Reviews for PSYC302

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Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/05/2023	Dr. Chicoli is one of the worst professors that I have ever had teaching one of the hardest courses I have ever taken. I have never gotten a grade lower than an A- at this school, but this class make me worried that I am going to get a C. Her lectures are extremely hard to take notes on, because they are all picture based and the terms are barely verbally explained. The assignments are also incredible vague, and she is very specific about grading. If you are confused about something, she will ask other students to teach you instead of explaining it better, which is tough when no other students understand, so they are teaching you the wrong thing. Her exams are much harder than any of the practice problems that we were given, and touch on concepts that were not deemed important based on the amount of time she spent on them in class. If you need to take a Theme I course, take any class but this one. Or maybe this class but with a different professor. Either way, take with caution.
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting an A Anonymous 08/31/2023	Dr. Chicoli is super knowledgeable and willing to stay after class to answer any questions. had her for psyc300 and struggled there but took advantage of asking more questions/sitting in the front row this time and enjoyed this class a lot. the content is already naturally interesting and her teaching made it better. taking neuro prior to this class did help me, so I would recommend doing that. nothing else to say, loved her
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/26/2022	Very content heavy class that has a lot of new vocabulary and easily mixed-up material. She did provide many open office hours (even reserving a room in the same building right after class) and in class review time, which was very helpful for studying for exams. Exams have multiple choice (which was on the difficult side due to wide range of topics discussed and knowledge of both content and application) and short answers that were mostly taken directly from weekly assignments. Lectures themselves are content heavy, but learning outcomes are clearly stated for every lecture so creating a study guide is not too difficult. Dr. Chicoli was always willing to answer questions, both in class and office hours. In class, I do understand how people thought she could come off as “passive aggressive,” as she would sometimes expect students to have perfect understanding of smaller topics, topics from a few lectures before, or topics they had just learned. However I took the “passive aggressive” ness more as frustration with not communicating. In short, I would take this class if you knew you could dedicate a good amount of time to either studying (especially before exams) or going to office hours.
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/14/2021	Last review is EXTREMELY INACCURATE. You most definitely need a neuroscience background to even get a B+ in this class. Dr. Chicoli is overall nice but is not very responsive about student concerns. The reason why students have complained is because we are assessed on material that we either never learned, or is impossible to understand from not knowing the basics of neuro. Dr. Chicoli even said herself that it would be helpful to have a background in neuro after seeing the exam grades.
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2021	You DO NOT need a neuroscience course to pass this class! I am expecting an A and have only taken PSYC100 previously. The course is a bit lecture heavy (with clicker questions), but half the exam is based directly off the weekly assessments which we can work on in groups or check in with her during office hours. Plus, Dr. Chicoli gives really thorough feedback on these assignments and goes over them in class. She was super responsive to student concerns and has given extra credit on all exams. Exams are one aspect of the grade, but there are also the weekly homework assignments, a mid semester project and a final project. The course material itself can be a confusing, but gets easier toward the end of the semester after hearing some of the same terms multiple times. Given how much some students have complained, she has still been really positive and engaging in class which I also appreciate!
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Anonymous 11/18/2021	terrible terrible terrible. Lectures make no sense along with exams that are ridiculously hard, the average for both our first two exams was around a 64%. Does not listen to student concerns about class or exam, hardest psyc class I have taken at UMD and most unfair. If you do not have a background in neuroscience you will most likely fail.
Amanda Chicoli PSYC302 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 11/08/2021	DO NOT TAKE PSYC302 WITH DR. CHICOLI IF YOU ARE NOT A NEUROSCIENCE MINOR. This class was listed as one to take under theme 1 for psych with no prerequisite of taking any neuroscience class. Because of this, majority of the class had no background in 90% of the concepts she was trying to teach us. It is so hard to follow as the students in the class who are not neuroscience majors have no neuro foundations WHICH YOU NEED FOR THIS CLASS. The exams are extremely difficult and she grades fairly hard on our weekly assignments. After this semester Dr. Chicoli is considering adding neuro as a prerequisite due to the heavy confusion among majority of the students, but if it isn't added take this as your warning. Take any other theme 1 course.