ARCH170 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
William Wyllie ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/06/2024	Class was a little disorganized and expectations were sort of unclear at first, but he got the hang of it after a couple of weeks and the TA was super helpful. He keeps class interesting with personal stories. All the assignments are pretty easy and build up to the final project. Outside of class, I spent no more than 30 minutes maximum doing work. He is a very nice person and is understanding if you are having any problems.
Robin Puttock ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/12/2023	A great professor that is passionate about the topic of architecture, and talks about how to become an architect and the process how getting your degree and experience. She takes and talks about relevant topics of modern architecture and puts a historical aspect to it. She does assign a lot of busy work, lecture reflection, unnecessary as it is only 150 words, workshop deliverables, and then an at-home assignment every week.
Robin Puttock ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/21/2023	PLEASE STAY CLEAR OF THIS CLASS. If you are fulfilling a gen ed, look elsewhere. If you are fulfilling a required architecture requirement, good luck. The class is absolutely not worth anything because it is a gen ed and yet the professor makes it take up your entire day doing this and that. The lectures go into very specific, niche topics of architecture which could be interesting but gives zero context or information of the career itself; it is more like learning fun facts about architecture than actually information that gets you interested in the profession. The amount of work being assigned is ridiculous, 3 assignments per week that are only opened to submission on the day it's assigned. It is clear the professor does not think or give room for people who are a) in other majors, b) already in architecture with a lot of work, or c) anyone with a busy schedule. Sure, she gives a ton of assignments and whatnot. But the most trouble I have is that she forces you to submit it in a one day period. PEOPLE HAVE LIVES! It forces you to be on her schedule and timing to the t, without any regard for other classes that will need your time, especially if you are already in architecture studio. Attendance is also graded for both the lectures and workshop, making them 20% of your grade. She makes it sound like there should not be much time spent on these assignments, and yet they are all over the place asking you for different things. Its practically impossible not to take several hours on the assignment despite her telling you you should only spend an hour on them. They have you hike around a museum, they have you bringing in fruits to cut and draw, and then send an announcement saying you'll lose points for not bringing in trace paper on time to the workshop. What's next? Save yourself the stress and skip this class, please.
Robin Puttock ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/02/2023	Dr. Puttock is a good professor. She is clearly passionate about the subject and the lectures are mostly interesting. However, this course is much less focused on primary aspects of architecture than I expected, mostly delving into tangential aspects of architectural design. Attendance in lectures and discussion sections is mandatory. Assignments were VERY time consuming. Lecture reflections and workshop deliverables were fine, but at home assignments took an enormous amount of time, often taking up an entire weekend day for me. They aren't that difficult, but they take up a lot of time, because of the amount of work, additionally you sometimes have to travel to a certain location to complete the assignment. I found that by the time I was finishing the assignment, absolutely all creative energy and passion was drained from me, and the only thing on my mind was when will this end. Perhaps the amount of workload is normal for architecture major courses, but for a level-100 course, it's way too much. My friends took similar architecture courses, and the amount of workload they had was much less. Towards the end of the course, however, at home assignments were made easier and didn't take up as much time. Overall, the courses is interesting, but a lot of work.
Sarah Bolivar ARCH170 Expecting an A- chesgogi 05/17/2022	The lectures are kinda boring at times and the weekly assignments are confusing at times. The grade pretty much depends on your weekly assignments, for the midterm and final, they're just projects. The projects took soooo much time and they even require you to go to your site just to take like 5 pictures. The grade was mainly from TA, my TA was quite picky and the discussion was very boring and a waste of my time. It all just depends if you get lucky with who your TA is. I took this to fulfil a gen ed credit thinking it would be lightwork and an easy A but it took so much time to complete the projects. Best of luck
Sarah Bolivar ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/15/2022	Probably the nicest professor ever. She also posts previous lecture recordings, which make it easy to review concepts. Professor Bolivar's midterm and final projects were difficult, but fair. Glad it was not a written exam, but rather a case study. I only wish Professor bolivar had office hours, as sometimes the class is a bit fast paced. Do not forget to the reflections, as they are your participation grade.
Ben Bernstein ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2021	Very understanding and accommodating. Ben makes workshops engaging, and goes out of his way to help his students. I feel that his grading style was a bit harsh and that for some assignments the instructions were just too vague
Sarah Bolivar ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2021	Professor Bolivar and Ben were both really great. I feel that there was a slight disconnect between the assignments and the lectures, but it was very nice to not have traditional written exams. If you put in tje work and ask participate in discussion, than you'll do fine.
Sarah Bolivar ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/14/2021	Honestly, for only a humanities credit I’d look elsewhere if this prof is teaching. It’s not a terrible class but the lectures are VERY boring and you will easily fall asleep in them until you stop going because it’s pointless to go. The class really depends on how nice your TA is, which is hit or miss cause mine is pretty good, but my friends is pretty bad. If you really need a humanities, save yourself the effort and look elsewhere. (It’s not a ton of work, but the work is just kinda annoying)
