GEOG140 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 10/23/2024	Professor Yearwood's lectures are very entertaining. He's an interesting person and super easy to talk to if you need help with anything. The class is very simple and the content is interesting, highly recommend this course if you need an easy I-Series GenEd!
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/29/2024	His lectures are extremely boring. 90% of it is just going over exactly what was in the textbook but then there's like five minutes of him talking about current events. His exams are just memorizing random facts from the textbook (like "how many people died in Hurricane Katrina?" and you have to use the exact fact/number in the book even if other sources, like the internet, disagree). Speaking with him at office hours sucks, he's incredibly condescending and doesn't listen very well. I misspoke once and he decided he needed to explain everything to me (like what an adjunct professor is...). This course isn't that hard IF you are allowed to take the exams at home, but if you're not allowed to do that then you'll have to study like crazy, all for a 100-level gen ed class. If there's any way you can get out of taking this class or take it with a different professor, DO THAT.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 05/22/2024	The test questions were not only way too difficult for a 100-level course, they were in some cases so poorly written that they were impossible to understand. They said to ask questions if you were confused, but if you do ask for help, they slightly rephase the question (in a way that does not make it any more comprehensible!) and walk away. The textbook was over 300 dense pages of the most obscure facts and complex vocabulary. There was basically no point in attending class because every test question was pulled from the textbook (yet Professor Hurtt complained that not enough people were attending classes). This was supposed to be a GedEd. I would not have minded this course being difficult, but this was impossible. I put more work into studying for this course then I did for classes that I actually liked that were related to my major, and I still got a worse grade in this class. Overall, a terrible class.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/13/2024	DO NOT TAKE IT! He only reads off the slides (which are copied and pasted from the textbook), and gives no additional or useful input in the slightest. Other students and I tried so hard studying the material, but no matter what there is absolutely no way to memorize 5+ chapters with multiple individual sections inside each, specific details about REALLY current events, and small facts that you can get wrong even if you understand the bigger picture of what a disaster is. None of the tests can be taken remotely anymore, and that's why he was rated so highly in the first place with high grade averages. The grade data looks amazing, but trust me this class has finally made me consider enrolling in therapy and focusing on my mental health. NOT AN EASY GEN ED. He has no passion for teaching, and I bet he's only here for the research opportunities that UMD provides. I wish more than anything that I dropped this class before I wasted time self-teaching the material and before it tanked my GPA. Be better than I was.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 05/13/2024	I just want to say this is the hardest gen-ed I've ever took, I even spent more time on this class than my math class. Dr.Hurtt's lecture just came from the textbook directly, and he just read the powerpoint as the lecture so a lot of people stop to go to the lecture because it does not worth to go. The final is better then the midterm but it's still hard, the average is like 73. You have to spend a lot of time to understand the lecture, the GLE and the questions. So take an easy gen-ed. Also Dr do have a curve but it's still a hard class overall.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/13/2024	The class itself is very easy. 25% of the grade is from just completing the weekly modules, regardless of what grade you get, just based on completion. 25% from the project which was also ridiculously easy if you pick a well known topic. the other 50% is split in half between both exams which are the stupidly hard part of this course. In order to be successful, you'd have to memorize every tiny, specific, minute detail in the textbook which is 300 pages long, and the class slides, which are about 200 pages. The exam questions are so oddly specific that your best bet would be to guess your way through the exam unless you wanna sit there stressing yourself out for 2 hours.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2024	The content itself is not too hard, however, the professor tries his level best to ask for the most minute details on exams. I spent so much time studying for this class (more than my math and CS classes combined) solely due to the insane amount of details you would have to memorize. While he did makeup exam 1 with an extra credit which meant the grade would not take a massive hit, you still end up spending so much time studying for this class. Being a gened, it should not be this hard!
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/09/2024	I am taking this class because I needed a gen ed credit and it is currently the hardest and most stressful class I'm taking. The two exams being 50% of your grade is insane because of how extremely hard the exams are. The professor tried to blame part of it on us because a lot of people didn't do the readings or attend lectures, but I did both and still did poorly on the exam. He did give extra credit once he realized that the average on the midterm was 62%. The lectures were pointless and the lead TA was not good, laughing at student's performances on an extra credit assignment because they weren't getting 100%. The grades weren't consistent either, me and my friend had the same exact formatting on the project and she got points off while I did not. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH THIS PROFESSOR.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/08/2024	I am going to be honest; he doesn't deserve a 1 but doesn't deserve a 5 either. I took this class as a major requirement and it began extremely easy, with weekly homework being graded on completion and the only project being a simple paper. The midterm exam was incredibly difficult because he chose minute details from the textbook that you likely only would have retained had you read every last sentence and had a good memory. The questions were mostly not application-based and were not focused on the most important information. The midterm review session was also incredibly misleading. While many were frustrated by this, Dr. Hurtt and the TAs DID take accountability for this and allowed us to complete test corrections for half points back, and gave us extra credit for a grade boost no strings attached. Many individuals in the class were shockingly unprepared as students go (some not knowing if in-text citations should be used). It is WAY too easy to get an A in this course even with the ridiculously specific exams. He also gave us two different extra credit quizzes to be used for the final. 70% of the students don't show up to class and definitely have never opened the textbook. If you have a good memory, you will do fine on the exam. But YALL!!! Textbooks are not a courtesy or given for fun, they must be read if you expect to do well in a course. If you choose not to open yours, your poor performance is on you! Dr. Hurtt has room to improve for exams, but when it comes down to it he is very reasonable.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/07/2024	Don't go to lectures, study the text book, and pray tbh. Class is super hit or miss, as it seems easy, but the ta's make the exams impossible. We had test corrections and alot of extra credit which saves my grade, but for a simple gen ed we shouldn't have to worry this much. Class work is easy however just click random ones till your right and you get a 100%. Avoid class if you can
