is bad at public speaking and his lectures are boring”
NSCI0817 - 3.0 rating“Essentially Essentially Essentially”
BRAINMATTERS - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
48%
Textbook Required
75%
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A-
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PSYCH2168
5.0
(1)NSCI004
5.0
(1)0817
4.5
(2)PSYCH003
4.0
(1)NSCI
4.0
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SCIEN2196
5.0
COG101
5.0
NSCI1101
5.0
NSCI3
5.0
PSY3096
4.3
Reviews (122)
He speaks in circles so even if you really want to pay attention you just can't after a while. The only positive is that he gives more work than the typical midterm, final, final paper, that the other teachers like to fail us with. But aside from that he's pretty dull. It takes him TWO HOURS to teach what it takes other teachers 50 minutes to.
This is the worst class I have taken at Temple Univ. by far. This professor should not be allowed to teach. He is difficult to listen to in lecture b/c he's monotonous and says the same thing over and over..The syllabus has changed 3 times due to his lack of ability to grade effectively-half the class is failing. buy the book-dont bother attending
Absolutely terrible....AVOID! He will say one statement and then repeat it and ramble for 20 minutes saying nothing. Gives an absolutely ridiculous amount of work and grades VERY unfairly. Doesn't take attendence, so just don't go. He teaches straight from the book, essentially copies and pastes onto powerpoint. Avoid at all cost.
so boring! he talks in circles, plus the fact that the material is so incredibly boring makes it IMPOSSIBLE to pay attention. tests are hard and the assignments are ****, DO NOT take this class.
Yes, this is not the most interesting class and he is definitely not the best teacher I ever had but I do want to say that this was his first semester at Temple and he did struggle a lot with organizational stuff. I think in the end he really tried to get better and he did give help when needed. He graded fair, the TAs did not!
james is not that bad, just do your work and take your time to avoid silly mistakes. this class is the equivalent to watching paint dry, whether or not its taught with james. we devoted 2 weeks to the APA manual, even if i didnt take him i still would have hated the material, give him a break. hes not that personalable but i didnt mind him at all.
Ridiculously hard to understand, and he repeats himself constantly. The hardest person to listen to talk I have ever come across. His tests are not easy either.
I hate to be harsh, but he really needs to know where to stop his talking. His lectures are if not long, drawn out on topics that do not need discussion. He never stays on topic and always, always repeats things.
I wouldn't recommend Dr. James, because it's so hard to understand the material the way he delivers it. Not only does he repeat himself constantly he uses conversation fillers and it drives me insane. Ex. "so to speak" "if you will" "quite literally" "basically". Gives curves and class is passable, he's just hard to listen to in lecture.
Dr. James is not the best teacher, he talks repetively and his lecture are insanely boring. He grades kinda hard and he does not present the information well in class so makes the tests hard. I would not reccommend him for a class unless you have to take it.
horrible. reads from powerpoints and so boring you will NEVER attend class unless you have something due. easy grader on papers but quizzes/exams are hard.
Definitions and explanations are circular and incomprehensible. His answers for questions as simple as "how many SONA credits do we need?" take forever and are still unclear. The course material is dull and his delivery painful. T.A.s do most of the correcting and often deduct for personal writing styles not just APA format. Tests are easy.
This guy is so boring! But I learned early on that you just have to go to the first 20 minutes of class to get your class participation points and hand in your paper and you can skip his dreadfully boring and drawn out lectures. Tests are easy enough that you can just study the power points and pass.
If you want an easy A, take this class. Attendance is mandatory maybe once or twice a month, on the days that you have to hand in assignments. The assignments & tests are easy. Peter is just really impossible to listen to because he talks in circles, but he's nice at least! That's more than I can say for most of the other Temple professors.
Do not take this class. it was incredibly boring, the papers were pretty difficult, and Prof. James really sucked. He talked in circles and made class insanely boring.
