Paul Stoddard

This class has been disappointing.

Dr. Stoddard stays on a lecture topic for a long time. For example, the scientific method and creationism vs. evolution took nearly 2 weeks. We spent a whole week on craters alone. You get bored when you cover a subject for so long.

Stoddard takes a long time to cover subjects because he answers so many questions in class. Whenever someone puts their hand up, he calls on them. And sometimes 6 people may have their hand up. What is worse is that he will give the person a complete and thorough answer, even if their question is not relevant to the topic under discussion. If a person asks a question at the end of class, he will answer it and goes over the allotted time for the class. This is not good if you have a class immediately afterwards. You cannot just leave because he tends to say something important.

Dr. Stoddard's exams are difficult despite the fact they are multiple choice. The questions can be quite specific. However, he does allow you to bring in an 8.5 x 11" sheet of notes with you to use during the exam. I suppose that is his way of getting the students to study for the exam. Writing up a sheet of notes is a good way to go over all the notes and textbook readings. Dr. Stoddard requires a book for the class that he wrote. The book is a work in progress, but it is useful for studying for the exams. Since he wrote the book, he only put in what he thinks is important.

Overall, the class has been disappointing. It has not been a lot of gee-whiz astronomy stuff. It has been more of a historical view of the solar system and study of the structure of planets.