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/02/2024	Lectures are pretty pointless. But the biggest problem is with the tests and projects. Certain things were not made clear and little to no help was given, no exam review along with the exam questions were about minuscule details from the textbook which even if you remembered, some answers were just straight up wrong. The project is constant confusion as the rubric is the most bare-bones rubric possible. Do not take this professor as it will add unnecessary stress to an already stressful college life.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 04/08/2024	The best example I can use to summarize Hurtt and this class is that it is a geography class, yet we use a geology textbook. Enough said.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 03/13/2024	Average on 1st exam is 63% at the time of writing this. You can read the textbook, review the slides, look at the GLE's, practice the flashcards, and still get destroyed. He picked the most minor, minuscule details from a 300 page textbook and over 200 slides, that no sane person will remember. The only way to have gotten an A on this exam was to have reviewed daily with 15+ hours plus of studying a few days before the exam. This is a 100 level general education course. The professor's attitude is incredibly condescending if you ask him a question. His TA's specifically told us not to worry about specific details during lecture review. Speaking of lecture review, we were additionally given no study guide or practice exam. I spent less time studying for my discrete mathematics course and got a higher grade. The sad thing is, I highly doubt he'll even care about the low scores. Hopefully I'm wrong.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 03/13/2024	Just walked out of the exam. As the reviews mentioned, Hurtt decided to host the exam in-person for "reliable internet connection." If so, why did a lot of students struggle to connect to Eduroam? Good thing—the TAs prepared for this and had a few printed exams, HOWEVER, that was not enough to keep up with demand. They ran out and had to go print more. Some students took the exam on their phones. An absolute mess. The average for the first exam came out to be a grand total of 63% give or take, median was 64%. He reads right off his slides, so don't bother going to lecture and just read the textbook. Also, memorize every small detail because it might be on your exam. Based on the grade data, around 50% of students got an A-/A in previous semesters, which is respectable. This semester is a different story. This class should not have been changed.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a W Anonymous 03/13/2024	DO NOT TAKE!! Test questions look like they were pulled straight from a 400 level class. Questions are on complete minusha. Hurtt is a terrible lecturer and has no idea what's happening in his own class. We didn't know whether the exam was in-person until two days before the exam, as he said it's "strongly recommended" to take it in person, and then decided that somehow meant required. The head TA Robyn is extremely demeaning to both students and the other TAs.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/13/2024	Quite shocked to find that his rating was so low. Hurtt mainly keeps lecture to reviewing material in the textbook with some current events. Attending lecture isn't at all mandatory and if you read the textbook, you should be fine. Pretty easy gen ed class but still very interesting. Kinda like having a slightly harder 8th grade Earth sciences class. Lectures are super laid back for those who chose to attend, and he clearly cares about what he's teaching. To the people who said this class was difficult or harder than expected, consider dropping out. Homework graded for completion literally makes up 25% of your grade. The final project is only 5 pages long. And to the person who said he changed the format of the lecture last minute, no he did not. You just weren't paying attention as the test was always going to be in person / hybrid with exception given if you had a schedule conflict. If you are looking for an easy but engaging Gen-ed, I would recommend this professor's course.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 03/12/2024	This professor absolutely sucks do not take him. Lectures are extremely boring and class is made harder than it should be. Took for Easy gen ed and ended up being super hard.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting a W Anonymous 03/12/2024	Class is simply a joke. Horrible instruction and awful TA's. Took as an easy gen ed but is becoming stressful and a waste of time. DO NOT RECOMMEND!
George Hurtt GEOG140 Anonymous 03/10/2024	Class is boring, and not helpful at all.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/10/2024	Horrible professor. He changed the exam from remote online to in-person two weeks before the first midterm. The lectures are honestly extremely boring and do not help at all. Read the textbook and memorize all the minutiae cause you will probably be tested on those. Current events were good but only added to more work. Do not take this class with this professor. The course itself is easy but the professor made it so much harder.
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/31/2024	Lectures were pretty boring and 99% of the information could be found in the textbook. The worst though, were that the exams were on very tiny meaningless facts ("how many people died in Hurricane Katrina), and the answers were specifically from the textbook. So while studying you couldn't google "How many people died in Hurricane Katrina" because actual estimates vary a lot and you need the specific and likely inaccurate answer from the textbook. It made the class weirdly difficult, because not everyone can memorize every associated fact with every natural disaster, especially very arbitrary numbers like that. Also, I went to talk to this professor in person and he was incredibly rude and condescending--there was a miscommunication early in the conversation and whenever I tried to clear it up he would just get angrier at me and imply I was stupid for miscommunicating in the first place.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2023	Professor Yearwood is quite the entertainer and his lectures were enjoyable. Unfortunately, he is not the greatest when it comes to exam prep. He will tell you during lectures what will be on the exam, which is nice. However, when the time comes, some of the questions are confusing with similar answers or there is a question about something he never taught, but they're still manageable enough to earn a passing grade. The nice thing is he never gives a heavy workload, so there's never a big reason to stress over his class. I would recommend taking his class as an easy I-series, just be aware of the exam content.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A+ menoce69 12/11/2023	Greatest professor ever! I love this man so much. He is a very nice professor. He makes very funny jokes. He is deeply in love with Daryll J. Pines, he wanted us to kiss Pines for him. Even if only 10 people show up to lecture, he tries to entertain them to the end. He made jokes all throughout the semester, even on the very last day. His teaching is kinda mid and boring tho. His tests are really easy, just make sure to memorize the slideshow/test review, and you will pass.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/29/2023	Professor Yearwood was entertaining and a simple class. There are a few graded assignments usually just simple questions based on a video. He posts what will be on the exams, there are three that are not cumulative and count as midterm/final. Plus he doesn't have class on Fridays, despite the course saying MWF. I suggest this course if looking for an easy gened!
George Hurtt GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2023	Hurtt is a pretty nice guy and not a bad lecturer. The content is quite interesting and he incorporates current, relevant natural disasters into the curriculum. Lectures are not mandatory, and most information can be gleaned from the online E-Book and slideshows, which are posted on ELMS. Class is 25% online homework, which is automatically full points if you just do it - you don't lose points for wrong answers, and it ended up amounting to <20 minutes per week. 25% each for a midterm and the final exam, which were 40-something multiple choice question ELMS quizzes. He gave the option to take them remotely, which was cool of him, and the exams themselves felt perfectly fair (B average). Last 25% is two parts: a 1 page summary assignment about a natural disaster and a 5 page paper elaborating on the summary that were both graded very kindly (median grades were 20 out of 20 and 88 out of 90). A lot of people stopped coming to lectures because you can honestly skip most of them and get an A, so he offered extra credit assignments for people who attended, which was sweet. Overall, solid gen-ed if you want a good grade without a lot of effort, but the class is really quite fascinating if you do.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/09/2023	This professor is a great guy, he's funny and cares for students. This is probably the only gen-ed I genuinely enjoyed. I strongly encourage anyone looking for an easy/ enjoyable class to take this one.