INST204 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Kriti Singh INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2025	Super nice and friendly TA for this class.
Nathan Beard INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2025	Spring 2025 was his first semester teaching but I thought he did a really great job! He's nice, cares a lot about the class topics, and was helpful with our larger assignments. For the major assignments in the class (except the first one), you work in a group, so make sure you get with a good group that will carry their weight. Easy A for sure
Nathan Beard INST204 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/10/2025	He's nice and all, but this class was so tedious at times. I hate to say it, but coming to class felt like a waste of time. There weren't really "lectures" or slides that he'd post to follow, it was really just listening to him talk before having us do some sort of group work for the last 15 minutes of class. There was always a warm up or exit ticket for participation credit. I felt particularly annoyed with the ambiguity of the writing assignments; he had us meet with him outside of class (since all of class time has to be dedicated to his lectures), only to score so harshly even if after approving of our drafts and ideas. It just felt so difficult to put in so much effort for the lengthy readings, audit assignments, and quizzes, only to not really feel like you're not learning anything or improving your grade. I really did wish I enjoyed this class, as the topics seemed really interesting, so I'm disappointed to not have liked going to lectures at all. A lot of it felt like busy work, including the lectures itself, and there was really no way of getting a good grade for the writing assignments unless you got lucky.
Nathan Beard INST204 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/09/2025	Nathan is a really cool guy, he comes off really nice and honestly seems like a cool person to be friends with. However, this seems to be one of his first semesters teaching the class and it is oddly heavier then it needs to be. Weekly readings and quizzes that are not very needed + a multiple meetings with him or the TA for group projects etc. that are not as in depth as I would have wanted. I thought the topics in class were super interesting, him and his TA were super nice people, but the class just had a lot of busy work that weighed it down a bit.
Nathan Beard INST204 Anonymous 05/08/2025	I think he is alright. Classes are so boring, and attendance is graded. This class has way too much groupwork, literally every single class there was groupwork. I am fine working with people but every single class was just too much. We have 4 skip days, use them before the final project, because you probably want to come to the last few classes anyway to work with your group. There are quizzes every week that are about the readings for the week. I never read the articles and just used chatgpt for the quizzes. He also does not release the quiz grades in a timely manner. He would release the grades weeks after, and it's not like he has to grade them, it is automatically graded for him and the score is just hidden. I think his lectures were pretty boring as well. Whenever someone asked a question, he didn't answer it directly. For bigger projects, we have to meet with him and talk about it, so I wrote out some of it so he can read it in the meeting, but he refused to read it, like isn't that the point of the meeting? I was trying to ask him to read it and see what I can improve on before I write even more. His grading is annoying as well. The first writing assignment prompt was a what-if question, so I answered "if this happened, this would happen, and if this happened, this would happen," and I got 79% on the assignment. Even on the other bigger writing assignments, me and my partner followed the rubric exactly, but he still took points off. I think he will refuse to give anyone 100% on a writing assignment, even if someone earned it. One funny thing, this guy is the embodiment of a millennial, I don't think I've ever met more of a millennial than this guy. I would not take the class again, but I am expecting either an A- or an A, unless my group completely bombs on the final project.
Nathan Beard INST204 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/08/2025	To be honest, Nathan as a professor is a cool guy, but bless his heart because this class felt like a gigantic waste of time, and he didn't do a good job at alleviating that feeling. There was an egregious number of readings, yet he didn't even read them himself. You couldn't skip class which makes total sense, but the participation was overwhelming. The TA graded super hard too.
Nathan Beard INST204 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/07/2025	Repetitive unnecessary work. Incredibly slow grading. Doesn't explain rubrics clearly and very arbitrary grading. Beware only 1 attempt on quizzes that are worth a lot of your grade. Drags class even when he has nothing to say. Tons of assigned readings even though he admitted to not reading them himself. Please brace for impact before taking this class. Make sure to never skip class, multiple participation activities live every single time all throughout class. And if you have to ask something to him, he'll just dodge the question and not give a clear answer. Overall very confusing and difficult experience would not recommend.
Jieun Yeon INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/24/2025	This class is really easy, with one big group project throughout the lifetime of the class. Attendance is very important in this class, as the professor is very strict on people showing up to class. There are exit tickets in every lecture and discussion, and if you happen to skip a day where she's taking attendance, but you submit the exit ticket, she will report you to the school. It's genuinely really easy of a class, but just make sure that you actually show up to do the exit tickets. Also, really weird that all the assignments are with only 0.5-2 points (0.5 points for every exit ticket, and the quizzes are 2 points, with the big assignments being up to 9 points). Lots of extra credit opportunity though.