Sarah Bolivar ARCH170 Anonymous 11/10/2021	She expects you to already have knowledge on architecture, and makes a 100 level class feel impossible. Very boring lectures- I have fallen asleep in over half of them. When you try to ask why you were graded harshly, she says to talk to your TA. Your grade in the class is based on how harsh your TA is and if you get a hard one you are screwed.
Elijah Northen ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/30/2021	Professor Northen is seriously one of the best professors I have had at the University of Maryland. The lectures were engaging, interesting, and relevant to the architectural field; you will take away a lot from this class. He is a practicing architect who knows what he's talking about and gives you a great look into the architectural career field. He is a fair grader as well, if you put in the effort then you should be able to get an A in the class. I highly recommend trying to take one of his classes if you can.
Siobhan Steen ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/12/2020	Steen is such an interesting lecturer. She is someone very knowledgeable about architecture and has designed some really cool buildings like the Spy Museum in DC and the Silver Spring Library. You can tell she is very passionate about her work which makes the class even more enjoyable. If you're looking for an easy gen ed or are an architecture major I highly suggest choosing this lecturer.
Siobhan Steen ARCH170 Expecting an A+ StrawberryCupcake5 12/21/2019	It's a blended learning class, so half online and half in-person. The class was pretty interesting and I liked the projects we did. There was a total of 5 assignments with process uploads every week. Also there's an easy reading quiz every week. Lectures were kinda boring and went over the readings, so I skipped almost all of them. Good gen ed!
Betsy Petrusic ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2019	I thought Betsy was a very good professor to introduce us into the architecture field/class. she did a very good job explaining and teaching us. she is very caring for her students and gives us great feedback on our projects mid way always wanting us to do our best.
Betsy Petrusic ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/16/2019	Betsy was an overall great instructor to work with in an introductory class of Architecture. She well understood that her class was not only composed of architecture majors and tried to grasp everyone's interest in the subject. Each week, she would make sure to deliver readings on specific topics, form class discussions to ensure everyone understands the topics well, then assign us design projects due in upcoming classes. Betsy could have been seen as too straightforward or harsh when responding to students' works, but she clearly stated that she was only preparing incoming freshmen for their upperclasses' professor's rigor. She made time for feedback for most, if not all, students and tied design projects to broader understandings outside of architecture and art. Overall, I think she was a good instructor despite her blunt feedback (which could also be seen as a positive!)
Elizabeth Petrusic ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/17/2019	Betty Petrusic is very friendly and wants you to do well in the class. There are no tests as of Fall2018. She holds critiques before the assignment due dates so you can edit your final submission and turn in the best version of your work. Overall, it was a fun class I'd enjoy taking again.
Elizabeth Petrusic ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2018	Great teacher. Really knows her stuff and establishes a very friendly vibe throughout the classroom. If you try on your assignments you will get the grade you deserve.
Lindsey May ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/27/2018	Great class, goes through interesting concepts for those who are not architecture majors.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B+ TheTrooth 02/02/2015	Eisenbach is an average professor. ARCH170 is an average class. You have 5 major projects, but you have to submit drafts, etc. You basically have something due every week. Discussion is mandatory. There are useless readings and online quizzes to ensure you read them. As I mentioned earlier, this is an average class. If you put in average work, you will get an average grade. I got a B because my TA had some sort of Vendetta against me. Bottom Line: Only take this class if you don't mind learning about nonsensical architectural principles, and doing a bit of analyzing.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B CB 02/17/2011	I really liked Eisenbach, she was tough, but good. She was easy to contact and she kept the class interesting. She gave a few quizzes throughout the semester, but they were really only for attendance and counted as extra credit. There were four big projects throughout the semester, but she gave plenty of time to do them. Her exams were fair; if you study you'll do well, if you don't study you will not. I only ended up with a B because I didn't study enough for the final exam and did poorly on it. It is a fun class and I highly recommend it.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/25/2011	Class was alright, thought it would be okay to take her for an easy A for a CORE (didn't think it would be that bad). I could have sworn I would have had it too but he projects were sometimes annoying. It can be interesting at times though and I do remember a lot of the stuff, but if you just need an easy CORE class, look elsewhere at THET110 or something - ARCH seemed needlessly complicated for this kinda stuff.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2010	The course was overall pretty easy, but very time-consuming. Only take it if you have an interest in architecture or drawing. Otherwise, the projects can be painful. The easy exams and extra credit points make up for it though. Relatively all course notes were online. I only studied those notes and aced the exams. Class was only necessary for the random extra credit opportunities. Getting an A is very manageable with adequate time and some patience.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B+ rbaik 12/15/2010	The class is pointless and the assignments really have nothing to do with the class. A lot of time goes into the assignments and should be worth more points. The tests are basically just trivia.