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2023	The professor is entertaining and tries to make jokes during the lectures and makes classes interesting. One thing he did that students should be aware of is a lot of the time he directly tells students what is on the tests. He also is repetitive on important information. Overall the tests are also pretty easy as well but there are only a few grades total.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/08/2023	Interesting lectures, but all slides and necessary materials are uploaded to elms along with study guides for each of the exams so as long as you study the exact information you need to know from the guides for the tests it is super easy to get an A without much effort and is not a big deal if you miss lectures. your entire grade is 3 tests and a project that are each 25% of your grade, but they are all pretty simple so apart from being a little bit stressful they are only a little bit stressful because they're easy.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	Funny and cares about his students. As long as you study using the study guide he gives you and do the one project exactly as he tells you to, it is almost impossible not to get an A. you do not have to attend his lectures but it helps and he is a good lecturer. Even gave everyone an extra 0.7 points at the end for no reason.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2022	Dr. Yearwood is one of the most engaging lecturers I’ve ever had. Despite what some people may say, I would highly recommend going to class because he’s really funny and tells you exactly what you need to know for the exams. I also appreciated that there was no homework except for a single project. Overall I’d definitely recommend his class; any negative reviews on here are from the rough patch when classes went virtual.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A jackmanch 12/13/2022	Insanely easy class. Do not need to show up, just do the exam review. Also a fun lecturer who is funny
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022	Pretty fun and probably the easiest class I've taken. There are 3 exams (including the non-cumulative final), and he sends out a study guide stating exactly what's on the exam. The exams don't cover that much content, and he tells you in class what you need to write down and what you should just listen to. I found the content interesting plus Yearwood is funny and entertaining, and we'd get let out of lecture early pretty consistently. Some lectures we'd just watch a documentary. There is no homework in the class besides a pretty easy project that took a few hours to complete, and a couple required documentary viewings (only like 3 or 4). Each exam is 25% of our grade plus 25% for the project. Even if you struggle with exams/memorization you'll probably still be fine, the study guides are super detailed and there's not a ton of content on each exam. Fun class, easy I-Series/gened.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/31/2022	To be honest, I think this wasn't too bad of a class compared to what others have been saying. There is no homework, exams are worth 75%, and there is no final cumulative exam. He also did boost everyone's grade by around 3% which I did appreciate. I would say that it is pretty easy to attain an A in this class without attending a single lecture. However, there are a couple of caveats. He will post an exam review for the topics and sample questions that he may ask so you need to go through each of those. It is also important to take notes through every slide packet he puts on the elms website, and lastly, if he tells you to watch a video and answer some questions make sure to watch the documentaries and answer the questions because they will 100% be on the exam. Those questions are super free, so don't miss the opportunity, and the documentaries (3 required this semester) range from 30-90 minutes. Another problem with the exams is that there may be questions that may not be covered on the slide packets and exam review, so this is where it's helpful to go to lecture as he draws diagrams or specifically says things that may show up on the exams. These questions only make up about 10% of the exam though, and if you are solid at MC exams, then you don't have to worry about this. Yearwood lets us go early sometimes and is a chill professor at the end of the day.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2022	This class is an easy class. If you are good at memorization, then this class should be a breeze. If you are not good at memorization, I would not take this class. Exams and discussions are all weighted 25% which I really hate. He gives out study guide questions that we should know before taking the exam. We had three in class presentations in our discussions that we had to present. They were really easy. I also had a good TA. I heard discussions are getting removed in this class, but I am not too sure about that. Our class average is around a (83-84). The professor also curved our grade. Also, his exam questions were not coherent. Lecture can get very boring at times, but he knows how to make jokes. I honestly skipped class a lot since this class isn't a priority for me and I still did well. He doesn't give homework.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/05/2022	Great teacher kept his discussions interesting and was funny. Geog140 is a very easy class if you show up to class or put a little bit of effort in before the exams. Almost all of the hate he gets is from when he was teaching online so if you have him in person he's great.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/11/2022	Don't take this class with Dr. Yearwood. I took this class for an easy A and it is nothing like that because the exams are hard and annoying and they make up 75% your grade. He claims to be straightforward and not trick you on the exam, but then puts random information you haven't learned on it which makes it difficult. I regret taking this class. The exams are no notes, in person, and contain information that we just didn't go over. His exams are also horribly designed; he loves to make every option choice extremely similar and uses a lot of all of the above. His exams are tricky and if you don't put down exactly the answer he wants then you are wrong. His lectures are useless because he goes off on random tangents all the time and his slides most of the time are either pictures or lots of words. You definitely can pass this class, but it is just annoying and if you can avoid then please do in my opinion.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/25/2022	Dr. Yearwood was my favorite professor last semester. He knew his lecture could get boring at times so he often made hilarious remarks to keep us engaged. The curriculum was not difficult and he told us the questions he was going to ask on the all multiple choice exams. He assigned 0 hw and only gave us 3 non-cumulative exams throughout the entire semester. If you study what he tells you will be on the test you should get an A/A+
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/22/2022	I took this class because of Reddit but I'm pretty sure there are easier classes you could take for GenEds. Dr. Yearwood's lectures are pretty boring but he tries to make them funny by telling jokes or going on tangents. 3 EXAMS MAKE UP 75% OF YOUR GRADE and the other 25% is participation from attending discussion. If you are a terrible test taker, DO NOT take this class because if you don't do well on the exams, there aren't any other assignments to boost your grade. That being said, the exams aren't bad because they're all multiple choice and he gives you a very thorough list of what you need to know. If you memorize all the answers to the exam review and know most of the slides, you can definitely pass.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Anonymous 12/21/2021	I liked Dr. Yearwood. His lectures were a little boring, but he made them more entertaining by his random tangents he would sometimes go on. There was like 0 homework which was nice, and he tells you exactly what's gonna be on the test (all MC). Pretty easy class. I took it for my major, but it'd be a good gen ed credit too.