PSYC100 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/20/2024	Dr. Jones is very nice and will help you if you need it, you can also reach out for PSYC recs and career exploration. i would keep in mind, the work load is a slightly dense with the readings and some writing assignment however i feel its manageable. TA's harsh grading is really the only downside. attending lectures benefits you as tests are based on it but they're recorded and clickers can be logged in at home for attendance so it's pretty easy to skip.
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 11/13/2024	Great guy, very accommodating and class is interesting. He is very fair with grading and content, however, TAs are typically not. He often runs behind on lectures and content, but everything is available online
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/12/2024	Super nice guy. Lectures are ok to go to. Class is not too much work, although there are three exams that cover a lot of content.
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/14/2024	Nicest & best professor ever!!! Genuinely cares about you and wants you to succeed. The class is easy if you keep up with the work. There are 3 exams all open note and asynchronous. If you take good notes during lectures you will be completely fine in this class. She also offers extra credit through SONA studies which are super easy. Aside from the exams there are also chapter quiz's and a couple writing assignments. Overall, I would definitely recommend this class and this professor, a great introductory class to psychology!
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 09/12/2024	WOW! This class was a breeze. Learned so much and was zero effort. Lecture attendance is required, the lecture is once a week and so is the discussion but the discussion was online. I took this class in the Spring 2024. There are worksheets and writing assignments that do not take long at all and are honestly busy work that is unnecessary but low-key. Discussion groups meet every other Friday on Zoom and since they were online it was nice because mine was at 9 am and I could do it from bed. You have to complete 5 study credits which are also so easy, 3 online and two in person. Dr. Abi is right, do these asap and keep checking the website until you have completed everything. I did mine quickly but I know people who struggled to get their credits because the studies fill up and then by the end of the semester it can take a toll on your grade which is unnecessary because I got a 104 in the class by doing mine in the first month of the semester. Exams are online and not difficult, all multiple choice, so know the information and you'll do just fine. They are long and not a lot of time which is honestly the only bad thing i can say. Syllabus quizzes were easy points and one was dropped at the end. There were also exam reflections that took 5 minutes to complete after the exam and extra credit as well which is why I ended with 104. Participation in lecture is determined by clicker questions which were also easy. you did not have to get them right and most were opinionated polls. Everything was open note and open textbook but that doesnt help you with exams because of the time limit which is understandable so you should be knowledgeable for your own sake. Overall, i took thing in Spring 2024 and it was amazing
Jacob Coutts PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/09/2024	Took him for PSYC100 over the summer - super chill professor and exams/quizzes are very reasonable. The exams are a bit long but very doable, the slides are basically all you need. He's pretty easy to reach out to as well. 100% recommend him for a psychology class.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Anonymous 07/05/2024	Really cares about students success. Best professor I've had at UMD.
Scott Roberts PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/29/2024	After four years of various professors, I had the absolute worst experience with this professor that still negatively impacts me to this day. Without sparing personal details: He put me through extreme unnecessary stress my freshman year during the peak of COVID. Tried to "teach me lessons" the hard way which he bragged about doing to various other students. His lessons didn't help me at all throughout my four successful years - instead they remind me of a time when I wanted to drop out of college because of how terrible my experience was with him. I still tell the horror stories to family and friends as they sit in shock with how he treated me and how I accepted it as a clueless freshman. His class, however, was incredibly easy. Especially since I was an IB student who already took psychology. In all honesty, he is a fine professor, if you're lucky to never deal with him personally. I just don't think he should have the control that he does over students, because he takes advantage of it.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/17/2024	Very easy A, Although I got a B- because I would lose points on Writing Assignments(WA). Honestly, the WA SUCKS, but it wasn't very time consuming. Discussion every other week on zoom. I personally did not attend the lecture but would get the participation points since I would join the clicker. TAKE HER THIS IS EASY DSNS
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/17/2024	Definitely an easy A. Class met once a week and discussion is online every other week. The only annoying thing is that you have to complete two in person surveys that take an hour to complete, but if you get them out of the way at the beginning then you're basically done for the semester. The discussion work was super easy. Professor is great, and I would defiantly recommend this class.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/14/2024	Take someone else if you can. He;s a nice guy and you can tell he's passionate about the material but its way too much for a gen ed. The TA's grading was very nitpicky and would lose points for the smallest things. The exams would barely have content we learned in class. The first one was so bad he had to curve it (for psyc100..). Definitely not the professor I would take if you needed to get this class out the way or need an Easy A.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/14/2024	his class is acc kind of fun w/the right people. n you don't even have to go to the lectures half the time frfr as long as ur on campus u can log into those clicker questions n it'll let u join. the main issue lies wit the TA's since they tend to grade a bit harshly. Overall u can easily pass this class with a B+ or even an A+ if ur a tryhard. dude is super chill ! !
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/13/2024	hes a nice guy but this class is too much work for a gen ed. take someone else if you can.
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/12/2024	He's okay. The class is really easy but the lectures being 1 hour and 40 minutes is actually terrible. He goes off on side tangents all the time and rambles a lot. He also speaks into a microphone but he screams into it and its so loud so I always end class with a headache. He is really chill though and seems understanding and the content is so simple.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2024	She is a great professor, very nice, laid back, makes jokes. She tries to make lecture engaging and participative. Her class is very organized and well laid out, and you know exactly when everything is due. Instructions and goals are always well laid out for you. Participation is necessary because the lecture (which is only once a week) has clicker questions. Each week there's either an (ELMs) worksheet to be done or (zoom) discussion to attend. Two midterms and a final, all of which are on ELMs. There is a research requirement, but it's not bad, just get started on it early. Overall, the class is interesting and has a very manageable courseload.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/02/2024	I really liked him as a professor. It is a super easy class overall (PSYC100). Exams were completely fair and easy as long as you attended lectures and understood what he was teaching. Readings were long and to be honest, by the start of the second exam, I stopped reading them. I think Dr. Jones did a great job of explaining concepts, although, lectures were rather boring there were some interesting concepts. There were only 2 midterms and one final, he did curve some of the midterms if the averages were lower than expected. Discussions were every other week for 50 mins, all you really had to do was read research papers and answer questions. That sounds like a lot of work, but it really wasn't, The TA, Michael Burrows, was really nice, and whatever you said was greeted with positive reinforcement. Overall, the class was very easy, most likely going to end with a 97%. Would recommend
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/15/2024	Overall, very very easy A. Just don't forget to attend class, as attendance a huge part of your grade. She has a tough job in teaching a 1.75 hour long class, but you can tune out and be fine, just make sure to fill out the participation. A lot of what she teaches is based off the free online textbook she provides and isn't very difficult. Exams are also online and extra credit is offered. Take her if you can!
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A earthlover 04/06/2024	If you want an easy A, TAKE THIS CLASS. I stopped going to lectures because they were boring/long, but I got As on my exams because I did all the required readings. Dr. Nicolas is very nice and engages with the class. I had a good TA, so my discussions weren't bad, and they were on Zoom. Exams are open note, but sometimes, she asks very niche questions that could only be answered if you went to the lecture. A lot of people are complaining about there being a "heavy workload," but it was literally like 2 assignments a week that took about 30 mins to do.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/06/2024	Professor Parham is great. I’m sad I only had him for a winter semester, as it was online as well. He loves teaching PSYC100, and it clearly shows. His lectures are the opposite of boring, and they’re really fun to participate in. The work is very easy, and grading isn’t that harsh. As long as you try at least a little you’ll get an A.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/21/2024	Class was easy but super boring, you have to attend lectures for the clickers but the exams weren't anything too crazy. Only downside for me was my TA was a harsh grader and took off points for miniscule things.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/04/2024	The professor is great. She's super nice and a funny lecturer. However I feel like the workload was a bit much. Every week there were chapter notes to do. While this wasn't required, I found that you needed to complete it in order to do well and pass the exams. The exams are online but they can be very nit-picky and ask questions about some random video watched in lecture. Overall, the class is easy but you definitely need to put good work in.
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/01/2024	Chill guy, down to earth, likes to relate to the students.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/24/2024	Dr. Nicolas seems nice, and isn't a dry lecturer, but this class is still very boring. Very easy A, but there are mandatory discussions + posts + worksheets + stuff that can bring down your grade if you aren't careful to be very on top of things. Her exams are online, which is convenient. I have no strong opinions about her just was bored out of my mind every class and got an A without trying, so if you're just trying to pass this class as a requirement for your major I see no reason not to have her as your prof.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/18/2024	Dr. Abi is an amazing professor!! I took her online/in person section and it was very manageable and she is very organized with PSYC100. Quizzes and exams are from the textbook, and the discussions every other week are easy and informative. Participation is required if you want to get those clicker points, and Dr. Abi offers many extra credit opportunities. She is genuinely passionate about psych and her lectures were never boring. As long as you take good notes for the quizzes and exams, go to discussions and lectures, you’ll get an A!
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/17/2024	Dr. Barnet is the undisputed GOAT. He makes psychology more interesting than it is which is already hard to do with his engaging lectures and authentic personality. He's super funny, down to earth, and always looking to strike up conversations with students. He's also super young so he understands the youth and how we learn best. His workload is super doable and interesting. He dropped one of our tests as well, as long as you study you should be golden for them although the final was a bit harder than his usual exams. Overall 100% recommendation.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/22/2023	Definitely recommend. Her lectures are interesting, her grading is fair, and her exams are all open-note, online, and based on the info received.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/22/2023	The reviews arent lying. Please take PSYC with him. Hes literally the goat and the class is easy if you put in any ounce of effort
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2023	Dr. Barnet is the undisputed GOAT. He makes psychology more interesting than it is which is already hard to do with his engaging lectures and authentic personality. He's super funny, down to earth, and always looking to strike up conversations with students. He's also super young so he understands the youth and how we learn best. His workload is super doable and interesting. He dropped one of our tests as well, as long as you study you should be golden for them although the final was a bit harder than his usual exams. Overall 100% recommendation.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/17/2023	Dr. Parham is by far the best professor I've had at UMD. I was contemplating taking psych100 for one of my GenEds since I had heard mixed opinions about the course, but saw Parham had an open spot in his lecture so I decided to try it out. This has been my favorite class, but I think it was all due to Parham and his teaching style. His lectures were interesting and straight forward, and he made great personal connections and shared stories so that students were able to memorize the concepts. As long as you do the homeworks (which take less than 30 minutes each week) and watch the lectures you are set to get a good grade on the exams. You will not regret taking this professor!