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/06/2010	Projects are 50% of the grade, but they take way longer than you think. The 4th which is the final project, took me 30+ hours to complete. I found the notes she posted online extremely helpful when study for exams, although they are essentially the same stuff she has gone over in class, it is hard to stay awake through her lectures, so it is wise to read over the online notes to refresh memories. There are extra credit opportunities given in the beginning of randomly selected lectures, so it would be your loss if it's given the day you skipped lecture or were late to class.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 09/07/2010	Eisenbach is what I call a spoon-feeding professor, as she spoon-feeds you information piece by piece and likes to linger on easy concepts. So this is good news for many. Skipping one class isn't the end of the world since she has a class website that has all the information on it. But she does give out extra credits, each worth 5pts, so I do suggest going to class. You want to earn all the extra credit you can because you WILL lose points for the exams! The exams are graded harshly. You have to KNOW exactly what you're talking about! Studying the exact wording off of her website helps. There are four assignment, besides the first one being an essay, the other three are all drawing related. Be ready to spend a significant amount of time on those since no ruler's allowed. The process also includes visiting and analyzing the sites..etc. On the last project, I spent nearly 20hrs. But the work did pay off. Bottom line: Good professor. Be ready to be spoon-fed the material. Easy material, but it's about implementing the concepts in your projects. Recommended for those who have taken drawing classes and with some degree of creativity.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/27/2009	While the projects take a lot of time, the exams are easy. Make sure you go to class for the first 2/3 of the semester because she gives out extra credit in class and it adds up to 5 points on your exam grade (which is out of 100) which is really nice. Find someone in your discussion that you can go to the sites with for the projects and take advantage of T.A. office hours because those also really help. I recommend this class if you are looking for an easy A and/or an HA requirement. Also don't buy the two books for this class they are a waste of money and you don't need them. Just use the notes online to study for the exam.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/21/2009	The lectures are very boring.. she dims the light so half the class is asleep. projects are very time consuming. I got an a high A on all the projects and I averaged B's on the exam and I got a B+. Projects were way more time consuming and should have counted for more. This class is a waste of time if you want an Easy A for HA core. I recommend taking something easier.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2009	This review is coming from an ARCH major, so the opinion may vary.... I found this class, and the teacher, to be very nice. The lectures can be a bit boring, and she does post the notes online, so students are tempted to skip. But in all honesty, the lectures are great for clarifying subjects (Especially near the beginning with the topics on Theories) and you can only partake in the extra credit options if you're on the specific day for lecture. The majority of your grade, however, is dependent upon the TAs. I find that they tend to be a little leniant on grading, probably because this is a CORE class as well as an ARCH requirement. Also, be very careful with time management! The assignments can take longer than they first appear, and I (personally) had my discussion on fridays so I found that most of my "late-niters" occured on Thursday nights. The tests aren't so bad if you study and attend lecture. The extra credits are FIVE points on a test, which always means the difference between a B+ and an A-.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/04/2009	THIS REVIEW IS COMING FROM AN ARCHITECTURE MAJOR, MINORING IN HISTORY SO OPINION MAY DIFFER FROM OTHERS. I found the class very interesting. The material is a cross between architectural basics and history. Material is straight forward, presented clearly, and posted online. The tests are not difficult however I do recommend studying. Assignments are not too difficult but the time commitment may catch up with you. Eisenbach seems to really enjoy the material and that appears through her teaching. She also seems to care about the students and trys to involve them in the lecture. Most students who complain about the class are non architecture majors taking it for an easy HA (which is true on a case to case basis). Complaints by others say the professor is boring presenting dry lectures.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 smefeman 04/02/2009	She is a very boring teacher. Lectures are very dry and are typically unhelpful. The online notes are much more helpful than lecture. Tests are very easy despite not listening at all during lecture. Projects are time consuming, but pretty fun. TAs are in general good
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/29/2008	The material is simple. It is easy to get good tests grades without putting much effort into reading the online notes or learning from the lectures. Though, the assignments are time consuming "busy-work" tasks. Much of the work involves freehand sketching to scale and teaches you nothing. If you do not like drawing, this class will piss you off. Take musc205 for HA instead.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Anonymous 12/21/2008	ARCH 170 was a very interesting, but different class! I took it mainly for the purpose of getting my HA out of the way, and I felt like I made the right choice in that regard. Although I never had taken an architecture class before, and although I'm not really that artistic or too creative/design oriented, I got quite a bit out of the class, and I didn't feel like I was at a disadvantage by not having any background experience-the TAs were really cool about it, and the projects didn't require perfection, just effort and following directions. Speaking of projects, they are probably the biggest part of the class! There are four of them, worth a total of 50% of your grade-two midterms and a final are worth the other 50% (each exam=10%, final=30%). The thing about the projects though is that each one is worth progressively more percentage, so you need to make sure you don't slack off as the semester goes on! In general, the projects are pretty neat! Just be careful though, because they take more time than they originally might