INST155 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Hananya Cohen INST155 Anonymous 07/10/2024	Easy A I think mostly because of the TA. If you did the assignments and followed the instructions and at least tried to put some effort in, you'd get an A. The final was randomly dropped but no complaints there. Prof Cohen didn't really directly interact with us (not totally surprising, this was an asynch class) and the TA didn't either, but they did respond on time if we emailed them.
Hananya Cohen INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/13/2024	I thought this class was going to be about social media, but I was wrong. Every week, we had a discussion board post, a homework assignment, and a quiz. We were supposed to have a final project, but they decided not to do that. The TA graded the homework and discussion board posts and he was horrible (hopefully you have someone different). However, unlike the TA, the professor was super responsive to emails and provided clarification on confusing topics. The class wasn't difficult, but it did require reading some of the textbook to complete the weekly assignments. I found that some assignments were super straightforward and others were extremely confusing.
Hananya Cohen INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/01/2024	I took this course as a gen ed requirement and it was fully online, so it was a plus since I had a heavy course load with other classes. This was the easiest class I have ever taken. All you have to do is complete a discussion board, homework, and quiz. These were all due Friday and the quizzes were an easy A since they were directly copied from the textbook (tip: don't buy the textbook the whole pdf is online). Overall, if you need a SCIS gen ed/GPA boost this is the class for you. Easiest grade ever.
David Patrick INST155 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2024	So easy. He was also pretty good at responding to emails and gave two opportunities for extra credit too. Take the class, you won't regret.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/28/2023	Didn't watch a single lecture or read any of the readings. Got a 105% in the course.
David Patrick INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/03/2023	really easy online class. there's 4 assignments per week (1 chapter reading from the textbook, 1 homework assignment, 1 "quiz" which comes directly word for word from the textbook, and 1 discussion post). really easy and takes under an hour to get all the week's work done. no midterm or final. if you need an easy gen ed / grade booster i definitely recommend this class!
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2023	Would 100% recommend this class if you need to fill 2 gen-ed requirements. It was asynchronous and online. There were 15 total assignments (5 quizzes, 5 homework, 5 projects). All the assignments have word counts of 50 or less. You will get full credit if you follow the instructions under the assignments. He responded to emails quickly and clears up any questions you have on the course. I found the homework and project assignment prompts interesting even though they had nothing to do with the lectures. The lectures are boring but you do not need to watch them to do the homework and projects. The quizzes are hard if you do not watch the lectures but there is no time limit on the quizzes so you can look up the answers.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/17/2023	Course has little to do with actual social media. It's more about why social media is bad and information. But, there was only like 1 assignment every other week. All the homework and projects are very easy and will get 100%. The quizzes are hard and need to watch lectures for them.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/13/2023	I have learned next to nothing from this course. Fotouhi's lectures are unclear and say so much without actually saying anything. There were no assignments until after the course adjustment period, which is a huge red flag. The exams and quizzes are difficult since, again, the lectures are poorly organized and mostly unhelpful. However, there is very little time requirement for this class, which is helpful for those taking a heavy courseload. Overall, it is pretty easy, but unless it's required for your major, find a less mind-numbing online class.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting a W Anonymous 01/23/2023	lowkey this shit a cake walk.
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/13/2022	I only took this class because it was asynchronous. She posts lecture videos each week pertaining the textbooks which I paid for and of course never used- you do not need to watch them because the quizzes are often worth 1 point. She responded fairly quickly, but she could be friendlier. This is essentially a CODING class. My advisor told me this was a social media class .. we had one discussion post about social media. Gephi, the coding software, is the most glitchy thing ever that it made everything take 3x longer because you had to start over or download a new version. I would not recommend overall, so glad it is done.
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/15/2022	As a senior, I can say with confidence this was the easiest class I've ever taken. I'm shocked this is a 3-credit class. Minimal effort will get you an A. - Fully online and async; all assignments are open and able to be completed from day 1 (you could complete the entire class in a week if you had the time) - No need to watch the lectures; all assignments can be done from skimming through the slides - Assignments consisted of short quizzes (1-2 questions), discussion boards, a midterm paper (short/informal, super easy), and final paper (longer/informal, but still easy)