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/12/2023	Hi so I was told that this class was super easy and took little effort because all the tests were online. They ARE online, but a lot of other stuff goes into your grade and I wasn't expecting that so I fell behind early in the semester. It's not a super strenuous class, but don't expect it to be easy. Dr. Nicolas was pretty nice, but it was a huge lecture hall so I never really got to know her at all.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2023	This class is certainly a 100 level which meant I did find the lectures pretty easy and found myself losing points more because of sentence counts and such than actual incorrect information but Dr. Jones does a really good job lecturing and teaching. He's a super charming guy and clearly cares for and understands his students with grade policies to match. We got 2 of our weekly quizzes dropped and only had to attend discussion every other week which meant this course is very manageable. Would certainly recommend especially if just needing to get the psyc100 credit done
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/11/2023	This actually might be the best professor I've ever had in my life. He's a great professor and seems to genuinely want everyone to succeed in the course.
Joseph Barnet PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2023	Loved Professor Barnet. He was super funny, and personable. Something especially helpful was his explanation of the applications of concepts that could be confusing. He made Psych extra interesting, which persuaded me to take his social psych class, PSYC221. The only thing that I wasn't a huge fan of was how fast he would go through slides and would have to skip sections of content due to timing. Overall, he is a great professor and I recommend taking any of his psych classes.
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/07/2023	Lovely professer, very nice and empathetic teacher who was very understanding with assignments. I liked how she uses her clients experiences to relate to class chapters. Would take again! :) Exams are online and you can take them anywhere, as well as the quizzes (super easy, answers are directly in the chapters).
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/07/2023	Honestly, this class is really easy to get an A with the assignments she assigns to us. The only assignments you turn in are chapter reflections, which are pretty straightforward, plus chapter reading quizzes which should be simple to do as well. There will also be mini exams after a couple chapters, but luckily they're online, which is the benefit. She is a very kind person and she shows dedication in her teaching. She explains her lectures really well and they are easy to understand, a lot of the notes I would write down are based on what she says rather than what would be on the lecture slides so that shows how interesting her explanations are. She tries to use up her time with digesting each chapter and I believe it is worth learning and gaining from from this professor, would recommend her. Besides easily passing her class, but also learning things from her.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2023	Awesome guy. super understanding especially revolving around campus issues. Lectures are hard to learn from but if you do the readings you will be fine. Love him
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2023	Nice professor. Exams are open note and were curved a good amount.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/30/2023	Definitely would recommend for PSYC100. She makes the lectures interesting and enjoyable and has a good sense of humor. Exams are all online and open note, and there are only three of them that make up 10% of your grade each, all multiple choice. Be sure to read the textbook section for each week and take decent notes from both the textbook and lecture, as you won't have time to find all of the information on the exams if you don't know anything. The other 70% of your grade essentially comes from showing up to discussion, doing the worksheets (basically online mini-quizzes with no time limit), syllabus quizzes and exam reflections. She gives easy extra credit opportunities as well. As long as you do the assignments and go to discussion, you're pretty much guaranteed a good grade.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 11/30/2023	Dr. Abi is such a good professor. She is very clear in her lectures and uses real world examples to further understanding of topics. She engages the class really well and is very relatable/ talking to you as though you are her friend during her lecture. Her exams are all online but you need to make sure you actually do the readings. If you do the readings/submit things on time/ and just show up for participation credit,You’ll get an A.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting a B- Anonymous 11/02/2023	do not take professor jones. he does not teach during lectures and his tests don't even cover the material we learn in class. i swear he pulls it out of thin air. he must be writing these reviews himself bc he's not this good.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 08/23/2023	Dr. Vandaalen was one of the kindest professors I've had. However, the class structure was kind of confusing. The course consisted of a lecture and review session each week with clicker questions, readings, a worksheet due each week before class and writing assignment due every two weeks, and the midterms/final. The class is set up into small circles/groups with a TA at each group to lead the discussion. I found the lectures to be very engaging and taught us how the course content could be applied to our daily lives. The content does not come from a traditional textbook, but rather a free resource that teaches through articles and videos. While she provided resources so we knew what to expect for the exams, there were a lot of very specific and random details from the videos or articles being tested that I felt more so assessed our ability to memorize small facts rather than our knowledge of psychology. That being said, it's very easy to get an A in this class as Dr. Vandaalen provides an insane amount of extra credit opportunities and curves. It's definitely more work than some of the other geneds I've taken, but I would recommend taking her for PSYC100!
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 07/06/2023	He's nice and all but I found his lectures pointless to go to. It takes less than 20 minutes to read his lecture slides for the 80 minute class. I was disappointed with this class though, mainly because my TA was a horrific grader, and I got a B in the class when I could've easily gotten a A had it not been for my TA.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/27/2023	Tons of extra credit, easiest A of my life highly reccomend!
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/26/2023	I took this class completely online and had a great experience. She was a kind teacher who was interesting to listen to. The format of the class was easy to follow and the weekly assignments were super easy. The exams were a bit difficult, but not impossible and very fair. The class was not time consuming at all, but I was still able to learn a bit. Definitely recommend, especially for online.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- neesh1903 05/24/2023	Honestly not a bad class. The quizzes can sometimes be annoying but he is a very dedicated professor and really knows what he is talking about
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2023	The reviews are true. Any review of fewer than 5 stars is truly from someone who put no effort into the course. Professor Parham is a professor who truly cares about his students and what he teaches. He tells stories, shows videos, and makes the class interactive even through Zoom. He is a person who really understands college students and how we act. His essays ARE moderately challenging, so starting them a day before will get you ready and a good grade, but that's out of his control. If you get to know him more, he's a really cool guy in general. He's a compassionate guy who will understand if you have trouble, as he really wants to connect with his students. Highly recommend! Get into his class! Don't get any other professor! I kid you not you will not regret it.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/09/2023	this class was such a mess. my psyc section was completely on zoom, so dr. abi would constantly get distracted and wouldn't stay on track. perhaps her in person classes are better, but don't take her online
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2023	joke of a professor and joke of a class. Complete waste of time and worse than high school busy work. the only thing i learned is i hate psyc100 and i wasted my time and money just so i could take a prerequisite.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2023	This is the worst class if you are trying to fill a prerequisite and never want to do anything with psychology. His lectures are long and a waste of time, briefly covering contend and then showing you multiple youtube videos. One lecture was spent almost entirely on the blue/black vs white/gold dress and spun it as "perspective." I find him to be unprofessional, seemingly unqualified as a professor, and truly got nothing out of his class except for the passionate distain for psyc100. On top of his unprofessionalism, his assignments for class are worse than busy work you did in high school and a complete waste of time, then graded harsher than they should for a 100 level class that is the biggest joke. Not an easy A and if you are a busy stem major do not waste your time with this joke of a class or professor.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/26/2023	Professor Jones is entertaining and endearing, he may ramble a bit in his lectures but they are generally fun to listen to. There are a lot of assignments throughout each week, but they are generally not difficult and not too time-consuming. Very laid back and fun intro course!
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 01/16/2023	Had her for Fall 2022, wouldn't recommend over other teachers for this class. It never felt like a gened and required more work than necessary. You're going to spend a lot of time compiling notes for the open-note exams, but the notes still didn't help sometimes because the exams were very difficult. Thank god she curves them, otherwise nobody would get an A. Classes are terribly boring and most of it is just review from what you had to learn for the online quizzes every Monday. Wednesdays were completely useless because they're taught by TA's (who were very nice, but they didn't give anybody any new information). You have to do an essay every two weeks, and that's not so bad. You can also complete every quiz and essay online weeks in advance if you put in the effort, which is nice. Basically, if you're good with notetaking and have a lot of time on your hands, this class is for you.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/05/2023	Professor Nicholas is a legend! She has such an incredible personality and makes lecture interesting and exciting. She is very excited to teach and loves her students. The class is not too bad. There is a quiz every week based on the readings which aren't too hard and there are 3 exams which are open note and online which are pretty easy. I recommend taking this class with Nicolas because she really is an amazing person and wants all of her students to do well.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/26/2022	She was a really good psyc100 professor. Class was not too hard and she is very engaging in lectures. Very passionate about the subject and she was approachable about any questions about the course or psychology in general.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/16/2022	Professor Parham is easily one of the best professors I have had. He is engaging and truly cares about his students in an impactful way. Super interesting lectures, exams are straight forward, and essays are relevant and simple as long as you do what is asked. Highly recommend.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2022	Great professor, he genuinely wants to teach and help students and his lectures are quite interesting and somewhat interactive. He is overall a great person with an open mind and awareness. If you want an intro to psychology, then definitely take this because even if you don't pursue psychology later, this course will help you out in your life later on.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/15/2022	Good lecturer and makes lectures informative and entertaining. Exams are online and open note which is nice. Discussions are biweekly and mandatory. Overall great teacher and a good class.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2022	Dr. Jones is a good lecturer, and his classes are very interesting and engaging. You will likely enjoy this class. Some of the application activities are difficult (particularly the ones were you are required to read actual psychology studies), but overall I enjoyed the class quite a bit. The exams are super easy and open note.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/14/2022	I would not recommend prof Vandaalen for PSYC100. Lectures are extremely boring with and basically useless for learning the material and doing well on the exams. Exams are very hard, making your notes extremely important for success on the exams. It really seems like lectures barely cover any of the required material for exams. If it weren't for extra credit opportunities and curves on exams, this class would be very hard. I know other teachers are way more chill and require much less work than her. She's a nice person that is accommodating, but I found myself doing way more work than expected. Especially when compiling good notes before exams. You will not learn much in this class.
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/13/2022	Great professor and an extremely easy class. She accepted late work with no points off. She explained the content well and always knew the answers to student questions.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2022	I think that Professor Parham was great. I took an online class with him and he was very caring and a nice professor. His lectures were interesting and I was often engaged. He takes late work but of course try to get everything in on time if you can so it does not overwhelm you at the end.
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/12/2022	She was wonderful. Offers a lot of opportunities for extra credit which is great. Her lectures were always fun and you could tell she tries really hard to make them engaging. Would definitely recommend to anyone