seem to require-so don't procrastinate! And don't be hesitant about talking to your TA, because they can be very helpful! Attending discussion and coming prepared is a must! If you don't attend, your grade will suffer! Most of the discussions revolve around the projects, except for the week before exams where we do reviews. Make sure you come prepared to discussion though, because often times there are intermediate steps to the projects and you will lose points if you don't come to discussion prepared! The lectures are not the most exciting and sometimes Professor Eisenbach can seem to talk about unnecessary information. However, even though most of the notes are available online, make sure you go to lecture as often as you can-there will occasionally be extra credit tasks, so you don't want to miss them. Besides the projects, the homework was just reading from the textbooks. Although it wasn't "checked" in any sense, I recommend you do read because it can be beneficial-and make sure you thoroughly check out the Supplemental Reading booklet because it will probably be used on your exam in some sense. The exams are a combination of multiple choice, short answers and a essay. The nice part is that she gives out the 3 possible essays ahead of time and only puts 1 on the exam. Therefore, if you prepare well, you should be able to get full credit for that part of the exam! The multiple choice aren't too bad, just make sure to read the question carefully! The short answer is where I lost the most points, because the questions can be tricky and you often have to need to have really paid close attention to details to get full credit! All in all though, I got a lot out of this class, and it gave me some new experiences that you don't have in other classes. Be aware, it can be a bit time consuming (you'll need to make a trip into DC!), but otherwise, you shouldn't have any problems if you do everything you are supposed to do, and if you take initiative on your assignments and plan ahead to make sure everything is done well! Good luck, and enjoy the class!
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a B tallboyt 11/17/2008	Lectures are dry, but she enjoys teaching. Tests are straight-forward. Although notes can be found online, I found it helpful to combine and review lecture notes and online notes simultaneously for test study guides. Text books were a very big waste of money, try to buy only the supplement.Only after the final I felt i learned a lot in arch.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A cityazndan 09/03/2008	Pretty straightforward class...boring lectures. Just teach yourself using the online resource. One of the better HAs to take because it's that darn easy to ace the class.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 jmartin1 05/06/2008	class was pretty boring and pointless. you don't even have to go to lecture because all the notes online are better than her notes in class. the projects can be hard, depending on ur TA. my TA was kind of picky, so the projects took me a lot of time. if ur considering this class for a core, i would recommend looking for better HA classes
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A+ Kedorus 12/30/2007	The lectures themselves aren’t terribly interesting (unless you’re an Arch major), but almost all the material is on the website. The Professor is really nice and is more than happy to answer questions. Most of the assignments involved drawing and creativity, which I found to be a nice break from endless paper writing, and the TA I had was helpful.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- a778999 12/07/2007	Lectures: Boring, unnecessary since notes are online Assignments: pretty fun except the essay, which was full of BS Tests: require lots of memorizing and cramming
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/30/2007	The class was a bit of a disappointment, though fortunately it's easy enough that going to lecture isn't altogether necessary. (Except near the end, as cities-related information is on the final and isn't online.) Eisenbach's lectures are less than stellar, but it's made up for by the fact that attendance isn't mandatory. The assignments are interesting, but be prepared to spend a good deal of time making detailed drawings.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A- trimalchio 11/29/2007	I rarely went to lectures and this did not really negatively impact my performance in the class, the issue is that you need to study the available notes for the tests and do well on those and also do well on the extremely large projects in order to get a good grade. Your TA is going to make the biggest difference though, a good one will make the class interesting and will guide you through the assignments and a bad one won't give you the tools necessary to get As on assignments. I enjoyed the class but I like architecture generally so the decision to take this class is based mostly on whether you like architecture and drawing.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/28/2007	I thought this class would be an okay class to get my HA Core out of the way, especially since I had no desire to take any of the HA's. However, the description is a bit misleading. This class is essentially two class: the lectures where you learn about concepts and history (what I expected); and the discussion which hardly builds upon the lecture at all. Instead it stands alone as being essentially where you go over and hand in your four projects for the semester (three of which were heavily focussed on drawing...). I don't know if this is a reflection on the professor, but I didn't have a good experience with the class.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/08/2007	Exams are easy, I didn't go to lecture and studied about 1.5 hrs by reading the notes online and scored 96 and 82. The assignments are absolutely ridiculously time consuming. 25 hrs + for one of them. Also, very weird restriction of not allowing rulers to make Architectural drawings... WTF? Lectures are a waste of your time, the book is a waste of your money (if you take the class) I wouldn't recommend the class... but she isn't really a bad teacher... its just a terrible class. Film = better HA.
Ronit Eisenbach ARCH170 Expecting an A Heph 11/01/2007	Exams are easy. Homework assignments take a lot of time to complete, and they make up a big part of your final grade. You really have to make use of TA office hours, otherwise it's not easy to do well on the assignments. Lecture is not very interesting. Course website is very helpful; pretty much all the lecture topics are covered there.

