Johanna Birnir

This professor has taught: BSST332, BSST399T, GVPT100, GVPT201, GVPT301, GVPT359I, GVPT729B, GVPT831, GVPT888I, GVPT888T

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Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/12/2025	I don't know why ANYONE would ever take this class if you weren't a GVPT major. I, unfortunately, am one and was subject to this torment of a class for a whole semester. Birnir was a fine professor but lectures were boring and recorded, so ultimately not necessary to attend. The content covered in said lectures was more or less a basic high school statistics class. As for the MOST important aspect of this class, the coding in R Studio, it is in fact not covered in the lectures but only in the weekly sections with the TAs. Those TAs are your lifeline in this class, and if you are unlucky, that's just rough. Mine were very nice and posted on the canvas under the section modules help for the R Studio homework which was, again, not discussed AT ALL in lecture, and basically saved my grade. Birnir encourages use of ChatGPT to help you with your code, however, it is not often helpful. Speaking from personal experience, coding takes the joy and soul out of your body, leaving you an emotionless husk of the person you once were before you started. Many late nights pulled for this class, would not recommend if not required.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2024	This class is challenging especially if you've never coded before. It is very statistics heavy and it is applied to government situations. The coding was pretty hard but if you reach out to Dr. Birnir she will take time to help you and she really wants you to do well, and she will keep checking up on you to make sure you understand the material. REALLY stay on top of the assignments and don't procrastinate because everything builds on each other. I also recommend reading the workbook and R companion book if you can to help solidify the material. To sum up this course: it's very hard but it's required so get it done as soon as possible, Dr. Birnir is a very kind professor who wants to help you succeed, and if you put in the effort you can do well.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/15/2024	I didn't love the structure of this class, but Dr. Birnir is super sweet and really cares about her students' success. As others have mentioned, the class is split into coding assignments using R and broader research/political science concepts she goes over in class. Lectures are livestreamed and recorded, so you don't have to go in person if you dont want to. Almost all of the classwork is either practicing coding in R or assignments related to a survey the class creates and distributes. Really only the midterms cover the concepts she goes over in class. I highly recommend starting the R homework assignments as early as possible, as the TAs will go over questions in discussion and its really helpful to be able to ask questions on problems you encountered. If you need to take this class, Dr. Birnir is not a bad option at all.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/13/2024	As a major requirement class, this class made me step away from the whole GVPT department in general. You literally have to teach yourself to code especially if you haven't taken a coding class before. The professor is not very helpful AT ALL. The TA's really carry this class and try their best to make this course a little it more understandable. This class was so stressful. I do not recommend taking this class at all, unless it is with a different professor.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/08/2024	Dr. Birnir is a great professor and clearly cares about her students and is interested in what she is teaching. The class is essentially split into two: 50% of the class is about the concepts related to statistics and political research, while the other 50% is dedicated to learning coding on RStudio. There is overlap, but you can reasonably complete every single RStudio assignment (>50% of your grade) without attending a single lecture (Take it from me!). This fact is emphasized when you consider that every RStudio homework has a provided walkthrough given to students by TAs. These things made me slightly disillusioned with the class over the course of the semester, but this is not Dr. Birnir's fault, and she tries hard to make dull concepts interesting. Overall, Birnir and the class are pretty good, considering it is a major requirement.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B- Anonymous 02/13/2024	as a teacher 6/10, as a person 10/10. I passed with a B-, for the hw honestly work as groups. codes are very unqiue and you will get stressed.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	Super clutch. One extra credit assignment, drops lowest HW if 80% of class does course review. Exams are online, open book. You can zoom into your lecture and discussion live. Lots of practice assignments, etc. Final project is a big chunk of your grade. The whole concept of the course is really cool, learning to improve data analytics skills, creating and sending out a massive survey, then conducting a project based on the data of that survey.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2023	GVPT201 has very similar concepts to that of a statistics class but with different coding in R. During the lectures Prof. Birnir is hard to pay attention to but she posts the slides and there is a textbook with the concepts she goes over in class to help explain what is going on. The coding isn't too bad, they typically provide samples that are really helpful for all the homework. The coding definitely doesn't always relate to what she is talking about in class, but her tests are fair. There are also a lot of resources including sample quizzes, and online videos explaining the concepts again that can be really helpful.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/11/2023	I had Dr. Johanna Birnir in Spring 2023. Dr. Birnir is an average professor however, her research in the field has made her respected. GVPT201 was not easy and there were hard quizzes every week on the content of the class. The class is extremely challenging, especially if you do it on your own so make friends in the class! Dr. Birnir is okay.
