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ZYLSTRA S J

Stephen Zylstra

30 reviews
Get ready to read Participation matters Clear grading criteria Caring Amazing lectures Accessible outside class Beware of pop quizzes Skip class? You won't pass. Respected Lecture heavy Test heavy Tough grader Gives good feedback Graded by few things Inspirational
Past quarters

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PHIL 20B Zylstra S J Winter 2025 Total: 113
PHIL 160 Zylstra S J Winter 2025 Total: 35
PHIL 20B Zylstra S J Winter 2024 Total: 112
PHIL 161 Zylstra S J Winter 2024 Total: 28
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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J A Month Ago

Took this class as a GE (pass/no pass), be prepared for very uninteresting material. All the homework was pretty easy, and the tests didn't take too long to study for.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J A Month Ago

Pretty much the entire grade was based on two midterms and a final and the multiple choice was very hard. I normally do incredibly well on multiple choice but not in this class. This was the first class I got below an A- on. The class wasn't that bad but it was quite dissapointing.

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PHIL160 . Zylstra S J A Month Ago

It's pretty hard to get above an 89%. Be prepared for in class essay exams. He usually gives the questions before the test so there's ample time to study and write responses.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J A Month Ago

Zylstra is really passionate about philosophy, he's definitely a chill guy. I would only recommend you take this class if you truly care about phil, otherwise lectures can get boring. Section was boring but participation is a good chunk of your grade so I would recommend you go. The readings are dense but I just skimmed and was fine. Chill ge

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J 10 Months Ago

Don't take this class for an easy GE. Zylstra is great, but the readings are mandatory and enforced by lecture quizzes. The course is graded heavily on three evenly-spaced non-cumulative exams. The TA's split up portions of the test to grade, which makes the course slightly unfair. If you have a good TA you'll be fine, but you need to work for it.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J A Year Ago

Professor Zylstra is an amazing person and lecturer. He clearly shows that he cares about what he is teaching and cares for the success of the students. With that said, this course is uninteresting and contains lots of reading. There are three exams (not cumulative), and one major writing assignment. As long as you do the readings you will be fine.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J 1 Year, 1 Month Ago

Professor Zylstra is such a fun guy. He is so charismatic and genuinely interested in the topics he teaches. He breaks down the dense readings very well and makes the subject matter very digestable. There are iclickers every class on the readings but they're usually very simple. We also had 3 non-cumulative exams which were pretty straightforward!

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J 1 Year, 1 Month Ago

Prof Zylstra is awesome! The class content can be difficult and the readings can be dense, but his slides in class explain them well & thoroughly. Really interesting material if you like phil. Difficult class if you're inexperienced w/ it. 3 exams w/ mcq & 2 long answers. The one essay is graded tough, just like any writing is in PHIL.

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PHIL20A . Zylstra S J 1 Year, 2 Months Ago

On a weekly basis, the workload consists of a relatively short reading and sometimes a paragraph or peer review, graded for credit. Stephen is a great teacher and the tests are very easy if you use the study guide he provides and prepare.

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PHIL20A . Zylstra S J 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Attendance in lecture & section mandatory. There are reading quizzes every day on iClickr, so you have to do the reading hw. The tests are 15mc and 2 frq, which are graded by the TAs. The TAs can be strict. You have to submit a very good paper (only 1 at the end of the quarter) to get an A on it.. Prof is nice and accesible outside of class.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J 1 Year, 11 Months Ago

Since the readings in the Phil class were quite difficult to understand, his lectures super concisely broke down arguments in the readings and made philosophy very approachable. However, essay grading in the philosophy department is kinda scuffed, so if you want an A, make sure you're fairly good at writing compared to your peers.

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PHIL20B . Zylstra S J 2 Years Ago

short iclicker quizzes every lecture, so make sure to read. papers were quite easy, I'm just terrible at writing. prof does talk a lot, but it's also philosophy sooo. TA Patrick was really helpful, when I asked for help with reviewing for the final, so I regret not asking for help for the midterm papers too. pretty fair course for a GE

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