APA writing isn't the most exciting class to teach. However, most days we got out early and Dr. J is a good guy. Test weren't too bad if you read the book. And the text was prttey interesting
If you are patient and listen well you will learn a lot. He knows what he's talking about. The subject is difficult and incredibly detailed, so teaching it can be difficult. If you want to learn, you can.
he is bad. real bad. i could not sit through the lecture without my mind exploding. and the grades are really from the ta's though, and i had a horrible ta who clearly was not happy in life. gamble your gpa with this professor and his gremlins if you like.
DON'T DO IT!!!!! he is a terrible man! he does not curve anything nor does he give study guides. his lectures are all over the place and he likes to go off topic all the time. he knows the material but has issues conveying the info. just because you have a degree in something doesn't mean you should be a teacher.
He's really clear in what he expects of you in the class, when doing an assignment you know exactly what to do/ what he is looking for. It isn't the most stimulating material, but he is very smart and does a decent job. He definitely makes himself extremely available to you, more so than a lot of other professors.
Had him for Scientific Thinking. Funny lipse, says "if you will" ALOT, talks in circles a lot, some of his tests are a bit hard. The format of his class is really well put together, though. Just sucky material to teach, pretty much.
Smart guy. But, the worst part of class is the TA's. They are terrible, and knock you for points even though Prof James said it was ok to do. The TA's grade much harder than James, not saying he is easy. They just take off point from your paper for the smallest things, but James is always there to talk to and you can sometimes get points back.
I dont know why Temple keeps him around. He is the worst professor I have had! He makes class miserable! Over all he is just a horrible LITTLE man with a Napoleonic complex! I learned nothing in the entire 15 weeks of class other than I dislike people with lisps, rodents do not deserve to be castrated, and screwdrivers are a good drink! Stay Away!
He's really not as bad as said. Yeah class was really boring sometimes but seriously, its an APA writing class. Both he and the TA graded my papers and I found that when he graded it he was much more lenient than the TA. The exams werent bad either- i reccommend you buy the book. He gives extra credit & uses class capture too so its helpful
The course material is hard enough, and the test that he gives are really not clear questions.. so far ive failled all the tests, and the first paper he makes you write about a dumb rat experiment...He doesnt give back any tests so who knows if u were failed on purpose.. I would not recommend this teacher in ANY COURSE... he just rambles in class!
Smart teacher with good intentions, VERY boring subject and "perhaps" the teacher as well. Lectures are unbearable. You should get the book for cog psych.
Do not take him.
says "persay" in every sentence he uses. Has good intentions, but very hard to comprehend his material, he takes it out of context. Tests are very hard and also takes 15 minutes before each test to explain directions that everyone is aware of already - Wouldn't suggest him.
He talks in circles and will leave you wondering what the hell he just said and he clears his throat every 5 seconds. It's next to impossible to do well on the assignments. I got at least 3 emails at the end of the semester from people wanting to challenge their grades. If there's another professor, take them. He is the WORST.
All he does in class is read off power point slides. He tries to answer questions, but doesn't do a good job. I did much better on tests when I stopped paying attention in class and just read the book.
Dr James is a great professor if you have patience and accept that the material in this class is tedious. There's lots of ways to earn extra credit, and he always had time for my questions after class. Sometimes confusing, but reading the book and then going w/questions really helps. Worst part of this class is the fools who only want to complain.
Dr. James is terribly boring, but so is the subject. He will repeat something 20 times in an hour and uses lots of filler words like "essentially" , "so to speak" and so on. However, he gives a lot of opportunies for points and will help you in his office hours if you need. Just tough him out, its worth it.
scientific thinking is a super boring subject. and professor james isn't the most interesting guy, but it's a required class so what are you gonna do? the good thing is it's not hard to get an A. he gives TONS of extra credit if you come to lecture and for turning in assignments early and for SONA. the TAs are a good resource too for extra help.
If you choose to actually take this prof OR you got stuck w/ him - teach yourself the material! I went to 2 classes total & ended up with a B+. He'll confused you & ramble on making you want to jam a pen in your eye. SUPER ANNOYING & FRUSTRATING! but super easy to teach yourself from the textbook. Do SONA, E.C. & well on papers - you'll be okay.
