I've had him a couple times but this is finally the last time. Class grades are mostly test based and you would think that 50-60% test averages would be a sign for him to fix something. Honestly better off not going to lecture since he just reads off the slides anyways. Expected to know way more then whats covered in lecture so keep that in mind.

DON'T TAKE THIS PROFESSOR! No seriously, you rather skip a quarter and take it with someone else. Lectures are so useless. Gives an example but doesn't fully go over them. He will say "this is up for the students to calculate and figure out" then honestly what is the point of him? Exams were not similar to past exam so studying those didn't help.

Professor Hartman is not helpful at all. I took Econ 10A with him and I am taking Econ 134A. You need to do all of his previous tests to pass these classes. Don't rely on his lectures because they are useless. You basically need to teach yourself.

He teaches nothing and expects students to know everything.

I took 134a with a TA, but Hartman writes most of the source material. This class is SO MUCH BETTER THAN 10A!! Solving problems for this class is like a puzzle, and it is honestly really fun (but that might be because I am an accounting major). Do all of the practice exams and you will be good to go!

Terrible. Not much more needs to be said. If you have to take him, good luck.

Overall, it is an interesting class because his lectures are relevant to the real-world. However, his lectures have nothing to do with the test, so it's irrelevant. He posts past tests online which is basically your only resource. If you do and understand the past exams, the class is extremely easy. He's a decent lecturer, but a terrible teacher.

Hartman is like the nicest professor I ever had in UCSB. he is super clear and helpful and he put all past exams and lecture slides on gauchospace. If you do your work you can definitely get an A!

Not as the others said, I really liked his lectures. He always takes interesting example from real life (Vegas, Gambling, ...) and illustrate well what he teaches. As a basic finance class, you will not learn how to earn millions! He publishes all tests he gave for the last 5 years. Do it all, you will rock all tests!

Decent professor. Introduces concepts and expects YOU to put in the time and effort, along with TAs assistance, to learn how to apply them to the exam questions. Conceptual understanding is an imperative, memorization won't suffice. The foundation, first 4-5 weeks, are most critical. Master those principles and the rest of the course will be simple

Hartman botches what is a very interesting topic. The class and text book material are very interesting but he knows absolutely nothing about teaching or the subject. Just reads off memorized slides. UCSB need to hire a finace facility member to an Econ phd hack to teach this class. Frustrating to listen to and look at, great topic, terrible prof.

I did not find this class easy like other people. I understood all the material and learned a lot but couldn't do well on his tests. His tests and class can be very frustrating, and he is not a great lecturer. But the material is very interesting and practical. So even though my grade didn't turn out great I'd still recommend this class

Not too hard but a real incompetent unerroringly boring professor. He also never gives a straight foward answer to a simple yes or no question.

Terrible class. His lectures are extremely boring and useless- he talks about anything except what will actually be on the test. I learned most of the material from the TA's rather than the professor, which shows his inability to teach. His tests were nothing like the practice exams he posted online, and he definitely is not flexible when grading.

This class was ridiculously easy. The textbook problems he assigns are super easy, and the test is even easier than the practice problem. He drops your lowest score, so I dont even need to take the final and already know I have an A. Take him. Easiest A I've ever had a UCSB.

The reviews are, for once, an accurate representation of the professor. Avoid at all costs.

Lectures are pretty much useless except for the mandatory one. Professor Hartman is a lazy instructor. All the dude does in the videos is read off the slides and tries to talk slowly to pretend he is explaining it at a deeper level. At least the TA's videos are a little bit better but get ready to pretty much teach yourself the entire course.

Class isn't too difficult except for the fact that you have to teach it to yourself! Online lectures are so pointless, Hartman doesn't even teach. Final was hard. Don't skip the midterm even though it's only 10%!!

Awful professor. This class will not teach you everything. You're going to have to learn everything on your own. If you can avoid him, please do!

And if you ever take Hartman, well… Good luck Charlie

Get ready to learn everything on your own; I bought the smart work practice questions. That being said, it is just statistics...nothing more and nothing less.

Econ 5, Hartman only appeared in online videos, but oml, I cannot stand the guy. He reads off slides word for word and switches up his tone of voice so that it sounds like he is adding remotely anything of value, while sounding condescending and unintelligent. He sticks his tongue out every 2 seconds. I could go forever but there is a char limit...

Genuinely worst professor I've ever had and I'm writing this with an A in the class. All he does is post lecture videos of himself reading slides. He doesn't teach. Besides for his review lectures which aren't frequent where he is still terrible at explaining anything. He should be getting paid as a TA for the amount of work he puts into our class.

It's John Hartman.