Johanna Birnir Anonymous 12/08/2023	She is a great person and i don't have anything against her, but i don't think her way of teaching is very good. We talk about concepts too quickly and we don't apply it in examples. She also lectures and rarely goes over anything. Shes very willing to answer questions, but learning concepts is hard because she goes so fast and doesn't do enough application/practice. This class does have coding, but coding is never on midterms. Discussions have coding and you'll have to submit an assignment involving coding every week, but TAs make them easy. But you have to talk to them. I advice you read the textbook over the workbook.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/28/2023	I had heard some negative things about Professor Birnir, but i had a great experience with her. The class was hybrid so i didn’t have to physically go to class, but you could if you wanted to and sections were over zoom/in person. I like the flexibility of having options on whether you wanna attend in person or over zoom. The coding is pretty hard, but as long as you do every assignment you’ll pass. The final memo was a bit difficult for me since coding and statistics wasn’t my strong suit, but I got an 100% on it surprisingly. If you do all the work and at least try you’ll pass with at least a B. I would recommend this professor!
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/12/2023	Do not fall for how this course is listed under 'GVPT'; it is not a government course. There are no prerequisites to this class, but you should have a background in statistics and coding if you are considering applying. Dr. Birnir flies through material in lectures so your best bet is reading the textbook to understand what's going on. The TA's are usually pretty helpful with the coding homeworks, though. Some people complain that the midterm exams and final project don't relate to what goes on in class, but they actually test directly on what is talked about in class and on homeworks. I wouldn't recommend this class if it's not required for you to take, or if you're not really interested in data/information science.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Anonymous 05/08/2023	Dr. Birnir is a lovely woman, and she really does her best with this class, and conveys the necessary info. She gives plenty of resources and is always nice when you ask her questions. This being said, this was one of the worst classes I’ve ever taken. I’m not a statistically inclined person, so this class was my own personal hell. The weekly coding homeworks were long, confusing, and frankly not very useful. Your TAs really make it break this class, and unfortunately mine weren’t the best. If you’re a gvpt major, you need to take this class, but if it is not required for your major do NOT take it. I can understand why some people liked it, but a vast majority end up really disliking this class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/02/2023	Very good professor. She provided so many videos and chapter notes for all the course materials, was available during office hours, explained things very well in lecture and made sure to answer all questions, and was a knowledgable resource in this course. I was very nervous going into this course with all the negative reviews. However, I learned that the class is a lot of work. The class has a workload of a true 3 credit course, not a traditional GVPT course. If you enjoy data analysis, and you are willing to put in the work, Prof. Birnir will provide you with MORE than enough resources to succeed. Don't be scared by the negativity surrounding this course-I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I took it. Data analysis is the future, and is necessary for jobs in government. If this is not your thing, don't blame the class/professor, and they did a phenomenal job.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/26/2023	Come into this class with a stat background. Can not stress enough. You can expect to spend multiple hours on the weekly homework assignments and being familiar with R coding language and the concepts will cut down that time significantly. Getting the R Companion to Political Analysis is a MUST but the other textbook you don't need. However, she does pull her midterm questions straight out of the textbook and the midterms are open notes so it can help. You will never have to read it though. While Dr. Birnir's in-class lectures are lacking, her pre-recorded videos of all of her lessons are infinitely better. This is not a class that takes attendance even for the "mandatory" speaker. Your TAs in this class will be your lifeline. That being said if you do the work and go to discussion you should be able to easily succeed.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting a C- Anonymous 04/07/2023	This is probably the worst class I have ever taken at UMD. The lectures and the homework are two totally different things that are technically related so they get away with lumping these two topics into one course. The lectures are fine they are just incredibly boring and dull. The homework however is a complete nightmare. If you have never taken Statistics or any type of coding, then you will be in a world of hurt. The homework has nothing to do with research methods but is all about statistics and data analytics using R. The workbook assigned for R is an incredibly poor resource for learning how to use the software and half expects you to understand the software beforehand. The Professor never teaches you how to use R, this is up to the TA and they dont teach, it's just a quick rundown on the assignment for that week. If you dont like data analytics and dont want to have to teach yourself how to code then avoid this class at all costs.
Johanna Birnir Expecting a B+ Anonymous 02/23/2023	I wasn't committed to the class until hw 2 and 3 gave me a brain aneurism because I went into it knowing nothing essentially with 4 hours before the due date. After that went terribly I contemplated dropping the class and switching to finance, but that seemed to be more work than actually learning R, so I decided to take it seriously and learn r systematically (just go to early chapters and learn the commands one at a time and test them). By hw 4/5 (most weighted and supposed to be the hardest) It was easy. R seems overwhelming if you don't keep up, it's honestly not bad at all once you learn the basic commands. I hated this class but it's not so bad in hindsight.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/20/2021	The TA's basically teach instead of her. She relies on previously recorded lectures and her in person stuff is boring. 201 is a coding class disguised as a gov class, wouldnt reccomend.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Anonymous 05/14/2021	Not the hardest class in the world but it's certainly challenging especially if you don't know coding. I had to go to office hours every week to get help on the weekly coding assignments. I could not have gotten through this class without my TA. They're also time consuming so manage your time. If you do that, you can make the class less overwhelming. Unless you're a GVPT major or are good at coding, I wouldn't recommend this class just because of how time consuming and complicated it can be.
