| Information | Review |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 02/29/2024 |
Took this over the summer, attendance was mandatory as we had graded class responses and discussions, but the only two big assignments were a final paper and a final multiple choice exam. Dr. Nichols tends to go off topic every single class and he crams so much information into each class that it's almost impossible to keep up. I agree that he's very unorganized and I hated the way his syllabus looks. Almost everyone failed the final because there was so much information he didn't go over and he refuses to update his syllabus. Was often late to class and the class went on for so long, the material is interesting, but he just didn't make it engaging as we would just listen to him talk for almost 2 hours straight. ALSO, REQUIRED TEXTBOOK WAS JUST A BOOK THAT HE WROTE???? Do not buy -- the textbook was so pointless and just a repeat of what he said in lecture. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP211 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/26/2023 |
Taking this class with Jason Nichols and Shane Walsh was enjoyable. It felt more like an open discussion/podcast than a class most of the time. I do wish we ended up doing film reviews, but oh well. I really don't understand how Professor Nichols has this low of a rating, but maybe the experience in AASP211 was different than AASP100 and others. Otherwise, he's a really interesting guy and listening to him speak doesn't bore me like most other professors |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/10/2023 |
Most amazing class I've ever taken. Super interesting course material and the professor does a great job of teaching and not being biased. Exams are all online and the only assignments are 12 class responses due in class and a final paper. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 10/27/2022 |
Professor Nichols is the best teacher ever! Yes, he often gets side tracked and talk about things that are completely off topic. BUT our discussions are always insightful and educational. I learned a lot about African American studies as well as life lessons. Every single topic we've discussed, I've always been engaged in. He is not a boring teacher, he's funny and respectful. The people saying that he's a "moron" and an "awful teacher" are simply just close minded people that only care about taking this class as a GENED and getting a good grade. This class is more than that and if you do decided to take one of Professor Nichols's classes he will not disappoint. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Anonymous 07/06/2022 |
Very disorganized and unprepared. Our review session and classes don't have anything to do with exams AT ALL. I will say reading was interesting though. Not the best of professors. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/20/2022 |
Dr Nichols is a great lecturer, coming to class was always nice. I would give him 5 stars, but the exams seemed a bit unfair, very disconnected from the lecture material. You could essentially not come to class and be fine if you did the readings, but those aren't the good part of the class. The final exam dropped me from an A to a B+, half an hour for 30 difficult mc questions seemed a bit unfair. The class is great though, just don't expect to come out with an A if you don't put in a good amount of work. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/08/2015 |
This is the best class that I have taken at UMD thus far. He is a very entertaining lecturer, literally never bored. he's fun to listen to doesnt just stand and read. really knows his stuff 3 dicsussion post, 2 exams (which he holds review sessions for so theer are no surprises) and participation grade. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B+ ehagege 05/18/2014 |
I thought Dr. Nichols was an excellent teacher. He know his stuff very well. The reason the class is so interesting is because he goes off on rants. Although he discusses the course material he also talks about current events that are important to the topics he is discussing. If it wasn't for his rants the class would be kind of dry. His exams are fairly easy. He has a review session prior to the midterm and final. Has no quizzes if everyone participates in discussion. All in all, great professor who is very easy to talk to and willing to help with grades. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/18/2012 |
He is a very stupid teacher I dont know where UMD got this fool. Some one need to audit his ass he is a junky. Never knew this kind of pimps exist in higher institutions of learning like UMD. He has no idea on what he is doing in the school teaches off syllabus and slow grader and exams do not reflect his teaching he is highly miss leading and will fail you. DONOT take this teacher. He is a moron. Talking about rap and other stupid artistic things which does not relate to the course |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Anonymous 12/12/2012 |
Parts of these ratings are true. He did go off topic a lot, but when he did was very interesting things. He kept me listening the entire class, not a single time was I bored. He has improved on that throughout this semester by providing powerpoints and staying within the syllabus more but still providing us with the fun stories and allowing us to share our opinion. This class is easy if you read and pay attention. Jason is very easy to get a long with and if you ever have a problem within the course or with his teaching style he makes it clear that you can talk to him. I would recommend taking this class with Jason because you will learn things from him you might not learn elsewhere, as far as the work you do have to put in work outside of class to pass. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Anonymous 12/09/2012 |