William Wyllie
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/06/2024

Class was a little disorganized and expectations were sort of unclear at first, but he got the hang of it after a couple of weeks and the TA was super helpful. He keeps class interesting with personal stories. All the assignments are pretty easy and build up to the final project. Outside of class, I spent no more than 30 minutes maximum doing work. He is a very nice person and is understanding if you are having any problems.

Robin Puttock
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/12/2023

A great professor that is passionate about the topic of architecture, and talks about how to become an architect and the process how getting your degree and experience. She takes and talks about relevant topics of modern architecture and puts a historical aspect to it. She does assign a lot of busy work, lecture reflection, unnecessary as it is only 150 words, workshop deliverables, and then an at-home assignment every week.

Robin Puttock
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/21/2023

PLEASE STAY CLEAR OF THIS CLASS. If you are fulfilling a gen ed, look elsewhere. If you are fulfilling a required architecture requirement, good luck. The class is absolutely not worth anything because it is a gen ed and yet the professor makes it take up your entire day doing this and that. The lectures go into very specific, niche topics of architecture which could be interesting but gives zero context or information of the career itself; it is more like learning fun facts about architecture than actually information that gets you interested in the profession. The amount of work being assigned is ridiculous, 3 assignments per week that are only opened to submission on the day it's assigned. It is clear the professor does not think or give room for people who are a) in other majors, b) already in architecture with a lot of work, or c) anyone with a busy schedule. Sure, she gives a ton of assignments and whatnot. But the most trouble I have is that she forces you to submit it in a one day period. PEOPLE HAVE LIVES! It forces you to be on her schedule and timing to the t, without any regard for other classes that will need your time, especially if you are already in architecture studio. Attendance is also graded for both the lectures and workshop, making them 20% of your grade. She makes it sound like there should not be much time spent on these assignments, and yet they are all over the place asking you for different things. Its practically impossible not to take several hours on the assignment despite her telling you you should only spend an hour on them. They have you hike around a museum, they have you bringing in fruits to cut and draw, and then send an announcement saying you'll lose points for not bringing in trace paper on time to the workshop. What's next? Save yourself the stress and skip this class, please.

Robin Puttock
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/02/2023

Dr. Puttock is a good professor. She is clearly passionate about the subject and the lectures are mostly interesting. However, this course is much less focused on primary aspects of architecture than I expected, mostly delving into tangential aspects of architectural design. Attendance in lectures and discussion sections is mandatory. Assignments were VERY time consuming. Lecture reflections and workshop deliverables were fine, but at home assignments took an enormous amount of time, often taking up an entire weekend day for me. They aren't that difficult, but they take up a lot of time, because of the amount of work, additionally you sometimes have to travel to a certain location to complete the assignment. I found that by the time I was finishing the assignment, absolutely all creative energy and passion was drained from me, and the only thing on my mind was when will this end. Perhaps the amount of workload is normal for architecture major courses, but for a level-100 course, it's way too much. My friends took similar architecture courses, and the amount of workload they had was much less. Towards the end of the course, however, at home assignments were made easier and didn't take up as much time. Overall, the courses is interesting, but a lot of work.

Sarah Bolivar
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
chesgogi
05/17/2022

The lectures are kinda boring at times and the weekly assignments are confusing at times. The grade pretty much depends on your weekly assignments, for the midterm and final, they're just projects. The projects took soooo much time and they even require you to go to your site just to take like 5 pictures. The grade was mainly from TA, my TA was quite picky and the discussion was very boring and a waste of my time. It all just depends if you get lucky with who your TA is. I took this to fulfil a gen ed credit thinking it would be lightwork and an easy A but it took so much time to complete the projects. Best of luck

Sarah Bolivar
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/15/2022

Probably the nicest professor ever. She also posts previous lecture recordings, which make it easy to review concepts. Professor Bolivar's midterm and final projects were difficult, but fair. Glad it was not a written exam, but rather a case study. I only wish Professor bolivar had office hours, as sometimes the class is a bit fast paced. Do not forget to the reflections, as they are your participation grade.

Ben Bernstein
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2021

Very understanding and accommodating. Ben makes workshops engaging, and goes out of his way to help his students. I feel that his grading style was a bit harsh and that for some assignments the instructions were just too vague

Sarah Bolivar
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2021

Professor Bolivar and Ben were both really great. I feel that there was a slight disconnect between the assignments and the lectures, but it was very nice to not have traditional written exams. If you put in tje work and ask participate in discussion, than you'll do fine.

Sarah Bolivar
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/14/2021

Honestly, for only a humanities credit I’d look elsewhere if this prof is teaching. It’s not a terrible class but the lectures are VERY boring and you will easily fall asleep in them until you stop going because it’s pointless to go. The class really depends on how nice your TA is, which is hit or miss cause mine is pretty good, but my friends is pretty bad. If you really need a humanities, save yourself the effort and look elsewhere. (It’s not a ton of work, but the work is just kinda annoying)

Sarah Bolivar
ARCH170

Anonymous
11/10/2021

She expects you to already have knowledge on architecture, and makes a 100 level class feel impossible. Very boring lectures- I have fallen asleep in over half of them. When you try to ask why you were graded harshly, she says to talk to your TA. Your grade in the class is based on how harsh your TA is and if you get a hard one you are screwed.

