2.6
Quality3.5
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake85
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
85
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
10
4
20
3
17
2
22
1
16
What Students Say
“Avoid this professor especially if the class is neuroanatomy”
PSYC375 - 1.0 rating“Worst class I've ever experienced at UMBC”
PSYCH370 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.56 avg changeRatings by Course
SENSPERCE
5.0
(1)PSYCH340
4.0
(1)MUS101
4.0
(1)PSYC333
3.8
(4)PSYC393LAUGH
3.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
SENSATION
5.0
MOTIVATION
5.0
SENSPERCEP
5.0
LAUGHTER
5.0
PSY333
5.0
Reviews (85)
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Very pompous... not a good teacher-- im not majoring OR even minoring in psych because he ruined it for me. avoid him if you can
I don't think he's as bad as others portray him. He's always willing to answer questions. If you attend class he's always saying what items will be on the tests and final.
Definitely pompous...looks like Jack Nicholson in Anger Management. Most exam questions come from lectures, so do NOT skip class even once. If you study really really hard, you should do fine though. Makes you read chapters from the book he wrote.
I didn't think he was bad at all. Easy "A". He tells you exactly what will be on exams. Just read chapter summaries, don't bother with the entire chapter.
I had him for "sensation and perception." He was very pompous, as others said. He's done a great deal of research into yawning and laughing. (no kidding! every once in a while you'll see him on TV being interviewed about those subjects!) not a
definitely pompous. you can kind of figure out his style as time goes on though. just pay super good attention in class. and he likes kids that come in to talk to him.
Good teacher, but yes a bit pompous like others have said. Very knowledgeable. Tests from lectures primarily and a little from the book which he doesn't cover in class for some reason.
He is just not a good teacher. Scheules tests and then comes in the day of the test and pushes it off without warning anyone.
He's cocky, but as long as you go to class and pay attention to the little anecdotes or stories he tells, you will do fine on exams. He is willing to help, but definitely likes to show off and act like his research on tickle and laugh is important
OMG i dont know what u guys are talkign about. exams EASY A!! no papers or attendance reqired. hes so helpful n concerned about his students. he even stayed 30 min after to help me catch up on work. I would definately take his classes again.
The worst teacher I have ever had at UMBC. Arrogant, rude, never available. Test questions are completely unclear...difficult to get a good grade in this class
boring, goes off on tangents too much
harsh, unhelpful, never teaches whats in the book. tough exams, never curve, 35mins timed for 50 questions. class average has been low C or even D for past years. dont ever take it with him unless u want bad grades on ur transcript
I really enjoyed Sensation and Perception, and it is my favorite Psyc class I have taken so far. Dr. Provine and I got along pretty well, he did make remarks at times but you just have to understand his sense of humor. Intelligent man, and very interesting lectures. I would recommend this class.
This class is difficult with him b/c he goes off on many tangents and is unclear about what is required of you on the exams. He does not curve and the class average is very low. He is full of excuses if you ask me!!
RUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!
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I hate this man.
Good professor, challenging tests. Study, go to class, pay attention, and take good notes. Its hard to get an A in this class. Interesting and refreshing class.
he is so full of himself. he thinks he is funny but he's not. what he says in class makes no sense. do everything in your power to avoid taking his class.unless you are smart and can/want to teach yourself the material any class with him is a bad idea.not recommended for the average college student.
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it was a very hard class but it was worth it. He expects for you to put forth the effort to do well and not to expect an easy A for just showing up.
I would take his laughter and humor class again if I could. His lectures do go off-course, but every exam is based EXACTLY on his book and what goes on in class. The laughter log was a pain, but you learn from it. I enjoyed his class very much.
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the worst class I ever had
granted he has some major social malfuctions but aside from that, this is a challenging and interesting class, and he throws out alot of cool information. even if it is only mildly related to the class
he likes to talk about himself a lot and the questions on exams are very abstract. Granted they are covered in lecture, but the way he phrases questions is like hes trying to trick you into picking the wrong answer. could be a good prof if he was straight forward w/ information and didnt talk about himself so much
Very rude. Very degrading. I was never late and attended every class. He will often quiz you on things that he comes up with ONE TIME on a whim. He has questions stating "your professor thinks this or thinks that" and you fill in the blank. The one time I asked a question he stopped the whole class and pointed out that he felt I was a moron for asking a question.
