This is the worst class I have ever taken. Brothen does nothing. You teach yourself out of the book and take quizzes online. The final quizzes are full of trick questions and you never get any feedback to improve. It is almost impossible to tell what you are doing wrong. When I requested for help I got "try harder" from both the teacher and the TAs

No lectures, NO FEEDBACK!!!! All learning was directly out of the book. Test feedback only consisted of the number of problems you got right, or wrong, and not which concepts you understood or did not. He sent emails with red CAPS, and would say things like research proves.... while completely ignoring concepts of Knowledge of performance.

There are 'no due dates', but every week on Wed. you have a writing assignment due that you can ONLY submit if you've completed 3 chapter quizzes for the corresponding textbook chapter. WHAT?! It's terrible. No feedback. Quiz questions are word for word from the dense textbook so you HAVE to read every word or you fail. DO NOT TAKE HIS COURSES!

He literally does not even teach. All of the course material comes straight from the book (i.e. no lectures) and the quiz questions are SO SPECIFIC! The class isn't hard, but it is a pain.

This course requires you to do a short writing assignment every week (300 words). Don't expect to get any feedback. This course requires nothing but good memory. It only makes me to memorize that Freud was a cocaine addicts. This course advocates memorizing stupid details instead of providing a big picture of the overall development of psychology.

Exams are ridiculously difficult. If you dont memorize every single minuscule detail in the book, youre screwed. If I had the choice of having Thomas as a professor again or having 3 more kidney stones, I would take having the kidney stones without question. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!

The specificity of his test questions are utterly ridiculous. As another poster said, you have to memorize the entire book in any hope of passing exams. It takes away from students understanding the big picture of the material when the focus is on minuscule details in the textbook. Honestly the WORST professor I have ever had in college.

Would be open to reading the textbook if I could actually think and connect the material to the big picture of some of these theories. All the tests are copied directly from book and all I worried about was knowing who said exactly what on which page. Felt like a waste of time and might've been the worst psych class I've taken yet (I'm a Senior).

The textbook is extremely information dense and Brothen expects you to memorize it if you have any hope of passing. There isn't an online learning aspect to this at all and his exam questions are basically lines from the textbook where he changes one word. Ironic that he ignores different learning styles for his Learning and Behavior class.

I had him for Learning and Behavior. This class was straight textbook memorization. All the tests are just excerpts from the textbook with few words changed. Nothing in this class helps to understand big picture Learning and behavior. Also, the textbook is probably the driest piece of literature I have read in college. 100% self-taught.

This class almost feels like a joke. It is supposed to be on Learning & Behavior but it feels like it is just testing my ability to memorize 800 pages of dry poorly written material. Brothen brags about how much research and effort he has put into this class yet this class is impossible to learn from. It is just ridiculously specific test questions

The homework in this class is fairly easy. The tests are another story. The questions are designed to trick you and are based 100% on the textbook. The tests have lines straight from the textbook with few words changed and ambiguous answers. For a class on learning&behavior it feels like this class is designed so you learn nothing.

If you like reading dry, poorly written textbooks, having a professor that gives stupidly hard tests and teaching yourself everything this is the prof for you. He brags about how much research has been put into this class but it feels like a joke. The class was Learning and behavior and I have yet to learn and retain anything. AVOID HIM!!

Brothen doesn't do anything in/for this class. The only time you "interact" with him is watching his introductory video. The class consists of reading a textbook that seems to be written just to be incomprehensible, and his test questions are taken straight from the book, except with 1-2 words switched around; basically all trick questions. 0/10

All the exams are impossible to study for because of how specific the questions are to each word in the textbook, yet on the final, you get a practice final that has questions verbatim on the final. He has no consistency in the course and is out to make you fail unless you memorize the textbook cover to cover. do yourself a favor & avoid him!!!!!!!

Brothen is not an invested professor. The course is entirely self taught and consists of a few weekly assignments worth few points, and the tests are, like said below, made up of sentences from the textbook with just a few words switched around. I'm a psych major and I wish that I had avoided this class.

This is by far the hardest class I have ever taken. I usually do really well in online classes and pride myself in my work ethic, but I had an almost impossible time with this class and I wish I would have dropped it. I think he has good intentions with this course, but it is 100% based on memorization of the textbook. The tests are VERY difficult.

