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A little "exam guide" for each professor you have had

BestFarmvillerNA
edited February 2014 in General
While I was studying for my exam, I realized there are some teachers who base their exams entirely on the textbook provided for the course, or solely on the lectures. Of course, some profs add a little bit of both, but I found myself studying more on my lectures than my textbook for certain classes (and vice versa for some other courses), and then completely bombing it because the exam was completely based off of the material I didnt really consider as important.

So I think it would be a good idea if we create an exam guide for each professor we had, and share if this professor emphasizes on which category of study...Whenever I think about how many hours ive wasted reviewing the completely irrelevant materials, I think it would be worthwhile to create this guide. Also, ratemyprof.com doesnt really make much sense from time to time... some say just go over the book only, and you're good, others say only review the lectures.

So, to start off:

Cartwright (crim): Completely off of his lectures. Take down everything he says in them. Dont bother buying the book.

Fabian (crim): Mostly off of the textbook, but she tells you what will be in the exams during lectures, so make sure to go to lectures too. Pay attention to the guest speaker (if there is one); there is sure to be some questions from him/her.

Alder (psyc): quizzes off of lectures, but exams completely off of textbook.

Bowbrick (crim): Another lecture guy. Dont bother buying the book.

McLean (SA): Looong time ago, so I dont really remember. Anyone care to chime in?

Heide (Phil): A bit of both lectures and readings, but slightly more lectures. The readings are not that long anyways, so just do it.


The one I need is Masilamani... I cannot pinpoint whether I should study the lectures more, or the textbook. Anyone?

Comments

  • crimematic
    edited February 2014
    1. Also disagree with Fabian. I just memorized everything she said to "star" from lecture notes and memorized the vocab and got an A- on both the mid-term and final 

    2. I found that Alder's quizzes and exams were off the textbook. All I did to study was memorize vocab and nothing else. He would just throw in a couple of random lecture questions and thats it

    3. McLean's exams were based on lectures. Hers too was mostly vocab, but just the vocab from lectures, not the textbook 
  • BestFarmvillerNA
    Anyone had Masilamani (polsci) before? I have him for this semester... not really sure what he bases his exams from. His textbook in the course is god awful, so Im really hoping that his exams will only consist of lectures.

    Also, feel free to list any professors that you've had
  • sfustudent
    Alright, here we go:

    Boyanowsky: Crap shoot. Mostly from lectures, however will give random questions from readings that are super obscure.

    Cartwright: Mostly lectures,  but when you take upper level courses with him he tests on stuff from the book. However, mostly major concepts and it wil only be from the readings you didn't have time to cover in lecture

    Bercovitz: Lecture only

    Sandgathe: Lecture only.. 1 or 2 multiple choice questons on textbook

    Bowbrick: All lecture.. exams are not easy though. I will happily give you more detailed on 330 if you need it

    Garth Davies: Lecture & book, a few definition questions on first midterm from textbook. Final focuses a lot on the articles given out

    Eric Beauregard: 50% lecture 50% readings. Lecture questions are STUPID easy, but will ask really obscure questions from the readings that are difficult to figure out because he uses all of the above, none of the above, some of the above type questions

  • crimematic
    @sfustudent or @bestfarmvillerna can you expand on Bowbrick's exams? I already took CRIM 135 but just in case I get him for 330. Everyone says exams are only on lecture notes but are difficult. If they are only on lecture notes, what is so hard about them? Couldn't you just memorize everything on the notes and theoretically ace the exam? 




  • BestFarmvillerNA
    I haven't taken 330 yet...just 135. But I do remember him telling us in the 135 class that memorization alone will not give out a passing grade in his classes. Application and analysis (or somewhere around there) of the materials learned in lecture will be the only way to do well in his classes, or so I remember.

  • sfustudent
    For Crim 330 you do not need a textbook. All his exams are open book, however, because of that he expects A LOT OF DETAIL!!! He will give you a scenario and then be like "Should they be charged with --- criminal offense"
    You then have to explain what the criminal offense is (what section from the code it comes from) then you have to explain why they should or should not be charged based on the requirements... and all this other stuff. He just expects crazy detail. I got 77% on the midterm and was the highest mark in class.

    Now, I very rarely studied (4-6 hours max for midterm and final) and still got an A-. You can succeed really well in his courses if you are a quick writer, and can give a lot of details. If you need time to think out your answers and argue, take it with another prof.

    I found it the easiest out of all the core courses, but I've heard too many people have complained about him to the crim department so he wont be teaching 330 anymore.... when I took it only me and one other person got an A-... I think when the other course took it same kind of stuff. Only I took it with 35 people and the other section was with 100.

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