Wayne Lutters INST204 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2024	Professor Lutters is genuinely a great person. He always came to class with a smile, which honestly made me feel a little guilty for not finding the content interesting. The class itself was pretty boring for me, but I could tell he was really trying to make it engaging. That said, it was super easy and not stressful at all. There was only one required exam, which had an average in the 90s and included basic questions like stuff from the syllabus. The second exam was optional for those who decided to do a project instead. He also gave helpful feedback, answered questions thoroughly, and clearly wanted everyone to succeed. Attendance counted for about 75% of the classes, so you could miss a few and still get a 100%, which was nice. I will say that a lot of people seemed to find the class interesting, so maybe the boringness was just a me problem. If you’re looking for an easy, low-stress class with a kind and supportive professor, I’d definitely recommend this one!
Wayne Lutters INST204 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2024	He's an amazing caring professor and makes his lectures very engaging. Classwork is easy and interesting. I honestly did not do most of the readings for this class and skipped a couple lectures and still got a good grade and full points on all the reading quizzes. You'll get a good grade on the audits and final project if you put effort into it. The exams are also very fair and short. Overall, really enjoyable class and great professor. I'd highly recommend him for INST204 and recommend the course in general.
Daniel Greene INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/31/2024	Super chill professor and pretty straightforward class. There's a couple weekly readings and then two big group projects. Dr. Greene is friendly, willing to talk and help students on their projects despite the class being huge. The TAs were also wonderful and helpful. This class focuses on automated systems and biases present in these systems (think AI and discrimination). If this is something you want to learn about, definitely take it with Dr. Greene!
Wayne Lutters INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/04/2023	Amazing professor, couldn't recommend him more. He's very caring and enthusiastic about the information. Each class included simple yet engaging group work that counted as your attendance grade. A lot of easy reading quizzes and two group projects that he is very helpful with. Favorite professor I've had to date. Easy and interesting gen ed class. It's a no brainer!
Daniel Greene INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/22/2023	Very very passionate about his craft! It is really inspiring!
Daniel Greene INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2022	Professor Greene is an outstanding and caring teacher. He has made this class fun, and I honestly took this course to fulfill a gen-ed requirement but also because I thought it would be interesting. I would have never thought to actually enjoy this class a lot. The course consists of readings every week (some of them are long, but if you learn how to skim you will be fine), two major assignments (I think), warm ups, easy weekly quizzes about the readings, and a final project (this was so fun to do and it was low-stress). The grading was a little harsh, but if you check in with TAs or professor Greene and put in the effort into your work, you will end up with an A. He is engaging with the class and makes the class very interactive with what we learn about. I enjoy taking INST204 with him this semester as I have learned a lot of cool things and even made hopefully long-lasting friends in his class. The TA's were super chill and nice too. Overall, I found this class to be low-stress (as it was intended to be that way) and fun. If you ever take this class, take it with professor Greene if possible! :)
Daniel Greene INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/21/2022	I had a great time in Professor Greene's class. We were assigned readings twice a week, and on the day of class, we'd review the readings, as well as discuss them for our warmups. On a week-to-week basis, we'd then be given quizzes on said readings. I think that with this fact alone, there's no reason for one to fail this class unless they don't try. Professor Greene uses a points system, so there isn't any rounding of percentages at the end of the semester — the grading is transparent, understandable, and clearly outlined in the syllabus. Aside from such, class activities were fun and interactive — something I enjoyed the most. One day we're playing a game to test our morality, and the other day we're investigating real-life events of how algorithmic biases have caused distrust in self-driving vehicles. And the enthusiasm from Professor Greene made me love the course even more. You can tell he loves teaching, and he's also understanding of his student's unexpected circumstances. He allows a set amount of absences, drops three quizzes, and grades fairly. Also, he's also a great professor to converse with!
Daniel Greene INST204 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	Really easy class. 3 major assignments, 2 of them being written. Prof grades sorta harshly. The weekly quizzes are based on readings you don't really need to do, just ctrl f. The lowest 3 quizzes get dropped. You're graded on attendance which sucks but you get a few freebie days

