Single most boring and unmotivating instructor I've ever had. Lectures are monotone and it is obvious he does not want to be there, which makes you question why students should be there either. I have taken him for most upper div Econ classes and learned the material despite rarely attending lecture. He makes interesting subjects dull and draining.

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.

Genuinely one of if not the worst professors I have ever had. I learned more about the class by repeatedly doing old finals or midterms than I ever could by listening to his lectures. Any time I went to lecture it was a complete waste of time, and I usually left more confused than informed. Avoid Hartman at all costs.

this class structure is a MESS, so its a good thing the content isnt too hard. hartman is clearly very into econ 5 but his teaching/ way of explaining is so unhelpful. he overexplains without giving an actual answer. after doing so bad in 10A this class was refreshing because if you study you'll actually get a good grade.

Professor was boring, thus no incentive to attend to class. Studied and learned everything on my own. He is short-tempered with students and is clearly a tenured professor, very old school as others have mentioned.

The worst class I've taken at UCSB. Not hard content-wise, but the organization of the class makes it so much harder than it needs to be. You have to learn everything yourself. Hartman is nice, but doesn't know how to teach. If you ask him a question he will just ramble about how you need to look at the notes more carefully.

Be ready to teach yourself the entire course. John Hartman explains concepts very horribly and isn't much help. Hope that you have a good TA for practice problem sections and try not to fall behind too much.

He is very rude to his students and clearly does not care about the material or the class. He is not a good teacher and the final is unnecessarily difficult. All of the learning and work for this class is done entirely on your own. Don't expect to learn anything from Hartman.

struggles to teach the material effectively. Lectures often involve rambling, getting lost in the slides, and frequent interruptions like “wait, this slide is wrong.” he often just tells us to watch the videos, where he reads directly from the slides, making mistakes along the way.

John Hartman is tenured. You can tell. Very much stuck in old times, doesn't teach well at all.