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Anonymous 12/20/2021	Dr. Yearwood isnt a bad teacher, but he also isnt a good teacher. His lectures were funny and I liked that the class itself wasnt really stressful, since we had basically no assignments or work outside of class. Depending on the TA, you might have some work but still nothing too unmanageable. Of course that brings us to the exams. It's pretty ridiculous that 3 exams make up 75% of our grade, and the exams are so short that if you get like 3 or 4 questions wrong, you're already at a B. On top of that, the questions in the exam are horribly designed - you could pick an answer that is technically correct but he will mark you wrong because its not the EXACT definition he said in class. Its almost worse when he adds more questions to the exam though, because the more questions he adds, the more random and ambiguous and weird the questions become. I would recommend going to lecture and just waiting for him to tell you when to write things down because that's what you will need to study. Also thoroughly study the exam reviews because his exams are entirely based on those questions. Honestly, I wouldnt take this class again, but it wasnt the worst thing ever, at least not in person.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/21/2020	Do NOT take a class with this professor. Not sure about in-person classes with him, but online was an absolute nightmare. No matter how much studying you do, you won't get full points on exams. Then, students complained to him and he got angry and sent passive-aggressive announcements to us saying that none of us study or retain any info from the slides. (He also added that regardless of the pandemic, we all have to cope, so that felt like a "basically, get over it") We complained to department heads about his grading and stuff and they said it was taken care of... but did my grade change? no. I am in my 3rd year of college. I have had many iffy professors, but nothing like this guy. I wish him the best, but please do not take his class.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/04/2020	god awful. harsh grader, doesnt do any form of lecture just sends out slides. The gpa for this class is fat but this guy is just not the teacher you want.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting a P Anonymous 09/26/2020	After the course went online, our exams went from simple multiple choice to essay responses. He graded them super harshly––if you didn't put exactly what he was looking for, you'd get like no points.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 09/13/2020	After the semester was moved online, the exams were changed to open response questions. A lot of students agreed that he graded the exams too strictly. He got angry with the class for writing detailed responses and sent out a passive-aggressive ELMS announcement.
Joshua Wayland GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/23/2020	I took his class over the summer session 2. All of the lessons were pre recorded and expectations were extremely clear. The quizzes and essays were very fair.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/19/2020	After the switch to online classes, the online exams are 4-5 short question open responses but he grades them super strictly. He shows absolutely no leniency.
Keith Yearwood GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/08/2020	great teacher to have
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/14/2010	Kearney's lectures are pointless to go to. He spent more than half the lecture talking about computer/technology complications. Discussion is a very easy part of the class with quizzes that you literally have to be retarded to fail. His tests are ALL multiple choice, but don't let that fool you. They are not that easy and his notes/ powerpoints contradict one another. Overall it was a minimal amount of work and I got a good grade because I studied. Don't buy the textbook, you don't use it.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/17/2009	If you don't have to take this class, don't. Professor Kearney is not a good professor; he is boring, unorganized, and always seems to have technology problems. No one really attends lecture and for good reason. You aren't going to learn much about the subject of Coastal Environments because his lectures mostly don't pertain to the subject. The discussion sections have no correlation to lectures, so it's hard to keep up with the material if you don't understand Professor Kearney's lectures, which you probably won't. You also have to read 100+ page articles for discussion quizzes, but the TAs usually give you the answers before the quiz so you don't really have to read. I could go on, but I think you get the idea if you're reading this. This class sucks, don't take it if you don't have to.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2009	never take this class. it is awful. ARCH majors: I know this is an option to fill your science requirement, and I took this because it was the only one available at the time, but if you are in this situation, do yourself a favor, and put it off another semester in order to take one of the other course options. seriously, worst class ever: boring, useless, and difficult to do well in because exam questions are ridiculously worded and irrelevant to topics covered in class, not that you'd bother actually showing up to this class anyway.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2009	Terrible class. Kearney (The GEOG teacher) is a poor lecturer who tends to go on talking about nothing in particular. Posts slides with too much text to even try to write down, and doesn't even reference them in his incoherent ramblings. Worst part: A number of test questions aren't in any of the notes. He seems to think he taught things he never even mentioned. Nonetheless, still a manageable class. The Discussion section (worth 35% of your grade) is an absolute joke. You're given all the answers to the quizzes beforehand. No point in attending lectures, btw.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/04/2009	Kearndy is a horrible professor. Had to take the class as an option for architecture requirements thinking the class would be interesting. Test are pretty difficult and based mostly on his lectures which nobody goes to because they are incredibly boring. Has a very negative out look on the world and talks about how the world's going to flood one day, killing all of us. Spends at least 10 minutes at the beginning of every class attempting to fix computer problems (which are pretty simple problems). The class description said there was going to be a trip to Ocean City which never happened. Overall horrible class and if you can avoid kearney do so at all costs.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Anonymous 10/27/2008	I urge you not to take this class. I took it thinking it would be an easy A, but the man is so boring. He spent 20 minutes at the beginning of every class talking about how macs are better than pcs. I'm not sure if he stopped after the second week because I stopped going and withdrew. The class average for the first test was a 69 after the curve. The TA was completely unhelpful. Don't take this class.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/25/2008	He's an incredibly boring professor. Virtually no one will attend lectures, and with good reason. You won't learn much, just that everything will be flooded and we're going to lose a lot of money. He seems bitter and angry. The only redeeming quality is he posts everything online. I took this thinking it would be an interesting elective- it wasn't.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/20/2008	His lectures are boring and difficult to follow. Going to lecture is not mandatory but he occationally gives test questions. His exams are pretty fair but you never really know how well you are doing until the end of the class.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2007	I would say that if you don't have to take this class for any of your requirements, then don't. The subject is interesting, and is unfortunately made uninteresting by this man. He assumes that the class already knows a lot about geography (or he doesn't care about what the class knows), so he fails to fully explain some of the more basic details of the material. He does not encourage questions, and his discussion sessions are conducted complete and apart from lecture, so there is little opportunity there to reinforce the material (and the T.A.'s are generally not coastal geography experts so they can't help much on the topic either).
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Anonymous 11/20/2007	This is a terrible class, with a terrible professor. He can't teach for beans -- you can't understand anything that he says or how it relates to the course. And after the really crappy lectures, he gives relatively hard exams. He really likes to go off on tangents and rants that have nothing to do with the class. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. If you're looking for a class on coastal environments, take something like the Chesapeake Bay class that's offered. It can't be worse, and I bet its better.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
10/23/2024

