His lectures are straight from the textbook, there's no need to show up to his zooms. Homework isn't terrible, and it's 25% which is nice. His midterms, however, are very difficult. Most problems are worded very poorly and he picks obscure examples. He's a nice guy but the class is hard.
Professor Birchenall is willing to talk to students about both academic and nonacademic stuff. He holds a "social hour" every week. Homework is very easy to finish. Quizzes are a little bit tricky, which might require a very comprehensive understanding of economic concepts. Personally I love his lectures(watch the recording with 1.5x speed)
The worst lecturer I've ever had at UCSB. Puts absolutely no effort into his lectures. Answers questions unrelated to lecture in the middle lecture slides. AND lecture slides are carbon copies of the book pages making it infuriating to attend lecture. I am embarrassed to go to an institution that allows people like this to run their classes.
I like Econ but didnt enjoy his class. He doesnt seem to care about teaching. Lectures are basically repeats of the textbook. Nominally mandatory but he doesnt use iclicker half the time. Sections not mandatory but are more useful than him. Got a nice TA who helped me ace the class. I might take another class from him tho cuz he has fair exams.
REALLY NICE GUY. He explains things well, and the additional information which is not in the textbook is gem. DO listen carefully on those in you want to have better insight on Economics. The curve is terrible, but that's what the Econ department requires. Can't blame it on him. CLAS & sections are helpful but not the must for having a good grade.
Going to lecture is much more useless than reading slides on your own or going to CLAS. His lectures are extremely boring, trivial, and unorganized. His tests never match the practice tests, and his homework is just annoying, all attempts counts, and the writing home work is just about making you write 500 words for simple, one- sentence concepts.
Terrible experience coming after Econ 1. Makes you buy a $90 online textbook, which purpose is only to do the required homework. Doesn't teach clearly. Won't be quiet during quizzes ("25 minutes left, make sure to... okay class, 23 minutes left... 20 minutes left..."). Hesitant to put mandatory attendance, half the time doesn't do iclicker.
Javier is awful. His lectures are very boring and are just countless graphs of different countries GDPs and other stats that relate to the topics but in no way help understand the material. Unfortunately knowing how the US GDP fluctuates over time with 12 different graphs did not and will not help me ever
Not a good lecturer if not for the mandatory iClicker no one would go. Grade is 2 MTs, 8/10 HWs, iClicker, 1 Final. you have to buy the $90 online textbook to access hw, which sucks, but it's far more helpful than lectures. standard econ curve which kills, of course, but eh. do well on HW and attendance for a buffer, bc you're gonna need it.
Birchenall seems to really care about his students. However, his lectures are boring and exactly the same as the textbook readings. His tests are quite easy, and are very similar to practice tests posted online. For this reason, test averages are high, so you must do really well, because the class is graded on a curve. Overall, not a bad choice!
Professor Birchenall was not that bad. If you do the reading and practice the released exams you will be fine. The only problem is the econ curve. My score in the class was a 82.2% but I came out of the class with a C. Make sure you score high above the average because I feel like the exams were similar to past exams (making it easy & avgs high).
Long complicated lectures that are very math heavy. All homework assignments are difficult math problem sets due every week and won't be tested on until the final. I would also recommend taking Econ 101 before taking this class. I can't even begin to explain the frustration I felt from taking this class, beware!!!
Nice guy. Lectures were frustrating because they were repeats of the reading assignments in the textbook. I felt like I wasn't learning anything more, but still had to go for attendance. Exam questions are a bit tricky if you don't know the concepts inside out. But put in the effort, go to CLAS, do a lot of practice exams, and you'll do fine.
Lecture mandatory because of iClicker, but section is not mandatory. His dad jokes are hilarious. Lectures recorded which is a plus. Downside is that we have to purchase Cengage program, but it's a good program that I would definitely pay for again because it is worth the money, although buying the physical textbook is not necessary.
Boring lectures, only need to attend 75% of the lectures to get 100% in participation. Drops lowest 2 homework grades. Just read the textbook and follow the slides that are posted online and you should be good! Birchenall seems like he genuinely cares about his students.
The most boring teacher at UCSB so far. His lectures are basically retelling the lectures so dont expect it to be interesting. Basically if you seat in class do iClicker and read the textbook you have solid chacne of gettting a good grade in class. I would drop this class if it was not for my major. If you have choice than pick other teacher.
Personally this class was very easy compared to ECON1. The homework were simple examples from the book and the midterms and final are all multiple choice. Section is "optional" but I recommend going to all of them because we go over examples. Just listen to lecture (he records them but uses iclickers), read the book, and show up to section.
He is soooo boring. Horrible to listen to. Love econ. Hated the class. If you care about an interesting lecture, please don't take this class. Dull, monotonous, this is the worst review I've ever given. I don't think I've ever given below a 3 before this. Words to the wise.
Lectures are based off the book and are recorded so don't worry if you can't type fast enough. He lectures slowly, you might want to read before class because its easy to doze off. Use CLAS because they provide lots of practice problems-otherwise you will be left wondering how some of the info will be presented on tests. Can go to any TAs sections!
Honestly the curve is what makes all the econ classes hard. Although the content isn't hard, the test is designed to trick students . CLAS is absolutely necessary and his lectures are actually useless because it's ALL in the book. I only went because of iclickers. Make sure to do all the hw, get practice tests, and actually read!
2 midterms, iclicker for attendance (5 lowest dropped), homework (2 lowest dropped), 1 final. Birchenall sets up the class so that it's impossible to fail (unless you don't take the final or something). However, it's still super hard because of the curve so make sure that you understand your homework or else the tests will be impossible.
His lectures alone will NOT prepare you for the questions on the test- CLAS is 100% necessary in order to do well on the tests. Read the book, go to lecture, and do ALL of the practice tests, and go to the Econ Lab. IF you understand the topics and do practice problems, you will be okay. Going to his office hours to understand concepts also helps.
Very nice teacher, cares about his students- always has his office hours open to explain any confusion on any topics. His lectures are straight from the book though. His lectures alone DO NOT prepare you for the tests, CLAS is 100% necessary in order to prepare yourself for the tests. Do all the practice test and you'll be fine.
He records his lectures, so that's cool, but like he's just sorta meh. He's not BAD at explaining or lecturing, but he's not that good at it either.
