INST335 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Alla Levin INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/12/2024	Professor Levin teaches very well; what I mean is that you will learn well, not only work for the grade. The class is easy to get an A in, and you will learn more from her than any other professor. Her work is meant to test your knowledge in her class, not how much you can study and cram everything in your head to memorize for a supposedly large test. If you have the privilege of taking her, consider yourself honored.
Dave Levin INST335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 06/11/2024	Dr. Levin is a great professor; and very dedicated to her students. She is very knowledgeable in her field and committed to her students' success. Her lectures were not only informative but also engaging, and directly connected with real-world situations. Each class session felt like fun, and I always was looking forward to attending her lectures. Professor Levin is always accessible after lectures, she not only teaches but mentors students and she is eager to provide support every step of the way. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from her and cannot recommend her courses highly enough. If you have the chance to study under Professor Levin's guidance, grab it—you will not be disappointed.
Alla Levin INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/25/2024	Overall, I found Dr. Alla Levin to be a great professor with a deep knowledge of the subject matter. Her lectures were always engaging and thought-provoking, and they encouraged me to think critically and participate in class discussions. Dr. Levin was very approachable and always expressed her willingness to help students outside of class. She was always available for office hours and responded promptly to emails, providing valuable feedback on assignments and exams. Additionally, I was impressed by the professor's commitment to creating a positive and inclusive learning environment. She was respectful of diverse viewpoints and made an effort to ensure that all students felt heard and valued in the classroom. I highly recommend Dr. Alla Levin to future students.
Alla Levin INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/12/2024	I like the class so far. Recommend this professor. Need some work to do, but it is easy and interesting
TJ Rainsford INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/25/2024	I had TJ for INST 335 and thought he was pretty good. Lectures were optional as a lot of people stopped showing up for a lot of them but he would occasionally assign in-person class work that counted as extra-credit for people who were there. There was not a lot of assigned work in this class, so it's important to do good on the few papers that he assigns and the final group project. There are also two exams that are given right before midterms and finals but they are in the format of answer in a paragraph and no multiple choice, it's also take-home exams.
Galina Madjaroff INST335 Expecting an A+ celeryacrobatic 12/09/2023	The professor dropped a case study assignment and it caught everyone off guard. A lot of students weren't sure about their answers and professor didn't offer any explanation of what was correct. Also, the semester long group project had vague and repetitive instructions throughout the assignments. Lecture and content was easy but instructions for some assignments were just too vague.
P Kshetry INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2023	For a class about management, this class was poorly organized and the TAs were incompetent
Susannah Paletz INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/11/2023	Professor Paletz was a very nice person with great lectures that prepare you for the world. This class consist of Exams, weekly quizzes and in person discussions, and a group project but overall the class was very simple and straightforward.
Katy Lawley INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/25/2022	Very unorganized and pointless course. Dr. Lawley was very unprepared throughout the semester.
Laria Rogers INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/25/2022	Harsh grader and doesn’t really add much to the assignment. Her TA’s aren’t very helpful either.
Katy Lawley INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2022	I am being more lenient in my review because she was told she was teaching the course 2 days before classes started, hence the disorganization within the course for the entire semester. However, Dr. Lawley is very understanding and self-aware that the course was not taught very well, leading her to be more lenient in grading this semester. Her office hours really helped me understand a group project, was able to help me brainstorm ideas and allowed me to actually be successful during the project. I would say if you would want to take it with her, take it since I think it'll be better for future semesters.
Laria Rogers INST335 Anonymous 12/07/2022	She's ok, it's an easy course but she contributes very little as a professor. She's a harsh grader and isn't accommodating but you'll never be overwhelmed from the class itself.
Katy Lawley INST335 Anonymous 10/13/2022	This class is legit useless, and Dr. Lawley is super unorganized. We find out about new assignments at the last minute.
Katy Lawley INST335 Anonymous 10/06/2022	She's a nice professor and the course is... what it is. But it's her first time teaching this course and the class seems very misdirected. Course pages don't get published until the lecture starts and she realizes we can't access the slides or information. I would recommend taking this course with someone more experienced in teaching it for a smoother experience.
Laria Rogers INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/28/2022	A very easy, but tedious course. She doesn't help make the course any more interesting, but grades pretty harshly. Also pray you get good group members for this class because most of your grade depends on the group research paper.
Susannah Paletz INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/13/2022	Pros: Easy A, low commitment, decent lecture videos. Cons: Class has a group project that could be completed in a week but is drawn out for the entire semester, class overlaps heavily with other INST courses, a lot of busy work, lecture vids are split up into separate elms links, which gets really annoying.