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2022	Great engaging professor. She lectures like she's a stand up comedian. Midterms and final exams are online and open note. Lecture slides posted to ELMS which is helpful. Many opportunities for extra credit. Would take another class with her; she's passionate about PSYC for sure!
Abigail Nicolas PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/05/2022	She grades very easily, but some of her lectures seem off topic. The exams are all online and open note which is amazing. It is important to attend the lectures because she includes stuff from class on her exams, and she offers the answers to extra credit assignments.
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/01/2022	This class is overall very easy, you have reading quizzes that are online, easy papers that as long as you reach the page limit you should get a 100%, and three exams that are open book and open note that you take online. But the lectures are a waste of time honestly, you learn more from the book than you do from listening to her because she would talk about politics a lot. And as someone who doesn't share her views, I would just stay silent. But she is a very nice teacher and is very fair and reasonable (you don't even have strict due dates) and it was nice hearing her personal stories sometimes but the content just turned into a political tangent and some of the writing is very political.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/01/2022	I took him in Spring 2022. He's a good lecturer and tries to make the content interesting. Aside from the PowerPoints, he also includes visuals (mainly videos) to accompany the information. The workload of the course was extremely heavy for a 100-level class in my opinion, but I think that's uniform throughout all sections regardless of professor. Lectures weren't mandatory, but he did have clicker assignments during lecture that were graded for participation. The discussions were mandatory and they take attendance each time, and they happen every other week. There's an online textbook that's provided for all students. There were 3 take-home exams (including the final) when I had him, application activities every other week (the week's that you didn't have discussion), worksheets (which are like quizzes on ELMS) for each module, and learning activities. He also had exam reflections to try to gain back some points on exams. I would grade the general course worse, but Dr. Jones makes it bearable for the most part.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/30/2022	The 5-star reviews are not overexaggerating. As a senior, Professor Parham is one of the instructors who left a significant impact on my career. Not only is he understanding and accommodating to life circumstances, he also genuinely cares about the progress of his students. Taking psyc100 with him reinforced my interest in the field and 4 years later I am just as motivated to learn more about psychology as I was when taking the intro course with Professor Parham. If you have the option to take a class with him, do it!
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/25/2022	Professor Vandaalen is very nice and very caring. However, her class is incredibly boring and barely covers any of the information in the textbook. Going to the lectures was a complete waste of time and I didn't get much out of them. I would have preferred actually learning a lot of the information that was in the textbook as opposed to learning about one small thing in the chapter. The tests were impossible and were incredibly difficult. I only did well because the curve was insane. Every test the curve would add at least 20 points. That said, I will say that Professor Vandaalen wants her students to do well and that is why she offers a bunch of extra credit assignments and curves the tests a ton. I am so appreciative that she was kind enough to do this. However, I would recommend taking the other Professor for PSYC100 such as Jones because my friends had him and did absolutely no work and their tests were open book and online as opposed to our tests being in person on a scantron and we were only allowed one doubled-sided piece of paper. In closing, Vandaalen is a very nice and caring person but I wouldn't go through all the hard work and stress to get the grade you want. Just take the easy A with the other professor.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 07/12/2022	Amazing guy, had fun and learned so much. Some papers and exams/quizzes, but all manageable
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/29/2022	Dr.Vandaalen is a really great professor, she makes the class easy, and she is always available when you are in need of help both in person and via email. The exams all have a curve which is really great, and there are a ton of options for extra credit opportunities in case anyone does need it. In general she makes psychology really interesting and fun to learn. By far one of my most favorite professors I've ever had at this university
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/27/2022	Quite literally one of the greatest teachers at UMD, not only as a teacher but as a person as well. Professor Parham is very understanding and is there to help you succeed. He helps you understand psychology to a level you can apply it to your daily life, rather than just feed you information. Every assignment was with a purpose, and they were all very engaging. The Scientific Analysis, was definitely the hardest part of this class, but if you work on them in advance you should be fine. Exams were straightforward and easy. This guy is a GOAT. Take him if you see him. Best of luck. -
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/22/2022	The lecture content is interesting and he's a good lecturer - definitely a character to listen to. Lecture is not mandatory, discussion sections are. Textbook is free and accessible online. If you don't plan accordingly, his assignments can be overwhelming and difficult because they are due in the middle of the week at 4pm (usually). They will be difficult to do well on if you don't read so don't think you can get away with a good grade by not doing the required weekly readings. The readings are time consuming as well but I found them pretty interesting so it wasn't too bad. Discussion sections are mandatory and they grade you on your attendance/participation. Honestly, the discussion section was the worst part of this class because the activities weren't helpful or relevant, just busy work. It would've been nice if they had reiterated content/ideas learned in lecture but nope, they fed you an entirely different topic irrelevant to lecture. Aside from that, it's a good class. You will be REQUIRED to volunteer for research studies for a total of three credits, most of which you can do online. Just make sure to knock them out earlier on because you have to do them on your own time and they are annoying to do. Great class, highly recommend professor Jones.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/21/2022	Nothing bad to say about Dr. Vandaalen. She makes this class very easy and managable. Grades are pretty simple, with participation clicker questions, weekly HW, exams, and writing assignments. She really wants you to succeed and will allow for lots of EC opportunity and curves very generously. By far one of my best teachers during the semester.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/20/2022	The lectures were so boring and honestly useless because no one showed up and she made it discussion based. Participation is graded on clicker questions that can be done at home which was nice. The textbook (Open Psyc) was such a bore to read at times, but you only need to read it in preparation for the exams for which we were allowed a 8x11 sheet of paper to put notes on. Discussion section was extremely useless but it's only every other week so it wasn't too bad. She curves heavily and gives lots of extra credit. The class itself is easy to pass, but you won't be learning anything in this class. If you're interested in the subject, take this class with a different professor. Otherwise, it's a chill class.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/20/2022	PROS: very nice and caring professor, allows for lots of extra credit opportunities, allows for a full 8x11 front and back cheat sheet, and gives a generous curve on exams, 5 easy papers IF you follow the rubric CONS: exams were excessively difficult(class average was never above 65% for any of the 3 exams), even when I felt as though I had a good understanding of the content questions revolved around tricky little details from the class rather than knowledge of the overall concept, this was annoying, and if it weren't for the curve this class would've been way more stressful. Almost all the learning comes from the homeworks which aren't bad but a bit tedious. She also wasn't a great lecturer, seemed new and nervous, sometimes I honestly felt like I could answer questions and explain the answer more clearly than she would. Overall, be thankful for the curve.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/18/2022	I really enjoyed her class. Exams were relatively easy, if you knew how to answer the questions from the study guide you were guaranteed an A on the exam. Dr.Vandaalen is a very nice and understanding professor, she provided numerous opportunities for extra credit so make sure you take advantage of that
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Anonymous 05/17/2022	I can tell that Dr.Vandaalen is sweet but she is not meant to be a professor. Lectures were the biggest waste of time and the tests were impossible. We were always graded harshly and feedback was limited so we were always unsure of how to improve. The only saving grace was the huge curve and extra credit. Don't take her if you don't have to!
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/28/2022	Class was relatively boring, almost no one showed up. It wasn't too bad, it was more of a lack of participation that made it boring. She had "attendance" grades but those are just clickers and can be done at home. However, this class is very easy; lots of extra credit opportunities and huge test curves. She also allowed full pages for notes on the test, you could basically fit the entire chapter's material on it. There are also a total of 5 "essays", they are only 500 words and pretty straightforward. If you follow the rubric and make it comprehensive, you will get most of the points. The only real con is that you learn mostly from the homework worksheets that she gives, but they're easy. I would say that she knows what she is talking about and enjoys teaching the material, though. I would recommend this class as it's not too much of a workload.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/14/2022	Dr. Jones is great! he is young which is nice because he gets or sense of humor and the class as a whole is pretty chill! People are complaining about the work but it's one quiz on elms each week that you have an entire week to do, it's untimed, and you can open and close it as many times as you want. Exams were online even though the class was in person which was nice! He makes the content interesting and even lets you earn extra points after exams as a chance to kind of "redo it". Hihgly recommend Dr. Jones, he's great!
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 03/16/2022	I received an 104% in this class due to extra credit he offered and the class being extremely easy, this class was one of the easiest A's I've ever gotten, he offers no midterms, no finals. All you have to do is do the worksheets, and put effort into the SAs due every other week. I got 30/30 on almost every SA assignment except one time I got a 27/30 because I was lazy and just typed something out quickly. I would recommend him if you just want a chill, easy class. I also enjoyed the conversations he would have with the class. We barely went over actual content but it was interesting to engage in current topics in psychology like social media, the American education system, etc. Some people didn't like this but I actually enjoyed this a lot, it was the only reason I came to class. I think Selterman is a great professor.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Anonymous 03/06/2022	Dr. Jones lectures very well, and it is very convenient that you can watch the lectures online. My only complaint is the amount of work. Every week, you have about 6 hours of homework from this class alone. He does not provide extensions nor does he reply to your emails about feeling overwhelmed with work.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Anonymous 12/19/2021	Professor Parham is so nice and the class is not difficult at all. Just go to his exam reviews where he goes over the entire test and take notes and you should be able to ace the test no problem. I wish I could take him for more classes.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/18/2021	Such a chill and understanding professor. Clearly knows her stuff, which makes lectures easy to follow along with. The workload isn't anything to blow off, but I highly recommend you take her class if you genuinely want to learn about psychology.
Heather Ganginis DelPino PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/10/2021	Very easy class, but her lectures do not cover anything about the exams and oftentimes even the chapters. If you want to take a class about racism take this class. I often was scared to challenge her because I am a white male and was afraid she would tell me I am using my privilege over her. When teachers begin to suppress people's ideas and not have an open mind, this becomes dangerous.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2021	i only went to two lectures and still got an a. jones is pretty convenient bc you can watch lectures on elms. you don't need to buy a textbook. his recorded lectures were always great. great for intro to psyc!
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/09/2021	Very easy A, just do the weekly worksheets and short SAs. Try to do the Clicker questions because it doesn't matter if you get them wrong as long as you participate. Dylan is nice and sometimes funny but he goes off topic. He let you choose in-person and zoom, there are no exams or final projects, and the course load is fair. It's a great elective to boost your GPA and the content is very interesting.
Rachel Vandaalen PSYC100 Anonymous 12/09/2021	Both the professor and the TA for this class are very nice. Exams are heavily weighted though!! If you have a strong passion for psychology I would definitely recommend taking her class.