Taking this course was a huge mistake on my part. The only material offered in the course is the text book and you are pretty much left to figure everything out on your own. If you are not able to memorize specific details from the book, you will not do well on the exams. The feedback given by the TAs is also vague (if they even reply). Don't do it

I would have really enjoyed this course if it was with a different professor. Thomas Brothen didn't "teach" a single thing in this course. The amount of time I spent on this course compared to other Psych courses is ridiculous. I would not take this online course if I were you. The quiz and exam questions are so tricky, confusing, and specific.

Professor Brothen did nothing to teach this class. He assigned a textbook and that was it. The only lecture in the entire semester was one at the beginning on how to read the textbook and be sucessful. Basically if you don't understand the text you're in trouble because there is nothing else to reinforce what you read.

This class is actually impossible. The questions on the quizzes are random or selected by his TAs. This is the only class in which I have actually read every chapter, word for word. And yet, I still have no idea what the answers are. This should not be an online class. I am unbelievably depressed to fail a college class that I worked so hard on.

This class feels like Thomas is only here for his research or whatever he does to be employed by the U. He does the bare minimum for this to be considered an online class. Why he is listed as the professor makes no sense he does literally nothing for this class. This class must be a cheap and easy way for him to keep his U parking spot.

His response to my email asking for clarification on a concept was "talk with your peers." Seems like a reasonable response right? The Gag is no one in the class could answer my question and he persistently told me to keep talking it out with my peers. Funny enough the concept I was asking about was 4-5 questions on the next test. Just avoid him.

This class is about as interesting as Thomas is helpful; not very.

I am a senior in Psychology. For context, I am a straight A student, I do all of my readings and homework. I did all of the reading for this class, took notes, and still did poorly on his exams. Exam questions are designed to trick you or throw you off. Exams are taken through Proctorio (which watches you take it)I am withdrawing from this class.

I've taken a handful of online classes for psychology and this is BY FAR the worst. Thomas Brothen doesn't seem to invest in the students who pay for this class. No lectures, you literally teach yourself from the textbook. You are only graded on ridiculously specific tests and quizzes. Waste of time and money. Just don't take this class.

By far worst professor I've ever had. First bad professor at the U. Tests and 3 weekly quizzes are so specific, course is so boring, no lectures--just reading. Even denied people in my class disability accommodations. If you must take it, the book online allows you to look up the answers to questions. HIGHLY recommend avoiding him.

honestly just skim through the chapters and memorize the fluency quizzes. Literally ggot 17/20 on the exam I just took, in eight minutes.

this man does not every remotely try to be present in his online classes. His "presence" is telling you to figure out what you do not understand yourself. Best advice is to just avoid this online class

Does no lectures, basically no presence as an instructor unless you seek out the help. I spent a semester reading the textbook and then doing the weekly quizzes. He did absolutely nothing that helped enhance my understanding of the material.

One of the worst psych classes ever. Overly specific questions - Prof would take a sentence out of the textbook then change one word to trick you. That being said, this class is not impossible. Take each fluency quiz 20 times, memorize textbook sentences that you see on the quizzes and you'll be fine. I recommend just not taking this course though.

Tbh, don't take this class. There are no lectures and an absurd amount of notes. There is simply too much content to try and learn by yourself. This class sucks.

Horrible professor. One of the worst classes I've ever taken. A ton of textbook reading and ridiculously hard quizzes. The exams are multiple choice and intentionally trip you up with wording. You are tested over memorizing the textbook not understanding the concepts. AVOID AVOID. He's from another generation and should not be teaching online.

Seems like a nice guy, but does not curve or give second chances on exams, most of the class does bad and just makes an announcement on how we didn't listen to his study strategies. Read the textbook front to back multiple times if you want to pass. Weekly quizzes/papers. I DO NOT recommend this class, save yourself the headache!

There's no lectures, no teaching (except for short 3-minute example videos), just textbook-focused. The course doesn't allow you to be creative with applying what you've learnt, aside from weekly reflections. Main issue is the exam is memory-oriented. Choose another course if you want to actually apply knowledge instead memorizing obscure terms.

