J Carson Smith | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/14/2026	Definitely buy the text book (I bought mine for 6 bucks second hand) for the class and follow along with lecture and the book. I hardly attended lecture but found keeping up very very manageable with the lecture recordings. He offers a lot of extra credit and rewards good attendance. If you are an ambitious student he will definitely reward you. The tests are very reasonable and follow lecture material to a tee. He posts study guides which is more than what you get from most professors to be fair. I’m writing this because a 2.6 is harsh for this professor and I wouldn’t let that deter you from taking this class with professor Smith.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/06/2026	Professor smith is a REALLY REALLY Nice guy. That about the only good thing about this class, he takes it very seriously there's no curve and the tests are near impossible, he had to give us Extra, extra credit so our class average wasn't a C. You would have to study for this class every night for an hour then 2 hours the week before the test to get an A. I would not take him unless you need to. He is not lenient and will not curve your grade under any circumstance, my friend had a 79.58 and he gave him a C+ instead of a B. He is an amazing nice guy and if you to office hours he will like you, but the other teachers are way easier.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Anonymous 12/25/2025	Rants about irrelevant personal stories and brushes past important class content. Requires you to memorize very specific and insignificant details about experiments including his own. Also, cancelled the first week of classes for a medical issue which I understand, but then wasted a lecture the following week to read out of the Bible and accuse us all of celebrating Charlie Kirk's death because of our age. Then gave a sarcastic and backhanded apology when he was mandated to by the school and brought us constitutions to explain why his actions were okay. Overall, huge ego that gets in the way of his teaching.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/14/2025	Personally a very nice guy, but not a great professor. your grade is based off exams and quizzes, so if you are not a great exam taker good luck. the way he sets up his class in canvas also very unintuitive. VERY BORING LECTURER, only way I was able to pay attention was watching the recordings on 1.5, not very good at explaining things. he seemed to get personally offended by students not showing up/not paying attention, and took it out by surprise attendance grades. didn't give much study support at all. ultimately his class average is a C grade and Brown's is an A, same exact class so that should tell you a lot.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/11/2025	Solid professor, offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, the class was very interesting and enjoyable for me. You don't need to read the book to pass but it really helped in understanding the content and in doing well on the exams. As long as you study and show up to class, you'll easily get a B or A
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/17/2023	Exams reflect the quizzes and lecture slides. Not difficult, but showing up is critical if you want extra credit because he does not round grades at the end of the semester. Overall good professor for the course.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/15/2023	Dr. Smith is a great guy. But, I cannot say the same about his teaching. Exams are all online, but that does not make it any easier. Exams are brutally challenging for a class that should be an easy A. His notes were unorganized and all over the place. Take Elizabeth Brown's class if you have the opportunity.
J Carson Smith KNES350 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/15/2023	Professor Carson was always willing to help and answer questions. He created a comfortable learning environment where students felt encouraged to participate and engage with the material. His lectures were okay, not over the top. However, my main concern was with the exams. The questions were highly specific, often requiring knowledge of specific articles or details that were challenging to memorize. While I understand the importance of critical thinking and application of knowledge, the level of specificity on the exams felt overwhelming, especially when preparing for the final exam. It would have been helpful to have a clearer emphasis on key concepts and a broader understanding of the course material.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/14/2026

Definitely buy the text book (I bought mine for 6 bucks second hand) for the class and follow along with lecture and the book. I hardly attended lecture but found keeping up very very manageable with the lecture recordings. He offers a lot of extra credit and rewards good attendance. If you are an ambitious student he will definitely reward you. The tests are very reasonable and follow lecture material to a tee. He posts study guides which is more than what you get from most professors to be fair. I’m writing this because a 2.6 is harsh for this professor and I wouldn’t let that deter you from taking this class with professor Smith.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/06/2026

Professor smith is a REALLY REALLY Nice guy. That about the only good thing about this class, he takes it very seriously there's no curve and the tests are near impossible, he had to give us Extra, extra credit so our class average wasn't a C. You would have to study for this class every night for an hour then 2 hours the week before the test to get an A. I would not take him unless you need to. He is not lenient and will not curve your grade under any circumstance, my friend had a 79.58 and he gave him a C+ instead of a B. He is an amazing nice guy and if you to office hours he will like you, but the other teachers are way easier.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Anonymous
12/25/2025

Rants about irrelevant personal stories and brushes past important class content. Requires you to memorize very specific and insignificant details about experiments including his own. Also, cancelled the first week of classes for a medical issue which I understand, but then wasted a lecture the following week to read out of the Bible and accuse us all of celebrating Charlie Kirk's death because of our age. Then gave a sarcastic and backhanded apology when he was mandated to by the school and brought us constitutions to explain why his actions were okay. Overall, huge ego that gets in the way of his teaching.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/14/2025

Personally a very nice guy, but not a great professor. your grade is based off exams and quizzes, so if you are not a great exam taker good luck. the way he sets up his class in canvas also very unintuitive. VERY BORING LECTURER, only way I was able to pay attention was watching the recordings on 1.5, not very good at explaining things. he seemed to get personally offended by students not showing up/not paying attention, and took it out by surprise attendance grades. didn't give much study support at all. ultimately his class average is a C grade and Brown's is an A, same exact class so that should tell you a lot.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/11/2025

Solid professor, offers a lot of extra credit opportunities, the class was very interesting and enjoyable for me. You don't need to read the book to pass but it really helped in understanding the content and in doing well on the exams. As long as you study and show up to class, you'll easily get a B or A

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2023

Exams reflect the quizzes and lecture slides. Not difficult, but showing up is critical if you want extra credit because he does not round grades at the end of the semester. Overall good professor for the course.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/15/2023

Dr. Smith is a great guy. But, I cannot say the same about his teaching. Exams are all online, but that does not make it any easier. Exams are brutally challenging for a class that should be an easy A. His notes were unorganized and all over the place. Take Elizabeth Brown's class if you have the opportunity.

J Carson Smith
KNES350

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/15/2023

Professor Carson was always willing to help and answer questions. He created a comfortable learning environment where students felt encouraged to participate and engage with the material. His lectures were okay, not over the top. However, my main concern was with the exams. The questions were highly specific, often requiring knowledge of specific articles or details that were challenging to memorize. While I understand the importance of critical thinking and application of knowledge, the level of specificity on the exams felt overwhelming, especially when preparing for the final exam. It would have been helpful to have a clearer emphasis on key concepts and a broader understanding of the course material.