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/09/2021	I put it in very minimal effort in this class and got an A. It was so easy. The professor doesn’t have any exams. You have an open note worksheet quiz every week, and a paper every other week. The TA’s do all the grading and they usually go pretty light. I also did not learn anything and could not help anybody with this class, but at least it was a GPA boost.
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A WALIK 12/01/2021	I think professor Selterman is a solid professor overall. The course work is extremely manageable (a worksheet once a week and a 500-word short response once every other week.) He also doesn't require you to come to class in person and offers both an in-person as well as zoom option which is very convenient. The grading is pretty fair on the short responses as it's mostly the TA's grading them. He's very ingrained in his beliefs which can make it a bit hard to have a meaningful discussion if you disagree with him or present a counterargument to his point of view. But it's nothing ridiculous like I've seen in some of these reviews. No exams are a huge plus too. I would take him again for sure and I enjoyed how manageable the workload is
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 11/19/2021	Definitely the kindest professor ever, so glad that I had the opportunity to take his class. He teaches virtually from Florida but makes online learning so fun and easy to follow/understand. He's a very fair grader and very understanding. He has a rule that if something is due at 11:59, he won't count it as late as long as you hand it in before 10 AM the next day (and even then he doesn't take off many points for late assignments). He also starts every lecture by asking each student how they are and if they have anything fun that they want to share with the class which shows that he actually cares about his students and wants to connect with them.
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/11/2021	IF YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO TAKE HIM, DO IT! One of the best professors I have had so far. Very organized and makes lectures and topics super easy to follow. There are 7 essay but he is a pretty chill grader and in smaller classes he will given opportunities for feedback before grading the paper. He does not put in 0 for late assignment unless you do not do anything. One of the best natural science classes to take! He does exam reviews and gives out candy!
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/26/2021	Is he good at actually teaching? Absolutely! Am I coming out of this semester knowing more about psychology than I did? Yep! Is there a heavy workload? Yes to that too. However, unfortunately he is very quick to report students to the OSC over minor similarities found using turnitin.com, as helpful as this website can be, it can't be too heavily relied on for student work, especially when the professor specifically states that proper APA format and references aren't required for these 400-500 word essays, not just that, neither him nor my TA contacted me beforehand to clarify the situation. I'm sure he's great in an offline setting, but online, he jumps to conclusions and has power trips if you bring up how harshly a TA may grade your papers. I will also be taking his PSYC234 class next semester when we're fully back on campus so hopefully I'll have a better review.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 02/06/2021	Definitely a 10/10 professor. His lectures were super fun and engaging, and the assignments he gave each week helped solidify the material we had to learn. Definitely a professor I reccomend
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/24/2021	Very good professor and he is obviously very aware of what's going on with the pandemic and how to ensure that his students can hold open discussions about what is going on in the world. He gives a lot of extra credit assignments. As long as you do your work on time and complete extra credit assignments, you should get an A in this class. He is a bit egotistical about some philosophies as others have mentioned but overall, he is a very well-spoken professor. The same goes for his TAs
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/14/2020	Dr. Jones was a solid teacher. Although my course was 100% asynchronous I could still gather that he was knowledgeable about the topics and passionate about helping students succeed. The textbook for this course was amazing (and free). Dr. Jones gave lots of interesting assignments and was extremely consistent in the amount of work he required each week. I do wish we had more ways to incorporate more interaction with other students, but I understand the course was all online and asynchronous which made it difficult.
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2020	The nicest and most understanding professor during this pandemic. Please take his class he genuinely wants you to learn! He made us do projects instead of exams and made the final one optional!
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/22/2020	Was a lot of work and I felt like it should honestly be a 4-credit class. While the content wasn't difficult, the workload felt overwhelming at times. Between weekly 30-50 question quizzes, and having essays due every other week, it was rough for me. Don't take this class unless required.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/12/2020	great professor and very nice. answers emails super fast and cares for his students!
Dirk Parham PSYC100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/29/2020	EASILY my favorite professor of all of freshman year! He very clearly loves teaching & psychology and has never had a boring lecture. I took PSYC100 and it was definitely on the easy side because he makes it a personal mission to make sure everyone in the class is doing well. He was also super accommodating with the online classes, and he's one of the reasons I'm now a psych major. take his class!! you will NOT regret it.
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/21/2019	You can tell Selterman knows what he's talking about when he teaching during lecture. His exams are application based and are very tricky. However, exams are weighted less than the worksheets that we have to do every week, which take about 3 hours to do. I would do as well as possible on those quizzes, so the exam grades won't affect you as much. The class is interesting, but the workload kind of ruins it. It's not an easy A type class.
Benjamin Jones PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/12/2019	Honestly one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He explain concepts very well, make class fun by doing activities that help us understand and remember different concepts, and cracking a few jokes. He genuinely wants his students to learn the material. His tests are tricky, but if you study really hard, go to his office hours, and get good homework/quiz/attendance scores, you should do fine. I’d expect A- if you work really hard but it’s so worth it because he’s a great teacher.
Marina Chernikova PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 10/16/2018	She is awesome! I loved having her as a professor. She had us do a lot of hands-on activities to make sure we were engaged and paying attention.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 03/20/2018	Great guy! Dr. Curtis really knows his stuff and is very helpful in office hours if you're struggling with a concept. People really hate the class because they think it's a weed out course, but you'll do fine if you just do the work. The weekly worksheets are long and a pain, but all the answers are in the reading and help you study while you read. They can also be found online easily. There are 6 writing assignments, but again just answer the questions directly and without fluff and you'll be fine. Plus you can go to any of the TA office hours and they'll read over your papers before you turn them in. The exams can get you because they're multiple choice so you either know it or you don't but if you do all the work assigned it generally helps you study. Not a lot of extra credit.
Dylan Selterman PSYC100 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/30/2017	He claims to be on the students side, but in reality has 0 consideration for them.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Expecting a D Anonymous 06/29/2015	Terrible professor. His quizzes are completely unfair. He says that his quizzes are strictly for him to tell if you're doing the reading and he said the answers can be found DIRECTLY from the readings. The problem is that half of the answers don't come from the reading...and you have to guess....which isn't fair because it's not in the reading... and he is NOT responsive to emails at all so if you try to explain why a question wasn't fair, he doesn't respond back (not professional...). For the essays, the grading scheme is: A (100%), B- (82%)...you can't score anywhere between 100% and 82%..... like what??..So one content mistake or one grammar mistake will already drop you down to a B-....another mistake will drop you down to a C-. Therefore it's possible to fail every single essay. Not a fair professor at all. Honestly, I'm a senior neurobio major so I've had some pretty tough/hard/unfair profs (like for Orgo2, Mam Phys, BCHM)...but honestly, curtis is the worst prof i've ever had here at umd.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/03/2014	Dr. Curtis is very knowledgable and a great lecturer. The class is a lot of work and some questions on the test are tricky, but if you put in the effort and complete all assignments you should easily get an A or B. There are clicker points each lecture so it's best to go to those. There's also MANY extra credit opportunities.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Anonymous 12/20/2013	Good lecturer, but this class is A LOT of work. You can not slack off. The every other week Blended Learning Assignments were graded hard: you can only get a A, C, D, F and you can not redo them. Discussion was a joke. Weekly 50 questions that are submitted on elems on Mondays and no redo. The book is online(he wrote the book) so make sure you read everything. Test are HARD. Good luck in the class!
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/12/2013	NEVER TAKE PSYCH!!! If you like clicker classes, tedious online weekly quizzes (which you will end up taking shortcuts on), obnoxious blended learning assignments, and pointless discussion (which you will skip)..... then take this class. Otherwise, if you're normal and don't want to pull your hair out, avoid it. NOTE: I'm not saying it is hard, it is just miserable. Now on Professor Curtis: He's honestly one of the better teachers I had freshman year. He does a great job being prepared for class, he uses a variety of methods to convey the information, and he honestly loves the subject. I'm sure psych majors consider him incredible because he truly knows and loves his material. But, for the average Gen-ed satisfying student, he's just a pretty good teacher. He is very clear about his expectations and will not budge for almost anything. Read and follow the syllabus, and you won't ever need to even speak to him. Also, he is very available to the students and makes it clear that he is available to help with anything class-related. He's pretty funny, and even funnier when he gets pissed off about phones going off in class. (organize it one day to see; 4 rings going off should do the trick). Overall, nobody can claim he's a jerk or unreasonable. He's strict, honest, and professional. The comments about him being condescending are slightly true, but for the most part that's just people being knit picky .
Scott Roberts PSYC100 w_l 11/19/2013	Best professor at UMD. He is funny, nice and presents the material in interesting ways. However, this is not an easy class. It requires a lot of work, but it is definitely worth taking. I had never taken a psyc class before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Take this class with Roberts if you can! Highly recommend.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 msliko 08/22/2013	I had Curtis for PSYC100. He was very knowledgeable of anything to do with psychology and the way he led class and taught the material made sure that I was able to retain and apply everything that we learned. While he was strict on deadlines and assignments, he was willing to do what he could to make sure you succeed. I would recommend for any psychology class.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Anonymous 05/15/2013	Really nice guy but i had a hard time with this class. Easy material but asks for a lot on tests. There was a lot of extra credit in the class especially toward the end. But the weekly blended learning assignments were graded very . poorly- you either got a A, C, or D which is unfair to me doesn't let you redo them either. overall this class has been annoying but it could definitely be worse.
Ryan Curtis PSYC100 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/26/2011	Curtis as absolutely fabulous. Very funny in lecture and explains things clearly. He is accessible outside of class and is willing to clarify/answer if you have questions about subject matter. The only hard thing about the class is its size (PSYC 100). Grades don't tend to be posted on time, and the worksheets are real point-drainers/GPA killers. Wording in exams/worksheets is also not always completely clear. Curtis is a great lecturer, but the class itself doesn't measure up.
Scott Roberts PSYC100 Expecting an A- sccerkid02 05/25/2011	Dr. Roberts is amazing! I had him in the fall, and I learned so much. It does require a substantial amount of time and work, but not at all unbearable. With that said, it is DEFINITELY worth it, because his style of teaching and assigning work it extremely beneficial; I learned A LOT, and i still remember a great deal of it five months later! He is a psychologist, so he knows the best way for us to learn, and applies it. Dr. Roberts makes Psych FUN and INTERESTING!
Scott Roberts PSYC100 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/13/2011	I had scott roberts this year for Psyc 100, and it was a lot of work. That being said, it was extremely interesting. Most of the work was done on weekends, with a "study guide" to be completed by the beginning of every week. the study guides took a long time at least 4 hours all put together, but he makes the chapters himself and they are filled with videos and other things that make it a lot less boring than if he just gave us a textbook and told us to read. If you study and do the work, though tiring at times, you will do fine.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/20/2024