Pompous is a great word to describe this man. Don't ask questions in his class b/c doesn't like to answer them (and usually can't hear what you're saying anyway) he interupts you and enjoys talking during the exams. if you do have to take him, make sure you go to class b/c that's the only way you'll know what's up. the material sucks also...
Tests are hard but not impossible. The man is full of himself no one cares to hear what schools he went to, what tv shows he's been on and what he's written, all of which i've never heard of! Miscoding your social security number does not deserve to have you be in embarrassed in front of a class, just grade a couple by hand! arrogant jerk
classes are interesting- what he has to say about himself are not- he's very arogant, and likes to point out other people's faults. he doesn't like to answer questions. loves to talk about sex- which is just gross- who wants to picture his weird-fingernailed-self having sex. ugh. but overall his class isn't that hard.
he passes on a lot of useful information but his exams are very tricky and if you dont come to class on a regular just forget it you will fail this class. he is very arrogant and full of himself and his accomplishments. just make sure you take lots of notes and read the book if you have to take this class. avoid this class if you can.
At least he is teaching the only thing he can still seem to remember. Not a good teacher, way too arrogant. Believes his own press way too much.
Arrogant to the point of being a jerk. You will learn a lot but the exams will be entirely deceptive. He seems to enjoy talking about his mentors and knowing about them will help minimally at best. He does give you control of 10% of your grade via mini papers but you will need to know ALL material covered like its your life purpose for a good grade
Should not have a teaching job-worst professor--very difficult to do well in this class. Says his exams aren't "tricky"--but you'll soon see that they are exactly that. Does insignificant research that he likes to babble on and on about (material that is anecdotal at best). Will embarrass students in class. Appears to be a bit of a ****, too.
Everyone whines and complains about him, but I'm not really sure why. As long as you attend and pay attention in class, he gives most of the answers to test items. The material is not difficult and he's occasionally funny.
I don't want to complain or be mean, but he is seriously probably the worst professor I have ever had. As far as the class, attending it regularly would help because you know what exactly to study and he likes to put questions that arent in the book on the exams. Also has ten mini papers which are easy, but have absolutely no relevance to the class
Okay... people need to relax. This professor is not bad. He is very intelligent. Go to class, take good notes, study the notes and read the book and wow... you'll have your A. It is NOT that difficult. He is very smart and knows what he is talking about. Hint: record the lectures and listen to them while studying because it REALLY helps.
this is probably the hardest prof i've taken so far, but he'z pretty interesting and sometimes funny. the tests were very hard but you must attend each and every lecture and take good notes to do well in the class
Theres weekly journal logs and 4 exams in this class.Only way you are going to do well in this class is if you attend EVERY lecture,but staying awake in this lecture is difficult.You must be able to take good notes and write fast,b/c he won't repeat himself or write things on the board.If you can handle that, go for it.Otherwise, you are screwed.
this prof. is very hard. 3 tests, 10mini papers and one 6pages paper. he graded the whole class papers with an average of 67%.almost majority of the class didnt do well in the paper, for stupid reason. i will recommend you not to take him!!!
Worse Professor i have ever had! I would strongly urge my friends to avoid him as a professor if at all possible!
I took him a while back for physiological psych. Material was interesting but I remember that he would always throw in the most retarded facts. You have to go to class because these idiotic facts become questions on the tests. Very cocky guy but the class should be an A or B.
Even though I did well in this class, I still found it difficult to get by without hours of studying.While I realize that it's college and you have to study, sometimes it didn't matter how much you studied, you still did poorly because he would put the most random questions on exams. He is extremely arrogant and it totally in love with himself!
At first, I thought he was arrogant but he's not. I think of all the teachers I've had at UMBC, he's one of the best. I've learned and retained more information in his class than in most of my other ones. And unlike some teachers, he has extensive experience in the fields he instructs.
I really don't understand the negative comments about this teacher on this site; he's easily the most knowledgeable and engaging psychology instructor I've had yet. Sure, his tests can be hard (and true, some items on them can be slightly ambiguous), but I feel I have intellectually grown as a result of his class. I have an A right now, and I am n
This guy is extremely intelligent and has done a lot for psych, but his ego is through the roof. Makes you read articles he wrote himself and boasts a lot. Boring lectures. Stupid exam questions- you wont get them right unless you go to class.