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/04/2022	By far the worst experience I have had in a class during my time at UMD. I originally registered for his specific section, despite the negative reviews, because it was the only available online section of the course. During the summer, Piety requested for it to be in person. I was pretty upset about this but there was nothing I could do. At the beginning of the semester, he opened up a Zoom room where students who were sick could still be in class without having to come in person. Piety asked how many of us came to campus just for his class, a pretty high number of us raised our hands. This was strike one. Piety's lectures were absolutely boring. You could tell that he attempted to be interesting and "fun" in the delivery of his lectures, but the content was terrible. On top of that, the first 15 minutes of EVERY SINGLE CLASS was him complaining about how students were "abusing" the Zoom classroom and how those on Zoom did not want to participate. He never tried to understand peoples' situations. The majority of my poor experience with Piety was in how he resolved conflicts. There were times during the class where I did not receive points I should have. Logically, I would email him on ELMS to ask why I did not receive those points. He would respond as if he was hurt that I noticed his mistake, and would often times not even speak to me about the point over email. He would always say "meet with me during office hours." Why should I have to meet with you to speak about it when I have screenshot proof of the work being completed and turned in on time? On top of that, his deadlines for group work was ridiculous. He would often assign group assignments where you had to meet and record your Zoom meeting and would expect them to be due in the next 3 days. This is not enough time for students to organize to meet. His class is not the only one we are taking. Oh yeah, he also had his negative reviews removed a couple years ago and actually addressed it in our class saying that he didn't understand why he had them and that, essentially, they were made up/not applicable. Overall, Piety is not organized, arrogant, unreliable, and just a bad professor. If you can manage to stay away from his section, do so. If not, be prepared to have to fight with him about grades and deadlines until the last day of classes.
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/27/2021	This class is a complete joke. Worst teacher I’ve experienced in UMD. INST335 is already a bullshit course…but with Piety it’s intolerable bullshit. Everything about his class is unprofessional and his lack of awareness in how ineffective his lectures and assignments are is unreal. At least 35% of the lecture is pointless babble and his assignments are easy, but extremely mind numbing. I can appreciate a bullshit course knowing I’m getting credit and an A for it, but I can’t appreciate a course that’s unbearably miserable to follow in its useless gander knowing I’m paying for this. There’s weeks where we do this “teamwork simulation” which winds down to a barely functioning multiplayer game in which you play a game of checkers. He assigns groupwork on a thursday and expects it done on a sunday despite knowing students rely on weekends to do their part time jobs. This class prepares you for nothing and his merit as a communicative instructor is the worst as he never communicates things properly when it comes to instructions, and when you try to clarify, he gives you an attitude. His grading scale and assignments aren’t even insurable to secure a good grade, even if you tried. I’ve gotten A’s in much harder INST classes, and i’m appalled that i’ve gotten an A- in this course knowing it’s a joke.
Susannah Paletz INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2021	This class is pretty easy-- lecture quizzes can be done without really watching the lectures as they're open note/slide/text etc. The prof and TAs are nice as well. The group project isn't bad either, but god help you if your groupmates are bad or don't understand the project (this was the case for me). Overall the class is pretty chill and I'd recommend it and Dr. Paletz.
Laria Rogers INST335 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/23/2021	Overall, she's a solid professor. She opted to not have any exams, only open-note (and easy) quizzes throughout the semester. If you actually put effort into the assignments, you'll get a good grade.
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/01/2020	Most arrogant professor I've run into that can't provide well thought out rubrics for projects
Susannah Paletz INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/30/2020	Super sweet. Interested in what she is teaching. Helpful and accommodating. Overall, very nice professor!
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/20/2019	https://old.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/apmmeg/professor_reported_all_of_bad_reviews_on/ I got an A- in his class, but only because God was on my side. He's a horrible professor + deleted all of his bad reviews on ratemyprofessor. I made the post on reddit exposing him, dm if you want more information about him + his class.
Philip Piety INST335 Anonymous 02/19/2019	Piety is without a doubt, one of the worst professors I have ever had at UMD. Piety refuses to acknowledge when he makes a mistake and won't listen to anyone who may be even insinuating that he may have done some wrong (even if it's something as small as asking clarification about a rubric). He refused to respond to any of my emails with my concerns about a grade on an assignment under the excuse of "only the group project leader can email me" and then ignored my project leader when she attempted to contact him. He even refused to accept doctors notes from students who had diseases such as the hand foot and mouth disease. He gave people with valid doctors notes 0s and acted defiant when confronted about how this is completely in violation of university policy. Recently, I found out that professors can report and have negative reviews about themselves deleted from RateMyProfessor. I submit a negative review about him back in December, which was approved and posted to his page. His page used to have several negative reviews, and I learned recently (through a UMD subreddit post) that they were all deleted.
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting a C Anonymous 02/14/2019	https://old.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/apmmeg/professor_reported_all_of_bad_reviews_on/ He got all his negative reviews removed from ratemyprofessor
Philip Piety INST335 Anonymous 02/12/2019	Really arrogant guy
Philip Piety INST335 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2018	Tries way too hard to be relatable and isn't a interesting lecturer. Still calls on students like a middle school teacher.
Mary Kendig INST335 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2018	Great Professor, helps you out a lot and isn't strict with attendance as long as you inform her before class. 2 exams and a few mini projects but definitely reccomend.
Ping Wang INST335 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/30/2017	The class is very boring and he does grade attendance so you have to show up. There is also group presentations throughout the semester about every other week. His quizzes are also very difficult. He quizzes on a large amount of topics but the questions are very specific. However I wouldn't say the class is difficult as long as you put in the effort.

