HLTH130 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/31/2012	Ended up with an A- and yes she does go on tangents a lot but I just wrote down everything she was saying in class. You can get an A, it is doable! Just make sure you know everything on her study guides. I read the book and the assigned readings on blackboard the night before the exam. I went to every class and printed out the slides before hand to take notes on.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting a B+ Chidi2015 06/05/2012	Dr. Howard is a really nice teacher who cares about her students. However, I found the class to be extremely boring. She posts all of her slides online and gives her students great study guides. If you do the study guides, go over the slides extensively, and do the readings you can pull off an A in this class.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2011	She is pretty dry and boring. she posts everything online so you dont need to go to class, BUT sometimes she will hint at specific things during class that will show up on the exam (and they always did). pretty much 4 exams, which were only 33-40 MC questions. this is one of those classes where its easy to get a B, but hard to get an A if you get just a few questions wrong.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Anonymous 12/16/2011	yikes. she's very off the wall. Her exams are a pain, and even worst are her lectures. You really have to focus and following along with every word she is saying in order to do well. you're grade is only based off of 4, 30 question exams (no curves). would have definitely avoided if it were possible.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting an A yumyumshisha 12/02/2011	Dr. Howard is great. She's pretty funny and smart.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Emily Menase 11/17/2011	She's a very knowledgable professor and is enthusiastic about the material she's teaching, but the class can feel VERY long since it is straight powerpoint. A lot of times the material is actually interesting, and the book we had to use (Intro to Public Health) was very easy to understand. As a KNES major taking this as an elective, however, I wish I picked a different class. Though the information is interesting, her ONLY grades are the 3 exams, with no curves. That would be my only complaint. Make sure you study the power points VERY well and attend class, because she says some things in class that are important, and pulls many questions right off the powerpoint.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/14/2011	This class is SO boring. I dread going to it every tuesday and thursday. That being said, if you put in any work at all its super easy.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting an A- tcsawyer 12/26/2010	Professor Howard is an awesome professor. When I came to UMD I pretty much knew where I wanted to be in the field. Her teaching has really broadened my thinking and now I don't know where I want to be. There are so many options. Her exams are not difficult if you take the time to study and ask questions if there are things you do not understand. Also, our class was fortunate to have Toni as a TA...omg she is great!!! Both Prof. Howard and Toni were on one accord regarding everyone getting the most out of HLTH130. They did everything within their power for the students to succeed.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2010	Great Teacher and Great TA (Toni) they are extremely nice and will go out of their way to help you. Tests are all about the lecture slides and they seem to mostly consist of "All of these EXCEPT" type questions. My only complaint is its kinda hard to get an A but its very easy to get a B.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/13/2010	Dr. Howard is certainly passionate about her field. She always puts 100% into her lectures, although I did find myself sometimes drifting because she'd go into so much detail on certain things. That said, she's a very nice professor and poses a lot of questions to the class which I like. In fact it's very nice, since there's no discussion section for the class. The exams aren't too bad, although they're really all about memorization. If you're great at memorizing then you'll do very well. If your strength lies in analyzing and the like, then you might find them a little harder. Overall you definitely get what you put into it. Do the readings and go to lecture and you'll definitely get a B and probably an A.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Anonymous 11/18/2010	Professor Howard is an awesome professor in my opinion. She knows what shes talking about. I know the lectures may be boring to those who dont care about this stuff but I found it really interesting. Shes one of the nicest professors I've met and she just loves her job which makes her a good professor. The exams are fairly straightforward if you put the effort into it.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting an A DN12 06/06/2010	I have a completely opposite view of Dr. Howard than Anonymous below. Dr. Howard is a great teacher. Her material is interesting... you can tell she really loves what she does and has a genuine interest in how society's structure affects the health outcomes of the community. The course was very discussion-based which I loved, because students got to share all of their different ideas and beliefs, and we could bring those discussions together to see the bigger picture of public health. The courseload is not difficult at all, just 3 MC exams and one cumulative MC final. She doesn't try to trick you, and you won't run into any problems if you just read the exam questions and answers thoroughly before answering. I got As on all of the exams and the final (took me 12 minutes to complete)... no tricks, no help. Study about two days before the exam and you'll be fine. I suggest printing out the lecture slides before class and taking notes on them as she talks, because while most of the exam is on what's found in lecture slides, some answers are derived from class discussion and comments made by Dr. Howard. Overall, Dr. Howard is very nice and open to any questions or concerns about the course material, and she loves when people visit her office to talk about public health. She wants to engage everyone, which I think is an awesome quality for a professor.
Donna Howard HLTH130 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/24/2010	Dr. Howard kinda sucks to have as a professor, but you don't really have a choice since she's the only one that teaches hlth130. She doesn't curve at all, and so our second exam had a C average and she still refused to curve. Luckily the printer people failed to print the right number exams for our third exam so she made it take home, but if she hadn't made it take home I think I would have gotten a C in the class, I got a C on the final even though I studied hard. The only advice is to go to lecture and not goof off on your laptop because her powerpoint notes suck so you actually have to pay attention to what she says. Also read the exam questions carefully, she has an obnoxious habit of asking EXCEPT or THE BEST ANSWER type questions.
Sharon Desmond HLTH130 Expecting an A rbterp 03/08/2009	This course is pretty easy. Dr. Desmond posts the slides (usually, so just take general notes too), but only after class. She is sometimes unclear as to what she wants you to memorize, so I would read the assigned chapters before the exam and make sure you can answer all of the questions on the study guide.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/31/2012