Going to class is very important. A good amount of the test material is from somewhat random facts from lecture, but reading the book is also important and helpful. A very intelligent and insightful professor, but can sometimes get boastful when it comes to the people he's worked with and the things he's accomplished. Overall a good class
I Luv Dr. Provine. he is 1 of the best & smartest prof. you jst have to get adjusted to his teaching style. I got A & it wasn't easy. Coming to lecture is extremely IMP, & so is reading the whole book! But you'll learn alot from him. If you want a class to slack out DONT take him, but if you want to actually LEARN, take him :)
if you want an A in the class, you MUST attend the lectures and READ the book. He tends to go off on tangents and he will include those topics as well on the test. His tests are timed, however he does not have answer choices such as "all of the above, a&b," etc. He is EXTREMELY smart. You'll get an A if you just listen and read.
The text is a book that he wrote himself; therefore you are expected to know it with great detail. The good news is that it is very short, easy, and interesting reading. The tests are all multiple choice, and lectures are interesting. I attended every class because I enjoyed it. I highly recommend Dr.Provine
Best professor I've ever had. He doesn't hand out A's, which I suppose is the reason so many are dissatisfied with him. I find myself liking the course material BECAUSE of this man's brilliance when I otherwise wouldn't. He has his idiosyncrasies, but it's more than a fair trade-off for a dedicated learner.
OMG DO NOT TAKE ANY CLASSES WITH THIS TEACHER. he is useless. he never answers e-mails. he is soooo rude to students and makes them feel stupid for answering questions from a different view point. He refuses to admit that he is wrong about questions on tests even if you show him the answer in the book. Its his way or the highway. he's just a MESS.
Laughter & Humor. This class needs more! Provine's an absolutely fabulous instructor but this class would be amazing with more material and more assessments. Three tests, 10 mini-papers (easy), and 4 jokes (you tell a joke to the class). His last test seemed ridiculously unfair but he's usually spot on. This is the lesser of Provine classes.
Provine courses are not for dumb people. If you are dumb, avoid his courses. Just go to every class and pay attention, you will walk away with at least a B. I've taken all of his courses even though I'm an I/O, MCS student. He's awkwardly brilliant and "drops knowledge" constantly. Study, read, go to class = A.
The pinnacle of Provine classes. If people like Provine taught me science growing up then I might be more science focused. The depth of knowledge taught is great. The formula for a Provine course is: go to class (take notes + read/skim book) = A. This class is not for dummies, repeat, this class is not for dummies.
Easy class. Exams are fair. Mini papers are a "gimme" 20%. HOWEVER; extremeley high ego and VERY rude. Class notes are useless all his question are from the book. Few question may be from movies he shows during class. Class is called laughter but all his exam questions are based on history and names. Perseonllay, hes' the biggest a** h*** i've had.
you need to take good notes, don't miss class, read the textbook and follow his hints regarding possible test items. Overall, it was a very interesting class..
He is a great professor, just go to class and pay attention, what he says he will put on the exam, he does, very straight to the point, and interesting stories, definetly worth taking his class :-)
Go to class, take good notes, do all your mini paper worth 10%, skim the textbook, and pay attention in this class and you should be okay. Exams are a little hard. This is not an easy class so if you want an easy class I suggest you take it with another professor.
He's a really great professor...Just make sure you show up for class.
Worst class I've ever experienced at UMBC. Terrible. Will never in my life ever take a class with him again and would not wish it on my worst enemy. He doesn't answer questions in class, puts people on the spot, tries to be inappropriate on the low and is just really not helpful in any way. As a person he may be okay but as a teacher no
Class was painful it was so boring and not understandable. He jumps right in without defining new words or explaining concepts and gets annoyed when people ask questions. Exams were confusing and since class had no structure, studying notes was impossible and he didn't use the book. First class in my life I almost failed and I worked hard.
Provine is a difficult teacher but not entirely unfair. GO TO CLASS. READ THE BOOK. If you are prone to studying for an exam the night before, this class is not for you.
This class is hard and is more like a 400 level course. You have to go to class, take awesome notes, and read the book. Do not take this class if you don't want to work hard because you will not get a good grade.