Professor Yearwood's lectures are very entertaining. He's an interesting person and super easy to talk to if you need help with anything. The class is very simple and the content is interesting, highly recommend this course if you need an easy I-Series GenEd!

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/29/2024

His lectures are extremely boring. 90% of it is just going over exactly what was in the textbook but then there's like five minutes of him talking about current events. His exams are just memorizing random facts from the textbook (like "how many people died in Hurricane Katrina?" and you have to use the exact fact/number in the book even if other sources, like the internet, disagree). Speaking with him at office hours sucks, he's incredibly condescending and doesn't listen very well. I misspoke once and he decided he needed to explain everything to me (like what an adjunct professor is...). This course isn't that hard IF you are allowed to take the exams at home, but if you're not allowed to do that then you'll have to study like crazy, all for a 100-level gen ed class. If there's any way you can get out of taking this class or take it with a different professor, DO THAT.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
05/22/2024

The test questions were not only way too difficult for a 100-level course, they were in some cases so poorly written that they were impossible to understand. They said to ask questions if you were confused, but if you do ask for help, they slightly rephase the question (in a way that does not make it any more comprehensible!) and walk away. The textbook was over 300 dense pages of the most obscure facts and complex vocabulary. There was basically no point in attending class because every test question was pulled from the textbook (yet Professor Hurtt complained that not enough people were attending classes). This was supposed to be a GedEd. I would not have minded this course being difficult, but this was impossible. I put more work into studying for this course then I did for classes that I actually liked that were related to my major, and I still got a worse grade in this class. Overall, a terrible class.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/13/2024

DO NOT TAKE IT! He only reads off the slides (which are copied and pasted from the textbook), and gives no additional or useful input in the slightest. Other students and I tried so hard studying the material, but no matter what there is absolutely no way to memorize 5+ chapters with multiple individual sections inside each, specific details about REALLY current events, and small facts that you can get wrong even if you understand the bigger picture of what a disaster is. None of the tests can be taken remotely anymore, and that's why he was rated so highly in the first place with high grade averages. The grade data looks amazing, but trust me this class has finally made me consider enrolling in therapy and focusing on my mental health. NOT AN EASY GEN ED. He has no passion for teaching, and I bet he's only here for the research opportunities that UMD provides. I wish more than anything that I dropped this class before I wasted time self-teaching the material and before it tanked my GPA. Be better than I was.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
05/13/2024

I just want to say this is the hardest gen-ed I've ever took, I even spent more time on this class than my math class. Dr.Hurtt's lecture just came from the textbook directly, and he just read the powerpoint as the lecture so a lot of people stop to go to the lecture because it does not worth to go. The final is better then the midterm but it's still hard, the average is like 73. You have to spend a lot of time to understand the lecture, the GLE and the questions. So take an easy gen-ed. Also Dr do have a curve but it's still a hard class overall.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/13/2024

The class itself is very easy. 25% of the grade is from just completing the weekly modules, regardless of what grade you get, just based on completion. 25% from the project which was also ridiculously easy if you pick a well known topic. the other 50% is split in half between both exams which are the stupidly hard part of this course. In order to be successful, you'd have to memorize every tiny, specific, minute detail in the textbook which is 300 pages long, and the class slides, which are about 200 pages. The exam questions are so oddly specific that your best bet would be to guess your way through the exam unless you wanna sit there stressing yourself out for 2 hours.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/09/2024

The content itself is not too hard, however, the professor tries his level best to ask for the most minute details on exams. I spent so much time studying for this class (more than my math and CS classes combined) solely due to the insane amount of details you would have to memorize. While he did makeup exam 1 with an extra credit which meant the grade would not take a massive hit, you still end up spending so much time studying for this class. Being a gened, it should not be this hard!

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/09/2024

I am taking this class because I needed a gen ed credit and it is currently the hardest and most stressful class I'm taking. The two exams being 50% of your grade is insane because of how extremely hard the exams are. The professor tried to blame part of it on us because a lot of people didn't do the readings or attend lectures, but I did both and still did poorly on the exam. He did give extra credit once he realized that the average on the midterm was 62%. The lectures were pointless and the lead TA was not good, laughing at student's performances on an extra credit assignment because they weren't getting 100%. The grades weren't consistent either, me and my friend had the same exact formatting on the project and she got points off while I did not. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH THIS PROFESSOR.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2024

I am going to be honest; he doesn't deserve a 1 but doesn't deserve a 5 either. I took this class as a major requirement and it began extremely easy, with weekly homework being graded on completion and the only project being a simple paper. The midterm exam was incredibly difficult because he chose minute details from the textbook that you likely only would have retained had you read every last sentence and had a good memory. The questions were mostly not application-based and were not focused on the most important information. The midterm review session was also incredibly misleading. While many were frustrated by this, Dr. Hurtt and the TAs DID take accountability for this and allowed us to complete test corrections for half points back, and gave us extra credit for a grade boost no strings attached. Many individuals in the class were shockingly unprepared as students go (some not knowing if in-text citations should be used). It is WAY too easy to get an A in this course even with the ridiculously specific exams. He also gave us two different extra credit quizzes to be used for the final. 70% of the students don't show up to class and definitely have never opened the textbook. If you have a good memory, you will do fine on the exam. But YALL!!! Textbooks are not a courtesy or given for fun, they must be read if you expect to do well in a course. If you choose not to open yours, your poor performance is on you! Dr. Hurtt has room to improve for exams, but when it comes down to it he is very reasonable.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/07/2024

Don't go to lectures, study the text book, and pray tbh. Class is super hit or miss, as it seems easy, but the ta's make the exams impossible. We had test corrections and alot of extra credit which saves my grade, but for a simple gen ed we shouldn't have to worry this much. Class work is easy however just click random ones till your right and you get a 100%. Avoid class if you can

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/02/2024

Lectures are pretty pointless. But the biggest problem is with the tests and projects. Certain things were not made clear and little to no help was given, no exam review along with the exam questions were about minuscule details from the textbook which even if you remembered, some answers were just straight up wrong. The project is constant confusion as the rubric is the most bare-bones rubric possible. Do not take this professor as it will add unnecessary stress to an already stressful college life.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
04/08/2024

The best example I can use to summarize Hurtt and this class is that it is a geography class, yet we use a geology textbook. Enough said.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
03/13/2024