Ended up with an A- and yes she does go on tangents a lot but I just wrote down everything she was saying in class. You can get an A, it is doable! Just make sure you know everything on her study guides. I read the book and the assigned readings on blackboard the night before the exam. I went to every class and printed out the slides before hand to take notes on.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting a B+
Chidi2015
06/05/2012

Dr. Howard is a really nice teacher who cares about her students. However, I found the class to be extremely boring. She posts all of her slides online and gives her students great study guides. If you do the study guides, go over the slides extensively, and do the readings you can pull off an A in this class.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2011

She is pretty dry and boring. she posts everything online so you dont need to go to class, BUT sometimes she will hint at specific things during class that will show up on the exam (and they always did). pretty much 4 exams, which were only 33-40 MC questions. this is one of those classes where its easy to get a B, but hard to get an A if you get just a few questions wrong.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Anonymous
12/16/2011

yikes. she's very off the wall. Her exams are a pain, and even worst are her lectures. You really have to focus and following along with every word she is saying in order to do well. you're grade is only based off of 4, 30 question exams (no curves). would have definitely avoided if it were possible.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting an A
yumyumshisha
12/02/2011

Dr. Howard is great. She's pretty funny and smart.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Emily Menase
11/17/2011

She's a very knowledgable professor and is enthusiastic about the material she's teaching, but the class can feel VERY long since it is straight powerpoint. A lot of times the material is actually interesting, and the book we had to use (Intro to Public Health) was very easy to understand. As a KNES major taking this as an elective, however, I wish I picked a different class. Though the information is interesting, her ONLY grades are the 3 exams, with no curves. That would be my only complaint. Make sure you study the power points VERY well and attend class, because she says some things in class that are important, and pulls many questions right off the powerpoint.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/14/2011

This class is SO boring. I dread going to it every tuesday and thursday. That being said, if you put in any work at all its super easy.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting an A-
tcsawyer
12/26/2010

Professor Howard is an awesome professor. When I came to UMD I pretty much knew where I wanted to be in the field. Her teaching has really broadened my thinking and now I don't know where I want to be. There are so many options. Her exams are not difficult if you take the time to study and ask questions if there are things you do not understand. Also, our class was fortunate to have Toni as a TA...omg she is great!!! Both Prof. Howard and Toni were on one accord regarding everyone getting the most out of HLTH130. They did everything within their power for the students to succeed.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/15/2010

Great Teacher and Great TA (Toni) they are extremely nice and will go out of their way to help you. Tests are all about the lecture slides and they seem to mostly consist of "All of these EXCEPT" type questions. My only complaint is its kinda hard to get an A but its very easy to get a B.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/13/2010

Dr. Howard is certainly passionate about her field. She always puts 100% into her lectures, although I did find myself sometimes drifting because she'd go into so much detail on certain things. That said, she's a very nice professor and poses a lot of questions to the class which I like. In fact it's very nice, since there's no discussion section for the class. The exams aren't too bad, although they're really all about memorization. If you're great at memorizing then you'll do very well. If your strength lies in analyzing and the like, then you might find them a little harder. Overall you definitely get what you put into it. Do the readings and go to lecture and you'll definitely get a B and probably an A.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Anonymous
11/18/2010

Professor Howard is an awesome professor in my opinion. She knows what shes talking about. I know the lectures may be boring to those who dont care about this stuff but I found it really interesting. Shes one of the nicest professors I've met and she just loves her job which makes her a good professor. The exams are fairly straightforward if you put the effort into it.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting an A
DN12
06/06/2010

I have a completely opposite view of Dr. Howard than Anonymous below. Dr. Howard is a great teacher. Her material is interesting... you can tell she really loves what she does and has a genuine interest in how society's structure affects the health outcomes of the community. The course was very discussion-based which I loved, because students got to share all of their different ideas and beliefs, and we could bring those discussions together to see the bigger picture of public health. The courseload is not difficult at all, just 3 MC exams and one cumulative MC final. She doesn't try to trick you, and you won't run into any problems if you just read the exam questions and answers thoroughly before answering. I got As on all of the exams and the final (took me 12 minutes to complete)... no tricks, no help. Study about two days before the exam and you'll be fine. I suggest printing out the lecture slides before class and taking notes on them as she talks, because while most of the exam is on what's found in lecture slides, some answers are derived from class discussion and comments made by Dr. Howard. Overall, Dr. Howard is very nice and open to any questions or concerns about the course material, and she loves when people visit her office to talk about public health. She wants to engage everyone, which I think is an awesome quality for a professor.

Donna Howard
HLTH130

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/24/2010

Dr. Howard kinda sucks to have as a professor, but you don't really have a choice since she's the only one that teaches hlth130. She doesn't curve at all, and so our second exam had a C average and she still refused to curve. Luckily the printer people failed to print the right number exams for our third exam so she made it take home, but if she hadn't made it take home I think I would have gotten a C in the class, I got a C on the final even though I studied hard. The only advice is to go to lecture and not goof off on your laptop because her powerpoint notes suck so you actually have to pay attention to what she says. Also read the exam questions carefully, she has an obnoxious habit of asking EXCEPT or THE BEST ANSWER type questions.

Sharon Desmond
HLTH130

Expecting an A
rbterp
03/08/2009

This course is pretty easy. Dr. Desmond posts the slides (usually, so just take general notes too), but only after class. She is sometimes unclear as to what she wants you to memorize, so I would read the assigned chapters before the exam and make sure you can answer all of the questions on the study guide.

Reviews for HLTH130