3.5
Quality3.2
Difficulty54%
Would Retake90
Reviews54%
Would Retake
90
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
28
4
27
3
14
2
13
1
8
What Students Say
“It's really distracting and hard to overlook”
HIST3380 - 3.0 rating“Take notes while reading and watching his online lectures”
HIST3380 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
32%
Textbook Required
75%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
CIA3WORLD
5.0
(1)HIST3335
5.0
(2)HISTALL
4.7
(3)3363
4.5
(2)HIST101
4.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
HIS3383
4.5
HIST3397
4.0
HIST3381
4.0
HISTWREV
4.0
HIST3383
3.7
Reviews (90)
Not a nice person at all, kicks people out of the room for being 30 seconds late but is consistently late for class. I would suggest not taking any of his classes, hes a real jerk.
I took O'Brien for CIA in 3rd world (tape) and for Pirates & Smugglers(f2f). Courses all structured the same, 2 exams, each w/ 1 essay.Total jerk in person, but OK on the tapes.He Lost my exam in CIA class, so my final was my ENTIRE grade.I was pissed.
Excellent prof. Knows his topic, but isn't going to stop class for you to ask questions. Take good notes and you'll do well.
I took his taped class. He know his subject. He can be easy if you take good notes. There are two exams, they're all essay. He gives you the questions but won't let you know which will be on the exams.
Req's 3 books (2 of which he's the auth!); HW questions are to be turned in on orignl pgs of book...nonrefundable. Gives a set of essay q's. 2 will show on exam. Prepare for them!
Also had him for hist3380 summer session. He is great to listen to I love his lectures but when it's time to take the essay test, get ready to write-well! I got a C and a B from him and I'm history major so I considered his classes very difficult. His books are a scan (read other msgs.)but what are you gonna do? I'd recommend taking someone else!
Prof O'Brien is an arrogant and condescending jerk. He requires new textbooks (2 of which he wrote), kicks you out for being 5 seconds late, and is cold even one on one. I worked hard and still got an "A" in his course, but I would not recommend him AT ALL. Unfortunately, he is tenured and the dept chair, so I'm sure he's there to stay.
A great professor; very clear, fairly objective, and clear in his expectations for your grade. If you take good notes and prepare, the exams are easy essay exams. The guy even lets you know exactly which questions will appear on the exam. What more do you want? Yes, he sells "custom published" edited textbooks, but requires less textbooks than most
I LOVED O'BRIEN!!! WHAT ARE YOU OTHER PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT? HE KNOWS HIS STUFF, BREAKS IT DOWN TO WHERE I COULD EVEN UNDERSTAND IT! JUST DO THE READINGS, GO TO CLASS, ASK HIM QUESTIONS IF YOU NEED, HE IS ALWAYS THERE TO HELP! AMAZING CLASS, NEVER LEARNED SO MUCH IN SO LIL TIME:)!!!TAKE HIM IF YOU WANT TO LEARN!
This class was soooo easy. I took it during the summer and had to be in class for 2 hrs but it was not as horrible as I had expected it to be. I did not even buy the book and made an easy A.
Crazy prof, very entertaining. If you at least go to class for most of the time you should do well! Mid-term and final only, gives a good review for both. Great Prof!
He has 2 exams (mid and fin) and he makes u write 4 papers, 2 before each exam (4 pages each. He talks endlessly, and doesn't answer questions. The questions he said would be on final were not the questions on final. I am a summa****laude graduate who, after taking O'Brien just failed her first class.
Interesting class and interesting teacher. He knows what he is talking about, but is someimes a bit confusing. It is mandatory to attend class, unless you get notes from a friend. A midterm and final, both essay. Also, 4 essay questions, 2 due with the midterm and 2 with the final, given two days before the exam.
Best Professor EVER! I loved this guy! If you love history, you will love this professor. Beware! The exams are hard and long...all essay. Just PAY ATTENTION and you will get an A
Great professor. Has a lot of knowledge and makes his classes interesting. Ive taken him for 3 classes and never got lower than a B
am not sure about the kicking out of peope for being late, I have never seen it happen nor have I been kicked out myself. i am chronichly late to all my classes and he never repremendad me for it. The books are expansive to buy, one $125 and the other $30, but you basicly only need 2 books for all 4 classes that he teaches. Very knowledgeble, kind
Very nice prof, but hard class. I took his online class so the lectures are on tape. They are soooo boring...you will fall asleep. The material is interesting but he is a boring lecturer. Tests are essay. Material for the essay tests are from the tapes. He responds to emails and is helpful.