Professor James was a decent teacher. The material is extremely tedious and boring. He over explains things and is nitpicky with the grading, but he gives you plenty of feedback so as long as you fix things, you will get a's on the papers. He's super nice and offers tons of extra credit
Yes, he is kind of boring, but with the nature of the class it can't be helped. He is willing to help you if you talk to him one on one. Just do your work, talk to your TAs, and be sure to ask questions. It's worth it to go to class for the break out points.
He was hard to understand and his lectures were so boring. Opt out if you can. Especially for brain matters. Hw assignments are coloring assignments. They get annoying after a while and you learn NOTHING from them. STAY AWAY.
I actually think he used alot of examples and approached the material in a pedagogical way. It is possible to do well enough that the final is optional for an A because there are lots of extra credit opportunities. If you show up and do the e.c., that could boost you at least 5 points.
taken him for multiple classes and received an A each one.. the only reason people say he's boring is because the material is.. he's soo nice and super helpful he obviously wants you to succeed.. he also offers TONS of extra credit so if you're bad at tests or whatnot he offers other ways to bring up your grade, def reccommend him :)
he's actually a really nice guy and he's super smart. the class isn't very interesting but you have to take it to be a psych major and you'll learn a lot. he shows a lot of clips from the simpsons and gives a ton of opportunities for extra credit if you go to class.
Not a good teacher at all. He's very smart and nice but is awful when it comes to actually teaching the material...which is pretty hard itself. He expects his students to know everything already even when teaching a stupid GenEd course. His tests are extremely hard, and he uses the least important info on his tests.
Just because you know a topic does not mean you should teach it. Terrible at teaching and public speaking. He treats this class like it is your major, when it's supposed to be a gen ed. Way too much info, not well summarized. Don't bother reading the chapters. The hws and ta assignments will save you, the tests are hard. This is NOT for beginners
You will pass the class with an A if you put in the effort. His lectures are long and boring. However, I learned a lot through this class. Recitation, one could do without but you have to go for credit. You just need the coloring book, the other text is absolutely not necessary. He is a nice professor.
I really enjoyed this class! If you study and do the work you will get an A! However, if you are looking for an easy A don't take this class. However I found the material very interesting and learned so much! Dr. James is very nice and you can tell how passionate he is about the subject. The text is not needed however it does help when stuying!
In Class: Terrible public speaker, not at all a good teacher, slightly egotistical, stutters strangely, and not at all suited to convey difficult or complex instruction to college aged students (maybe senior citizen though).office hours: none of those things. He's like a different person so I'd say go and talk to him if your taking a required class
This teacher is really nice and approachable and will help you with any questions that you ask. Unfortunately his explanations are unclear, he is bad at public speaking and his lectures are boring. Recitations seem to go into a completely different direction than the hw and lecture, further confusing you. All in all, this is NOT a beginners course.
Really nice guy. I enjoyed the class
Classes very boring. Topic presented in a very dull manner.
He's a really nice guy. He isn't really a good public speaker but as long as you pay attention, youll be fine. You do need to review notes and take slight initiative.
He was a really good teacher. The power points are super helpful and if you turn your phone off and just pay attention you'll be fine. The only assignments we had to do were out of a COLORING BOOK!! And the coloring really helped. He is a good professor.
This guy was a horrible teacher. He stated in my class "we should all know anatomy already", but this was a Gen Ed, so I am not sure why he assumed that. For a Gen Ed, this was a tough course, I didn't expect an easy A, but the amount and level of material covered should be for someone in that major. The class focused on anatomy, not psychology
Not great lectures but the material is easy. He makes it easy for students to pass with plenty of extra credit opportunities and all of the lectures are posted online. However, there are even XC chances if you go to class.
He is super nice and very intelligent but is the worst lecturer I've ever encountered. He stutters, clears his throat, uses the same words over and over, and runs you in circles. This makes lectures very hard to understand so this class is basically you teaching yourself. LOTS of extra credit and easy coloring assignments. Wish he was clearer tho.