Elijah Northen
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/30/2021

Professor Northen is seriously one of the best professors I have had at the University of Maryland. The lectures were engaging, interesting, and relevant to the architectural field; you will take away a lot from this class. He is a practicing architect who knows what he's talking about and gives you a great look into the architectural career field. He is a fair grader as well, if you put in the effort then you should be able to get an A in the class. I highly recommend trying to take one of his classes if you can.

Siobhan Steen
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/12/2020

Steen is such an interesting lecturer. She is someone very knowledgeable about architecture and has designed some really cool buildings like the Spy Museum in DC and the Silver Spring Library. You can tell she is very passionate about her work which makes the class even more enjoyable. If you're looking for an easy gen ed or are an architecture major I highly suggest choosing this lecturer.

Siobhan Steen
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
StrawberryCupcake5
12/21/2019

It's a blended learning class, so half online and half in-person. The class was pretty interesting and I liked the projects we did. There was a total of 5 assignments with process uploads every week. Also there's an easy reading quiz every week. Lectures were kinda boring and went over the readings, so I skipped almost all of them. Good gen ed!

Betsy Petrusic
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2019

I thought Betsy was a very good professor to introduce us into the architecture field/class. she did a very good job explaining and teaching us. she is very caring for her students and gives us great feedback on our projects mid way always wanting us to do our best.

Betsy Petrusic
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/16/2019

Betsy was an overall great instructor to work with in an introductory class of Architecture. She well understood that her class was not only composed of architecture majors and tried to grasp everyone's interest in the subject. Each week, she would make sure to deliver readings on specific topics, form class discussions to ensure everyone understands the topics well, then assign us design projects due in upcoming classes. Betsy could have been seen as too straightforward or harsh when responding to students' works, but she clearly stated that she was only preparing incoming freshmen for their upperclasses' professor's rigor. She made time for feedback for most, if not all, students and tied design projects to broader understandings outside of architecture and art. Overall, I think she was a good instructor despite her blunt feedback (which could also be seen as a positive!)

Elizabeth Petrusic
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/17/2019

Betty Petrusic is very friendly and wants you to do well in the class. There are no tests as of Fall2018. She holds critiques before the assignment due dates so you can edit your final submission and turn in the best version of your work. Overall, it was a fun class I'd enjoy taking again.

Elizabeth Petrusic
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2018

Great teacher. Really knows her stuff and establishes a very friendly vibe throughout the classroom. If you try on your assignments you will get the grade you deserve.

Lindsey May
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/27/2018

Great class, goes through interesting concepts for those who are not architecture majors.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B+
TheTrooth
02/02/2015

Eisenbach is an average professor. ARCH170 is an average class. You have 5 major projects, but you have to submit drafts, etc. You basically have something due every week. Discussion is mandatory. There are useless readings and online quizzes to ensure you read them. As I mentioned earlier, this is an average class. If you put in average work, you will get an average grade. I got a B because my TA had some sort of Vendetta against me. Bottom Line: Only take this class if you don't mind learning about nonsensical architectural principles, and doing a bit of analyzing.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B
CB
02/17/2011

I really liked Eisenbach, she was tough, but good. She was easy to contact and she kept the class interesting. She gave a few quizzes throughout the semester, but they were really only for attendance and counted as extra credit. There were four big projects throughout the semester, but she gave plenty of time to do them. Her exams were fair; if you study you'll do well, if you don't study you will not. I only ended up with a B because I didn't study enough for the final exam and did poorly on it. It is a fun class and I highly recommend it.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/25/2011

Class was alright, thought it would be okay to take her for an easy A for a CORE (didn't think it would be that bad). I could have sworn I would have had it too but he projects were sometimes annoying. It can be interesting at times though and I do remember a lot of the stuff, but if you just need an easy CORE class, look elsewhere at THET110 or something - ARCH seemed needlessly complicated for this kinda stuff.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2010

The course was overall pretty easy, but very time-consuming. Only take it if you have an interest in architecture or drawing. Otherwise, the projects can be painful. The easy exams and extra credit points make up for it though. Relatively all course notes were online. I only studied those notes and aced the exams. Class was only necessary for the random extra credit opportunities. Getting an A is very manageable with adequate time and some patience.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B+
rbaik
12/15/2010

The class is pointless and the assignments really have nothing to do with the class. A lot of time goes into the assignments and should be worth more points. The tests are basically just trivia.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/06/2010