Dr. Jones is very nice and will help you if you need it, you can also reach out for PSYC recs and career exploration. i would keep in mind, the work load is a slightly dense with the readings and some writing assignment however i feel its manageable. TA's harsh grading is really the only downside. attending lectures benefits you as tests are based on it but they're recorded and clickers can be logged in at home for attendance so it's pretty easy to skip.

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
11/13/2024

Great guy, very accommodating and class is interesting. He is very fair with grading and content, however, TAs are typically not. He often runs behind on lectures and content, but everything is available online

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/12/2024

Super nice guy. Lectures are ok to go to. Class is not too much work, although there are three exams that cover a lot of content.

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
10/14/2024

Nicest & best professor ever!!! Genuinely cares about you and wants you to succeed. The class is easy if you keep up with the work. There are 3 exams all open note and asynchronous. If you take good notes during lectures you will be completely fine in this class. She also offers extra credit through SONA studies which are super easy. Aside from the exams there are also chapter quiz's and a couple writing assignments. Overall, I would definitely recommend this class and this professor, a great introductory class to psychology!

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
09/12/2024

WOW! This class was a breeze. Learned so much and was zero effort. Lecture attendance is required, the lecture is once a week and so is the discussion but the discussion was online. I took this class in the Spring 2024. There are worksheets and writing assignments that do not take long at all and are honestly busy work that is unnecessary but low-key. Discussion groups meet every other Friday on Zoom and since they were online it was nice because mine was at 9 am and I could do it from bed. You have to complete 5 study credits which are also so easy, 3 online and two in person. Dr. Abi is right, do these asap and keep checking the website until you have completed everything. I did mine quickly but I know people who struggled to get their credits because the studies fill up and then by the end of the semester it can take a toll on your grade which is unnecessary because I got a 104 in the class by doing mine in the first month of the semester. Exams are online and not difficult, all multiple choice, so know the information and you'll do just fine. They are long and not a lot of time which is honestly the only bad thing i can say. Syllabus quizzes were easy points and one was dropped at the end. There were also exam reflections that took 5 minutes to complete after the exam and extra credit as well which is why I ended with 104. Participation in lecture is determined by clicker questions which were also easy. you did not have to get them right and most were opinionated polls. Everything was open note and open textbook but that doesnt help you with exams because of the time limit which is understandable so you should be knowledgeable for your own sake. Overall, i took thing in Spring 2024 and it was amazing

Jacob Coutts
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/09/2024

Took him for PSYC100 over the summer - super chill professor and exams/quizzes are very reasonable. The exams are a bit long but very doable, the slides are basically all you need. He's pretty easy to reach out to as well. 100% recommend him for a psychology class.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Anonymous
07/05/2024

Really cares about students success. Best professor I've had at UMD.

Scott Roberts
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/29/2024

After four years of various professors, I had the absolute worst experience with this professor that still negatively impacts me to this day. Without sparing personal details: He put me through extreme unnecessary stress my freshman year during the peak of COVID. Tried to "teach me lessons" the hard way which he bragged about doing to various other students. His lessons didn't help me at all throughout my four successful years - instead they remind me of a time when I wanted to drop out of college because of how terrible my experience was with him. I still tell the horror stories to family and friends as they sit in shock with how he treated me and how I accepted it as a clueless freshman. His class, however, was incredibly easy. Especially since I was an IB student who already took psychology. In all honesty, he is a fine professor, if you're lucky to never deal with him personally. I just don't think he should have the control that he does over students, because he takes advantage of it.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Very easy A, Although I got a B- because I would lose points on Writing Assignments(WA). Honestly, the WA SUCKS, but it wasn't very time consuming. Discussion every other week on zoom. I personally did not attend the lecture but would get the participation points since I would join the clicker. TAKE HER THIS IS EASY DSNS

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/17/2024

Definitely an easy A. Class met once a week and discussion is online every other week. The only annoying thing is that you have to complete two in person surveys that take an hour to complete, but if you get them out of the way at the beginning then you're basically done for the semester. The discussion work was super easy. Professor is great, and I would defiantly recommend this class.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/14/2024

Take someone else if you can. He;s a nice guy and you can tell he's passionate about the material but its way too much for a gen ed. The TA's grading was very nitpicky and would lose points for the smallest things. The exams would barely have content we learned in class. The first one was so bad he had to curve it (for psyc100..). Definitely not the professor I would take if you needed to get this class out the way or need an Easy A.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/14/2024

his class is acc kind of fun w/the right people. n you don't even have to go to the lectures half the time frfr as long as ur on campus u can log into those clicker questions n it'll let u join. the main issue lies wit the TA's since they tend to grade a bit harshly. Overall u can easily pass this class with a B+ or even an A+ if ur a tryhard. dude is super chill ! !

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/13/2024

hes a nice guy but this class is too much work for a gen ed. take someone else if you can.

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/12/2024

He's okay. The class is really easy but the lectures being 1 hour and 40 minutes is actually terrible. He goes off on side tangents all the time and rambles a lot. He also speaks into a microphone but he screams into it and its so loud so I always end class with a headache. He is really chill though and seems understanding and the content is so simple.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2024

She is a great professor, very nice, laid back, makes jokes. She tries to make lecture engaging and participative. Her class is very organized and well laid out, and you know exactly when everything is due. Instructions and goals are always well laid out for you. Participation is necessary because the lecture (which is only once a week) has clicker questions. Each week there's either an (ELMs) worksheet to be done or (zoom) discussion to attend. Two midterms and a final, all of which are on ELMs. There is a research requirement, but it's not bad, just get started on it early. Overall, the class is interesting and has a very manageable courseload.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/02/2024

I really liked him as a professor. It is a super easy class overall (PSYC100). Exams were completely fair and easy as long as you attended lectures and understood what he was teaching. Readings were long and to be honest, by the start of the second exam, I stopped reading them. I think Dr. Jones did a great job of explaining concepts, although, lectures were rather boring there were some interesting concepts. There were only 2 midterms and one final, he did curve some of the midterms if the averages were lower than expected. Discussions were every other week for 50 mins, all you really had to do was read research papers and answer questions. That sounds like a lot of work, but it really wasn't, The TA, Michael Burrows, was really nice, and whatever you said was greeted with positive reinforcement. Overall, the class was very easy, most likely going to end with a 97%. Would recommend

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/15/2024

Overall, very very easy A. Just don't forget to attend class, as attendance a huge part of your grade. She has a tough job in teaching a 1.75 hour long class, but you can tune out and be fine, just make sure to fill out the participation. A lot of what she teaches is based off the free online textbook she provides and isn't very difficult. Exams are also online and extra credit is offered. Take her if you can!

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
earthlover
04/06/2024

If you want an easy A, TAKE THIS CLASS. I stopped going to lectures because they were boring/long, but I got As on my exams because I did all the required readings. Dr. Nicolas is very nice and engages with the class. I had a good TA, so my discussions weren't bad, and they were on Zoom. Exams are open note, but sometimes, she asks very niche questions that could only be answered if you went to the lecture. A lot of people are complaining about there being a "heavy workload," but it was literally like 2 assignments a week that took about 30 mins to do.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/06/2024

Professor Parham is great. I’m sad I only had him for a winter semester, as it was online as well. He loves teaching PSYC100, and it clearly shows. His lectures are the opposite of boring, and they’re really fun to participate in. The work is very easy, and grading isn’t that harsh. As long as you try at least a little you’ll get an A.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/21/2024

Class was easy but super boring, you have to attend lectures for the clickers but the exams weren't anything too crazy. Only downside for me was my TA was a harsh grader and took off points for miniscule things.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/04/2024

The professor is great. She's super nice and a funny lecturer. However I feel like the workload was a bit much. Every week there were chapter notes to do. While this wasn't required, I found that you needed to complete it in order to do well and pass the exams. The exams are online but they can be very nit-picky and ask questions about some random video watched in lecture. Overall, the class is easy but you definitely need to put good work in.

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/01/2024

Chill guy, down to earth, likes to relate to the students.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/24/2024

Dr. Nicolas seems nice, and isn't a dry lecturer, but this class is still very boring. Very easy A, but there are mandatory discussions + posts + worksheets + stuff that can bring down your grade if you aren't careful to be very on top of things. Her exams are online, which is convenient. I have no strong opinions about her just was bored out of my mind every class and got an A without trying, so if you're just trying to pass this class as a requirement for your major I see no reason not to have her as your prof.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/18/2024

Dr. Abi is an amazing professor!! I took her online/in person section and it was very manageable and she is very organized with PSYC100. Quizzes and exams are from the textbook, and the discussions every other week are easy and informative. Participation is required if you want to get those clicker points, and Dr. Abi offers many extra credit opportunities. She is genuinely passionate about psych and her lectures were never boring. As long as you take good notes for the quizzes and exams, go to discussions and lectures, you’ll get an A!

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/17/2024

Dr. Barnet is the undisputed GOAT. He makes psychology more interesting than it is which is already hard to do with his engaging lectures and authentic personality. He's super funny, down to earth, and always looking to strike up conversations with students. He's also super young so he understands the youth and how we learn best. His workload is super doable and interesting. He dropped one of our tests as well, as long as you study you should be golden for them although the final was a bit harder than his usual exams. Overall 100% recommendation.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/22/2023

Definitely recommend. Her lectures are interesting, her grading is fair, and her exams are all open-note, online, and based on the info received.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/22/2023

The reviews arent lying. Please take PSYC with him. Hes literally the goat and the class is easy if you put in any ounce of effort

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/20/2023

Dr. Barnet is the undisputed GOAT. He makes psychology more interesting than it is which is already hard to do with his engaging lectures and authentic personality. He's super funny, down to earth, and always looking to strike up conversations with students. He's also super young so he understands the youth and how we learn best. His workload is super doable and interesting. He dropped one of our tests as well, as long as you study you should be golden for them although the final was a bit harder than his usual exams. Overall 100% recommendation.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/17/2023

Dr. Parham is by far the best professor I've had at UMD. I was contemplating taking psych100 for one of my GenEds since I had heard mixed opinions about the course, but saw Parham had an open spot in his lecture so I decided to try it out. This has been my favorite class, but I think it was all due to Parham and his teaching style. His lectures were interesting and straight forward, and he made great personal connections and shared stories so that students were able to memorize the concepts. As long as you do the homeworks (which take less than 30 minutes each week) and watch the lectures you are set to get a good grade on the exams. You will not regret taking this professor!

