Tom Costigan

18 reviews
Graded by few things Amazing lectures Participation matters Clear grading criteria Hilarious EXTRA CREDIT Respected Accessible outside class Get ready to read Caring Tough grader Lots of homework So many papers Lecture heavy
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PHIL7 . 1 Year, 1 Month Ago

Attendance is super important and participation/iClicker is a good part of your grade. I ended up getting a 95 on the final paper. I liked that when he noticed people weren't raising their hands to participate in class, he started bringing chocolate chip cookies to reward and encourage the students who did. He really seems to care about bioethics.

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PHIL7 . 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

The class was easy but the in person lectures are boring and disorganized. Also, you need to watch 30-45min videos before each class. The TAs were useless. When it came to writing the final paper (worth 35% of our grade) we weren't given guidelines or helpful feedback. Attendance was required. If you miss more than 2 classes you get a C-

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PHIL7 . 1 Year, 3 Months Ago

Really respect Tom for opening up about his personal life and relating it to his lectures. He clearly cares a lot about what he teaches and was very kind to students when they would speak in front of the class. Would definitly recommend this class and take another one by him again!

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PHIL100A . 1 Year, 4 Months Ago

Very bad at answering emails, but when I asked him a question after class told me to email it to him (never got back as you might imagine). Answered questions in class when he could but generally left us all more confused. Stopped going to class after he ignored my emails about DSP accommodations to section because I wasn't benefitting from going.

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PHIL7 . 2 Years Ago

Great professor, super laid back and tries to make class material relevant. His participation policy seems harsh at first, but it's super easy to make up absences and he's very lenient. I loved the material for this class, but there were a lot of small group discussions which could get awkward. Would definitely take a class with him again!

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PHIL7 . 2 Years Ago

Super fun professor. He does lectures in fun YouTube videos before the class where it is all discussion and collaborative based. The best youtuber and good intros. All you do is weekly readings and pre-reflection on the next weeks topic and a final paper on whatever topic you choose. Very chill class but paper prep starts pretty late, don't stress.

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PHIL7 . 2 Years Ago

Prof Costigan was really great. He is enthusiastic and clearly cares a lot about the topics discussed and the students learning them. His flipped lecture styles were great for facilitating deep, thoughtful class discussions. Grading is based entirely on weekly reflections (chill) and a final paper that you have the whole quarter to work on. 10/10.

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PHIL7 . 2 Years Ago

Prof. Costigan made the class atmosphere incredibly relaxed for a philosophy class! All the topics in Biomedical Ethics (PHIL 7) were discussed in-depth with his flipped lectures, and then adding on with some discussion in lecture that proved to be fascinating with classmates chiming in. Attendance may be strict, but incredibly fair for engagement!

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PHIL7 . 2 Years Ago

He used the "flipped" lecture style, meaning that you watch the recorded lectures and attend the class for group discussions. Personally, the discussions are not as inspirational as they suppose to be. Grading is based on weekly reflection and a final paper. The attendance policy is extremely extremely strict - he use icliker.

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PHIL4 . 2 Years Ago

He was my TA for phil4, not the professor, but his grading was so harsh and arbitrary. He left one-sentence comments on my essays. Other classmates for the same class but with different TAs got As easily, even though they put in the same or less effort than I did.

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PHIL3 . 3 Years Ago

I loved this class and how it was structured. Super simple, easy to follow, and Tom makes the podcast lectures relatively engaging. No midterm or final, just a weekly worksheet and I timed quiz

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PHIL3 . 3 Years Ago

Really creative class setup during online classes by setting up a "podclass". This class was super straightforward and had a very low workload. The material is pretty interesting too.

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