Projects are 50% of the grade, but they take way longer than you think. The 4th which is the final project, took me 30+ hours to complete. I found the notes she posted online extremely helpful when study for exams, although they are essentially the same stuff she has gone over in class, it is hard to stay awake through her lectures, so it is wise to read over the online notes to refresh memories. There are extra credit opportunities given in the beginning of randomly selected lectures, so it would be your loss if it's given the day you skipped lecture or were late to class.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
09/07/2010

Eisenbach is what I call a spoon-feeding professor, as she spoon-feeds you information piece by piece and likes to linger on easy concepts. So this is good news for many. Skipping one class isn't the end of the world since she has a class website that has all the information on it. But she does give out extra credits, each worth 5pts, so I do suggest going to class. You want to earn all the extra credit you can because you WILL lose points for the exams! The exams are graded harshly. You have to KNOW exactly what you're talking about! Studying the exact wording off of her website helps. There are four assignment, besides the first one being an essay, the other three are all drawing related. Be ready to spend a significant amount of time on those since no ruler's allowed. The process also includes visiting and analyzing the sites..etc. On the last project, I spent nearly 20hrs. But the work did pay off. Bottom line: Good professor. Be ready to be spoon-fed the material. Easy material, but it's about implementing the concepts in your projects. Recommended for those who have taken drawing classes and with some degree of creativity.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/27/2009

While the projects take a lot of time, the exams are easy. Make sure you go to class for the first 2/3 of the semester because she gives out extra credit in class and it adds up to 5 points on your exam grade (which is out of 100) which is really nice. Find someone in your discussion that you can go to the sites with for the projects and take advantage of T.A. office hours because those also really help. I recommend this class if you are looking for an easy A and/or an HA requirement. Also don't buy the two books for this class they are a waste of money and you don't need them. Just use the notes online to study for the exam.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/21/2009

The lectures are very boring.. she dims the light so half the class is asleep. projects are very time consuming. I got an a high A on all the projects and I averaged B's on the exam and I got a B+. Projects were way more time consuming and should have counted for more. This class is a waste of time if you want an Easy A for HA core. I recommend taking something easier.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/13/2009

This review is coming from an ARCH major, so the opinion may vary.... I found this class, and the teacher, to be very nice. The lectures can be a bit boring, and she does post the notes online, so students are tempted to skip. But in all honesty, the lectures are great for clarifying subjects (Especially near the beginning with the topics on Theories) and you can only partake in the extra credit options if you're on the specific day for lecture. The majority of your grade, however, is dependent upon the TAs. I find that they tend to be a little leniant on grading, probably because this is a CORE class as well as an ARCH requirement. Also, be very careful with time management! The assignments can take longer than they first appear, and I (personally) had my discussion on fridays so I found that most of my "late-niters" occured on Thursday nights. The tests aren't so bad if you study and attend lecture. The extra credits are FIVE points on a test, which always means the difference between a B+ and an A-.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/04/2009

THIS REVIEW IS COMING FROM AN ARCHITECTURE MAJOR, MINORING IN HISTORY SO OPINION MAY DIFFER FROM OTHERS. I found the class very interesting. The material is a cross between architectural basics and history. Material is straight forward, presented clearly, and posted online. The tests are not difficult however I do recommend studying. Assignments are not too difficult but the time commitment may catch up with you. Eisenbach seems to really enjoy the material and that appears through her teaching. She also seems to care about the students and trys to involve them in the lecture. Most students who complain about the class are non architecture majors taking it for an easy HA (which is true on a case to case basis). Complaints by others say the professor is boring presenting dry lectures.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

smefeman
04/02/2009

She is a very boring teacher. Lectures are very dry and are typically unhelpful. The online notes are much more helpful than lecture. Tests are very easy despite not listening at all during lecture. Projects are time consuming, but pretty fun. TAs are in general good

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/29/2008

The material is simple. It is easy to get good tests grades without putting much effort into reading the online notes or learning from the lectures. Though, the assignments are time consuming "busy-work" tasks. Much of the work involves freehand sketching to scale and teaches you nothing. If you do not like drawing, this class will piss you off. Take musc205 for HA instead.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Anonymous
12/21/2008