Average on 1st exam is 63% at the time of writing this. You can read the textbook, review the slides, look at the GLE's, practice the flashcards, and still get destroyed. He picked the most minor, minuscule details from a 300 page textbook and over 200 slides, that no sane person will remember. The only way to have gotten an A on this exam was to have reviewed daily with 15+ hours plus of studying a few days before the exam. This is a 100 level general education course. The professor's attitude is incredibly condescending if you ask him a question. His TA's specifically told us not to worry about specific details during lecture review. Speaking of lecture review, we were additionally given no study guide or practice exam. I spent less time studying for my discrete mathematics course and got a higher grade. The sad thing is, I highly doubt he'll even care about the low scores. Hopefully I'm wrong.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
03/13/2024

Just walked out of the exam. As the reviews mentioned, Hurtt decided to host the exam in-person for "reliable internet connection." If so, why did a lot of students struggle to connect to Eduroam? Good thing—the TAs prepared for this and had a few printed exams, HOWEVER, that was not enough to keep up with demand. They ran out and had to go print more. Some students took the exam on their phones. An absolute mess. The average for the first exam came out to be a grand total of 63% give or take, median was 64%. He reads right off his slides, so don't bother going to lecture and just read the textbook. Also, memorize every small detail because it might be on your exam. Based on the grade data, around 50% of students got an A-/A in previous semesters, which is respectable. This semester is a different story. This class should not have been changed.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
03/13/2024

DO NOT TAKE!! Test questions look like they were pulled straight from a 400 level class. Questions are on complete minusha. Hurtt is a terrible lecturer and has no idea what's happening in his own class. We didn't know whether the exam was in-person until two days before the exam, as he said it's "strongly recommended" to take it in person, and then decided that somehow meant required. The head TA Robyn is extremely demeaning to both students and the other TAs.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/13/2024

Quite shocked to find that his rating was so low. Hurtt mainly keeps lecture to reviewing material in the textbook with some current events. Attending lecture isn't at all mandatory and if you read the textbook, you should be fine. Pretty easy gen ed class but still very interesting. Kinda like having a slightly harder 8th grade Earth sciences class. Lectures are super laid back for those who chose to attend, and he clearly cares about what he's teaching. To the people who said this class was difficult or harder than expected, consider dropping out. Homework graded for completion literally makes up 25% of your grade. The final project is only 5 pages long. And to the person who said he changed the format of the lecture last minute, no he did not. You just weren't paying attention as the test was always going to be in person / hybrid with exception given if you had a schedule conflict. If you are looking for an easy but engaging Gen-ed, I would recommend this professor's course.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
03/12/2024

This professor absolutely sucks do not take him. Lectures are extremely boring and class is made harder than it should be. Took for Easy gen ed and ended up being super hard.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting a W
Anonymous
03/12/2024

Class is simply a joke. Horrible instruction and awful TA's. Took as an easy gen ed but is becoming stressful and a waste of time. DO NOT RECOMMEND!

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Anonymous
03/10/2024

Class is boring, and not helpful at all.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/10/2024

Horrible professor. He changed the exam from remote online to in-person two weeks before the first midterm. The lectures are honestly extremely boring and do not help at all. Read the textbook and memorize all the minutiae cause you will probably be tested on those. Current events were good but only added to more work. Do not take this class with this professor. The course itself is easy but the professor made it so much harder.

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/31/2024

Lectures were pretty boring and 99% of the information could be found in the textbook. The worst though, were that the exams were on very tiny meaningless facts ("how many people died in Hurricane Katrina), and the answers were specifically from the textbook. So while studying you couldn't google "How many people died in Hurricane Katrina" because actual estimates vary a lot and you need the specific and likely inaccurate answer from the textbook. It made the class weirdly difficult, because not everyone can memorize every associated fact with every natural disaster, especially very arbitrary numbers like that. Also, I went to talk to this professor in person and he was incredibly rude and condescending--there was a miscommunication early in the conversation and whenever I tried to clear it up he would just get angrier at me and imply I was stupid for miscommunicating in the first place.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2023

Professor Yearwood is quite the entertainer and his lectures were enjoyable. Unfortunately, he is not the greatest when it comes to exam prep. He will tell you during lectures what will be on the exam, which is nice. However, when the time comes, some of the questions are confusing with similar answers or there is a question about something he never taught, but they're still manageable enough to earn a passing grade. The nice thing is he never gives a heavy workload, so there's never a big reason to stress over his class. I would recommend taking his class as an easy I-series, just be aware of the exam content.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
menoce69
12/11/2023

Greatest professor ever! I love this man so much. He is a very nice professor. He makes very funny jokes. He is deeply in love with Daryll J. Pines, he wanted us to kiss Pines for him. Even if only 10 people show up to lecture, he tries to entertain them to the end. He made jokes all throughout the semester, even on the very last day. His teaching is kinda mid and boring tho. His tests are really easy, just make sure to memorize the slideshow/test review, and you will pass.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/29/2023

Professor Yearwood was entertaining and a simple class. There are a few graded assignments usually just simple questions based on a video. He posts what will be on the exams, there are three that are not cumulative and count as midterm/final. Plus he doesn't have class on Fridays, despite the course saying MWF. I suggest this course if looking for an easy gened!

George Hurtt
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2023

Hurtt is a pretty nice guy and not a bad lecturer. The content is quite interesting and he incorporates current, relevant natural disasters into the curriculum. Lectures are not mandatory, and most information can be gleaned from the online E-Book and slideshows, which are posted on ELMS. Class is 25% online homework, which is automatically full points if you just do it - you don't lose points for wrong answers, and it ended up amounting to <20 minutes per week. 25% each for a midterm and the final exam, which were 40-something multiple choice question ELMS quizzes. He gave the option to take them remotely, which was cool of him, and the exams themselves felt perfectly fair (B average). Last 25% is two parts: a 1 page summary assignment about a natural disaster and a 5 page paper elaborating on the summary that were both graded very kindly (median grades were 20 out of 20 and 88 out of 90). A lot of people stopped coming to lectures because you can honestly skip most of them and get an A, so he offered extra credit assignments for people who attended, which was sweet. Overall, solid gen-ed if you want a good grade without a lot of effort, but the class is really quite fascinating if you do.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/09/2023

