SOCY242 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/30/2024	Unpopular opinion but I love this course. Professor Vanneman is very knowledgeable. He lectures for the entire class and gives good information. To do well in this class you have to do well on the midterm, paper, and final. There is a lot of reading in this class but it isn't bad as long as you enjoy the subject. The reading quizzes are hard but they barely affect your grade. He gives a midterm and final by giving you a question bank then choosing randomly the questions the day of the exam. During class he will go through the question that relates to the work and then he will answer in full what he wants. So as long as you do the readings, take notes, go to class, and study, you are fine. The paper is easy as well, you have to interview a homelessness provider and then write about it with info we learned in class. The subject is interesting and as long as you try, it is not that bad. It is not an easy A, and A is earned in this class
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/21/2023	Professor Reeve is very passionate about the subjects, however, the course itself can use some improvement. It is difficult to hear him speak in class so you have to sit near the front to even understand what he was wheezing about. He would purposely put difficult questions into the weekly reading quizzes (where many of the answers were not mentioned in the pages of reading). This would result in several quiz grades being adjusted. The grading was also atrocious. Many of the big assignments, such as the final project (15% of the grade) and module quiz (15% as well) were graded on the very last day of the semester. The TA was unnecessarily strict with grading the assignments, but when you ask him he would express some confusion with his own grading. Even though the subjects that we covered in class was interesting, the course work and the grading makes this not worth it in the long run.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/17/2023	This man needs to retire. He discourages engagement and cannot keep a train of thought to answer questions. He is easily the worst professor i've ever had. he assigns readings and then contradicts them in class, as if he himself didn't comprehend the reading. he rambles on and on pointlessly, and won't allow any class discussion, pushing his interpretation of the reading as fact, even if he directly contradicts the author. He assigns quizzes which he admits have more than one correct answer, but marks them wrong and doesn't return points because, as he says, "the grade doesn't matter," even though the quizzes are like 10% of the grade which does add up if you constantly lose points to trick questions.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/13/2022	Profesor Vanneman is ok. At the end of the day, if you take a course with him, you'll be fine and get a good grade. The work is fairly easy, and he's very understanding of late work etc. (if you can get a hold of him lol). However, he can be kind of rude in class. He asks questions but then tells people to stop talking or shuts them down even if they give the right answer (because he's super particular about the order of things). He honestly needs to retire soon because it feels like he's tapped out and also unwilling to update and improve his class. Most of the content is outdated, and doesn't cover contemporary homelessness. It feels like he hasn't changed his quizzes or exams in 10 years because he's constantly admitting that he worded questions poorly and should have rewritten them. Also, the syllabus and due dates were set to the spring semester (I took this class in the fall) for more than a month. The midterm and final are really weirdly done, it's all short answer questions and he randomly picks 10 from 70 different ones- which makes it super memorization oriented and stupid. I wish the class had more application to present day homelessness, it's causes, and its effects especially with the pandemic. I also wish he included more of a diversity of questions in exams.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Anonymous 05/12/2022	I do not recommend taking Professor Vanneman. He seems like a very nice guy and he is passionate about the topic but not a good professor. The lectures are so boring, it is just him talking monotone for an hour and 15 mins straight. He can barely hear when people ask questions so there is no point in raising your hand. He assigns weekly reading quizzes that are impossible to get a good grade on. The questions are often misleading and there can be multiple correct answers listed but he only selects one right answer. He also claimed that the quizzes were graded for completion but it did not end up being that way. He is nearly impossible to reach via email because he will never get back to you. The major assignment for the course is an interview paper. There was not even a rubric attached to the assignment so the instructions are not clear at all. Overall I do not recommend you take this course. It was a struggle all semester.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2021	Professor Vanneman is the ideal grandpa but not the ideal professor. He is kind, friendly, and loves to share his knowledge. But the pros stop there - and the cons begin. Professor Vanneman is the most boring lecturer you will have at UMD. His class is not engaging, uninteresting, and unorganized. Vanneman’s teaching style is “let’s review last class for the first half of this class, then I will ramble about how much I hate Elms and blame it on my issues pulling up this class’ slideshow.” Vanneman has been at UMD for decades yet doesn’t know how to operate basic technology. On top of his disorganization, Vanneman doesn’t encourage nor seek out class participation. You will be talked to, not talked with. Try raising your hand, and he either won’t see it or actively ignore you. As for the workload, each week you have two reading quizzes. Skim the book and you can ace them. As for exams, there is a midterm and final which are fair and not difficult if you study, seeing as though all the questions are released beforehand. However, expect to receive your graded assignments back in approximately 5 years because in Vanneman’s words, “Gosh darn, Elms won’t work!” In sum: don’t take this class - look elsewhere.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Anonymous 12/20/2021	The worst professor I've ever had hands down. The dude seems nice, but he's the least engaging lecturer you'll ever have to witness. He cant hear you half the time and pretends he can, so he'll just ramble and not answer you. His exams are joke and he never enters anything into the grade book. You'll want to die when taking the stupid reading quizzes twice a week, and since they will be the ONLY thing in the grade until the end of the semester have fun stressing over our grade since you have no clue what it really is. What should be an easy sociology class is a monotonous joke.
Reeve Vanneman SOCY242 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/19/2021	Professor Vanneman is a really nice guy. Had him for SOCY242 - a course on the underlying causes and effects of homelessness. Very interesting class if you care about societal issues. Class is primarily focused on synchronous lectures on Zoom, attend and you'll have all the resources to do well in the course. The majority of the class grade comes from the midterm, final, and one paper on homeless shelter interviews. It's a lenient class and Vanneman is very understanding when it comes to conflicts - almost too much so. Good class, would recommend.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/30/2024