Pretty good class, material is understandable. Tests aren't too hard, assignments are easy (coloring!), lectures can be very boring though. However, he posts all his slides (and even the lectures themselves) and I prefer to go over the slides myself and do the readings, the lectures are just too dry. Need to take some initiative to pass.
Dr. James really knows what he's talking about and you can tell he likes the subject. But-his lectures are just not good. It looks like maybe he has nervousness when having to speak publicly in front of a HUGE lecture class because he's not like that at all one on one. The class was really easy. If you didn't take basic Bio don't take this yet
This class was awesome if you are interested in learning about psychology and neuroscience. Great professor, one that doesn't want you to fail. He gives easy homework that anyone would be able to follow (literally a coloring book, but for anatomy) and goes over all material that will be on exams so you won't be blindsided. Hands down fav class!
Essentially Essentially Essentially. be prepared to hear that a lot, i actually counted and one class Peter james said Essentially 126 times in one class. easy home work assignments, but hard tests. have to study on your own because his lectures are hard to follow.
Dr. James overall is a good professor. You will do fine in his class as long as you can manage to stay awake while he rambles on about everything else but the topic at hand. Attendance is not mandatory (brain matters) and I did not need to attend to pass the class. He has 4 major tests, but nothing hard (all mc) and does assign hw, but its useful.
I thought that Professor James was great! as long as you study the material and do the very easy homework assignments (coloring, one blog assignment and a small assignment) you will be fine. Test are very easy and he gives a good amount of extra credit. He also likes class capture!
WORST. CLASS EVER. He never explains what he's saying, he rambles, lectures are boring and way to hard to follow along. You can try to study for his tests, but the material is pretty hard to teach yourself, and its alway unclear whats on the test specifically. Easy homework, but it doesn't help your grade. avoid him.
The lectures for this class are boring and attendance is not mandatory. You only have four multiple choice tests a semester and easy weekly coloring assignment. If you don't attend lectures you have to make sure you study. Oh and James does give the opportunity for extra credit. Overall pretty easy class.
Prof James is really nice guy. While he is not the best speaker, he acknowledges that and tries to compensate for it. He offers many extra credit opportunities in and out of class. The exams are not difficult and the coloring assignments are fun and easy. He also records his lectures which is great for days you aren't in class and for studying.
The material is super hard, but if you actually pay attention to his boring lectures i guarantee you will do great on his tests, i think he makes the material clear but boring. he gives alot of extra credit opportunities which is very helpful. weekly assignments are super easy. Honestly i learned alot in his class.
What an awful Professor. The guy clearly knows what hes talking abiout and is smart, however, he's so unclear that you learn nothing from him. He is an awful public speaker and uses the term "per say" and the word "essentially" way too much per class. He said "essentially" 43 times one lecture. He truly is awful and not very kind either.
I thought he was one of the best neuroscience teachers I've had so far. Very clear about what you have to know and really willing to work with you! Tries to make the content as interesting as possible and is very enthusiastic and thorough. Loved this class!
Dr. James knows his stuff, just has some trouble teaching it. The topic can be pretty boring, but he gives tons of extra credit, uses class captures, & is ALWAYS willing to help. You'll hear a lot of i.e, essentially, basically, uh, uh, (clearing of throat)... His habitual sayings can get annoying, but get past that and it's an easy A class!
Doesn't believe in study guides and exams can range from 30-60 multiple choice questions but you don't find out until the day of. His lectures are boring and he doesn't really teach, he just reads off the slides and doesn't really explain much.
Personally I don't think Dr. James was bad as other people claimed. He did assign many papers for psych research but it was expected since its a research class. He gave most of the material to work with for the first paper and once you know the format from the first paper the second paper is easy. The only problem were his tests but he does curve.
Professor James definitely knows what he's talking about. He's a good professor and while the material covered is complicated, you'll do fine as long as you do the readings he assigns.
