The professor gives helpful lectures. You only have to know what is covered in class, so getting the book is a waste of money. The reader containing past midterms and finals is the best help for studying. Practice doing problems quickly because the final has a lot of questions. Several people were still taking the test at the last minute.

He is the ideal UC professor. He DEMANDS that you THINK and not just regurgitate information. If you're classmates are complaining about him because he is difficult, perhaps they don't have what it takes to be a UC student or a CPA.

When I took this class, the mean for the midterm was 45 percent. He refused to curve the midterm. Inexplicably, he curved the section quizzes DOWN. So he refused to curve the midterm which we all failed, but had no problem curving the quizzes, which we all aced, down, to lower our grades. Awful, awful experience.

I disagree with the previous comment. Watson is a great professor. He is really smart and passes his knowledge through relevant examples to the class. He explains how businesses operate, you don't get this from other econ classes. The material is easy, but his test are difficult, but passable. I got an F on the Midterm, and got a B- in the class.

The major reason the US education system is inferior to the rest of the industrialized world is because all we do is teach to the tests. Watson continues this trend by believing the CPA exam is the final word in teaching. Everything he does is aimed towards passing this exam. When you finish his class you'll be good at testing, but not much else.

This class was terrible. The subject isn't difficult but Watson has a knack for making it harder than it needs to be. Throw the book out because he doesn't follow it. Throw the reader out too because the tests don't follow it. And forget lectures - they truly are useless. Watson doesn't teach, he merely grades. You are on your own. Good luck.

Does not give partial credit.. if you miscalculate one number on a question that is 40% of your test, you get it completely wrong. Then gave us a final that was 30 MC questions from a CPA review that was unlike any test in his reader. Horrible. Lectures weren't boring, but he'll definitely make you think twice about majoring in accounting.

Great teacher. The tests feel like they're designed to trick you, but great teacher anyway!

He's way hard... the concept was hard as well. Trick exams, pop quizzes was challenging too. But he looks for improvement. I suggest taking lots of time to study for this class.

If you're a pol. sci. major, it is best to take ECON 109 with Watson and avoid taking Econ 1 & 2 with Crouch or even worse professors. Watson is very straightforward in what he expects you to know in lectures, no need to buy the book. This is how intro to econ. is supposed to be taught, unlike in 1 & 2 which are deliberately confusing.

Watson is a good lecturer. It's kind of deceiving because you think you understand the material in class and then you get owned on his tests. It doesn't help that he puts unnecessary info on the exams to try to screw you up. Also, there is A LOT of material covered in the class and even with a cheat sheet the final was still brutal.

Probably one of the worst accounting prof's at UCSB. Every lecture is scripted each quarter almost word for word(I TA'd) and Midterm is almost completey different from textbook and in class lectures. (kind of weird huh?) Always has a bad attitude. Talks poorly of administation and undergrad econ office. Downside- Must take for emphasis in Accounti

Prof. Watson is a very good lecturer and he really knows his stuff. His midterms and finals are extremely hard! You have to go above and beyond and then some to even try to do well in this class. His "no partial credit" policy just makes things a billion times harder. Beware this is an extremely challenging class...

Great lecturer, but very brutal, unrealistic exams - encouraged use of reader to prepare for exams, then completely changed the format for the final; claims he does not base exams from textbook, but does not cover everything in class as claimed. WOULD NOT RECCOMMEND unless you don't mind your GPA crashing!

If you're taking it for a grade...DON'T, but if you are interested in accounting and really want to learn something I highly recommend him. He is really interesting and lectures are entertaining, but exams are HORRIBLE! Despite the fact that I learned more in this class than any other accounting class I've taken...I still probably TANKED the final.

For sure, the grade you get from this class matches how hard you work for it. The improvement factor is there, it worked for me for sure, given that i was mathematically eliminated from getting the grade I got, but he gave it to me cause of my final grade. Make a bomb cheat sheet, and do as many practice finals as possible.

A good teacher. He shows you what you should know, tells you what you should know. No compliants. A credit to the UCSB Accounting Dept.

Watson is an OK lecturer. Lectures can sometimes be a drag. Midterm was easy but the final was difficult, even with a 2 page "note" sheet. You don't really have a choice to take any other teacher any time soon...so just deal with it. Oh yeah, don't buy the textbook. Only the reader is enough.

Not an easy class. I liked the class a lot and Watson's lectures, but DAMN the midterm and final had its curves. The final killed me.

Everybody tanked his midterm and final but he refused to curve them. Then, inexplicably, he curved our section quizzes, screwing over our grades further (as if they weren't already screwed). Never missed an opprotunity to trash liberalism though. Terrible experience.

Watson is an excellent lecturer and he has a lot of good real world experience to tie into the lectures. His exams are challenging but if you put in the time to study you should do fairly well. The TA's and section were very helpful for this class

this class is hard but for those of us who took it in the spring had it easy. maybe it's summer time or whatever but he made the midterm and final very fair. not so hard compare to the reader. i guess he got lazy in the spring quarter and made his tests easy. but overall he's a great prof. lectures are clear. his teaching is way better than sanders

Despite all the negative reviews, Watson's 137A course for Spring 2006 wasn't intolerable. His weekly lectures (altho 3 hours long) are interesting and relevant, and he is pretty clear on what will be on the test. Don't bother with the book, don't miss lecture or section, and you'll get more out of this class than you would with drab harmon..

Professor Watson is without a doubt the very BEST accounting teacher at UCSB. His classes will challenge you, make you think and will prepare you for the CPA exam. His mastery of the subject clearly shows in his very well thought out lectures and exams. We need more dedicated professors like him. He is a great asset to UCSB.