Unpopular opinion but I love this course. Professor Vanneman is very knowledgeable. He lectures for the entire class and gives good information. To do well in this class you have to do well on the midterm, paper, and final. There is a lot of reading in this class but it isn't bad as long as you enjoy the subject. The reading quizzes are hard but they barely affect your grade. He gives a midterm and final by giving you a question bank then choosing randomly the questions the day of the exam. During class he will go through the question that relates to the work and then he will answer in full what he wants. So as long as you do the readings, take notes, go to class, and study, you are fine. The paper is easy as well, you have to interview a homelessness provider and then write about it with info we learned in class. The subject is interesting and as long as you try, it is not that bad. It is not an easy A, and A is earned in this class

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/21/2023

Professor Reeve is very passionate about the subjects, however, the course itself can use some improvement. It is difficult to hear him speak in class so you have to sit near the front to even understand what he was wheezing about. He would purposely put difficult questions into the weekly reading quizzes (where many of the answers were not mentioned in the pages of reading). This would result in several quiz grades being adjusted. The grading was also atrocious. Many of the big assignments, such as the final project (15% of the grade) and module quiz (15% as well) were graded on the very last day of the semester. The TA was unnecessarily strict with grading the assignments, but when you ask him he would express some confusion with his own grading. Even though the subjects that we covered in class was interesting, the course work and the grading makes this not worth it in the long run.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
04/17/2023

This man needs to retire. He discourages engagement and cannot keep a train of thought to answer questions. He is easily the worst professor i've ever had. he assigns readings and then contradicts them in class, as if he himself didn't comprehend the reading. he rambles on and on pointlessly, and won't allow any class discussion, pushing his interpretation of the reading as fact, even if he directly contradicts the author. He assigns quizzes which he admits have more than one correct answer, but marks them wrong and doesn't return points because, as he says, "the grade doesn't matter," even though the quizzes are like 10% of the grade which does add up if you constantly lose points to trick questions.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2022

Profesor Vanneman is ok. At the end of the day, if you take a course with him, you'll be fine and get a good grade. The work is fairly easy, and he's very understanding of late work etc. (if you can get a hold of him lol). However, he can be kind of rude in class. He asks questions but then tells people to stop talking or shuts them down even if they give the right answer (because he's super particular about the order of things). He honestly needs to retire soon because it feels like he's tapped out and also unwilling to update and improve his class. Most of the content is outdated, and doesn't cover contemporary homelessness. It feels like he hasn't changed his quizzes or exams in 10 years because he's constantly admitting that he worded questions poorly and should have rewritten them. Also, the syllabus and due dates were set to the spring semester (I took this class in the fall) for more than a month. The midterm and final are really weirdly done, it's all short answer questions and he randomly picks 10 from 70 different ones- which makes it super memorization oriented and stupid. I wish the class had more application to present day homelessness, it's causes, and its effects especially with the pandemic. I also wish he included more of a diversity of questions in exams.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Anonymous
05/12/2022

I do not recommend taking Professor Vanneman. He seems like a very nice guy and he is passionate about the topic but not a good professor. The lectures are so boring, it is just him talking monotone for an hour and 15 mins straight. He can barely hear when people ask questions so there is no point in raising your hand. He assigns weekly reading quizzes that are impossible to get a good grade on. The questions are often misleading and there can be multiple correct answers listed but he only selects one right answer. He also claimed that the quizzes were graded for completion but it did not end up being that way. He is nearly impossible to reach via email because he will never get back to you. The major assignment for the course is an interview paper. There was not even a rubric attached to the assignment so the instructions are not clear at all. Overall I do not recommend you take this course. It was a struggle all semester.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/24/2021

Professor Vanneman is the ideal grandpa but not the ideal professor. He is kind, friendly, and loves to share his knowledge. But the pros stop there - and the cons begin. Professor Vanneman is the most boring lecturer you will have at UMD. His class is not engaging, uninteresting, and unorganized. Vanneman’s teaching style is “let’s review last class for the first half of this class, then I will ramble about how much I hate Elms and blame it on my issues pulling up this class’ slideshow.” Vanneman has been at UMD for decades yet doesn’t know how to operate basic technology. On top of his disorganization, Vanneman doesn’t encourage nor seek out class participation. You will be talked to, not talked with. Try raising your hand, and he either won’t see it or actively ignore you. As for the workload, each week you have two reading quizzes. Skim the book and you can ace them. As for exams, there is a midterm and final which are fair and not difficult if you study, seeing as though all the questions are released beforehand. However, expect to receive your graded assignments back in approximately 5 years because in Vanneman’s words, “Gosh darn, Elms won’t work!” In sum: don’t take this class - look elsewhere.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Anonymous
12/20/2021

The worst professor I've ever had hands down. The dude seems nice, but he's the least engaging lecturer you'll ever have to witness. He cant hear you half the time and pretends he can, so he'll just ramble and not answer you. His exams are joke and he never enters anything into the grade book. You'll want to die when taking the stupid reading quizzes twice a week, and since they will be the ONLY thing in the grade until the end of the semester have fun stressing over our grade since you have no clue what it really is. What should be an easy sociology class is a monotonous joke.

Reeve Vanneman
SOCY242

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/19/2021

Professor Vanneman is a really nice guy. Had him for SOCY242 - a course on the underlying causes and effects of homelessness. Very interesting class if you care about societal issues. Class is primarily focused on synchronous lectures on Zoom, attend and you'll have all the resources to do well in the course. The majority of the class grade comes from the midterm, final, and one paper on homeless shelter interviews. It's a lenient class and Vanneman is very understanding when it comes to conflicts - almost too much so. Good class, would recommend.

Reviews for SOCY242