Prof. Brothen is nice, but orients the course through repetition which feels boring. If your study habits are really good, this class is an easy A. But because I just can't force myself to memorize every textbook sentence the class felt more heavy-work for me, hence the B+. For the most part the content was understandable but very vocab-based

I am typically a straight A student who can tolerate most courses without complaints. This has been my least favorite professor and class I have ever had. Just avoid it. I was surprised there would be a faculty member and course this bad at the U of M. I would not recommend this, even if you are interested in the topic. It was just all around bad.

This is by far the hardest class I have ever taken. As a three credit course, I did not see this coming. You have weekly quizzes which can be taken as may times as you need, but the wording is so closely related it was difficult to get the answers correct. Take the quizzes several times, and READ THE BOOK, that's the only way you'll pass the exams.

Worst class I've ever had. As others have said, the exam questions are ridiculously awful. They have nothing to do with the textbook's concepts; they are trivial questions that you're supposed to some how magically remember from the reading, like "How many slides can a pigeon remember?" (literally) He expects you to memorize every sentence ever.

This course basically makes you read a chapter from a textbook and expects you to memorize everything for the exams. There is no teaching. When students do poorly on the test he claims that 'we are not studying the right way'. A good professor would change his approach to teach students. I have a 3.92 major gpa for psych, and this course is awful.

I'm a straight A student but this class was too much. It's asynchronous, but there was NOTHING to help with the material. Lots of pages in textbook each week, with a short video that isn't even helpful. No lectures. Worst part was the tests: he would take a random, irrelevant sentence and change up the wording to trick you. Please avoid at all cost

Avoid this professor at all costs. This course is completely asynchronous but is the hardest course I've ever taken. 3 quizzes a week based on a 30-page chapter you need to read. 3 exams with questions that are taken almost directly from the textbook, with slight differences to mess you up. Everything is proctorio and extremely hard.

This was the hardest PSY class I have taken. He doesn't lecture so you must teach yourself by reading the book but you won't know what is actually important to study for the exam. He only has like 3-minute videos each module discussing one thing from the chapter. Prepare to spend a LOT of time on this class if you want to do well.

This class was honestly the worst class I have taken at the U thus far. Questions on the tests are literally sentences out of the textbook with one or two words changed that are meant to mess you up. I ended up doing fairly well in the course, but it took way more effort then it should have.

This class is unnecessarily hard and Brothen is almost nowhere to be found the entire course. If/when test scores are low he just throws a fit about students not following his study strategies. There are much better ways to provide online learning than this repetitive course design. Wish I would have listened to these reviews.

The entire class is based upon reading the book and taking tests, weekly quizzes, and weekly papers. The tests are beyond confusing and he does little to help. When test grades are low, he complains about us not studying the right way - when in reality the test questions are worded horribly.

This is truly one of the worse classes I've ever taken. You read a whole textbook chapter every week, memorize the arbitrary trick question multiple choice questions and regurgitate it on the midterms/final. If you can just turn your brain off and not care about actually learning psych it's not too awful. The textbook repeatedly said ableist things

This professor does pretty much nothing at all. Everything you learn from this class will be from a textbook that you have to read on your own. T Even when you need help, he always tells you to ask the TAs first, so he basically gets paid to do no work. The tests are so specific that it's hard to get perfects. DON'T SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS.

If you do well in online asynchronous classes, you're good to go. If you want to actually learn and engage with classmates and professors, this is not the class for you. It feels like the most basic info dump from textbook to brain. While I may have learned some new info, it's not like I am taking all this meaning with just memorizing the text.

Ironic that a class about learning is so difficult to learn in. "Lectures" are ~ 5-min videos once a week you can only access AFTER you take several levels of quizzes. After exams, he blamed poor grades on students, not his lack of teaching. SO MUCH READING. When I tell you he doesn't teach anything, I mean it. Proc exams & problematic textbook.

There's no teaching in this class or clear rubric/samples of writing. Read the textbook closely because the quiz and exam questions are NOT about GENERAL concepts from the textbook. You know it is bad when the TA sends a message clarifying what was expected in the writing assignment every week. It is the same prompt every week.