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/12/2023

Hi so I was told that this class was super easy and took little effort because all the tests were online. They ARE online, but a lot of other stuff goes into your grade and I wasn't expecting that so I fell behind early in the semester. It's not a super strenuous class, but don't expect it to be *easy*. Dr. Nicolas was pretty nice, but it was a huge lecture hall so I never really got to know her at all.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2023

This class is certainly a 100 level which meant I did find the lectures pretty easy and found myself losing points more because of sentence counts and such than actual incorrect information but Dr. Jones does a really good job lecturing and teaching. He's a super charming guy and clearly cares for and understands his students with grade policies to match. We got 2 of our weekly quizzes dropped and only had to attend discussion every other week which meant this course is very manageable. Would certainly recommend especially if just needing to get the psyc100 credit done

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/11/2023

This actually might be the best professor I've ever had in my life. He's a great professor and seems to genuinely want everyone to succeed in the course.

Joseph Barnet
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/08/2023

Loved Professor Barnet. He was super funny, and personable. Something especially helpful was his explanation of the applications of concepts that could be confusing. He made Psych extra interesting, which persuaded me to take his social psych class, PSYC221. The only thing that I wasn't a huge fan of was how fast he would go through slides and would have to skip sections of content due to timing. Overall, he is a great professor and I recommend taking any of his psych classes.

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/07/2023

Lovely professer, very nice and empathetic teacher who was very understanding with assignments. I liked how she uses her clients experiences to relate to class chapters. Would take again! :) Exams are online and you can take them anywhere, as well as the quizzes (super easy, answers are directly in the chapters).

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/07/2023

Honestly, this class is really easy to get an A with the assignments she assigns to us. The only assignments you turn in are chapter reflections, which are pretty straightforward, plus chapter reading quizzes which should be simple to do as well. There will also be mini exams after a couple chapters, but luckily they're online, which is the benefit. She is a very kind person and she shows dedication in her teaching. She explains her lectures really well and they are easy to understand, a lot of the notes I would write down are based on what she says rather than what would be on the lecture slides so that shows how interesting her explanations are. She tries to use up her time with digesting each chapter and I believe it is worth learning and gaining from from this professor, would recommend her. Besides easily passing her class, but also learning things from her.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/01/2023

Awesome guy. super understanding especially revolving around campus issues. Lectures are hard to learn from but if you do the readings you will be fine. Love him

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/01/2023

Nice professor. Exams are open note and were curved a good amount.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/30/2023

Definitely would recommend for PSYC100. She makes the lectures interesting and enjoyable and has a good sense of humor. Exams are all online and open note, and there are only three of them that make up 10% of your grade each, all multiple choice. Be sure to read the textbook section for each week and take decent notes from both the textbook and lecture, as you won't have time to find all of the information on the exams if you don't know anything. The other 70% of your grade essentially comes from showing up to discussion, doing the worksheets (basically online mini-quizzes with no time limit), syllabus quizzes and exam reflections. She gives easy extra credit opportunities as well. As long as you do the assignments and go to discussion, you're pretty much guaranteed a good grade.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
11/30/2023

Dr. Abi is such a good professor. She is very clear in her lectures and uses real world examples to further understanding of topics. She engages the class really well and is very relatable/ talking to you as though you are her friend during her lecture. Her exams are all online but you need to make sure you actually do the readings. If you do the readings/submit things on time/ and just show up for participation credit,You’ll get an A.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
11/02/2023

do not take professor jones. he does not teach during lectures and his tests don't even cover the material we learn in class. i swear he pulls it out of thin air. he must be writing these reviews himself bc he's not this good.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
08/23/2023

Dr. Vandaalen was one of the kindest professors I've had. However, the class structure was kind of confusing. The course consisted of a lecture and review session each week with clicker questions, readings, a worksheet due each week before class and writing assignment due every two weeks, and the midterms/final. The class is set up into small circles/groups with a TA at each group to lead the discussion. I found the lectures to be very engaging and taught us how the course content could be applied to our daily lives. The content does not come from a traditional textbook, but rather a free resource that teaches through articles and videos. While she provided resources so we knew what to expect for the exams, there were a lot of very specific and random details from the videos or articles being tested that I felt more so assessed our ability to memorize small facts rather than our knowledge of psychology. That being said, it's very easy to get an A in this class as Dr. Vandaalen provides an insane amount of extra credit opportunities and curves. It's definitely more work than some of the other geneds I've taken, but I would recommend taking her for PSYC100!

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/06/2023

He's nice and all but I found his lectures pointless to go to. It takes less than 20 minutes to read his lecture slides for the 80 minute class. I was disappointed with this class though, mainly because my TA was a horrific grader, and I got a B in the class when I could've easily gotten a A had it not been for my TA.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/27/2023

Tons of extra credit, easiest A of my life highly reccomend!

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/26/2023

I took this class completely online and had a great experience. She was a kind teacher who was interesting to listen to. The format of the class was easy to follow and the weekly assignments were super easy. The exams were a bit difficult, but not impossible and very fair. The class was not time consuming at all, but I was still able to learn a bit. Definitely recommend, especially for online.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
neesh1903
05/24/2023

Honestly not a bad class. The quizzes can sometimes be annoying but he is a very dedicated professor and really knows what he is talking about

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2023

The reviews are true. Any review of fewer than 5 stars is truly from someone who put no effort into the course. Professor Parham is a professor who truly cares about his students and what he teaches. He tells stories, shows videos, and makes the class interactive even through Zoom. He is a person who really understands college students and how we act. His essays ARE moderately challenging, so starting them a day before will get you ready and a good grade, but that's out of his control. If you get to know him more, he's a really cool guy in general. He's a compassionate guy who will understand if you have trouble, as he really wants to connect with his students. Highly recommend! Get into his class! Don't get any other professor! I kid you not you will not regret it.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/09/2023

this class was such a mess. my psyc section was completely on zoom, so dr. abi would constantly get distracted and wouldn't stay on track. perhaps her in person classes are better, but don't take her online

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2023

joke of a professor and joke of a class. Complete waste of time and worse than high school busy work. the only thing i learned is i hate psyc100 and i wasted my time and money just so i could take a prerequisite.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2023

This is the worst class if you are trying to fill a prerequisite and never want to do anything with psychology. His lectures are long and a waste of time, briefly covering contend and then showing you multiple youtube videos. One lecture was spent almost entirely on the blue/black vs white/gold dress and spun it as "perspective." I find him to be unprofessional, seemingly unqualified as a professor, and truly got nothing out of his class except for the passionate distain for psyc100. On top of his unprofessionalism, his assignments for class are worse than busy work you did in high school and a complete waste of time, then graded harsher than they should for a 100 level class that is the biggest joke. Not an easy A and if you are a busy stem major do not waste your time with this joke of a class or professor.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/26/2023

Professor Jones is entertaining and endearing, he may ramble a bit in his lectures but they are generally fun to listen to. There are a lot of assignments throughout each week, but they are generally not difficult and not too time-consuming. Very laid back and fun intro course!

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
01/16/2023

Had her for Fall 2022, wouldn't recommend over other teachers for this class. It never felt like a gened and required more work than necessary. You're going to spend a lot of time compiling notes for the open-note exams, but the notes still didn't help sometimes because the exams were very difficult. Thank god she curves them, otherwise nobody would get an A. Classes are terribly boring and most of it is just review from what you had to learn for the online quizzes every Monday. Wednesdays were completely useless because they're taught by TA's (who were very nice, but they didn't give anybody any new information). You have to do an essay every two weeks, and that's not so bad. You can also complete every quiz and essay online weeks in advance if you put in the effort, which is nice. Basically, if you're good with notetaking and have a lot of time on your hands, this class is for you.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/05/2023

Professor Nicholas is a legend! She has such an incredible personality and makes lecture interesting and exciting. She is very excited to teach and loves her students. The class is not too bad. There is a quiz every week based on the readings which aren't too hard and there are 3 exams which are open note and online which are pretty easy. I recommend taking this class with Nicolas because she really is an amazing person and wants all of her students to do well.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/26/2022

She was a really good psyc100 professor. Class was not too hard and she is very engaging in lectures. Very passionate about the subject and she was approachable about any questions about the course or psychology in general.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Professor Parham is easily one of the best professors I have had. He is engaging and truly cares about his students in an impactful way. Super interesting lectures, exams are straight forward, and essays are relevant and simple as long as you do what is asked. Highly recommend.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2022

Great professor, he genuinely wants to teach and help students and his lectures are quite interesting and somewhat interactive. He is overall a great person with an open mind and awareness. If you want an intro to psychology, then definitely take this because even if you don't pursue psychology later, this course will help you out in your life later on.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Good lecturer and makes lectures informative and entertaining. Exams are online and open note which is nice. Discussions are biweekly and mandatory. Overall great teacher and a good class.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/15/2022

Dr. Jones is a good lecturer, and his classes are very interesting and engaging. You will likely enjoy this class. Some of the application activities are difficult (particularly the ones were you are required to read actual psychology studies), but overall I enjoyed the class quite a bit. The exams are super easy and open note.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/14/2022

I would not recommend prof Vandaalen for PSYC100. Lectures are extremely boring with and basically useless for learning the material and doing well on the exams. Exams are very hard, making your notes extremely important for success on the exams. It really seems like lectures barely cover any of the required material for exams. If it weren't for extra credit opportunities and curves on exams, this class would be very hard. I know other teachers are way more chill and require much less work than her. She's a nice person that is accommodating, but I found myself doing way more work than expected. Especially when compiling good notes before exams. You will not learn much in this class.

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/13/2022

Great professor and an extremely easy class. She accepted late work with no points off. She explained the content well and always knew the answers to student questions.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/12/2022

I think that Professor Parham was great. I took an online class with him and he was very caring and a nice professor. His lectures were interesting and I was often engaged. He takes late work but of course try to get everything in on time if you can so it does not overwhelm you at the end.

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/12/2022

She was wonderful. Offers a lot of opportunities for extra credit which is great. Her lectures were always fun and you could tell she tries really hard to make them engaging. Would definitely recommend to anyone

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2022

Great engaging professor. She lectures like she's a stand up comedian. Midterms and final exams are online and open note. Lecture slides posted to ELMS which is helpful. Many opportunities for extra credit. Would take another class with her; she's passionate about PSYC for sure!

Abigail Nicolas
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/05/2022

She grades very easily, but some of her lectures seem off topic. The exams are all online and open note which is amazing. It is important to attend the lectures because she includes stuff from class on her exams, and she offers the answers to extra credit assignments.