ARCH 170 was a very interesting, but different class! I took it mainly for the purpose of getting my HA out of the way, and I felt like I made the right choice in that regard. Although I never had taken an architecture class before, and although I'm not really that artistic or too creative/design oriented, I got quite a bit out of the class, and I didn't feel like I was at a disadvantage by not having any background experience-the TAs were really cool about it, and the projects didn't require perfection, just effort and following directions. Speaking of projects, they are probably the biggest part of the class! There are four of them, worth a total of 50% of your grade-two midterms and a final are worth the other 50% (each exam=10%, final=30%). The thing about the projects though is that each one is worth progressively more percentage, so you need to make sure you don't slack off as the semester goes on! In general, the projects are pretty neat! Just be careful though, because they take more time than they originally might seem to require-so don't procrastinate! And don't be hesitant about talking to your TA, because they can be very helpful! Attending discussion and coming prepared is a must! If you don't attend, your grade will suffer! Most of the discussions revolve around the projects, except for the week before exams where we do reviews. Make sure you come prepared to discussion though, because often times there are intermediate steps to the projects and you will lose points if you don't come to discussion prepared! The lectures are not the most exciting and sometimes Professor Eisenbach can seem to talk about unnecessary information. However, even though most of the notes are available online, make sure you go to lecture as often as you can-there will occasionally be extra credit tasks, so you don't want to miss them. Besides the projects, the homework was just reading from the textbooks. Although it wasn't "checked" in any sense, I recommend you do read because it can be beneficial-and make sure you thoroughly check out the Supplemental Reading booklet because it will probably be used on your exam in some sense. The exams are a combination of multiple choice, short answers and a essay. The nice part is that she gives out the 3 possible essays ahead of time and only puts 1 on the exam. Therefore, if you prepare well, you should be able to get full credit for that part of the exam! The multiple choice aren't too bad, just make sure to read the question carefully! The short answer is where I lost the most points, because the questions can be tricky and you often have to need to have really paid close attention to details to get full credit! All in all though, I got a lot out of this class, and it gave me some new experiences that you don't have in other classes. Be aware, it can be a bit time consuming (you'll need to make a trip into DC!), but otherwise, you shouldn't have any problems if you do everything you are supposed to do, and if you take initiative on your assignments and plan ahead to make sure everything is done well! Good luck, and enjoy the class!

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a B
tallboyt
11/17/2008

Lectures are dry, but she enjoys teaching. Tests are straight-forward. Although notes can be found online, I found it helpful to combine and review lecture notes and online notes simultaneously for test study guides. Text books were a very big waste of money, try to buy only the supplement.Only after the final I felt i learned a lot in arch.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
cityazndan
09/03/2008

Pretty straightforward class...boring lectures. Just teach yourself using the online resource. One of the better HAs to take because it's that darn easy to ace the class.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

jmartin1
05/06/2008

class was pretty boring and pointless. you don't even have to go to lecture because all the notes online are better than her notes in class. the projects can be hard, depending on ur TA. my TA was kind of picky, so the projects took me a lot of time. if ur considering this class for a core, i would recommend looking for better HA classes

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A+
Kedorus
12/30/2007

The lectures themselves aren’t terribly interesting (unless you’re an Arch major), but almost all the material is on the website. The Professor is really nice and is more than happy to answer questions. Most of the assignments involved drawing and creativity, which I found to be a nice break from endless paper writing, and the TA I had was helpful.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
a778999
12/07/2007

Lectures: Boring, unnecessary since notes are online Assignments: pretty fun except the essay, which was full of BS Tests: require lots of memorizing and cramming

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/30/2007

The class was a bit of a disappointment, though fortunately it's easy enough that going to lecture isn't altogether necessary. (Except near the end, as cities-related information is on the final and isn't online.) Eisenbach's lectures are less than stellar, but it's made up for by the fact that attendance isn't mandatory. The assignments are interesting, but be prepared to spend a good deal of time making detailed drawings.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A-
trimalchio
11/29/2007

I rarely went to lectures and this did not really negatively impact my performance in the class, the issue is that you need to study the available notes for the tests and do well on those and also do well on the extremely large projects in order to get a good grade. Your TA is going to make the biggest difference though, a good one will make the class interesting and will guide you through the assignments and a bad one won't give you the tools necessary to get As on assignments. I enjoyed the class but I like architecture generally so the decision to take this class is based mostly on whether you like architecture and drawing.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting a C
Anonymous
11/28/2007

I thought this class would be an okay class to get my HA Core out of the way, especially since I had no desire to take any of the HA's. However, the description is a bit misleading. This class is essentially two class: the lectures where you learn about concepts and history (what I expected); and the discussion which hardly builds upon the lecture at all. Instead it stands alone as being essentially where you go over and hand in your four projects for the semester (three of which were heavily focussed on drawing...). I don't know if this is a reflection on the professor, but I didn't have a good experience with the class.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/08/2007

Exams are easy, I didn't go to lecture and studied about 1.5 hrs by reading the notes online and scored 96 and 82. The assignments are absolutely ridiculously time consuming. 25 hrs + for one of them. Also, very weird restriction of not allowing rulers to make Architectural drawings... WTF? Lectures are a waste of your time, the book is a waste of your money (if you take the class) I wouldn't recommend the class... but she isn't really a bad teacher... its just a terrible class. Film = better HA.

Ronit Eisenbach
ARCH170

Expecting an A
Heph
11/01/2007

Exams are easy. Homework assignments take a lot of time to complete, and they make up a big part of your final grade. You really have to make use of TA office hours, otherwise it's not easy to do well on the assignments. Lecture is not very interesting. Course website is very helpful; pretty much all the lecture topics are covered there.

Reviews for ARCH170