MCDB 131L
HAYES C S
Chris Hayes
3.1
23 reviews
MCNAMARA J P
James McNamara
4.8
25 reviews

48
3.95
MCDB131L . Hayes C S 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

Hayes is straightforward about what info he is going to test on. Grade is 20% m1, 20% m2 and 60% final. He lets you drop 1 midterm if it benefits your grade. For 131L- switch to a new TA if you have Kaitlin S. She was outwardly rude to students and made the class environment very uncomfortable. Worst TA i have had at UCSB

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MCDB131L . Hayes C S 2 Years Ago

This was so far the easiest MCDB lab I have taken. The exams were all online. Also the experiments were very low stakes, not like O Chem labs where if you really messed up you would miss a bunch of points.

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MCDB131L . Hayes C S 9 Years Ago

The entire class is based on a 33/66 structure with 2 midterms and a final. The 2nd midterm is where it gets everyone, the curve is to a C not a B or B-; you have been warned; which means many students got a C in the class, avoid this class if you can or wait for a different instructor other than Dr. Hayes.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 8 Months Ago

An extraordinary lecturer and a knowledgeable showrunner who's always willing to share his industry insights. His film selections can be meh, but the quality, digestibility, and practicality of his presentations make up for them. Most assignments rely on close reading of films rather than research, which was really refreshing in this department.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 11 Months Ago

Professor Hayes is a unique guy. He's nice, understanding, and very knowledgeable, but sometimes he's blunt. A lot of material isn't found in the notes, so definitely show up to lecture. Provides study guides and practice tests. Grade is made up of exams only, textbook was a good supplement but not necessary. Exams seemed very fair to me.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

Lectures are not recorded and final grade is based off 2 midterms (20% each) and final exam (60%). Or one midterm can be dropped and the final can count for 70% of your final grade. The first exam was easy, but the second two had low averages. I would avoid this class and prof. if possible.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

At the beginning of this class he told us a story about how a kid hucked a loogie on the sidewalk, how nasty that was, and how he told the kid off. After taking this class...I wanna huck a loogie right next to his feet. Material is really really dry, very condescending, fact dumps, and is just really boring.131L is cool and helps the lecture.

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FAMST150AD . Mcnamara J P 2 Years Ago

mcnamara is one of the best profs i have had so far. very interesting lectures and great film choices. he cares a lot about his students and making the industry less daunting. the course itself was very easy and i enjoyed showing up, graded only on attendance, midterm paper, and final paper. both papers are straightforward and easy to write.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 2 Years Ago

Mr. McNamara is a great professor; I love his teaching style and lectures. He makes the course interesting, but he is giving out a massive amount of information. His lectures are dense, and the papers are graded strictly, pretty unfair I would say.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 2 Years Ago

He means so much to the film department at UCSB. Can say there is a lot of respect and love for this man.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 2 Years Ago

Hayes is incredibly condescending during lecture, and writes exams by whim that include information from one slide that is entirely irrelevant to the rest of the course. It is really easy to do sufficiently well in this class, but incredibly difficult to take away any useful information or actually learn anything. Would not take again.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 2 Years Ago

All in all I thought this was a great class. Professor Hayes was very clear with how we would be graded and what material was important for us to remember for exams. Both the midterm and the final were multiple choice. Some questions were definitely trickier than others, but once you get used to his question style, the questions aren't too bad.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 3 Years Ago

Chris is the worst lecturer and test writer I've had in my 4 years at this institution. We didn't cover the intended material, so weekly quizzes covered stuff outside the scope of the course. He is condescending and regularly insults his students. His Fall 2022 final had a basic trigonometry question simply to mess up student. 2/10, do not take.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

Very knowledgeable. Lectures have all the materials you need for writing papers, which is basically all your grade consists of. He posted slides/lecture notes which kind of made going to lecture unnecessary, even though he was a good lecturer. Very tough grader -- he wanted us to get better as the papers went on, but seemed a bit unfair sometimes.

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FAMST188A . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

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F96 . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

Talk about information overload! In trying to simply ideas and concepts he actually overwhelms you with tons and tons of information. Lectures are not that bad but slides are always filled. Super monotone so it can be hard to stay alert after the first hour.

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FAMST150AD . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

One of the best profs in the department, very knowledgeable and passionate. Can be a bit forgetful with posting assignments and readings but the class is easy. Beware of which ta you have, the grading criteria can be a bit confusing so go to office hours. Lectures are long but interesting, while not on zoom attendance is optional.

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FAMST150AD . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

Professor McNamara is easily one of my favorite professors I've ever had the joy to learn from. He is enthused in the curriculum he teaches and truly cares about his students well being and adaptability. He takes the time to make sure his students are happy and absorbing his knowledge.The only downside is the TA's grade harshly. Awesome guy!

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FAMST150AD . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

Professor McNamara is one of my favorite film professors at ucsb. His lectures are clear and very easy to understand. There is very little classwork and two papers for the course and the readings and screenings are fun like Harry Potter and Clueless. He is also very understanding of student's lives and often pushes back due dates.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

His lectures are clear and easy to understand. Lots of examples and film clips to demonstrate some abstract examples. His offers much help regarding papers. The instructions of paper are specific, and his even shows how he might write the paper. Really a gentleman and caring teacher who know what he is doing.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 3 Years Ago

96 was my favorite class I have taken. It was definitely challenging the papers are graded harshly and you are warned many times that you may not do as well as you are used to but the content is great and McNamara is wonderful as well. He makes an effort to be accessible, his lectures are thorough, interesting and clear, and overall a 10/10!!

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 4 Years Ago

The best professor I've had, reinspired my love for film. Papers are extremely challenging and graded harshly, but Professor McNamara genuinely cares about improvement in writing and his teaching. He chose super interesting screenings and the lectures were amazing too! Couldn't recommend him more.

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MCDB131 . Hayes C S 4 Years Ago

Hayes is an odd bird. He's extremely intelligent, the guy is literally an encyclopedia, so sometimes its hard to distinguish between material we actually need to know for the class or if he is just flexing his knowledge on us. Tests are nearly impossible, many questions asked way beyond the scope of the course and also directly contradicts himself.

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FAMST96 . Mcnamara J P 4 Years Ago

Professor McNamara is an amazing professor. He is clearly very motivated and interested in the material and loves to teach. He is very great at answering questions and caring for students! 96 is a tough class but honestly so enjoyable! Take his classes!

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