http://www.CourseReviews.comCourseReviews.com - Smith Collegeen-usCopyright 1997-2008 CourseReviews.comSat, 02 Aug 2008 13:51 ESThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssdylan.feed@coursereviews.com (CourseReviews.com)dylan.webmaster@dylangreene.com (Dylan Greene) hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45466/Want-to-Learn-Nothing-Take-His-CourseI've had Goldstein on two separate occassions, so I can say, without a doubt, that it was the WORST experience ever! He was my discussion professor for GOV 100, but never explained anything! If you asked a question, he went around the question, never once actually answering it, then got annoyed if you were still confused. He made it extremely uncomfortable to ask questions, and was rarely accessible outside of the 50 minutes that we saw him; once a week. To make things worse, he gave out essay questions that had little to do with what the lectures were about, and graded them extremely hard. Not one person, who was in my discussion session, ever got higher than a C+ on the assignments. Learning and interpreting political theories involve discussion and clarification so that the student understand and apply that knowledge. Professor Goldstein did neither to facilitate the learning process. My experience with him brought my pursuit of a degree in Government to a halt.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45466/Want-to-Learn-Nothing-Take-His-Course#comments2008-03-27T19:30:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45466/Want-to-Learn-Nothing-Take-His-Coursehttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45206/unwilling-to-help-studentsSarah Marie Belcastro is the worst professor I had a Smith. It was extremely difficult to get help from her. It was like pulling teeth to get even a little bit of help. I would not recommend her for this, or any other class.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45206/unwilling-to-help-students#comments2007-08-29T01:26:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review45206/unwilling-to-help-studentshttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44820/Medieval-torture-at-its-finestAs as teacher she is well informed and very friendly but the work load is very overwhelming. With a final, 15 page paper and an oral recitation in the last two weeks for this class I had to devote most of my time to this class. Grading is very difficult and I do not feel I gained any indepth knowledge on Chaucer. It felt as though the class discussions were on a high school level but the papers were expected to be at a graduate level.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44820/Medieval-torture-at-its-finest#comments2007-01-08T18:57:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44820/Medieval-torture-at-its-finesthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44792/Amazing-Art-History-ExperienceValija was amazing! She really knew herself and cared a lot at her students. She left almost everyone in the class with a deeper interest in art history. She was a pretty fair grader. Her lectures were so entertaining most of the time that I never wanted to miss class.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44792/Amazing-Art-History-Experience#comments2006-12-28T23:03:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44792/Amazing-Art-History-Experiencehttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44791/Pretty-InterestingWhen I signed up for this course I didn't know what to except. On the whole I thought It was pretty interesting althought sometimes the reading was really boring and confused me. Prof. DiBartolo is really and effective teacher and she seemed like she really cared. I would say take this class if you are interesting in psychology and want to take a pretty easy math class for Latin honors.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44791/Pretty-Interesting#comments2006-12-28T23:02:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44791/Pretty-Interestinghttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44738/Worst-Teacher-EVERPatricia was very unhelpful and missed more than 10 classes. Her teaching did not focus on the material we needed to know. Half of our first test was about a concept that we had barely spent five minutes on in class. She is also EXTREMELY slow answering e-mail (three + days for a full response), even when the question is urgent. She gave us no help reviewing for the final. She rarely showed up for her own office hours. When she bothered to come to class, her lectures were very unorganized and she usually had to stop in the middle for a few minutes to figure out what she was talking about in her notes. When we asked questions, she never had a clear answer.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44738/Worst-Teacher-EVER#comments2006-12-17T21:56:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44738/Worst-Teacher-EVERhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44737/Brain-States-RocksWow, There are just not enough good things to say about Prof Harrington. She is concerned with the learning process of her students, creates an engaging and challenging atmosphere and does not hand out busy work. I would be delighted to take a class w/ her at the helm anytime.