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/01/2022

This class is overall very easy, you have reading quizzes that are online, easy papers that as long as you reach the page limit you should get a 100%, and three exams that are open book and open note that you take online. But the lectures are a waste of time honestly, you learn more from the book than you do from listening to her because she would talk about politics a lot. And as someone who doesn't share her views, I would just stay silent. But she is a very nice teacher and is very fair and reasonable (you don't even have strict due dates) and it was nice hearing her personal stories sometimes but the content just turned into a political tangent and some of the writing is very political.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/01/2022

I took him in Spring 2022. He's a good lecturer and tries to make the content interesting. Aside from the PowerPoints, he also includes visuals (mainly videos) to accompany the information. The workload of the course was extremely heavy for a 100-level class in my opinion, but I think that's uniform throughout all sections regardless of professor. Lectures weren't mandatory, but he did have clicker assignments during lecture that were graded for participation. The discussions were mandatory and they take attendance each time, and they happen every other week. There's an online textbook that's provided for all students. There were 3 take-home exams (including the final) when I had him, application activities every other week (the week's that you didn't have discussion), worksheets (which are like quizzes on ELMS) for each module, and learning activities. He also had exam reflections to try to gain back some points on exams. I would grade the general course worse, but Dr. Jones makes it bearable for the most part.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
08/30/2022

The 5-star reviews are not overexaggerating. As a senior, Professor Parham is one of the instructors who left a significant impact on my career. Not only is he understanding and accommodating to life circumstances, he also genuinely cares about the progress of his students. Taking psyc100 with him reinforced my interest in the field and 4 years later I am just as motivated to learn more about psychology as I was when taking the intro course with Professor Parham. If you have the option to take a class with him, do it!

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/25/2022

Professor Vandaalen is very nice and very caring. However, her class is incredibly boring and barely covers any of the information in the textbook. Going to the lectures was a complete waste of time and I didn't get much out of them. I would have preferred actually learning a lot of the information that was in the textbook as opposed to learning about one small thing in the chapter. The tests were impossible and were incredibly difficult. I only did well because the curve was insane. Every test the curve would add at least 20 points. That said, I will say that Professor Vandaalen wants her students to do well and that is why she offers a bunch of extra credit assignments and curves the tests a ton. I am so appreciative that she was kind enough to do this. However, I would recommend taking the other Professor for PSYC100 such as Jones because my friends had him and did absolutely no work and their tests were open book and online as opposed to our tests being in person on a scantron and we were only allowed one doubled-sided piece of paper. In closing, Vandaalen is a very nice and caring person but I wouldn't go through all the hard work and stress to get the grade you want. Just take the easy A with the other professor.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
07/12/2022

Amazing guy, had fun and learned so much. Some papers and exams/quizzes, but all manageable

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/29/2022

Dr.Vandaalen is a really great professor, she makes the class easy, and she is always available when you are in need of help both in person and via email. The exams all have a curve which is really great, and there are a ton of options for extra credit opportunities in case anyone does need it. In general she makes psychology really interesting and fun to learn. By far one of my most favorite professors I've ever had at this university

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/27/2022

Quite literally one of the greatest teachers at UMD, not only as a teacher but as a person as well. Professor Parham is very understanding and is there to help you succeed. He helps you understand psychology to a level you can apply it to your daily life, rather than just feed you information. Every assignment was with a purpose, and they were all very engaging. The Scientific Analysis, was definitely the hardest part of this class, but if you work on them in advance you should be fine. Exams were straightforward and easy. This guy is a GOAT. Take him if you see him. Best of luck. -

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/22/2022

The lecture content is interesting and he's a good lecturer - definitely a character to listen to. Lecture is not mandatory, discussion sections are. Textbook is free and accessible online. If you don't plan accordingly, his assignments can be overwhelming and difficult because they are due in the middle of the week at 4pm (usually). They will be difficult to do well on if you don't read so don't think you can get away with a good grade by not doing the required weekly readings. The readings are time consuming as well but I found them pretty interesting so it wasn't too bad. Discussion sections are mandatory and they grade you on your attendance/participation. Honestly, the discussion section was the worst part of this class because the activities weren't helpful or relevant, just busy work. It would've been nice if they had reiterated content/ideas learned in lecture but nope, they fed you an entirely different topic irrelevant to lecture. Aside from that, it's a good class. You will be REQUIRED to volunteer for research studies for a total of three credits, most of which you can do online. Just make sure to knock them out earlier on because you have to do them on your own time and they are annoying to do. Great class, highly recommend professor Jones.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/21/2022

Nothing bad to say about Dr. Vandaalen. She makes this class very easy and managable. Grades are pretty simple, with participation clicker questions, weekly HW, exams, and writing assignments. She really wants you to succeed and will allow for lots of EC opportunity and curves very generously. By far one of my best teachers during the semester.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/20/2022

The lectures were so boring and honestly useless because no one showed up and she made it discussion based. Participation is graded on clicker questions that can be done at home which was nice. The textbook (Open Psyc) was such a bore to read at times, but you only need to read it in preparation for the exams for which we were allowed a 8x11 sheet of paper to put notes on. Discussion section was extremely useless but it's only every other week so it wasn't too bad. She curves heavily and gives lots of extra credit. The class itself is easy to pass, but you won't be learning anything in this class. If you're interested in the subject, take this class with a different professor. Otherwise, it's a chill class.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/20/2022

PROS: very nice and caring professor, allows for lots of extra credit opportunities, allows for a full 8x11 front and back cheat sheet, and gives a generous curve on exams, 5 easy papers IF you follow the rubric CONS: exams were excessively difficult(class average was never above 65% for any of the 3 exams), even when I felt as though I had a good understanding of the content questions revolved around tricky little details from the class rather than knowledge of the overall concept, this was annoying, and if it weren't for the curve this class would've been way more stressful. Almost all the learning comes from the homeworks which aren't bad but a bit tedious. She also wasn't a great lecturer, seemed new and nervous, sometimes I honestly felt like I could answer questions and explain the answer more clearly than she would. Overall, be thankful for the curve.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/18/2022

I really enjoyed her class. Exams were relatively easy, if you knew how to answer the questions from the study guide you were guaranteed an A on the exam. Dr.Vandaalen is a very nice and understanding professor, she provided numerous opportunities for extra credit so make sure you take advantage of that

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Anonymous
05/17/2022

I can tell that Dr.Vandaalen is sweet but she is not meant to be a professor. Lectures were the biggest waste of time and the tests were impossible. We were always graded harshly and feedback was limited so we were always unsure of how to improve. The only saving grace was the huge curve and extra credit. Don't take her if you don't have to!

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/28/2022

Class was relatively boring, almost no one showed up. It wasn't too bad, it was more of a lack of participation that made it boring. She had "attendance" grades but those are just clickers and can be done at home. However, this class is very easy; lots of extra credit opportunities and huge test curves. She also allowed full pages for notes on the test, you could basically fit the entire chapter's material on it. There are also a total of 5 "essays", they are only 500 words and pretty straightforward. If you follow the rubric and make it comprehensive, you will get most of the points. The only real con is that you learn mostly from the homework worksheets that she gives, but they're easy. I would say that she knows what she is talking about and enjoys teaching the material, though. I would recommend this class as it's not too much of a workload.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/14/2022

Dr. Jones is great! he is young which is nice because he gets or sense of humor and the class as a whole is pretty chill! People are complaining about the work but it's one quiz on elms each week that you have an entire week to do, it's untimed, and you can open and close it as many times as you want. Exams were online even though the class was in person which was nice! He makes the content interesting and even lets you earn extra points after exams as a chance to kind of "redo it". Hihgly recommend Dr. Jones, he's great!

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
03/16/2022

I received an 104% in this class due to extra credit he offered and the class being extremely easy, this class was one of the easiest A's I've ever gotten, he offers no midterms, no finals. All you have to do is do the worksheets, and put effort into the SAs due every other week. I got 30/30 on almost every SA assignment except one time I got a 27/30 because I was lazy and just typed something out quickly. I would recommend him if you just want a chill, easy class. I also enjoyed the conversations he would have with the class. We barely went over actual content but it was interesting to engage in current topics in psychology like social media, the American education system, etc. Some people didn't like this but I actually enjoyed this a lot, it was the only reason I came to class. I think Selterman is a great professor.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Anonymous
03/06/2022

Dr. Jones lectures very well, and it is very convenient that you can watch the lectures online. My only complaint is the amount of work. Every week, you have about 6 hours of homework from this class alone. He does not provide extensions nor does he reply to your emails about feeling overwhelmed with work.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Anonymous
12/19/2021

Professor Parham is so nice and the class is not difficult at all. Just go to his exam reviews where he goes over the entire test and take notes and you should be able to ace the test no problem. I wish I could take him for more classes.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/18/2021

Such a chill and understanding professor. Clearly knows her stuff, which makes lectures easy to follow along with. The workload isn't anything to blow off, but I highly recommend you take her class if you genuinely want to learn about psychology.

Heather Ganginis DelPino
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/10/2021

Very easy class, but her lectures do not cover anything about the exams and oftentimes even the chapters. If you want to take a class about racism take this class. I often was scared to challenge her because I am a white male and was afraid she would tell me I am using my privilege over her. When teachers begin to suppress people's ideas and not have an open mind, this becomes dangerous.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2021

i only went to two lectures and still got an a. jones is pretty convenient bc you can watch lectures on elms. you don't need to buy a textbook. his recorded lectures were always great. great for intro to psyc!

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/09/2021

Very easy A, just do the weekly worksheets and short SAs. Try to do the Clicker questions because it doesn't matter if you get them wrong as long as you participate. Dylan is nice and sometimes funny but he goes off topic. He let you choose in-person and zoom, there are no exams or final projects, and the course load is fair. It's a great elective to boost your GPA and the content is very interesting.

Rachel Vandaalen
PSYC100

Anonymous
12/09/2021

Both the professor and the TA for this class are very nice. Exams are heavily weighted though!! If you have a strong passion for psychology I would definitely recommend taking her class.

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/09/2021

I put it in very minimal effort in this class and got an A. It was so easy. The professor doesn’t have any exams. You have an open note worksheet quiz every week, and a paper every other week. The TA’s do all the grading and they usually go pretty light. I also did not learn anything and could not help anybody with this class, but at least it was a GPA boost.