This professor is a great guy, he's funny and cares for students. This is probably the only gen-ed I genuinely enjoyed. I strongly encourage anyone looking for an easy/ enjoyable class to take this one.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2023

The professor is entertaining and tries to make jokes during the lectures and makes classes interesting. One thing he did that students should be aware of is a lot of the time he directly tells students what is on the tests. He also is repetitive on important information. Overall the tests are also pretty easy as well but there are only a few grades total.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/08/2023

Interesting lectures, but all slides and necessary materials are uploaded to elms along with study guides for each of the exams so as long as you study the exact information you need to know from the guides for the tests it is super easy to get an A without much effort and is not a big deal if you miss lectures. your entire grade is 3 tests and a project that are each 25% of your grade, but they are all pretty simple so apart from being a little bit stressful they are only a little bit stressful because they're easy.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2022

Funny and cares about his students. As long as you study using the study guide he gives you and do the one project exactly as he tells you to, it is almost impossible not to get an A. you do not have to attend his lectures but it helps and he is a good lecturer. Even gave everyone an extra 0.7 points at the end for no reason.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2022

Dr. Yearwood is one of the most engaging lecturers I’ve ever had. Despite what some people may say, I would highly recommend going to class because he’s really funny and tells you exactly what you need to know for the exams. I also appreciated that there was no homework except for a single project. Overall I’d definitely recommend his class; any negative reviews on here are from the rough patch when classes went virtual.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
jackmanch
12/13/2022

Insanely easy class. Do not need to show up, just do the exam review. Also a fun lecturer who is funny

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2022

Pretty fun and probably the easiest class I've taken. There are 3 exams (including the non-cumulative final), and he sends out a study guide stating exactly what's on the exam. The exams don't cover that much content, and he tells you in class what you need to write down and what you should just listen to. I found the content interesting plus Yearwood is funny and entertaining, and we'd get let out of lecture early pretty consistently. Some lectures we'd just watch a documentary. There is no homework in the class besides a pretty easy project that took a few hours to complete, and a couple required documentary viewings (only like 3 or 4). Each exam is 25% of our grade plus 25% for the project. Even if you struggle with exams/memorization you'll probably still be fine, the study guides are super detailed and there's not a ton of content on each exam. Fun class, easy I-Series/gened.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/31/2022

To be honest, I think this wasn't too bad of a class compared to what others have been saying. There is no homework, exams are worth 75%, and there is no final cumulative exam. He also did boost everyone's grade by around 3% which I did appreciate. I would say that it is pretty easy to attain an A in this class without attending a single lecture. However, there are a couple of caveats. He will post an exam review for the topics and sample questions that he may ask so you need to go through each of those. It is also important to take notes through every slide packet he puts on the elms website, and lastly, if he tells you to watch a video and answer some questions make sure to watch the documentaries and answer the questions because they will 100% be on the exam. Those questions are super free, so don't miss the opportunity, and the documentaries (3 required this semester) range from 30-90 minutes. Another problem with the exams is that there may be questions that may not be covered on the slide packets and exam review, so this is where it's helpful to go to lecture as he draws diagrams or specifically says things that may show up on the exams. These questions only make up about 10% of the exam though, and if you are solid at MC exams, then you don't have to worry about this. Yearwood lets us go early sometimes and is a chill professor at the end of the day.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2022

This class is an easy class. If you are good at memorization, then this class should be a breeze. If you are not good at memorization, I would not take this class. Exams and discussions are all weighted 25% which I really hate. He gives out study guide questions that we should know before taking the exam. We had three in class presentations in our discussions that we had to present. They were really easy. I also had a good TA. I heard discussions are getting removed in this class, but I am not too sure about that. Our class average is around a (83-84). The professor also curved our grade. Also, his exam questions were not coherent. Lecture can get very boring at times, but he knows how to make jokes. I honestly skipped class a lot since this class isn't a priority for me and I still did well. He doesn't give homework.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/05/2022

Great teacher kept his discussions interesting and was funny. Geog140 is a very easy class if you show up to class or put a little bit of effort in before the exams. Almost all of the hate he gets is from when he was teaching online so if you have him in person he's great.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/11/2022

Don't take this class with Dr. Yearwood. I took this class for an easy A and it is nothing like that because the exams are hard and annoying and they make up 75% your grade. He claims to be straightforward and not trick you on the exam, but then puts random information you haven't learned on it which makes it difficult. I regret taking this class. The exams are no notes, in person, and contain information that we just didn't go over. His exams are also horribly designed; he loves to make every option choice extremely similar and uses a lot of all of the above. His exams are tricky and if you don't put down exactly the answer he wants then you are wrong. His lectures are useless because he goes off on random tangents all the time and his slides most of the time are either pictures or lots of words. You definitely can pass this class, but it is just annoying and if you can avoid then please do in my opinion.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/25/2022

Dr. Yearwood was my favorite professor last semester. He knew his lecture could get boring at times so he often made hilarious remarks to keep us engaged. The curriculum was not difficult and he told us the questions he was going to ask on the all multiple choice exams. He assigned 0 hw and only gave us 3 non-cumulative exams throughout the entire semester. If you study what he tells you will be on the test you should get an A/A+

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/22/2022

I took this class because of Reddit but I'm pretty sure there are easier classes you could take for GenEds. Dr. Yearwood's lectures are pretty boring but he tries to make them funny by telling jokes or going on tangents. 3 EXAMS MAKE UP 75% OF YOUR GRADE and the other 25% is participation from attending discussion. If you are a terrible test taker, DO NOT take this class because if you don't do well on the exams, there aren't any other assignments to boost your grade. That being said, the exams aren't bad because they're all multiple choice and he gives you a very thorough list of what you need to know. If you memorize all the answers to the exam review and know most of the slides, you can definitely pass.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Anonymous
12/21/2021

I liked Dr. Yearwood. His lectures were a little boring, but he made them more entertaining by his random tangents he would sometimes go on. There was like 0 homework which was nice, and he tells you exactly what's gonna be on the test (all MC). Pretty easy class. I took it for my major, but it'd be a good gen ed credit too.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Anonymous
12/20/2021