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44737/Brain-States-Rocks#commentsBrightChallengingGreat Role Model2006-12-17T12:02:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44737/Brain-States-Rockshttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44620/Oceans-cover-70-of-the-earths-surface-worth-knowing-about-ehGeology is not just about rocks. It is about the environment - earth - oceans, mountains, ice caps, and yes, rocks and minerals too... but if you take any science course at university it should be oceanography. The oceans cover 71% of the earths surface, it stabilizes (and changes) climate, controls the weather, was the birthplace of life, in the deepest part it could cover mt everest with more than a mile of water above...I think it's worth knowing about even if you've never even considered taking a science course before. Geology 108 is an interesting course that I would recommend to everyone - first-years and upper classmen, science majors and non. It is layman enough to be taken successfully by students with no science background and can open as many doors as you can imagine to those interested. Steve Gaurin is an awsome professor who knows what he's talking about. With lots of experience in the field and at sea he brings the material to life. The course can be taken writting intensive, but you may also choose otherwise. Sometimes a little on the silly/odd side, but he's got the best chuckle and though some may groan I found him one of the most entertaining professors at Smith. He is especially good to come to after class, if it's just a minute while people are still leaving the room, or meeting sometime outside of class he's always willing to explain and help out - he has a real desire for everyone to understand.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44620/Oceans-cover-70-of-the-earths-surface-worth-knowing-about-eh#commentsfunnyinterestingfair graderhelpfulldedicated.2006-11-16T18:57:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44620/Oceans-cover-70-of-the-earths-surface-worth-knowing-about-ehhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44617/Great-edu-profwonderful dry sense of humor and very understanding towards the stressed out smithie. I LOVE HER!noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44617/Great-edu-prof#comments2006-11-16T09:58:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review44617/Great-edu-profhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review43132/Makes-The-Federalist-Papers-interesting-and-shows-SimpsonsMarc has a unique ability to make the mechanisms of American goverment, even the most boring, relevant to our lives. He often uses media to illustrate course themes - you may watch campaign commercials from 1988; you may watch the Simpsons or The Daily Show. He alternates between shorter pieces in coursebooks and full-text books, and the books are interesting. Almost everyone I knew at Smith took a course with Marc during their four years, from English majors to Bio, and all enjoyed thoughtful lectures, a professor who remembers faces and engaging debates (no need to clock watch) - 3 years later, I still enjoy trading emails on current events and what's new in general. In one of his seminars, he'll show you the first part of his FBI file - a very intriguing, thoughtful professor.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review43132/Makes-The-Federalist-Papers-interesting-and-shows-Simpsons#commentsfair graderfungets to know you2005-12-21T20:39:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review43132/Makes-The-Federalist-Papers-interesting-and-shows-Simpsonshttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review16174/two-thumbs-upRandy is an amazing professor. Anyone who is interested in psychology should take a class with him. He is very well prepared for his lectures and know his field well enough to answer any question.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review16174/two-thumbs-up#comments2002-05-05T18:44:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review16174/two-thumbs-uphttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15013/a-good-solid-math-classThis class was taught smoothly and efficiently, and close reading of the book was not necessary for understanding of lectures and homework. Some times the professor got bogged down with details, but overall it was a very well taught, comprehensible class (even for non math majors).noemail@coursereviews.com (beanie8)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15013/a-good-solid-math-class#comments2002-03-13T18:42:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15013/a-good-solid-math-classhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15008/Fun-useful-class-gt-well-taughtThis class is perfect for those who are skilled at and have a strong background in calculus (and also fulfills a lot of grad school requirements as 1 year of calc in a semester). The class problems are fun and applicable to all academic fields, and the homework is fair and can be resubmitted until you get an A! Great class! great prof! (he wrote the book)noemail@coursereviews.com (beanie8)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15008/Fun-useful-class-gt-well-taught#comments2002-03-13T16:41:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15008/Fun-useful-class-gt-well-taughthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15007/A-must-for-all-first-yearsThis first year seminar that I took my first semester at Smith changed my life! As a first year this entirely field based course is an excellent way to both discover the geology and the new environment (social and physical) around you. Field trips to cape cod & p-town were a bonus amount of funnoemail@coursereviews.com (beanie8)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15007/A-must-for-all-first-years#comments2002-03-13T16:36:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15007/A-must-for-all-first-yearshttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15006/A-life-changing-experienceBy far the best class I have taken at Smith. Gretchen allows her class to take design to new & exciting levels of creativity and exploration.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15006/A-life-changing-experience#comments2002-03-13T16:25:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1086/review15006/A-life-changing-experience