Alla Levin
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/12/2024

Professor Levin teaches very well; what I mean is that you will learn well, not only work for the grade. The class is easy to get an A in, and you will learn more from her than any other professor. Her work is meant to test your knowledge in her class, not how much you can study and cram everything in your head to memorize for a supposedly large test. If you have the privilege of taking her, consider yourself honored.

Dave Levin
INST335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
06/11/2024

Dr. Levin is a great professor; and very dedicated to her students. She is very knowledgeable in her field and committed to her students' success. Her lectures were not only informative but also engaging, and directly connected with real-world situations. Each class session felt like fun, and I always was looking forward to attending her lectures. Professor Levin is always accessible after lectures, she not only teaches but mentors students and she is eager to provide support every step of the way. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from her and cannot recommend her courses highly enough. If you have the chance to study under Professor Levin's guidance, grab it—you will not be disappointed.

Alla Levin
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/25/2024

Overall, I found Dr. Alla Levin to be a great professor with a deep knowledge of the subject matter. Her lectures were always engaging and thought-provoking, and they encouraged me to think critically and participate in class discussions. Dr. Levin was very approachable and always expressed her willingness to help students outside of class. She was always available for office hours and responded promptly to emails, providing valuable feedback on assignments and exams. Additionally, I was impressed by the professor's commitment to creating a positive and inclusive learning environment. She was respectful of diverse viewpoints and made an effort to ensure that all students felt heard and valued in the classroom. I highly recommend Dr. Alla Levin to future students.

Alla Levin
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/12/2024

I like the class so far. Recommend this professor. Need some work to do, but it is easy and interesting

TJ Rainsford
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/25/2024

I had TJ for INST 335 and thought he was pretty good. Lectures were optional as a lot of people stopped showing up for a lot of them but he would occasionally assign in-person class work that counted as extra-credit for people who were there. There was not a lot of assigned work in this class, so it's important to do good on the few papers that he assigns and the final group project. There are also two exams that are given right before midterms and finals but they are in the format of answer in a paragraph and no multiple choice, it's also take-home exams.