The content of this course was ok to learn about but be prepared to memorize a lot. This course is completely self taught and the quizzes and exams are very specific. It does not test whether you understood the concepts, its tests whether you read and remember the specificities of the chapters. I recommend for people who are good at memorization

This professor gets paid to do nothing. He provides no support for the students or even cares to provide any help. If you want to spend thousands of dollars to teach yourself material then he's the perfect professor for that. Ironic that the course is intro to learning yet it seems he cannot even do that correctly.

Horrible professor. There are zero lectures or recorded lectures, basically teaching yourself. Assignment wise, this course is very easy and has light work. However, you will be teaching yourself with little to no support from the professor. Would not recommend this professor or this course, learned nothing.

Prof Brothen is a nice person. You basically teach yourself everything in this course. There's no lectures or slides, just the textbook and a quick video every week that you can't view until after taking the weekly quizzes. The textbook is free online though which is nice. There's three weekly quizzes and a weekly writing assignment.

Horrible class. Learned absolutley nothing. The teacher blamed students for bad grades. Homework heavy (4 assignments per week.) The online textbook was free, but you teach yourself. So much reading. One of those classes where you forget everything except for how bad the class was. Highly suggest not taking this class.

This class sucked, respectfully. There are no lectures, just very dense reading from the textbook. Exams are unnecessarily difficult and cover very specific details, not broad concepts. I spent far too much time studying for this class. You are teaching yourself, and prof takes no responsibility to help you. Would not recommend this course.

Worst professor I've ever had. Perfect example of a bad professor ruining a subject. The bare minimum of this class: teaching yourself all of the content and memorizing the textbook. The concepts are intriguing but not worth being treated like this is the only class you are taking. Unless this subject relates to your career, avoid it at all costs.

I would never call Thomas Brothen a teacher. You teach yourself EVERYTHING in this class. Its all reading, he will not do a single thing to further your learning. Make sure you have a photographic memory and memorize every single thing from the textbook word for word!

I should've listened to RMP when I saw Professor Brothen's lousy rating. But I found the material interesting, so I thought I would give his class a shot. Not the best idea. Personally, his method of teaching doesn't work for me. He really isn't teaching this class and you're left to your own devices

Hede these reviews! Students reviewing him badly are NOT just salty. He genuinely provides nothing of value and blames bad grades on you even when his sections have the lowest scores out of everyone. You WILL be teaching yourself and need to memorize practically every little thing. Exams and quizzes are oddly specific, and it will get frustrating

This class is self-taught. Period. You read a textbook full of instances of use of the R word and then take tests made up of questions that are lines copy and pasted out of the book. I swear that as the price of our education goes up the quality is plummeting. Shame on Thomas Brothen and shame on the psych department.

The class is essentially you memorising an entire textbook. The only person who would succeed in this class is someone with a photographic memory. He does not teach. He doesn't do anything. All he does is send Canvas messages telling you to take the quizzes over and over to get a good grade. The exams are worded like riddles, meant to trip you up.

Professor Brothen's involvement in this course is next-to-nothing. No absorption of material is required to do good on the exams. All of the questions are on Quizlet, either in the exact same format or just slightly modified. Overall, PSY3011 is a joke of a course, and I would not recommend.

Easily the worst professor I've had. This class is essentially just memorizing a textbook with tests making up roughly 75% of your grade. The professor is completely hands off with no lectures, TA's grading any assignment that requires it and automatically graded tests.

The fact that I had to pay to take this class is actually hilarious. You have to teach yourself everything, and in order to do good you have to read and memorize every page of the textbook. Exam questions are made to trip you up. Professor Brothen did not do anything to help with the learning of the material whatsoever.

This class made me appreciate all my professors and instructors who actually put effort into interacting with students and genuinely care about them succeeding.

Worst "instructor" I've ever had. If you take this course from this professor, be ready to be punished for not recalling every single sentence from the chapter word for word. Aside from blasting students on Canvas for not spending 60 hours a week retaking the same quiz 40 times for study, he has zero involvement with actually teaching students.

These other reviews are 100% true. You WILL be teaching yourself 100% of the content. Would not recommend--for a class about learning and behavior, ironically I have learned hardly anything.

The entire class was based on textbook reading - no lectures at all. Tests impossible and made up majority of grade.