Kriti Singh
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/25/2025

Super nice and friendly TA for this class.

Nathan Beard
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2025

Spring 2025 was his first semester teaching but I thought he did a really great job! He's nice, cares a lot about the class topics, and was helpful with our larger assignments. For the major assignments in the class (except the first one), you work in a group, so make sure you get with a good group that will carry their weight. Easy A for sure

Nathan Beard
INST204

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/10/2025

He's nice and all, but this class was so tedious at times. I hate to say it, but coming to class felt like a waste of time. There weren't really "lectures" or slides that he'd post to follow, it was really just listening to him talk before having us do some sort of group work for the last 15 minutes of class. There was always a warm up or exit ticket for participation credit. I felt particularly annoyed with the ambiguity of the writing assignments; he had us meet with him outside of class (since all of class time has to be dedicated to his lectures), only to score so harshly even if after approving of our drafts and ideas. It just felt so difficult to put in so much effort for the lengthy readings, audit assignments, and quizzes, only to not really feel like you're not learning anything or improving your grade. I really did wish I enjoyed this class, as the topics seemed really interesting, so I'm disappointed to not have liked going to lectures at all. A lot of it felt like busy work, including the lectures itself, and there was really no way of getting a good grade for the writing assignments unless you got lucky.

Nathan Beard
INST204

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/09/2025

Nathan is a really cool guy, he comes off really nice and honestly seems like a cool person to be friends with. However, this seems to be one of his first semesters teaching the class and it is oddly heavier then it needs to be. Weekly readings and quizzes that are not very needed + a multiple meetings with him or the TA for group projects etc. that are not as in depth as I would have wanted. I thought the topics in class were super interesting, him and his TA were super nice people, but the class just had a lot of busy work that weighed it down a bit.

Nathan Beard
INST204

Anonymous
05/08/2025

I think he is alright. Classes are so boring, and attendance is graded. This class has way too much groupwork, literally every single class there was groupwork. I am fine working with people but every single class was just too much. We have 4 skip days, use them before the final project, because you probably want to come to the last few classes anyway to work with your group. There are quizzes every week that are about the readings for the week. I never read the articles and just used chatgpt for the quizzes. He also does not release the quiz grades in a timely manner. He would release the grades weeks after, and it's not like he has to grade them, it is automatically graded for him and the score is just hidden. I think his lectures were pretty boring as well. Whenever someone asked a question, he didn't answer it directly. For bigger projects, we have to meet with him and talk about it, so I wrote out some of it so he can read it in the meeting, but he refused to read it, like isn't that the point of the meeting? I was trying to ask him to read it and see what I can improve on before I write even more. His grading is annoying as well. The first writing assignment prompt was a what-if question, so I answered "if this happened, this would happen, and if this happened, this would happen," and I got 79% on the assignment. Even on the other bigger writing assignments, me and my partner followed the rubric exactly, but he still took points off. I think he will refuse to give anyone 100% on a writing assignment, even if someone earned it. One funny thing, this guy is the embodiment of a millennial, I don't think I've ever met more of a millennial than this guy. I would not take the class again, but I am expecting either an A- or an A, unless my group completely bombs on the final project.

Nathan Beard
INST204

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/08/2025

To be honest, Nathan as a professor is a cool guy, but bless his heart because this class felt like a gigantic waste of time, and he didn't do a good job at alleviating that feeling. There was an egregious number of readings, yet he didn't even read them himself. You couldn't skip class which makes total sense, but the participation was overwhelming. The TA graded super hard too.

Nathan Beard
INST204

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/07/2025

Repetitive unnecessary work. Incredibly slow grading. Doesn't explain rubrics clearly and very arbitrary grading. Beware only 1 attempt on quizzes that are worth a lot of your grade. Drags class even when he has nothing to say. Tons of assigned readings even though he admitted to not reading them himself. Please brace for impact before taking this class. Make sure to never skip class, multiple participation activities live every single time all throughout class. And if you have to ask something to him, he'll just dodge the question and not give a clear answer. Overall very confusing and difficult experience would not recommend.

Jieun Yeon
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/24/2025

This class is really easy, with one big group project throughout the lifetime of the class. Attendance is very important in this class, as the professor is very strict on people showing up to class. There are exit tickets in every lecture and discussion, and if you happen to skip a day where she's taking attendance, but you submit the exit ticket, she will report you to the school. It's genuinely really easy of a class, but just make sure that you actually show up to do the exit tickets. Also, really weird that all the assignments are with only 0.5-2 points (0.5 points for every exit ticket, and the quizzes are 2 points, with the big assignments being up to 9 points). Lots of extra credit opportunity though.

