GEOG172 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/22/2024	I had a 102% going into the final exam yet the final is worth 35% of the class and he made it way harder than the other exams. Also we had 4 total assignments for the semester yet somehow it took months to grade each of them. The final exam was a scantron multiple choice yet it still took over a week for them to grade it. Overall, don’t take this class, I got points off on my assignments and they don’t even tell you why they took points. Lectures are more boring than watching paint dry and he thinks people actually care about geography and aren’t taking this for gen ed requirements.
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/15/2024	He is okay. He clearly only teaches so he can use the universities resources for his own projects. It is a large lecture class but nobody ever shows up so often it is like 10 students in a huge lecture hall. The TA is very nice but the grades go in SO late. There are only 3 discussion boards, 2 quizzes, 1 project, and 1 final for this entire course. That is very annoying because getting an okay grade drops you down significantly. I got a 20/24 on one quiz and it dropped me 8 whole points.
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Anonymous 05/15/2024	Doesn't teach during lecture
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Anonymous 07/15/2022	Professor never lectured... or when he did he just read straight from PPT. He had guest lecturers over Zoom who were really hard to understand. The final was horrific and even those with As were brought to a C. Do not recommend.
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/25/2022	This is a super easy class, just half-listen to the lectures and you'll easily get a c, if not a b or a. The professor doesn't really care about that class, he just teaches it so he can work with UMD for his own projects, but the TA's are nice and they all know A LOT of stuff. Overall, it's a good gen-ed to take.
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Anonymous 05/22/2022	Pros: - You will learn a lot in this class if you put the smallest bit of effort into it. - The professor is a good guy, and he seems to want students to succeed and grasp the material. Pros or cons depending on your preferences: - There are a LOT of guest lecturers, some are amazing some are not. - The exams have massive curves (15-20%+ curves). - When lecturing, the professor talks like he’s speaking to colleagues instead of undergrads. It’s extremely overwhelming at first, but when you start to understand the vocabulary you’ll learn a lot more because of it. Cons: - The professor doesn’t respond to emails consistently, and he doesn’t meet with students without going through a long difficult scheduling process. - You are graded on very few things with the final exam being 35% of your grade. - Grading policies can be unclear, and that can cause a lot of stress.
Matthew Hansen GEOG172 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/17/2022	If you want an easy A this is it. There was 3 very easy discussion posts, 2 quizzes, a project and a final. All very easy. I never had to worry about this class at all. Quizzes were curved like crazy. I think I got a 60% on one and it became a 100%. Dr. Hansen is a nice guy and clearly likes the material but is not a good teacher and you can tell he doesn't want to even be teaching the class. That being said, he doesn't want anyone to fail just wants to share some stuff about satellites.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/22/2024

I had a 102% going into the final exam yet the final is worth 35% of the class and he made it way harder than the other exams. Also we had 4 total assignments for the semester yet somehow it took months to grade each of them. The final exam was a scantron multiple choice yet it still took over a week for them to grade it. Overall, don’t take this class, I got points off on my assignments and they don’t even tell you why they took points. Lectures are more boring than watching paint dry and he thinks people actually care about geography and aren’t taking this for gen ed requirements.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/15/2024

He is okay. He clearly only teaches so he can use the universities resources for his own projects. It is a large lecture class but nobody ever shows up so often it is like 10 students in a huge lecture hall. The TA is very nice but the grades go in SO late. There are only 3 discussion boards, 2 quizzes, 1 project, and 1 final for this entire course. That is very annoying because getting an okay grade drops you down significantly. I got a 20/24 on one quiz and it dropped me 8 whole points.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Anonymous
05/15/2024

Doesn't teach during lecture

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Anonymous
07/15/2022

Professor never lectured... or when he did he just read straight from PPT. He had guest lecturers over Zoom who were really hard to understand. The final was horrific and even those with As were brought to a C. Do not recommend.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/25/2022

This is a super easy class, just half-listen to the lectures and you'll easily get a c, if not a b or a. The professor doesn't really care about that class, he just teaches it so he can work with UMD for his own projects, but the TA's are nice and they all know A LOT of stuff. Overall, it's a good gen-ed to take.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Anonymous
05/22/2022

Pros: - You will learn a lot in this class if you put the smallest bit of effort into it. - The professor is a good guy, and he seems to want students to succeed and grasp the material. Pros or cons depending on your preferences: - There are a LOT of guest lecturers, some are amazing some are not. - The exams have massive curves (15-20%+ curves). - When lecturing, the professor talks like he’s speaking to colleagues instead of undergrads. It’s extremely overwhelming at first, but when you start to understand the vocabulary you’ll learn a lot more because of it. Cons: - The professor doesn’t respond to emails consistently, and he doesn’t meet with students without going through a long difficult scheduling process. - You are graded on very few things with the final exam being 35% of your grade. - Grading policies can be unclear, and that can cause a lot of stress.

Matthew Hansen
GEOG172

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/17/2022

If you want an easy A this is it. There was 3 very easy discussion posts, 2 quizzes, a project and a final. All very easy. I never had to worry about this class at all. Quizzes were curved like crazy. I think I got a 60% on one and it became a 100%. Dr. Hansen is a nice guy and clearly likes the material but is not a good teacher and you can tell he doesn't want to even be teaching the class. That being said, he doesn't want anyone to fail just wants to share some stuff about satellites.

Reviews for GEOG172