Awkward guy, but not a bad class. Yeah, it will be kind of boring, but he's an ok teacher. Tests are identical to the power point slides. A lot of blackboard assignments, but overall pretty easy as long as you do the work. Tests are very easy. He's a nice guy, honest, but kind of awkward and and odd. Strict about absences though.
He knows what he's talking about and he always asks the class if there's any questions before moving on. He provides plenty of extra credit opportunities in and out of class. all of his lectures are recorded and lecture attendance isn't taken. recitation and homework assignments and all are very easy. There are 4 exams, study and you'll be fine.
Being mindful that PSY1002 is not a typical class, I thought it was extremely easy with Dr. James. He's very clear on what he's looking for in the assignments and the quizzes are easy if you bother to study the day before. It's easy to lose focus during lectures, though, so try to stay engaged.
He has a lisp. But he's nice. Informed on his subject. It's a logical class. Do the things you need to do to retain the info or fail.
Peter James makes this class way harder than it has to be. The lectures are ridiculous, I stopped going to class at the end because I couldn't understand what he was talking about. There are 4 exams. Definitely go to recitation if you take this class because exam answers are hinted at & go over the coloring book!!!!!!
He is a nice professor. He gives a lot of extra credits. Honestly, you don't have to pay attention to his lecture to pass. As long as you study his presentation, coloring book, and pay attention in recitation, you'll pass with a good grade. Attendence is not mandatory, but he will give breakouts (extra credit) on random days in lecture.
Easy class. If you even touched the reading, the quizzes were cake. His lectures do get really dry though. He has one of those ways of speaking that just starts to blur together after a while and you can't pay attention. He was really a nice guy, though. You can't really go wrong with 1002 so definitely consider taking him for this class.
This was a really easy class. Color a few pages (because college) watch some lectures and answer several questions, and a few other assignments. Requires minimal effort to get an A
Every class is just a lecture, but the lesson plan is one of the clearest I've ever had. There are 4 exams, and each exam tests clearly out of the material that he tells us to study. I was nervous about taking the class because I'm not the greatest at science, but all you have to do is study and you'll do fine.
This class is a big lecture with one graded recitation. the lectures don't need attendance, but recitation does. he's really nice and cares so much about what he teaches and genuinely wants us to do good. sends out test outlines. in class extra credit thats basically just given to us. only 4 tests, long, but not too bad. 10/10 would take again
Prof isnt the best orator but hes a nice a guy and genuinely cares about your grade. Definitely some difficult concepts for a gen ed but if you study the coloring book and the diagrams that will guarantee you at least a B on the exams. The assignments are easy and a lot of extra credit offered which is a major grade booster
I took this as my science gened. The fun thing about this class is you can fail all 4 exams and still get a C in the class. The homeworks were super easy coloring assignments and there's a ton of opportunities for extra credit. Dr. James isn't the best speaker but he's caring and nice.
Super easy professor and lectures are recorded. Exams are extremely easy and only homework is coloring assignments. I did everything last minute and got 100s on all exams. 4 exams total, final is not cumulative. Extra credit is available and I would definitely recommend. Easy gen ed.
Lecturescontent heavy. Attendance isn't mandatory but DO NOT SKIP! Offers "breakouts"- 1-2 points each time/1000 worth XC. Found that abt 1/2 of the content of HS anatomy carried over to his class. If you have an interest of learning abt the A&P of the brain and are willing to devote the time and effort to study I would highly recommend his class.
Easy class, the only thing I didnt like about this professor is his lisp. As international student its extremely hart to comprehend his words
This class is an easy A. The tests are straight forward, just study and you'll pass. Dr. James wants you to do well, he offers alot of extra credit and the homeworks are just a couple of coloring pages. Lectures aren't mandatory but don't miss recitation!
This is the most difficult class I have ever taken. He is the toughest grader. Save yourself the time and frustration and do not take this class with him. It will make you hate research when it really does not need to be this hard. He is nice but his classes are a waste of time I had to skip lectures just to keep up with the assignments.