What an amazing professor! As long as you come to class and take good notes you are bound to do well on his exams, and the material was interesting as well! A+
He did his video class on a different website than WebCT - the code for the site is in the required text(He wrote!) Grading is done by TA - I am a History Major and I found the videos informative - but the grading harsh and confusing. I would only take his classes if you are willing to be given a full letter grade lower than you would normally.
Really fun, interesting class and an intriguing lecturer. When taken in the summer, just go to class and do the study guides and you should get an A.
Relies entirely on his TA's who don't know what they're doing and generate grades as they please. So what if he's a good lecturer if he's oblivious and indifferent to the class.
Lecture's are long, but organized. He has a midterm and a final. All are essays'. The TA grades your paper. My TA was James, and I think he grades easy. I knew most of the information. As long as you give the general idea and concept with factual information to back up, you will do good because the grading is converging grading.
This class was incredibly interesting, but extremely dense as well. He lectures rapid-fire, not sure when he breathes, and he doesn't really engage the students, just talks at us. However, he does answer questions and really knows the material. There are 2 exam grades and they are graded by a TA, both essays.
Great teacher, very interesting! Packs his lectures full of information and the text is a little dense but if you keep up with him its an easy A ( at least it has been for all 3 classes I've had with him!)
Interesting class. Much watch lectures. Great TA and fair grading.
O'brien lectures the entire class-moves too fast. Uses transparencys the entire course-how about getting with the 21st century. Times assignments and tests-And he is arrogant, just like many of the history teachers at UH-maybe that is a reflection of the leadership. And then they cry when enrollment is down.
Why do we have to buy his book and use this coursecompass stuff? Does he not want to use blackboard because he gets kickbacks from his publisher? don't we pay his salary enough through our tuition? This guy is corrupt.
He should be better off retiring! He does not want to work with students, he is boring, unapproachable and uncooperative. His TA lack intellectual capability to be at University, yet they grade your essays and discussions. His study guide has nothing to do with quizes or questions at exams. He is highly unpleasant and NOT RECOMMENDED by no means!
This guy is a slimeball. Good professor, but I'm sorry, charging $40 to take quizzes should be illegal if it already isn't. He exploits his students by charging for what we already pay for on Blackboard Vista. DONT TAKE THIS GUY, HE ONLY CARES ABOUT YOUR MONEY. He is an embarassment to the university and higher education as a whole.
I took him for 4 classes last semester and really had not problem. He uses the same book for all of his classes so for me that was ideal, I only had to buy one book. His lectures are also online therefore if you miss class ect. they are there for you on youtube. I just watched his lectures. The the reviews are right on. I made 2 A's and 2 B's.
I took this prof. which i learn a lot from. He was great at structuring the lectures, but when it comes to the quiz id's they SUCK! You have to read all of the chapters and 5 questions would be on the quiz. Of course the 5 questions where the least expected ones. Overall he is a good prof. and his mid term and final are very reasonable, take him!
Take Buzzanco classes instead!!!! I took Dr O'Brien's World Rev class. Was just ok. I'm an A student but barely got an A- in this one. Essays graded hard & the IDs can be tough, don't know what to expect. Only 2 grades - midterm, final. No chance to improve grade at all. Not personable. Boring lecturer (and I'm hist major, love it!)
I had him for pirates. Yes, he is after the money. makes you buy the book he wrote that is $100+. tests are all lectures, but the ID which is 20% of grade, are from the book. He gives no clue what will be on the ID's. Yes he has these random teacher's in training grade you stuff. can be annoying. However some lectures are unforgettable.
Took his pirates class. Lecture was very interesting (although no open discussion).Book is silly expensive(and written by him).Essay tests were easy as long as you paid attention in lecture.Got an A on the midterm and an A+ on the final.But, still got a B- in the class because the id's (especially for the midterm) were ridiculous.
GO TO CLASS! READ! those who dont will find it impossible to pass. go to class, take notes, read! do not fall behind in reading. i recorded the lectures and i got A's on both finals! btw, i took him this summer and it was fast paced. if i can do it, anyone can. you better take him seriously. my advice would be to take him in the fall or spring!