Galina Madjaroff
INST335

Expecting an A+
celeryacrobatic
12/09/2023

The professor dropped a case study assignment and it caught everyone off guard. A lot of students weren't sure about their answers and professor didn't offer any explanation of what was correct. Also, the semester long group project had vague and repetitive instructions throughout the assignments. Lecture and content was easy but instructions for some assignments were just too vague.

P Kshetry
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2023

For a class about management, this class was poorly organized and the TAs were incompetent

Susannah Paletz
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/11/2023

Professor Paletz was a very nice person with great lectures that prepare you for the world. This class consist of Exams, weekly quizzes and in person discussions, and a group project but overall the class was very simple and straightforward.

Katy Lawley
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/25/2022

Very unorganized and pointless course. Dr. Lawley was very unprepared throughout the semester.

Laria Rogers
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/25/2022

Harsh grader and doesn’t really add much to the assignment. Her TA’s aren’t very helpful either.

Katy Lawley
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2022

I am being more lenient in my review because she was told she was teaching the course 2 days before classes started, hence the disorganization within the course for the entire semester. However, Dr. Lawley is very understanding and self-aware that the course was not taught very well, leading her to be more lenient in grading this semester. Her office hours really helped me understand a group project, was able to help me brainstorm ideas and allowed me to actually be successful during the project. I would say if you would want to take it with her, take it since I think it'll be better for future semesters.

Laria Rogers
INST335

Anonymous
12/07/2022

She's ok, it's an easy course but she contributes very little as a professor. She's a harsh grader and isn't accommodating but you'll never be overwhelmed from the class itself.

Katy Lawley
INST335

Anonymous
10/13/2022

This class is legit useless, and Dr. Lawley is super unorganized. We find out about new assignments at the last minute.

Katy Lawley
INST335

Anonymous
10/06/2022

She's a nice professor and the course is... what it is. But it's her first time teaching this course and the class seems very misdirected. Course pages don't get published until the lecture starts and she realizes we can't access the slides or information. I would recommend taking this course with someone more experienced in teaching it for a smoother experience.

Laria Rogers
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/28/2022

A very easy, but tedious course. She doesn't help make the course any more interesting, but grades pretty harshly. Also pray you get good group members for this class because most of your grade depends on the group research paper.

Susannah Paletz
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/13/2022

Pros: Easy A, low commitment, decent lecture videos. Cons: Class has a group project that could be completed in a week but is drawn out for the entire semester, class overlaps heavily with other INST courses, a lot of busy work, lecture vids are split up into separate elms links, which gets really annoying.

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/04/2022

By far the worst experience I have had in a class during my time at UMD. I originally registered for his specific section, despite the negative reviews, because it was the only available online section of the course. During the summer, Piety requested for it to be in person. I was pretty upset about this but there was nothing I could do. At the beginning of the semester, he opened up a Zoom room where students who were sick could still be in class without having to come in person. Piety asked how many of us came to campus just for his class, a pretty high number of us raised our hands. This was strike one. Piety's lectures were absolutely boring. You could tell that he attempted to be interesting and "fun" in the delivery of his lectures, but the content was terrible. On top of that, the first 15 minutes of EVERY SINGLE CLASS was him complaining about how students were "abusing" the Zoom classroom and how those on Zoom did not want to participate. He never tried to understand peoples' situations. The majority of my poor experience with Piety was in how he resolved conflicts. There were times during the class where I did not receive points I should have. Logically, I would email him on ELMS to ask why I did not receive those points. He would respond as if he was hurt that I noticed his mistake, and would often times not even speak to me about the point over email. He would always say "meet with me during office hours." Why should I have to meet with you to speak about it when I have screenshot proof of the work being completed and turned in on time? On top of that, his deadlines for group work was ridiculous. He would often assign group assignments where you had to meet and record your Zoom meeting and would expect them to be due in the next 3 days. This is not enough time for students to organize to meet. His class is not the only one we are taking. Oh yeah, he also had his negative reviews removed a couple years ago and actually addressed it in our class saying that he didn't understand why he had them and that, essentially, they were made up/not applicable. Overall, Piety is not organized, arrogant, unreliable, and just a bad professor. If you can manage to stay away from his section, do so. If not, be prepared to have to fight with him about grades and deadlines until the last day of classes.