Johanna Birnir GVPT201 Expecting an A- Anonymous 05/16/2020	Johanna is a wonderful lady and knows her stuff, but the course really sucked. It's half statistics half coding in R. You have to really enjoy that type of thing to enjoy the class. I figure taking it at the undergrad level also helps gov majors figure out if they'd wanna go into political science
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Anonymous 04/15/2015	She is not a good professor. The course is not a good course. The whole thing is a hell of a problem. Because of this course, I wasn't able to graduate and my life is in ruins. Now I'm in debt and no degree. The course is statistics, not politics. If you don't get a good grade, you will be kicked out of the major. I finished all my coursework for the degree except this one, but now I'm broke and I can't take it for a third time and I'm considering claiming bankruptcy or going off the grid. All because of this class and how hard she takes it. She has ruined my life.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 08/29/2012	This class is so confusing. I don't even know why it related to government. The graphs are labeled with government terms but besides that it is purely a statistics course...which sucked. There was no problem with Birnir but I had a difficult time in the class understanding how to use the software and understanding it. My suggestion is to get along with the TA and they can help you out.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2011	This GVPT 100 class is an easy A, as long as you have the right TA. My friend received 100% on the second midterm without showing up to 8 weeks of lecture after a study session with my TA. The final paper is a pain, mostly because it's like nothing you've ever done before and it is very open-ended. Birnir herself is very nice, and attempts to be engaging, but her subject is often boring so I showed up to about half the lectures.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/12/2011	This class was so boring. I have taken STAT 100 and this GVPT (stat based) class was awful. Professor Birnir didn't explain the material well. She focused mainly on her own studies and projects. The lectures were useless and my TA admitted to my section that she grades us harshly because she thinks we didn't like her. I didn't learn anything in this class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/02/2011	This class is on statistics. It's all statistics. I didn't learn anything about government other than the statistics with research study. You'll get an A if you study, because the test are to the point, but it is a statistics class.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Anonymous 08/27/2011	It's upsetting that Birnir gets such a bad wrap for teaching GVPT100. The decision to make 100 a statistics based class is ultimately upon the department. Their rationale is that graduate work in government is heavily based in statistics, so undergrads need better training in that area. She's a great teacher and a very nice person. Don't hate the player hate the game.
Johanna Birnir Expecting an A Margaret Garhart 06/01/2011	Johanna was super nice and cool. What a lot of people don't understand is that GVPT is all about statistics and that is what GVPT100 is supposed to be about but they turned it into some useless theory class that you won't ever apply. Stat is 100% necessary for any government major and as a senior who hasn't learned it, I wish I had someone like Johanna who cared enough and enough foresight to teach it.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/18/2011	NEVER TAKE BIRNIR IF YOU ARE GOV MAJOR OR JUST LOOKING FOR AN EASY CORE. THIS CLASS IS RIDICULOUS AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOVERNMENT. we did graduate level work, there was no need for this class for the major. take KOULISH if you can.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/07/2010	WARNING: THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT CLASS!!! We did not learn a single thing about american government, at all. Instead we learned how to analyze political data by running various tests and comparisons. When we should have been learning about Hobbes and Locke, we were learning how to calculate standard deviation of z-scores, how to identify skewness, and the difference between nominal, ordinal, and interval variables (this we not even the half of it). My suggestion to everyone, do not take this class unless you are interested in this form a politics or you have no other choice. If you do end up taking this class, here is what to expect: Very boring and uninteresting lectures, she tends to ramble a lot! 2 mid-terms, a final, a 10 page final paper, and at least 2 hours of homework every week. The homework uses the statistical analysis software, SPSS, which requires you to use a computer lab on campus or purchase the software yourself for about $90.00+. You will be running various statistical tests on a given set of data. It is very tedious, takes forever to do because you CAN NOT SKIM, and the homework is graded answer for answer, not just for completion. If you are lucky like me and get a really good/understanding TA, this class will not be as rough for you because the T.A's are in charge of ALL the grading for their section. If not, then be prepared to work harder than the rest of the class. Professor Birnir is very knowledgeable in this area of politics she just is not knowledgeable at all on how to convey this information to the class. So basically, you are on your own.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/15/2010	So much statistics. No actual government.
Johanna Birnir GVPT100 Expecting a C Anonymous 11/11/2010	Birnir takes a completely different approach to GVPT100. Our class considers ourselves the "rogue" government course due to the amount of statistics we do. Yes, I said STATISTICS! We have yet to learn about a single governmental system and rarely use the word democracy in the class. The most frequented words are mean, median, and mode. Please do not take this course unless you enjoy statistics. And God help you if you have no other option...