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A
WALIK
12/01/2021

I think professor Selterman is a solid professor overall. The course work is extremely manageable (a worksheet once a week and a 500-word short response once every other week.) He also doesn't require you to come to class in person and offers both an in-person as well as zoom option which is very convenient. The grading is pretty fair on the short responses as it's mostly the TA's grading them. He's very ingrained in his beliefs which can make it a bit hard to have a meaningful discussion if you disagree with him or present a counterargument to his point of view. But it's nothing ridiculous like I've seen in some of these reviews. No exams are a huge plus too. I would take him again for sure and I enjoyed how manageable the workload is

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
11/19/2021

Definitely the kindest professor ever, so glad that I had the opportunity to take his class. He teaches virtually from Florida but makes online learning so fun and easy to follow/understand. He's a very fair grader and very understanding. He has a rule that if something is due at 11:59, he won't count it as late as long as you hand it in before 10 AM the next day (and even then he doesn't take off many points for late assignments). He also starts every lecture by asking each student how they are and if they have anything fun that they want to share with the class which shows that he actually cares about his students and wants to connect with them.

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/11/2021

IF YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO TAKE HIM, DO IT! One of the best professors I have had so far. Very organized and makes lectures and topics super easy to follow. There are 7 essay but he is a pretty chill grader and in smaller classes he will given opportunities for feedback before grading the paper. He does not put in 0 for late assignment unless you do not do anything. One of the best natural science classes to take! He does exam reviews and gives out candy!

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/26/2021

Is he good at actually teaching? Absolutely! Am I coming out of this semester knowing more about psychology than I did? Yep! Is there a heavy workload? Yes to that too. However, unfortunately he is very quick to report students to the OSC over minor similarities found using turnitin.com, as helpful as this website can be, it can't be too heavily relied on for student work, especially when the professor specifically states that proper APA format and references aren't required for these 400-500 word essays, not just that, neither him nor my TA contacted me beforehand to clarify the situation. I'm sure he's great in an offline setting, but online, he jumps to conclusions and has power trips if you bring up how harshly a TA may grade your papers. I will also be taking his PSYC234 class next semester when we're fully back on campus so hopefully I'll have a better review.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
02/06/2021

Definitely a 10/10 professor. His lectures were super fun and engaging, and the assignments he gave each week helped solidify the material we had to learn. Definitely a professor I reccomend

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/24/2021

Very good professor and he is obviously very aware of what's going on with the pandemic and how to ensure that his students can hold open discussions about what is going on in the world. He gives a lot of extra credit assignments. As long as you do your work on time and complete extra credit assignments, you should get an A in this class. He is a bit egotistical about some philosophies as others have mentioned but overall, he is a very well-spoken professor. The same goes for his TAs

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/14/2020

Dr. Jones was a solid teacher. Although my course was 100% asynchronous I could still gather that he was knowledgeable about the topics and passionate about helping students succeed. The textbook for this course was amazing (and free). Dr. Jones gave lots of interesting assignments and was extremely consistent in the amount of work he required each week. I do wish we had more ways to incorporate more interaction with other students, but I understand the course was all online and asynchronous which made it difficult.

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/12/2020

The nicest and most understanding professor during this pandemic. Please take his class he genuinely wants you to learn! He made us do projects instead of exams and made the final one optional!

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
08/22/2020

Was a lot of work and I felt like it should honestly be a 4-credit class. While the content wasn't difficult, the workload felt overwhelming at times. Between weekly 30-50 question quizzes, and having essays due every other week, it was rough for me. Don't take this class unless required.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
07/12/2020

great professor and very nice. answers emails super fast and cares for his students!

Dirk Parham
PSYC100

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
04/29/2020

EASILY my favorite professor of all of freshman year! He very clearly loves teaching & psychology and has never had a boring lecture. I took PSYC100 and it was definitely on the easy side because he makes it a personal mission to make sure everyone in the class is doing well. He was also super accommodating with the online classes, and he's one of the reasons I'm now a psych major. take his class!! you will NOT regret it.

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/21/2019

You can tell Selterman knows what he's talking about when he teaching during lecture. His exams are application based and are very tricky. However, exams are weighted less than the worksheets that we have to do every week, which take about 3 hours to do. I would do as well as possible on those quizzes, so the exam grades won't affect you as much. The class is interesting, but the workload kind of ruins it. It's not an easy A type class.

Benjamin Jones
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/12/2019

Honestly one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He explain concepts very well, make class fun by doing activities that help us understand and remember different concepts, and cracking a few jokes. He genuinely wants his students to learn the material. His tests are tricky, but if you study really hard, go to his office hours, and get good homework/quiz/attendance scores, you should do fine. I’d expect A- if you work really hard but it’s so worth it because he’s a great teacher.

Marina Chernikova
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
10/16/2018

She is awesome! I loved having her as a professor. She had us do a lot of hands-on activities to make sure we were engaged and paying attention.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
03/20/2018

Great guy! Dr. Curtis really knows his stuff and is very helpful in office hours if you're struggling with a concept. People really hate the class because they think it's a weed out course, but you'll do fine if you just do the work. The weekly worksheets are long and a pain, but all the answers are in the reading and help you study while you read. They can also be found online easily. There are 6 writing assignments, but again just answer the questions directly and without fluff and you'll be fine. Plus you can go to any of the TA office hours and they'll read over your papers before you turn them in. The exams can get you because they're multiple choice so you either know it or you don't but if you do all the work assigned it generally helps you study. Not a lot of extra credit.

Dylan Selterman
PSYC100

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/30/2017

He claims to be on the students side, but in reality has 0 consideration for them.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Expecting a D
Anonymous
06/29/2015

Terrible professor. His quizzes are completely unfair. He says that his quizzes are strictly for him to tell if you're doing the reading and he said the answers can be found DIRECTLY from the readings. The problem is that half of the answers don't come from the reading...and you have to guess....which isn't fair because it's not in the reading... and he is NOT responsive to emails at all so if you try to explain why a question wasn't fair, he doesn't respond back (not professional...). For the essays, the grading scheme is: A (100%), B- (82%)...you can't score anywhere between 100% and 82%..... like what??..So one content mistake or one grammar mistake will already drop you down to a B-....another mistake will drop you down to a C-. Therefore it's possible to fail every single essay. Not a fair professor at all. Honestly, I'm a senior neurobio major so I've had some pretty tough/hard/unfair profs (like for Orgo2, Mam Phys, BCHM)...but honestly, curtis is the worst prof i've ever had here at umd.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/03/2014

Dr. Curtis is very knowledgable and a great lecturer. The class is a lot of work and some questions on the test are tricky, but if you put in the effort and complete all assignments you should easily get an A or B. There are clicker points each lecture so it's best to go to those. There's also MANY extra credit opportunities.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Anonymous
12/20/2013

Good lecturer, but this class is A LOT of work. You can not slack off. The every other week Blended Learning Assignments were graded hard: you can only get a A, C, D, F and you can not redo them. Discussion was a joke. Weekly 50 questions that are submitted on elems on Mondays and no redo. The book is online(he wrote the book) so make sure you read everything. Test are HARD. Good luck in the class!

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/12/2013

NEVER TAKE PSYCH!!! If you like clicker classes, tedious online weekly quizzes (which you will end up taking shortcuts on), obnoxious blended learning assignments, and pointless discussion (which you will skip)..... then take this class. Otherwise, if you're normal and don't want to pull your hair out, avoid it. NOTE: I'm not saying it is hard, it is just miserable. Now on Professor Curtis: He's honestly one of the better teachers I had freshman year. He does a great job being prepared for class, he uses a variety of methods to convey the information, and he honestly loves the subject. I'm sure psych majors consider him incredible because he truly knows and loves his material. But, for the average Gen-ed satisfying student, he's just a pretty good teacher. He is very clear about his expectations and will not budge for almost anything. Read and follow the syllabus, and you won't ever need to even speak to him. Also, he is very available to the students and makes it clear that he is available to help with anything class-related. He's pretty funny, and even funnier when he gets pissed off about phones going off in class. (organize it one day to see; 4 rings going off should do the trick). Overall, nobody can claim he's a jerk or unreasonable. He's strict, honest, and professional. The comments about him being condescending are slightly true, but for the most part that's just people being knit picky .

Scott Roberts
PSYC100

w_l
11/19/2013

Best professor at UMD. He is funny, nice and presents the material in interesting ways. However, this is not an easy class. It requires a lot of work, but it is definitely worth taking. I had never taken a psyc class before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Take this class with Roberts if you can! Highly recommend.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

msliko
08/22/2013

I had Curtis for PSYC100. He was very knowledgeable of anything to do with psychology and the way he led class and taught the material made sure that I was able to retain and apply everything that we learned. While he was strict on deadlines and assignments, he was willing to do what he could to make sure you succeed. I would recommend for any psychology class.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Anonymous
05/15/2013

Really nice guy but i had a hard time with this class. Easy material but asks for a lot on tests. There was a lot of extra credit in the class especially toward the end. But the weekly blended learning assignments were graded very . poorly- you either got a A, C, or D which is unfair to me doesn't let you redo them either. overall this class has been annoying but it could definitely be worse.

Ryan Curtis
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/26/2011

Curtis as absolutely fabulous. Very funny in lecture and explains things clearly. He is accessible outside of class and is willing to clarify/answer if you have questions about subject matter. The only hard thing about the class is its size (PSYC 100). Grades don't tend to be posted on time, and the worksheets are real point-drainers/GPA killers. Wording in exams/worksheets is also not always completely clear. Curtis is a great lecturer, but the class itself doesn't measure up.

Scott Roberts
PSYC100

Expecting an A-
sccerkid02
05/25/2011

Dr. Roberts is amazing! I had him in the fall, and I learned so much. It does require a substantial amount of time and work, but not at all unbearable. With that said, it is DEFINITELY worth it, because his style of teaching and assigning work it extremely beneficial; I learned A LOT, and i still remember a great deal of it five months later! He is a psychologist, so he knows the best way for us to learn, and applies it. Dr. Roberts makes Psych FUN and INTERESTING!

Scott Roberts
PSYC100

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/13/2011

I had scott roberts this year for Psyc 100, and it was a lot of work. That being said, it was extremely interesting. Most of the work was done on weekends, with a "study guide" to be completed by the beginning of every week. the study guides took a long time at least 4 hours all put together, but he makes the chapters himself and they are filled with videos and other things that make it a lot less boring than if he just gave us a textbook and told us to read. If you study and do the work, though tiring at times, you will do fine.

Reviews for PSYC100