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/27/2021

This class is a complete joke. Worst teacher I’ve experienced in UMD. INST335 is already a bullshit course…but with Piety it’s intolerable bullshit. Everything about his class is unprofessional and his lack of awareness in how ineffective his lectures and assignments are is unreal. At least 35% of the lecture is pointless babble and his assignments are easy, but extremely mind numbing. I can appreciate a bullshit course knowing I’m getting credit and an A for it, but I can’t appreciate a course that’s unbearably miserable to follow in its useless gander knowing I’m paying for this. There’s weeks where we do this “teamwork simulation” which winds down to a barely functioning multiplayer game in which you play a game of checkers. He assigns groupwork on a thursday and expects it done on a sunday despite knowing students rely on weekends to do their part time jobs. This class prepares you for nothing and his merit as a communicative instructor is the worst as he never communicates things properly when it comes to instructions, and when you try to clarify, he gives you an attitude. His grading scale and assignments aren’t even insurable to secure a good grade, even if you tried. I’ve gotten A’s in much harder INST classes, and i’m appalled that i’ve gotten an A- in this course knowing it’s a joke.

Susannah Paletz
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2021

This class is pretty easy-- lecture quizzes can be done without really watching the lectures as they're open note/slide/text etc. The prof and TAs are nice as well. The group project isn't bad either, but god help you if your groupmates are bad or don't understand the project (this was the case for me). Overall the class is pretty chill and I'd recommend it and Dr. Paletz.

Laria Rogers
INST335

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/23/2021

Overall, she's a solid professor. She opted to not have any exams, only open-note (and easy) quizzes throughout the semester. If you actually put effort into the assignments, you'll get a good grade.

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/01/2020

Most arrogant professor I've run into that can't provide well thought out rubrics for projects

Susannah Paletz
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/30/2020

Super sweet. Interested in what she is teaching. Helpful and accommodating. Overall, very nice professor!

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/20/2019

https://old.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/apmmeg/professor_reported_all_of_bad_reviews_on/ I got an A- in his class, but only because God was on my side. He's a horrible professor + deleted all of his bad reviews on ratemyprofessor. I made the post on reddit exposing him, dm if you want more information about him + his class.

Philip Piety
INST335

Anonymous
02/19/2019

Piety is without a doubt, one of the worst professors I have ever had at UMD. Piety refuses to acknowledge when he makes a mistake and won't listen to anyone who may be even insinuating that he may have done some wrong (even if it's something as small as asking clarification about a rubric). He refused to respond to any of my emails with my concerns about a grade on an assignment under the excuse of "only the group project leader can email me" and then ignored my project leader when she attempted to contact him. He even refused to accept doctors notes from students who had diseases such as the hand foot and mouth disease. He gave people with valid doctors notes 0s and acted defiant when confronted about how this is completely in violation of university policy. Recently, I found out that professors can report and have negative reviews about themselves deleted from RateMyProfessor. I submit a negative review about him back in December, which was approved and posted to his page. His page used to have several negative reviews, and I learned recently (through a UMD subreddit post) that they were all deleted.

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting a C
Anonymous
02/14/2019

https://old.reddit.com/r/UMD/comments/apmmeg/professor_reported_all_of_bad_reviews_on/ He got all his negative reviews removed from ratemyprofessor

Philip Piety
INST335

Anonymous
02/12/2019

Really arrogant guy

Philip Piety
INST335

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2018

Tries way too hard to be relatable and isn't a interesting lecturer. Still calls on students like a middle school teacher.

Mary Kendig
INST335

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2018

Great Professor, helps you out a lot and isn't strict with attendance as long as you inform her before class. 2 exams and a few mini projects but definitely reccomend.

Ping Wang
INST335

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/30/2017

The class is very boring and he does grade attendance so you have to show up. There is also group presentations throughout the semester about every other week. His quizzes are also very difficult. He quizzes on a large amount of topics but the questions are very specific. However I wouldn't say the class is difficult as long as you put in the effort.

Reviews for INST335