Wayne Lutters
INST204

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/19/2024

Professor Lutters is genuinely a great person. He always came to class with a smile, which honestly made me feel a little guilty for not finding the content interesting. The class itself was pretty boring for me, but I could tell he was really trying to make it engaging. That said, it was super easy and not stressful at all. There was only one required exam, which had an average in the 90s and included basic questions like stuff from the syllabus. The second exam was optional for those who decided to do a project instead. He also gave helpful feedback, answered questions thoroughly, and clearly wanted everyone to succeed. Attendance counted for about 75% of the classes, so you could miss a few and still get a 100%, which was nice. I will say that a lot of people seemed to find the class interesting, so maybe the boringness was just a me problem. If you’re looking for an easy, low-stress class with a kind and supportive professor, I’d definitely recommend this one!

Wayne Lutters
INST204

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/17/2024

He's an amazing caring professor and makes his lectures very engaging. Classwork is easy and interesting. I honestly did not do most of the readings for this class and skipped a couple lectures and still got a good grade and full points on all the reading quizzes. You'll get a good grade on the audits and final project if you put effort into it. The exams are also very fair and short. Overall, really enjoyable class and great professor. I'd highly recommend him for INST204 and recommend the course in general.

Daniel Greene
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/31/2024

Super chill professor and pretty straightforward class. There's a couple weekly readings and then two big group projects. Dr. Greene is friendly, willing to talk and help students on their projects despite the class being huge. The TAs were also wonderful and helpful. This class focuses on automated systems and biases present in these systems (think AI and discrimination). If this is something you want to learn about, definitely take it with Dr. Greene!

Wayne Lutters
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/04/2023

Amazing professor, couldn't recommend him more. He's very caring and enthusiastic about the information. Each class included simple yet engaging group work that counted as your attendance grade. A lot of easy reading quizzes and two group projects that he is very helpful with. Favorite professor I've had to date. Easy and interesting gen ed class. It's a no brainer!

Daniel Greene
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/22/2023

Very very passionate about his craft! It is really inspiring!

Daniel Greene
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2022

Professor Greene is an outstanding and caring teacher. He has made this class fun, and I honestly took this course to fulfill a gen-ed requirement but also because I thought it would be interesting. I would have never thought to actually enjoy this class a lot. The course consists of readings every week (some of them are long, but if you learn how to skim you will be fine), two major assignments (I think), warm ups, easy weekly quizzes about the readings, and a final project (this was so fun to do and it was low-stress). The grading was a little harsh, but if you check in with TAs or professor Greene and put in the effort into your work, you will end up with an A. He is engaging with the class and makes the class very interactive with what we learn about. I enjoy taking INST204 with him this semester as I have learned a lot of cool things and even made hopefully long-lasting friends in his class. The TA's were super chill and nice too. Overall, I found this class to be low-stress (as it was intended to be that way) and fun. If you ever take this class, take it with professor Greene if possible! :)

Daniel Greene
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/21/2022

I had a great time in Professor Greene's class. We were assigned readings twice a week, and on the day of class, we'd review the readings, as well as discuss them for our warmups. On a week-to-week basis, we'd then be given quizzes on said readings. I think that with this fact alone, there's no reason for one to fail this class unless they don't try. Professor Greene uses a points system, so there isn't any rounding of percentages at the end of the semester — the grading is transparent, understandable, and clearly outlined in the syllabus. Aside from such, class activities were fun and interactive — something I enjoyed the most. One day we're playing a game to test our morality, and the other day we're investigating real-life events of how algorithmic biases have caused distrust in self-driving vehicles. And the enthusiasm from Professor Greene made me love the course even more. You can tell he loves teaching, and he's also understanding of his student's unexpected circumstances. He allows a set amount of absences, drops three quizzes, and grades fairly. Also, he's also a great professor to converse with!

Daniel Greene
INST204

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Really easy class. 3 major assignments, 2 of them being written. Prof grades sorta harshly. The weekly quizzes are based on readings you don't really need to do, just ctrl f. The lowest 3 quizzes get dropped. You're graded on attendance which sucks but you get a few freebie days

Reviews for INST204