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/01/2022	Pretty easy class, definitely has gotten easier from previous semesters. Golbeck no longer makes you do that 10,000 likes assignment, and it's replaced with an 8 page paper. Pretty important to note that this isn't a fun little class about social media, it is a class that discusses networks and graphs, similar to stuff you would learn about nodes and edges in CMSC132. GEPHI is a bit annoying to work with but after a few assignments you get the hang of it and it becomes second nature a little bit. And of course, the class being entirely on ELMS is a huge plus for people who have otherwise busy schedules. There were about two assignments a week with a 1 week grace period with no penalty. I found this class really interesting and I think it's a great option if you're interested in graphs and networks.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/05/2022	This course was not at all what I expected. Additionally, the professor does not care about his students AT ALL and doesn't ever check emails. The class is a mix of a bunch of random things tbh. Find another elective. This one isn't as easy as it appears.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/20/2021	Class was not what was expected. His online lectures were very slow and you had to go in 2x speed to get to a reasonable pace. Nothing related to social media but instead how interactions are structured. Also seemed to give up towards the end of course where the curriculum shifted into various documentaries and discussion posts. Also grade weight is backloaded where there are two projects due within the last few weeks.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Anonymous 12/04/2021	DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!! This professor had the entire class fooled when he didn't post any assignments until AFTER the drop/add period. When he finally started to post assignments, the class was nothing like we thought it was. Do not expect this to be an easy gen ed requirement and I advise anyone considering to simply find something else. He goes off on tangents in his lectures and they're usually around an hour long. He talks so slow that 2x speed is barely normal speed. Not only that, but his quizzes and the material in the class is just too advanced for an 100 level class. This class was a waste of time, the quizzes are ambiguous and it barely scratches the surface of the actual course description.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 afriasia_adonia 12/01/2021	The professor was not accommodating to students' needs or schedules because all of the videos did not have closed captions or transcripts that would've made it easier for students to take notes from the videos and make them accessible for disabled students without having to request another ADS accommodation. The videos were also way too long and the professor didn't understand that his class wasn't the only one that students were taking and completing assignments for. When responding to student emails, he was rude and condescending and attempted to deflect, and wouldn't answer questions fully. The majority of the material in the latter portion of the course was mainly documentaries that were at least an hour long and the quizzes on the lectures were ambiguous and asked about details that weren't important to our learning. Uses lengthy explanations for seemingly simple concepts (a 15-page document for one project and a 20-minute video for another project) and takes way too long to get to an important point that we should be learning.
Babak Fotouhi INST155 Anonymous 11/21/2021	He doesn't even teach in the latter portion of the course, he just posts an hour plus documentaries for us to watch. The quizzes are ambiguous and the questions are about unimportant details in the documentaries. I originally took this class because of the fact that the course description sounds interesting, but I can not understand how a person could make a class about social media so boring and useless. This class is just a waste of time.
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting a P Anonymous 04/08/2021	Way too much work for a 100 level class. A lot of the assignments were unreasonable and took forever. Go with another Gen-Ed.
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2021	This class was unreasonably difficult for a 100 level Gen Ed class. Golbeck was almost never accessible through email, and when she was, she was needlessly rude. Gephi projects were very vague and confusing, with one 1500 word paper and also getting 10K interactions on social media for a full grade!! That is a ridiculous assignment for an instructor to give. Don't expect regrades from TAs either. Avoid if possible.
Jennifer Golbeck INST155 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/10/2020	If you read any reviews about this class that say "it's extremely difficult" or "Golbeck is not a good teacher", I strongly disagree. INST155 is certainly different than its description on Testudo, but it's not a difficult class. The basis of the class is around social network analysis and using a software named Gephi. If you are unsure about this class, look up Gephi and what it's about. I didn't love Gephi, but this class is still an easy A for someone who at least puts in some effort. There are about 5 "major" assignments that you are graded for in this class; I say "major" because most are only 10 points and super easy if you follow Golbeck's Youtube tutorials. You technically have weekly modules to complete which consists of one discussion board post, but the posts are only worth 1 grade point and they aren't due until the end of the semester. So, you could get them over with early or procrastinate and do them at the end of the semester. Be aware that you are committing to an online class! It might require some more self teaching and discipline than a normal class, but if you are okay with that then this class will be super easy. Golbeck is very understanding and offered so many extensions and extra credit. I was in a GroupMe for this class in which many (lazy) kids complained about this class being more work than a 100-level class, but I am a first year student and thought it was comparable to my other 100-level courses. If you are a good student and do your work, you will get an A in this class.

