Of the 100+ pages of reading assigned a night, he asks questions about specific material that may only be included in one line in the text. Quizzes will leave you feeling punished for having actually read the material, and rewarding those who simply search keywords in the textbook in order to answer quiz questions. Do not take this class.
Woolley is smart, don't get me wrong, but he is very uninterested in your academic success. In particular, with giving good feedback and enabling you to improve on your academic work. The problem with Woolley and this class is that it is not designed to gauge your retention of the information to the extent that it should, quizzes are beyond tricky.
Woolley is very dry, but his class is pretty simple. You don't really have to go to lecture to do well on the weekly quizzes, many questions are online on quizlet. He is a bit boring, but I don't think that he is a bad prof by any definition of the word.
Not sure why this professor receives so much hate. Initially these comments frightened and nearly dissuaded me from taking his class. At first I struggled, particularly with the weekly quizzes. However, Prof. Woolley extended the time limit for the weekly quizzes, and allowed his students to submit quiz corrections. He rewards earnest students.
Very smart but very, VERY boring. The material is already dry as is but his lectures... dear God. I sat in the back so I wouldn't get caught dozing off. I clicker questions were basically guesses by whole class because no one read unless needed for online quizzes. Final was take home. Sections were awkward too because no one read.
He's the most boring teacher I've ever had. He drones on and on and on about things that don't really matter. I slept through the whole quarter. There's a midterm, Final (which is 3 essays written in 3 hours), and an final paper. that's pretty much your grade. It's not very hard as long as you keep up with the current political climate.
Midterm was easy, quizzes are online and open book, but it's a lot of reading that is hardly talked about during class. He spends the majority of the class discussing day to day politics (I had his class fall quarter of 2016 during the election so all we did was look at the polling predictions/Trump) but he tries to be cool. iClicker was a drag.
He tried his best to be engaging but the class was still pretty dry. Midterm was easy and the final was open book. i'd say the research paper was the hardest part, get help from the ta's. We had weekly quizzes that were also easy. Don't put off the research paper till the last minute!!!
Although he can be a little boring he does a good job of keeping material relevant. We spent most of our time applying politics to the election. He loves what he does so give him a chance and his passion might rub off on you. Midterm and weekly quizze are fine but the essay and final are monsters and worth 60% of your grade. Reading is a must.
DO NOT take this class. It's Interesting but the class is COMPLETELY unfair. Midterm, long paper, final. Prof provides study guides for midterm & final but they are NOTHING LIKE THE TESTS. AT ALL. Past quarters were easier but he altered the course! I'm a 3rd year & have never been so distraught about a class. I'm very disappointed. Choose wisely
Professor Woolley was very open about his intention to reverse his reputation as an "easy A" by making an example out of our quarter. The midterm and final were excessively vague and incredibly difficult. Term papers were docked by entire letter grades for "style" without explanation beyond "punctuation choices" for most students I talked to. Awful
Honestly, by far the WORST class I have ever had the misfortune of taking. Besides the fact that the midterm, paper assignment, and final were all incredibly vaguely- worded and irrelevant to what was ever discussed in class and/or the readings, never once did I feel like Professor Woolley was actually interested in helping his students learn.
Must have woken up one day and decided he hates his job. iClicker questions are graded on correctness so make sure you remember every insignificant detail about the way too long readings. Also whatever he tells you to study will most likely not show up on the exams. In general has a bad attitude towards students.
This is the worst professor I have had in my college career. Woolley does not explain information during lecture at all and expects you to read an insane amount of material. He also does not communicate properly with his TA's, nor is he a fair grader. 92 is an A- and 91 is a B+, he makes it difficult for hardworking students to do well.
Nice guy, but believes we're babied at UCSB and has taken it upon himself to counteract that with insane and unfair grading scales/down curves. His essay prompts and tests are confusing and vague yet he expects you (and TAs) to read his mind and give back focused work. Whole course lacked clarity and structure, and hurt everyone's grades/learning.
This class was extremely dry. He is not the best lecturer but he is a good guy, grandpa type. My quarter he introduced clicker points so you are forced to go to class. You really have to read in order to pass because the lectures are not incredibly clear.
Class is mostly reading based and Woolley does a poor job of clearly relating his lectures back to material. Powerpoints aren't very helpful either and he uses a lot of graphs. However, he's a nice guy and tries to keep it interesting so it's not the worst class I've ever taken.
Excellent class and funny professor. Readings were well selected, and class material was interesting.
Worst professor I have ever had. I've been at this school for 4 years and he takes the cake. He is incredibly boring. The structure of the class is all over the place. If i was stuck in a room with him and hitler and two bullets, I'd shoot myself twice. Don't take this class.
Worst class i have ever taken. The material is not difficult by any means, but the amount of work required is pointless. There is an 6 page take home midterm AND an in-class midterm, as well as an 8-10 page take home final AND an in class final. He asks the most unnecessary questions & WAY to much material to be memorized. NEVER take this class
class is interesting when guest lecturers were there predictable midterm, take home essay part of exams and a in house exam
great teacher. very fair. good amount of reading and work but no surprises and he really wants you to learn.
His an awesome professor!! totally recommend his class!
Great guy