He just speaks for the entire class and you need to keep writing down what he says. You should have several pages of notes. Then add a few facts from the book, so it looks like you read, into the essays. Put many examples in your essays. I took it summer1 and made an A-, lost points bc of the stupid quizzes.
non-stop talking machine...knows his stuff. essay format tests (4/4 prompts given in advance along with a review day, 2/4 prompts given on test). 2 discussions, 2 quizzes. if you attend the review and add in a little info here and there in your essay, you should be fine. just watch for quizzes (online multiple choice)!
Professor O'Brien is an awesome teacher. He is not easy though. You will write until you want to puke in this class. Plus there are massive reading assignments. If you record his lectures you will make an A. He lectures everything you need to know but talks like a machine. Hard class but good information.
He's pretty interesting. Talks very fast, I would recommend taking notes. His midterm and final are essay. All of the lectures cover what you need to know for the essays. The TAs have a review before the exams, which help a lot. If you don't go to class at all, you should at least try to go to the review. There is a lot of online readings.
He is an interesting professor, not sure where the accent is from but he can be very funny if you understood what he was saying. like every 1 said, take notes and write fast for the essay exam and final
O'Brien has a mecca of history stored in his brain. Your hand will cramp and your head will spin, but he gives you all the info you need to succeed on your midterm & final exams (all essay). P.S. a digital recorder wouldn't hurt either.
TAKE NOTES AND RECORD LECTURES!
He is very smart. I love his class structure. Every History major and minor should take his classes ! He is funny ! I prepared for the final exam very hard and still got an average grade. I was shocked. You need to be very detailed on the exam to get an A.
This prof is only interested in making money. He wants you to buy his ebook (meaning: password, as it is not a book - no resale) at a super expensive price. Then, he states that any answer you give him that does not come from his book will receive a ZERO, regardless if it is the correct answer. AVOID - do not encourage this behavior in our profs.
I have taken 4 of Dr. O' Brien's courses. I would recommend him highly to any history major. He is one of the best if not the best History prof at UH. You know exactly what you need to do in his course and you come away from his courses having learned quite a lot. The work load is reasonable. I highly recommend Dr. O' Brien. I am a history major.
I have taken four of his classes and I received A+ in each of his classes. The key is to understand what to exect from his exams. If you attend the class in addition to reading the material it will be an easy A. Promise!
I took his World Revolutions class online and WOW was it difficult...and I'm not talking about the subject matter. The entire grading scale is based on 4 essays and the TAs are the ones that grade them. As others have said, the TAs are way too harsh in their grading. I am a history major but the grading scale is WAY too unforgiving.
I took his online CIA in the Third world course. If you take him be sure to get the e-book and not an earlier text edition. I got an earlier physical edition (I can't read books from computers well) and bad stuff happened. The e-books are his, and are a bit pricey. You get one hour to do essay tests, so read and study.
He is one of themost talented lecturers I ever heard! I just can't wait to his next lecture.
Prof. O'Brien's teaching skills are acceptable. However, I think it should be known that you have to buy the textbooks which can only be accessed online and cost around $120 (you cannot resale them). The books are a must. He deducts points if you use material from outside the book. If you can get over that, then you should be fine.
You MUST use his textbook and nothing else. Moreover, the book costs about $150 and you can only buy it through the publisher. This is nothing more than a racket and a means to exploit students for their money. This also limits the scope of information you can gain from the class since you cant use any other source. This is NOT historical study :(
I have taken four of Dr. O'Brien's classes and scored A+ in each class. If you take great notes and write outlines before the tests you will do great. He is very knowledgeable and willing to help to prepare for exams. Make sure you do the readings and you will be fine.
So far, this class has been rough. Two hour and 15 minute video lectures per week. Four grades in the class - two 75 minute essays for midterm and final, two 1,000 word essay in 60 minutes for major assignments. That's some fast writing, it's harder than it sounds! Try it first! $120 for the etext. Massive amounts of reading.
Took as a winter mini-session.Excellent course. You must watch on average two 75 minute videos a day and read about 40 pages of text a day to keep up with this two-week mini-session. Professor responds to emails in a timely manner and presentation of material is logical, clear and consistent with assigned readings.
He is a good lecturer (though his jokes are terrible), and is willing to help if you need it.Sometimes his lecturing style seemed a bit impersonal, as if he were reading from a script, but this may be due to the class being taped. Its an easy A if you keep up with the readings and lectures.My only issue is his required (very expensive) e-book.