Hananya Cohen
INST155

Anonymous
07/10/2024

Easy A I think mostly because of the TA. If you did the assignments and followed the instructions and at least tried to put some effort in, you'd get an A. The final was randomly dropped but no complaints there. Prof Cohen didn't really directly interact with us (not totally surprising, this was an asynch class) and the TA didn't either, but they did respond on time if we emailed them.

Hananya Cohen
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/13/2024

I thought this class was going to be about social media, but I was wrong. Every week, we had a discussion board post, a homework assignment, and a quiz. We were supposed to have a final project, but they decided not to do that. The TA graded the homework and discussion board posts and he was horrible (hopefully you have someone different). However, unlike the TA, the professor was super responsive to emails and provided clarification on confusing topics. The class wasn't difficult, but it did require reading some of the textbook to complete the weekly assignments. I found that some assignments were super straightforward and others were extremely confusing.

Hananya Cohen
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/01/2024

I took this course as a gen ed requirement and it was fully online, so it was a plus since I had a heavy course load with other classes. This was the easiest class I have ever taken. All you have to do is complete a discussion board, homework, and quiz. These were all due Friday and the quizzes were an easy A since they were directly copied from the textbook (tip: don't buy the textbook the whole pdf is online). Overall, if you need a SCIS gen ed/GPA boost this is the class for you. Easiest grade ever.

David Patrick
INST155

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2024

So easy. He was also pretty good at responding to emails and gave two opportunities for extra credit too. Take the class, you won't regret.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/28/2023

Didn't watch a single lecture or read any of the readings. Got a 105% in the course.

David Patrick
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/03/2023

really easy online class. there's 4 assignments per week (1 chapter reading from the textbook, 1 homework assignment, 1 "quiz" which comes directly word for word from the textbook, and 1 discussion post). really easy and takes under an hour to get all the week's work done. no midterm or final. if you need an easy gen ed / grade booster i definitely recommend this class!

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2023

Would 100% recommend this class if you need to fill 2 gen-ed requirements. It was asynchronous and online. There were 15 total assignments (5 quizzes, 5 homework, 5 projects). All the assignments have word counts of 50 or less. You will get full credit if you follow the instructions under the assignments. He responded to emails quickly and clears up any questions you have on the course. I found the homework and project assignment prompts interesting even though they had nothing to do with the lectures. The lectures are boring but you do not need to watch them to do the homework and projects. The quizzes are hard if you do not watch the lectures but there is no time limit on the quizzes so you can look up the answers.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/17/2023

Course has little to do with actual social media. It's more about why social media is bad and information. But, there was only like 1 assignment every other week. All the homework and projects are very easy and will get 100%. The quizzes are hard and need to watch lectures for them.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/13/2023

I have learned next to nothing from this course. Fotouhi's lectures are unclear and say so much without actually saying anything. There were no assignments until after the course adjustment period, which is a huge red flag. The exams and quizzes are difficult since, again, the lectures are poorly organized and mostly unhelpful. However, there is very little time requirement for this class, which is helpful for those taking a heavy courseload. Overall, it is pretty easy, but unless it's required for your major, find a less mind-numbing online class.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting a W
Anonymous
01/23/2023

lowkey this shit a cake walk.

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/13/2022

I only took this class because it was asynchronous. She posts lecture videos each week pertaining the textbooks which I paid for and of course never used- you do not need to watch them because the quizzes are often worth 1 point. She responded fairly quickly, but she could be friendlier. This is essentially a CODING class. My advisor told me this was a social media class .. we had one discussion post about social media. Gephi, the coding software, is the most glitchy thing ever that it made everything take 3x longer because you had to start over or download a new version. I would not recommend overall, so glad it is done.

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/15/2022

As a senior, I can say with confidence this was the easiest class I've ever taken. I'm shocked this is a 3-credit class. Minimal effort will get you an A. - Fully online and async; all assignments are open and able to be completed from day 1 (you could complete the entire class in a week if you had the time) - No need to watch the lectures; all assignments can be done from skimming through the slides - Assignments consisted of short quizzes (1-2 questions), discussion boards, a midterm paper (short/informal, super easy), and final paper (longer/informal, but still easy)