Dr. Yearwood isnt a bad teacher, but he also isnt a good teacher. His lectures were funny and I liked that the class itself wasnt really stressful, since we had basically no assignments or work outside of class. Depending on the TA, you might have some work but still nothing too unmanageable. Of course that brings us to the exams. It's pretty ridiculous that 3 exams make up 75% of our grade, and the exams are so short that if you get like 3 or 4 questions wrong, you're already at a B. On top of that, the questions in the exam are horribly designed - you could pick an answer that is technically correct but he will mark you wrong because its not the EXACT definition he said in class. Its almost worse when he adds more questions to the exam though, because the more questions he adds, the more random and ambiguous and weird the questions become. I would recommend going to lecture and just waiting for him to tell you when to write things down because that's what you will need to study. Also thoroughly study the exam reviews because his exams are entirely based on those questions. Honestly, I wouldnt take this class again, but it wasnt the worst thing ever, at least not in person.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/21/2020

Do NOT take a class with this professor. Not sure about in-person classes with him, but online was an absolute nightmare. No matter how much studying you do, you won't get full points on exams. Then, students complained to him and he got angry and sent passive-aggressive announcements to us saying that none of us study or retain any info from the slides. (He also added that regardless of the pandemic, we all have to cope, so that felt like a "basically, get over it") We complained to department heads about his grading and stuff and they said it was taken care of... but did my grade change? no. I am in my 3rd year of college. I have had many iffy professors, but nothing like this guy. I wish him the best, but please do not take his class.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/04/2020

god awful. harsh grader, doesnt do any form of lecture just sends out slides. The gpa for this class is fat but this guy is just not the teacher you want.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting a P
Anonymous
09/26/2020

After the course went online, our exams went from simple multiple choice to essay responses. He graded them super harshly––if you didn't put exactly what he was looking for, you'd get like no points.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
09/13/2020

After the semester was moved online, the exams were changed to open response questions. A lot of students agreed that he graded the exams too strictly. He got angry with the class for writing detailed responses and sent out a passive-aggressive ELMS announcement.

Joshua Wayland
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/23/2020

I took his class over the summer session 2. All of the lessons were pre recorded and expectations were extremely clear. The quizzes and essays were very fair.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/19/2020

After the switch to online classes, the online exams are 4-5 short question open responses but he grades them super strictly. He shows absolutely no leniency.

Keith Yearwood
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/08/2020

great teacher to have

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/14/2010

Kearney's lectures are pointless to go to. He spent more than half the lecture talking about computer/technology complications. Discussion is a very easy part of the class with quizzes that you literally have to be retarded to fail. His tests are ALL multiple choice, but don't let that fool you. They are not that easy and his notes/ powerpoints contradict one another. Overall it was a minimal amount of work and I got a good grade because I studied. Don't buy the textbook, you don't use it.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/17/2009

If you don't have to take this class, don't. Professor Kearney is not a good professor; he is boring, unorganized, and always seems to have technology problems. No one really attends lecture and for good reason. You aren't going to learn much about the subject of Coastal Environments because his lectures mostly don't pertain to the subject. The discussion sections have no correlation to lectures, so it's hard to keep up with the material if you don't understand Professor Kearney's lectures, which you probably won't. You also have to read 100+ page articles for discussion quizzes, but the TAs usually give you the answers before the quiz so you don't really have to read. I could go on, but I think you get the idea if you're reading this. This class sucks, don't take it if you don't have to.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/10/2009

never take this class. it is awful. ARCH majors: I know this is an option to fill your science requirement, and I took this because it was the only one available at the time, but if you are in this situation, do yourself a favor, and put it off another semester in order to take one of the other course options. seriously, worst class ever: boring, useless, and difficult to do well in because exam questions are ridiculously worded and irrelevant to topics covered in class, not that you'd bother actually showing up to this class anyway.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2009

Terrible class. Kearney (The GEOG teacher) is a poor lecturer who tends to go on talking about nothing in particular. Posts slides with too much text to even try to write down, and doesn't even reference them in his incoherent ramblings. Worst part: A number of test questions aren't in any of the notes. He seems to think he taught things he never even mentioned. Nonetheless, still a manageable class. The Discussion section (worth 35% of your grade) is an absolute joke. You're given all the answers to the quizzes beforehand. No point in attending lectures, btw.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/04/2009

Kearndy is a horrible professor. Had to take the class as an option for architecture requirements thinking the class would be interesting. Test are pretty difficult and based mostly on his lectures which nobody goes to because they are incredibly boring. Has a very negative out look on the world and talks about how the world's going to flood one day, killing all of us. Spends at least 10 minutes at the beginning of every class attempting to fix computer problems (which are pretty simple problems). The class description said there was going to be a trip to Ocean City which never happened. Overall horrible class and if you can avoid kearney do so at all costs.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Anonymous
10/27/2008

I urge you not to take this class. I took it thinking it would be an easy A, but the man is so boring. He spent 20 minutes at the beginning of every class talking about how macs are better than pcs. I'm not sure if he stopped after the second week because I stopped going and withdrew. The class average for the first test was a 69 after the curve. The TA was completely unhelpful. Don't take this class.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/25/2008

He's an incredibly boring professor. Virtually no one will attend lectures, and with good reason. You won't learn much, just that everything will be flooded and we're going to lose a lot of money. He seems bitter and angry. The only redeeming quality is he posts everything online. I took this thinking it would be an interesting elective- it wasn't.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/20/2008

His lectures are boring and difficult to follow. Going to lecture is not mandatory but he occationally gives test questions. His exams are pretty fair but you never really know how well you are doing until the end of the class.

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2007

I would say that if you don't have to take this class for any of your requirements, then don't. The subject is interesting, and is unfortunately made uninteresting by this man. He assumes that the class already knows a lot about geography (or he doesn't care about what the class knows), so he fails to fully explain some of the more basic details of the material. He does not encourage questions, and his discussion sessions are conducted complete and apart from lecture, so there is little opportunity there to reinforce the material (and the T.A.'s are generally not coastal geography experts so they can't help much on the topic either).

Melissa Kearney
GEOG140

Anonymous
11/20/2007

This is a terrible class, with a terrible professor. He can't teach for beans -- you can't understand anything that he says or how it relates to the course. And after the really crappy lectures, he gives relatively hard exams. He really likes to go off on tangents and rants that have nothing to do with the class. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. If you're looking for a class on coastal environments, take something like the Chesapeake Bay class that's offered. It can't be worse, and I bet its better.

Reviews for GEOG140