Melissa Kearney

This professor has taught: ECON326, ECON397, ECON454, ECON708, ECON752, ECON878

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Melissa Kearney ECON326 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/08/2024	Dr. Kearney is an economics professor, not a geology one. Dr. Kearney is up there as one of the best teachers I have had at UMD. She is incredibly funny and knowledgeable and constantly keeps the class relevant and engaging with discussions of real-world examples of economic concepts. I did not find the material too hard, mostly just Intro Micro with some calculus, and she is very open to questions to make sure you understand the material.
Melissa Kearney ECON326 Expecting a B+ ptfl637 11/10/2015	She's so energetic and excited to teach us about Economics! Pros: She explains things very well, writes down essential points on the board, and is willing to help anyone that needs it. Her TA's are extremely helpful as well. There are only 4 problem sets and 2 exams, the midterm that I have taken so far was exactly like the type of questions I would assume she'd ask based on the notes that we took during class and was not too difficult because of that. Cons: She goes a tad bit fast and when she actually uses powerpoints, there's no point in trying to write things down she changes from slide to slide half way through writing it down. Just have to listen and go along for the ride and she posts those slides later on. She also is late a little bit everyday. Overall, I definitely recommend her for anyone who needs to take any Economics course.
Melissa Kearney ECON454 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/30/2012	One if, if not the, best teachers I've had at UMD. She cares a lot about the subject and is extremely knowledgeable. From what I gathered she is a pretty highly respected academic and has a bunch of papers out on various topics. Really wants her students to learn the material and to express interest in the subject. She also takes an interest in students' futures and is willing to talk and help with life in econ beyond college. On top of all that, Public Finance is a very interesting class and offers a ton of important information that every econ major should be familiar with. Extremely happy that I took this class and would recommend it to anyone.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 07/14/2010	Kearney's lectures are pointless to go to. He spent more than half the lecture talking about computer/technology complications. Discussion is a very easy part of the class with quizzes that you literally have to be retarded to fail. His tests are ALL multiple choice, but don't let that fool you. They are not that easy and his notes/ powerpoints contradict one another. Overall it was a minimal amount of work and I got a good grade because I studied. Don't buy the textbook, you don't use it.
Melissa Kearney ECON326 Anonymous 01/05/2010	ATTN: This review is meant for Prof. Melissa Kearney, the ECON professor, NOT the other Kearney, the GEOG professor. Kearney is a very good teacher. She presents the material in a very straightforward way and even puts her notes online via ELMS (although sometimes there is a bit of a delay). If you go to class, read through important parts of the book, do some of the practice exercises, and attend the discussions you should be able to do fine. I ended up with an A- in the class even though I received a B- on the first midterm. For grading: 80% of this class is exams-30% for the first exam, 50%(!!) for the final-the other 20% is based on 4 problem sets. There is a curve on the exams, but the problem sets are graded on a 1-3 scale based on effort and accuracy. The problem sets aren't too terribly challenging and you generally have enough time to work through them (don't be late!). I highly recommend working with someone else on them (although each must be handed in separately). Attending discussion is a big help (most of the time) and in general, the TAs and Prof Kearney are helpful if you ask questions and need some assistance. My advice would be to study hard (don't fall behind), don't get discouraged (the material might seem tough at first), and understand your mistakes/confusions about materials that you might have. You will definitely need to study in this class, but if you really try to learn the material and understand it (not just memorize!), you should pull through. Good luck!
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/17/2009	If you don't have to take this class, don't. Professor Kearney is not a good professor; he is boring, unorganized, and always seems to have technology problems. No one really attends lecture and for good reason. You aren't going to learn much about the subject of Coastal Environments because his lectures mostly don't pertain to the subject. The discussion sections have no correlation to lectures, so it's hard to keep up with the material if you don't understand Professor Kearney's lectures, which you probably won't. You also have to read 100+ page articles for discussion quizzes, but the TAs usually give you the answers before the quiz so you don't really have to read. I could go on, but I think you get the idea if you're reading this. This class sucks, don't take it if you don't have to.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/10/2009	never take this class. it is awful. ARCH majors: I know this is an option to fill your science requirement, and I took this because it was the only one available at the time, but if you are in this situation, do yourself a favor, and put it off another semester in order to take one of the other course options. seriously, worst class ever: boring, useless, and difficult to do well in because exam questions are ridiculously worded and irrelevant to topics covered in class, not that you'd bother actually showing up to this class anyway.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/01/2009	Terrible class. Kearney (The GEOG teacher) is a poor lecturer who tends to go on talking about nothing in particular. Posts slides with too much text to even try to write down, and doesn't even reference them in his incoherent ramblings. Worst part: A number of test questions aren't in any of the notes. He seems to think he taught things he never even mentioned. Nonetheless, still a manageable class. The Discussion section (worth 35% of your grade) is an absolute joke. You're given all the answers to the quizzes beforehand. No point in attending lectures, btw.
Melissa Kearney ECON326 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/05/2009	This teacher will keep your attention, especially if you are a male student. She is a good teacher but also a serious academic so you will have to study to do well in this class.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 05/04/2009	Kearndy is a horrible professor. Had to take the class as an option for architecture requirements thinking the class would be interesting. Test are pretty difficult and based mostly on his lectures which nobody goes to because they are incredibly boring. Has a very negative out look on the world and talks about how the world's going to flood one day, killing all of us. Spends at least 10 minutes at the beginning of every class attempting to fix computer problems (which are pretty simple problems). The class description said there was going to be a trip to Ocean City which never happened. Overall horrible class and if you can avoid kearney do so at all costs.
Melissa Kearney ECON326 Anonymous 11/26/2008	I think this website got this professor mixed up with some other professor. First of all, from the other comments I read, Professor Melissa Kearney is a female and an econ prof not geography. She's wonderful, makes class very interesting, even though her final exam is 50% of your grade. She will spend outside time with you if you ask her too. She's one of the best econ professor I ever had, and econ is my major!
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Anonymous 10/27/2008	I urge you not to take this class. I took it thinking it would be an easy A, but the man is so boring. He spent 20 minutes at the beginning of every class talking about how macs are better than pcs. I'm not sure if he stopped after the second week because I stopped going and withdrew. The class average for the first test was a 69 after the curve. The TA was completely unhelpful. Don't take this class.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A- Anonymous 04/25/2008	He's an incredibly boring professor. Virtually no one will attend lectures, and with good reason. You won't learn much, just that everything will be flooded and we're going to lose a lot of money. He seems bitter and angry. The only redeeming quality is he posts everything online. I took this thinking it would be an interesting elective- it wasn't.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/20/2008	His lectures are boring and difficult to follow. Going to lecture is not mandatory but he occationally gives test questions. His exams are pretty fair but you never really know how well you are doing until the end of the class.
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/15/2007	I would say that if you don't have to take this class for any of your requirements, then don't. The subject is interesting, and is unfortunately made uninteresting by this man. He assumes that the class already knows a lot about geography (or he doesn't care about what the class knows), so he fails to fully explain some of the more basic details of the material. He does not encourage questions, and his discussion sessions are conducted complete and apart from lecture, so there is little opportunity there to reinforce the material (and the T.A.'s are generally not coastal geography experts so they can't help much on the topic either).
Melissa Kearney GEOG140 Anonymous 11/20/2007	This is a terrible class, with a terrible professor. He can't teach for beans -- you can't understand anything that he says or how it relates to the course. And after the really crappy lectures, he gives relatively hard exams. He really likes to go off on tangents and rants that have nothing to do with the class. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. If you're looking for a class on coastal environments, take something like the Chesapeake Bay class that's offered. It can't be worse, and I bet its better.