Johanna Birnir

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

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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...