Dr. Provine is a sharp dude, and I learned a lot in this class. That said, I must say, this class is difficult. As a Senior with a 3.96 GPA, I gave this course my best effort and barely squeezed out an A. The final grade consists of 9 1-page papers (10%), 5 tests (60%), and a final exam (30%). Take good notes, do the mini-papers, and read the text.
798 page WORKBOOK you have to memorize for ONE exam 5 weeks later on the entire book. Doesnt specify what will be on there, just says to complete the book more then once.I got through the whole thing once and the first half a second time.Barely passed with a C.studied 3-5 hrs EVERY day of the week. book made 4 harvard students.no class, self taught
Laughter and Humor Course: He wrote the book, and expects you to memorize every word used, rather than key points. Exam questions were arbitrary; one question was what analogy he used to describe laughter in the beginning of chapter 2. Also spent too much time talking about all the interviews he gives to news stations: irrelevent. I'd avoid him.
Class is so hard, and gives random questions hes a jerk a big one, and he is so arrogant and think he's funny, i hate this professor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dr. Provine is a smart guy, but he's almost in that too-smart-to-teach category. But if you write everything that he says down word for word during lecture, you can guarantee 90% of what states in class will be verbatim on the exam. I got a A in the class with an 88% average, so I'm pretty sure there was an unspoken curve too.
Either you love this guy or you hate him. He's pretty sharp and knows his material inside and out. Tests are really easy, but some of the questions are from the lectures, not the book. He doesn't post lecture notes online. Is fond of pontificating on his pet theories and the state of psychology in general, but at least he's interesting.
I don't know why there are so many poor ratings for Provine. As long as you attend lecture and pay attention, a B is almost guaranteed, because 80-90% of test questions are said multiple times in lecture and he let's you know that they will be test questions a good amount of the time. If you attend lecture and read an A should be pretty certain.
The class itself was not difficult. Final grades consisted solely of exams (intimidating) but the exams were not bad so long as you read and jotted down examples in class. My notes consisted of random comparisons and keywords "wire" "wasp is 1". I read the book front to back -- that's how I REALLY passed.
He definitely knows his stuff and you will find few related textbooks that do not cite his work. However, he is really in love with himself and doesn't develop a good relationship with students. You NEED to go to lectures and take detailed notes because his "analogies" will be word for word on the exams. Also, buy a tape recorder.
I took both Physiological Psych and Sensation and Perception with him. He taught the same material in both classes. He likes teaching in terms of a story so most of the information seems irrelevant but it will be on the test if he says it is. He's a bit creepy as well.
I've had Provine for neuroanatomy, humor & laughter, and physiological psych. He was also my adviser until recently. He is full of himself. He doesn't communicate well with students (I don't think he really cares). To succeed in a Provine class record the lectures and draw his diagrams. Read the darn book. And don't take his rudeness personally.
His teaching style is not the problem (although it wouldnt hurt if he even somewhat interested in his own subject). The problem is the book. It was written by him detailing his own research. Some parts are intolerable and his tests ask the most ridiculously specific questions that would never been have been remembered. Not a very good class.
Boring.Each extra credit is 1% of grade,not many.Have to e in class to get index card and instructions on 1pg paper to get credit. Book is boring.He tells a lot of stories and says things in numerous ways.On test he writes it more complex then what was said in class.Seems friendly.Need to show up to class in order not to fail.Read summary in book.
Nice teacher and easy going. The lectures are awful. He dosn't relate with students well. He is all over the place and its frustrating. 4 tests.
Good online course but hard grader. 3 concerts with research papers and forums. Weekly chapters, quizzes and writing assignments. Approx 10 hrs/week
I loved Dr. Provine! Yes, his class was hard but it was also interesting! You HAVE to go to lecture though if you want to do well. Pay attention to what he says will be on the exams, they most definitely will be. Recording his lectures was very helpful to me. You really do have to put in effort to do well though. After all it IS college....
Avoid this professor especially if the class is neuroanatomy. I failed but this could be partially because I took it during winter session and it was a lot of information to consume. The exam was really hard and the class only met twice the first day and the last day for the exam.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
100%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.56 avg changeRatings by Course
SENSPERCE
5.0
(1)PSYCH340
4.0
(1)MUS101
4.0
(1)PSYC333
3.8
(4)PSYC393LAUGH
3.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
SENSATION
5.0
MOTIVATION
5.0
SENSPERCEP
5.0
LAUGHTER
5.0
PSY333
5.0