The subject itself was great. Professor O'Brien knew a lot about the topic. However, what I didn't like was the fact that he made you buy two very expensive books, one which he wrote himself and was published by his wife so all money goes back to him.
Highly knowledgeable and his lectures are PACKED with information. The information he is teaching and sharing is great and has helped me in understand the world in which we exist better.
He gives lots of good information in his lectures and the class is straightforward but he laughs out loud at himself every time he mentions death or disease or war? It's really distracting and hard to overlook. "Spanish Influenza killed millions of children! *giggle* "
2 exams -1000 words in 60 minutes over a question you receive no prompt for. You have to buy his extremely expensive e-books, and e-books only, but it does not tell you that in the syllabus. It only says "these are e-books" . Those who have a hard time with ebooks are out. Do not expect a response back from him if you have a question or concern.
Great videos and subject matter. Only complaint is the text book. It is an online book that you cannot download or print from. THe Watchdox program also cause problem from time to time..... JUST GIVE US A BOOK! I like to OWN not rent a book specially for the 100+ price
This was the second class I took that Dr. O'Brien teaches and he is fantastic. You better watch all the lectures, read all the materials and know your stuff for the tests or you are doomed but if you keep up and take good notes you'll be fine. He grades tough but real fair and his lectures are fun so do watch them.
I have taken 3 classes with Dr. O'Brien. If you watch the lectures you are fine. Also you need to download his textbook. If you buy it once you can request it again from the publishers at no additional cost. I survived on just reading the book while doing the essays. He responds quickly to emails and concerns. He is a good for distance Education.
Professor Thomas O'Brien is a vast source of historical knowledge. He talks quickly and for the entire class period and there is little exchange with the students. He lectures and you take notes, that's the system here. He delivers high quality historical knowledge. There is a lot to read and you must take good notes or you will be in trouble.
I took him twice and the last class "Pirates and Smugglers" or something to that effect was worse. He actually took out and old over head projector to write on a transparency. I also understand that he uses graduate students to grade-as far as I am concerned the are not qualified to grade anyone's work.
I took Mr. O'Brien for an online Civ class. I felt like there was little to no interaction between him and the students, and that includes answering question. I have one question i asked him that has yet to be answered. His two E-BOOKS are expensive. And his lectures are all pre-recorded. This class is basically very independent.
He organizes his lectures to make it easy to get the main idea and to be able to answer the essays. I did not have to search for the summary or main idea, they were always in the beginning and the end of the lecture.
I LOVE History, and if you do too, this guy is pretty great! He is lecture heavy but damn does he know what he's talking about. Once lectured even without the PowerPoint. Problem is the textbook is expensive, over a hundred dollars. I barely read it, but if you struggle with History you might want to study. Only essays and tests. Extra credit avl.
I'm a business major who took this for a humanities credit. I really enjoy history and spend lots of free time watching history documentaries anyway. If you read the every section on the syllabus and take notes, than the essays are extremely easy A's. However, taking over summer I had to read around 30-40 pages daily, every day all summer.
You'll write a total of 4 papers for his online class. Although the material isn't too difficult, I hate how he makes you purchase his book. Two exams are based off documents from the book but I've only ever used the book on the day of the exam and never read it. Still passed with an A. I recommend sharing the book with other students.
Good professor, everything was accesible online so you can go at your own pace except of course the exams. Essay based and he gives you a review that helps a lot to prepare you. Lectures are boring but take good notes because thats what you use for the exams. Textbook is a must for the essay questions which is part of your exam. Pretty easy class
No... Just no. Don't do it! Absolutely no consistency on grading. One essay you'll get a great grade, the next could be the same quality, and you'll get an F. Unclear about expectations, no feedback. Interesting lectures, and great material presented, but there is definitely an issue with grading.
You'll take a mid-term and a final, both of which are essays where you have to answer a prompt with 1000 words in 75 minutes, then you also have two 50 minute 1000 word essays summarizing an article from the book. Book is e-book and expensive. Extremely tough grader. 2 opportunities for extra credit, a total of 5 points.