Lectures are pretty boring. Recitation is easy, all you have to do is hand in a few coloring pages weekly. There are only 4 exams, however, the exams are really hard, and that's with studying. He does give extra credit points, 2 outside of class activities, and breakout points which is done in class, but that still doesn't even boost you up much
I'm surprised Dr. James isn't rated higher. Yeah he's an awkward science guy but I found it to be quite funny and entertaining. Attendance is not required for class, he posts all the lectures online which actually helps me focus in on the materials more. Overall nice guy, easy tests, a lot of extra credit, and teaches course very well.
I chose this class as a science GenEd and I regretted it until the last day. It is a really hard class, specially if you're not good at Biology. His classes are terrible, I didn't understand anything he said. What saved me was the recitations, because I had a really good TA.
Terrible professor. Doesn't answer student emails, and when you ask him in person he acts as though you are always in the wrong and wants you to leave as soon as possible. Quizzes, I recommend reading the text because he does not explain or help. Had a quiz on the very last day of class. Class was only geared towards psych/not neuro majors.
I did well in the class and the assessments are generally fun and interesting. Students should be aware there is a lot of science like chemistry and physics and for students without experience with these subjects the course can be very challenging. Unfortunately, I did not retain much from the course because of the complexity of the content.
Dr. James is a really nice guy, but his careers in psychology class was dreadfully boring. He would spend 15 minutes on the agenda for the class, and spend way too long rambling about material that could take 5 minutes to cover. Easy A though
Dr. James is very approachable and nice. Responds quickly to emails. Quizzes were open book/notes & the posted lecture slides on Canvas were very detailed. The assignments were straight-forward and are meant to help you with professional development. PSY1002 is a 1 credit class, so you really can't go wrong either way. Easy A, for sure.
He rambles on the whole class and the lectures are not easily understood. He did not have a syllabus for the first month of class and was very disorganized.
Dr. James is nice & easy to talk to but lectures are pretty boring & class sometimes runs over. Most assignments are easy and quizzes are open book/note. There are no exams and the textbook is free. The material is pretty dry but could help you in the long run. Overall the class isn't bad. Do the assignments and quizzes it's an easy A.
Honestly dont know how people didnt like him, took him for my science gened and he definitely understood that the class shouldnt be hard or too much work. We literally had coloring as our homework. Test are only 10 points but do impact ur grade, but an hour of studying should get you an A. Hes also super sweet and understanding.
This was also my 8 am class (Critical thinking in psychology) so I am biased. You show up and he lectures about the textbook. Four scheduled tests along with the final. Very boring class, but it's manageable. ALSO, you have to buy the textbook because he uses online homework that comes with it. It will set you back 65 bucks I think.
Yes he is lecture heavy but I don't understand why people complain, he's a sweet guy and if you just do the homework and come to class you can pass this course so easily, this is so easy I promise you if someone gets a bad grade it's because they absolutely didn't care nor try.
He just rambles on and on and on for the lectures... I think he likes the sound of his own voice. Lots of words come out of his mouth but he actually says nothing and goes over a powerpoint. The course material is okay, but the textbook used is crap and the homework and activities that come with the textbook aren't helpful nor are they easy to use
Lectures are pretty boring as he just reads from the slides but he really is a kind person. As long as you do the work you'll be fine, it may be a lot and gets difficult at times but if you're willing to put in the work you'll be okay.
Dr. James' classes are mainly lectures. He does expect a lot from his students but he is always willing to help. His tests are not hard as long as you pay attention. The homework is a lot but once you get into a rhythm it isn't too bad. He is constantly telling students to contact him with questions or concerns
He does lecture a lot which can be boring but overall his lectures are run very well. He cares a lot about students' success and has been very helpful. His grading can be a little rough at times but overall he is very good.
This is a lecture class, so it will be lecture heavy and read from the textbook. However, Dr. James cares about his student's success and will go above and beyond if you reach out to him! Yes, he mostly only gives info from the textbook, but that's just how lecture classes are. Assignments are bearable, tests are easy if you study the textbook!