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/01/2022

Pretty easy class, definitely has gotten easier from previous semesters. Golbeck no longer makes you do that 10,000 likes assignment, and it's replaced with an 8 page paper. Pretty important to note that this isn't a fun little class about social media, it is a class that discusses networks and graphs, similar to stuff you would learn about nodes and edges in CMSC132. GEPHI is a bit annoying to work with but after a few assignments you get the hang of it and it becomes second nature a little bit. And of course, the class being entirely on ELMS is a huge plus for people who have otherwise busy schedules. There were about two assignments a week with a 1 week grace period with no penalty. I found this class really interesting and I think it's a great option if you're interested in graphs and networks.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/05/2022

This course was not at all what I expected. Additionally, the professor does not care about his students AT ALL and doesn't ever check emails. The class is a mix of a bunch of random things tbh. Find another elective. This one isn't as easy as it appears.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/20/2021

Class was not what was expected. His online lectures were very slow and you had to go in 2x speed to get to a reasonable pace. Nothing related to social media but instead how interactions are structured. Also seemed to give up towards the end of course where the curriculum shifted into various documentaries and discussion posts. Also grade weight is backloaded where there are two projects due within the last few weeks.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Anonymous
12/04/2021

DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!! This professor had the entire class fooled when he didn't post any assignments until AFTER the drop/add period. When he finally started to post assignments, the class was nothing like we thought it was. Do not expect this to be an easy gen ed requirement and I advise anyone considering to simply find something else. He goes off on tangents in his lectures and they're usually around an hour long. He talks so slow that 2x speed is barely normal speed. Not only that, but his quizzes and the material in the class is just too advanced for an 100 level class. This class was a waste of time, the quizzes are ambiguous and it barely scratches the surface of the actual course description.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

afriasia_adonia
12/01/2021

The professor was not accommodating to students' needs or schedules because all of the videos did not have closed captions or transcripts that would've made it easier for students to take notes from the videos and make them accessible for disabled students without having to request another ADS accommodation. The videos were also way too long and the professor didn't understand that his class wasn't the only one that students were taking and completing assignments for. When responding to student emails, he was rude and condescending and attempted to deflect, and wouldn't answer questions fully. The majority of the material in the latter portion of the course was mainly documentaries that were at least an hour long and the quizzes on the lectures were ambiguous and asked about details that weren't important to our learning. Uses lengthy explanations for seemingly simple concepts (a 15-page document for one project and a 20-minute video for another project) and takes way too long to get to an important point that we should be learning.

Babak Fotouhi
INST155

Anonymous
11/21/2021

He doesn't even teach in the latter portion of the course, he just posts an hour plus documentaries for us to watch. The quizzes are ambiguous and the questions are about unimportant details in the documentaries. I originally took this class because of the fact that the course description sounds interesting, but I can not understand how a person could make a class about social media so boring and useless. This class is just a waste of time.

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting a P
Anonymous
04/08/2021

Way too much work for a 100 level class. A lot of the assignments were unreasonable and took forever. Go with another Gen-Ed.

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/05/2021

This class was unreasonably difficult for a 100 level Gen Ed class. Golbeck was almost never accessible through email, and when she was, she was needlessly rude. Gephi projects were very vague and confusing, with one 1500 word paper and also getting 10K interactions on social media for a full grade!! That is a ridiculous assignment for an instructor to give. Don't expect regrades from TAs either. Avoid if possible.

Jennifer Golbeck
INST155

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/10/2020

If you read any reviews about this class that say "it's extremely difficult" or "Golbeck is not a good teacher", I strongly disagree. INST155 is certainly different than its description on Testudo, but it's not a difficult class. The basis of the class is around social network analysis and using a software named Gephi. If you are unsure about this class, look up Gephi and what it's about. I didn't love Gephi, but this class is still an easy A for someone who at least puts in some effort. There are about 5 "major" assignments that you are graded for in this class; I say "major" because most are only 10 points and super easy if you follow Golbeck's Youtube tutorials. You technically have weekly modules to complete which consists of one discussion board post, but the posts are only worth 1 grade point and they aren't due until the end of the semester. So, you could get them over with early or procrastinate and do them at the end of the semester. Be aware that you are committing to an online class! It might require some more self teaching and discipline than a normal class, but if you are okay with that then this class will be super easy. Golbeck is very understanding and offered so many extensions and extra credit. I was in a GroupMe for this class in which many (lazy) kids complained about this class being more work than a 100-level class, but I am a first year student and thought it was comparable to my other 100-level courses. If you are a good student and do your work, you will get an A in this class.

Reviews for INST155