He's terrible. He never talked about anything related to readings and he went on stupid rants all the time. He only changed his ways when he read the reviews on here and he still didn't improve that much. Avoid him if you can. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A T3rp 12/24/2011 |
Overall, he was not a good teacher. The grading was inconsistent and the material was never discussed in class. We were assigned readings, yet we talked more about subjects he thought was interesting such as his rap album or other irrelevant topics. Personally, he is a cool person, but I would not take him if you expect to learn anything |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B KG 05/14/2011 |
Worst teacher ever! Talked about many unrelated topics ALL THE TIME! Avoide him if you can. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/31/2011 |
He is a HORRIBLE TEACHER! I agree with the previous two posts. He talked about hisself and other useless topics. Also as a TA he disrespected the professor multiple times and even started to refer to a student as "Snitchy" for apparently telling the professor. Avoid him!!!! |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Anonymous 01/24/2011 |
I second the previous poster. I had him in the spring and I remember leaving work to get to class and sitting there hearing him talk about himself. I just sat there in class thinking. He might be funny and all, but is it really worth it to cut my work hours to come to class? Even if I did not have to go to work, is it REALLY worth it when I could actually be studying? But hey - it was not like I had a choice - class attendance/participation is 30% of the grade! |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/05/2011 |
The Worst teacher EVER! Although he served as a TA this semester, it seems that TAs are more powerful than the instructor. He's EXTREMELY hard on grading papers and his discussion session is a TOTALLY WASTE OF TIME!!!! He talked about football, basketball a couple of times(almost 30 mins of the entire 50 mins session) which is absolutely unrelated to the class topic. Please avoid him just for your own sake! PLEASE!!!!!!!!! |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/29/2009 |
I have a love/hate relationship with his teaching style. On some days, it's cool to go off topic and talk about current and controversial things. But other times, like before tests, I thought it would be helpful if he actually revied the material, and he rarely did. I feel like we spent more time talking about the Redskins than we did actual material. I would take this class only because AASP may be discontinued, and the information is valuable. But if you are lazy and dont like to read or take notes, do not take it. He made the students buy his stupid rap album for extra credit, which I think is like buying a grade basically. Isn't that unethical? Anywho, fun and knowledgable guy. I got an A- and I didn't really put in that much effort. I did however show up to every class and take notes.I also just skimmed the books (there were THREE lengthy and dense novels) and got a B on the paper so... Overall it's riveting material, and it makes you think. My policy was that he didn't put that much effort into the class, so why should I? |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/13/2009 |
Nichols is cool teacher. He's jokes around and he raps. He goes off topic A LOT and doesn't really cover assigned reading that much. That's tough when midterms and finals come around because that's what they're based on. You should read anyway to comprehend, but it'd be nice if he reviewed what he thought were key points. He does sometimes, but like I said, he'll go off topic. Some readings are short. Some are long. He says if you skim the reading you can pass the quiz... FALSE--unless you have no life and study the reading. It sucks when you have a pop quiz on a long reading because he asks real specific questions. He also says that grades don't matter. So if you don't care about your grade and want to have discussions in class about random things, then sure.. take the class. And make time for reading and show up to class. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting an A kiterp 12/07/2009 |
I took this course a couple years ago with Jason and I'm extremely glad I did. The readings can be a bit heavy, but he knows his stuff and you're guaranteed to both learn a lot and come away interested in further African-American Studies coursework. If you read, your life is easy. His quizzes and exams are not hard, and the papers are interesting. There are other professors who are easier than Jason, but if you're seriously interested in pursuing AASP then I highly recommend taking this class with him. |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Anonymous 05/08/2009 |
Jason is very knowledgeable. However, he assigns too much reading in one night. He is frequently 5-10 minutes late to class, and if he thinks nobody read, or if a lot of people are missing, he will give a pop quiz (which many people fail). But that's about it, he doesn't really give many assignments. Plus he frequently goes off topic during class, which is frustrating when he gives a test on things we didn't learn. His motto is, grades don't matter, as long as you walk away with something. (That of course didn't help me, since I was trying to save a scholarship)lol |
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Jason Nichols
AASP100 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/03/2007 |
Jason is a very nice guy, but he assigns wayyy too much reading and nothing ever gets accomplished in class beacause we just end up talking about a bunch of irrelevent stuff that he thinks is interesting. He doesnt give enough exams (wait a min.. did we have an exam?), and his assignments are graded much too stictly. If you want to have a good time in class, take Nichols. If you want an A in AASP dont take Nichols. |