Dr. James was great. It is lecture heavy, but I think he does a great job at explaining everything. He is also really accessible outside of class. He was very accommodating for me when times were tough, and I really appreciated his genuineness as a person. He cares about his students, and there is not an insane amount of homework too. I recommend!
He's really high up in the psychology department. Super smart, but not the best teacher. Lectures can be slow and he rambles. Assigns a fair amount of homework, I just happened to have a TA who was a super harsh grader.
It was pretty boring and difficult.
Overall, very awesome teacher. The class was not easy but the professor truly was not the problem. He was caring, communicative, and you could tell he really enjoys what he does. He gives a good amount of homework (not difficult however it is time consuming).
Professor is nice but quite boring cause the class is just monotone lectures. You have to go to class and do well on the tests to pass. There are also outside events you have to complete which was annoying.
Professor James was the man! He made the gen ed I was dreading fun, enjoyable, and EASY. He made the concepts easy, his lectures were bearable, and didn't grade hard at all. Without putting much effort, my final grade was a 100.18! If you want an Easy A, take Professor James!
the only reason I put such a high score is so that you will read this. Honestly he seems like a cool guy but if attendance wasn't mandatory I would never go to his class cause there would be no point. He has like three words on each power point slide and your entire test is from the textbook that he never goes over or even talks about.
Get ready to teach yourself everything. He is a cool teacher but everything the class comes from the textbook that he will never reference. If he did't take attendance I would never go to class. He just didnt teach me a single thing. Take the class at your own risk. He's def a cool guy but a terrible educator.
snoozefest. class was super boring, lectures weren't too helpful for exams but attendance was mandatory. do all the online homework assignments and you'll do well.
Prof is incredibly boring and will ramble for the entire class period. He uses wayyyy too many filler words and just gets on everyone's nerves. His work is very confusingly worded and frustrating. For breakout activities, sometimes he'll give zeros even though you've participated and you have to bully him to fix the grade. His class is mid
I had Dr. James for Foundations of Cognitive Neuroscience (PSY 2502). Did not find the material itself challenging, but his lectures are almost unbearable. Almost impossible to pay attention to; I spent the classes doing the homework. I know a lot of students struggled in the class, so I would not recommend if you are not used to self-teaching.
The lecture felt pointless and redundant. Test HEAVY-based class having them count for over 60% of your grade. Extra credit provided did not have an impact on raising grades. Overall nice guy and not a horrible/challenging class besides the tests. Take someone else it will be easier and youll probably get an A. (PSYCH 2104)
His lectures are hard to sit through, but if you're able to attend every lecture and write notes then you're set for the exams. He does count attendance and does this thing called a "breakout" that basically ensures you're not getting the attendance code from a group chat. Tests were all multiple choice he and curves for each exam.
He was not good at grading and super strict. His instructions for some assignments were unclear and when asked he would not answer in a clear or timely manner. If you turn something in late it was an automatic 66% taken off the assignment. He was understanding of some personal things, but still not lenient.
Professor James's class is a mixed bag - lectures can be dry, but he's genuinely caring and accessible. Use the textbook, complete assignments, and try unstuck AI for study prep to do well. Overall, a decent course if you engage with the material.
I don't get why he has such low ratings! He's an awesome professor, the course is vast so the lectures do get a bit heavy but he has this interesting concept of- Breakout activies. This keeps us engaged in the class and its fun to be honest. Just read the textbook, pay attention to the slides and what he says and you'll be good to go.
He's a pretty nice guy but his lectures are a drag. Attendance is mandatory but it's difficult to stay engaged when he drones on and stumbles over his words. The exams are difficult only because of wording, you have to read the textbook because the questions are statistically heavy.
I did not like this class. Nice guy, but his lectures are so long and boring. Especially having him at 8 am, his class was dreadful, to be honest. He has in-person break-out activities, and the inquisitive hw assignments were unbearable. I didn't digest much in class and had to teach myself from trial and error on the hw. Tough tests too.
Cares a lot, makes this course very accessible and doable for students without backgrounds in biology.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
48%
Textbook Required
75%
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A-
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