Textbook - online & expensive. 2 minor exams - summary of articles in the textbook (15% each). 2 major exams - from lectures (35% each). Exams are timed. PRO TIP: watch lectures/take notes for major exams. For article summaries, use search option on textbook to find the correct article. You will get an F for the wrong one. summarize/type quickly.
currently im halfway thru course w/ a 98% overall- there r 26 1 hour lectures -be sure to take A LOT of notes esp. when hes comparing the diff. revolutions- this whole course is very interesting- u dont rly HAVE to read but just familiarize urself w the material and type really fast & concisely when u open the essays- BEWARE: online book is 180$!!!
Information overload, hours of lecture videos to watch, too many chapters to read. Take notes while reading and watching his online lectures. Only take him if this is your only option.
I took his class twice and he is a fair grader. There are two weekends that assignments are due. 2 essays, final, midterm, 2 extra credits! I made A- in both classes. Not bad and you don't have a bunch of work all semester! This is a grate filler class!
I took this class during the summer. There was a lot to read and plenty of lecture videos, but if you take good notes, youll be fine.
The only assignments are papers in which you have 60-75 minutes to write 1,000 words without having known the question ahead of time. The book is expensive and can only be purchased through 1 source. On over a dozen occasions, I had difficulty opening the text book because the web version kept crashing, and the program wouldn't open.
Took him for pirates and smugglers online course. If you love history, its a great class. Yes, your grade is based off of 4 total essays, but theyre graded fairly easily. You absolutely have to watch the lectures and take notes. Just use the facts from your notes, no outside source, and youll be fine. It seems intimidating, but its not.
Favorite history prof at UH. I am taking a third class from him now, and I think he is halarious. At first i was intimidated by the amount of reading, BUT the book was written by him so if you listen to the lectures while you read its SO EASY to follow!! He is an excellent professor, knows what he is talking about, and you learn alot
Prior knowledge of history may be require. Expensive book never use it. Keep crashing a lot, instructor knows, but is going to tell you to take it with the publishers people. A lot of information on the videos, and lecture so yeah is up to you if you want to attend class. Personally I didn't because traffic was a nightmare. He cool people.
I took this class to forfill my diversity credit. There were only 6 papers the entire semester. The papers were easy as long as you include all the points wanted from the syllabus and summarize the reading. There is a lot to read so stay on top of it. Extra credit papers are 2 out of the 6 papers. I didn't even need the last extra credit paper.
He is awesome! He gives you all the information you need for the 2 tests. If you watch the lectures you wont have any problem passing this class!
I've taken all the classes offered by O'Brien, in fact I'm rather sad that I won't be taking any more. True, his book is expensive, but I used the same book for 5 classes. True, you never know the exam questions until you open, but I've submitted work that was hundreds of wrds short and still got a B. He was hard, but man this was fun.
The textbook for this class was online and did not work most of the time. You could not print or make notes - the videos did not follow the class reading material. The reading material was oddly ordered and usually the videos (terrible) were not organized with reading. I wont take another online video class by this professor or textbook.
The class has so much information and lectures, you really have to stay on top of it. The book is so expensive and the more you read it, the more you realize entire paragraphs are basically copied and pasted into different chapters. Only 4 assignments, 12 lectures and 300 pages of reading. Professor is ok, but class is an absolute sham.
I took him for a minimster. It was the worst decision I have ever made. I am an all A's student and I ended up with a falling grade. He is so rude when you email him. There is a lot of reading and he grades very hard. DO NOT TAKE HIM! You never know how he is going to grade you. I did very good on my first essay then the last 3 I got horrible grade
Professor Obrien lectures were pretty interesting, just did not like how we also had another professor. I wish he was the only one who taught the class. His test are easy you just have to study . There is only three test and one museum paper. I would take him again
The requirements for the course are unreasonable in my opinion. Asking for a thousand word essay in 75 minutes is pretty much impossible.
His class is pretty ridiculous. There is only a few test and essay. HOWEVER, all of them are essays. He only gives you one hour to write a 1000 word essay and gives you nothing about the essay before it starts. He also requires a textbook, but you can only read the book by an online reader, which you cannot save the page where you stopped.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
32%
Textbook Required
75%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.54 avg changeRatings by Course
CIA3WORLD
5.0
(1)HIST3335
5.0
(2)HISTALL
4.7
(3)3363
4.5
(2)HIST101
4.5
(2)Difficulty by Course
HIS3383
4.5
HIST3397
4.0
HIST3381
4.0
HISTWREV
4.0
HIST3383
3.7