<p>My D will be a freshman this summer. Anyone here have any recommendations for classes (and professors) that are particularly good to take in summer? Fall?</p>
<p>Zebes-Did your son do summer last year? If so, what classes did he take. </p>
<p>My D is planning on taking English comp and some other gen ed that is not too tough. Any suggestions? Film survey is not on the gen ed list for her major (the only historical foundations classes that they want her to take are theatre survey, enjoyment of music , philosophy or world religions). Any of these known to be interesting AND not tough?
Anyone have any opinions on any of these classes:
CGS 1600C (intro to computer class)
SPC1600 (oral communication)
EUH 2000 (western civilizations) OR HUM 2211(humanistic traditions) OR AMH2010 (american history)?
STA2014C (basic statistics)</p>
<p>My S started in the Fall of '07. Um ... as far as the classes you mentioned, he had George Musambira for Speech 1600H, and he was the one teacher he really didn't like. The guy didn't want to be teaching a lower level class, and he pretty much told the students that on the first day. He had Edith McDonald for AMH 2010 (1492-1877). He really liked her and felt the class was both interesting and easy. He had stats 2023H and liked his prof., Roberto Carta, but he was extremely difficult to understand because of his accent, but he was also very willing to meet with any student having diffulty. As far as English ... he's taking ENC 1102H right now with Melody Bowdon. She's going to require some outside of class work ... things with a nursing home and writing biographies ... journaling, that kind of thing. Hasn't gotten back any grades yet ... but she liked a rough draft he did of pro/con paper. Other than that ... can't help you much. None of the profs he has so far have really given back any grades yet, except his teacher of german. </p>
<p>I asked my sophomore D for her input. Here is her answer:</p>
<p>"For World Religions, my professor was John Burris. I enjoyed the class and would recommend it. It is more beneficial than a theatre or music class because you are learning about the beliefs that some of the other students have. Just be aware that there is sometimes a bias in the teaching. Burris's class is more about the philosophy behind religion than the actual practices.
SPC 1600- I had a small group class and a once a week big lecture class. My small group professor was Aileen Sousa. This is a class that pretty much everyone has to take and it is actually fun! We had to give a casual introduction speech, a cultural speech, an informative speech, and a persuasive speech. We had to dress nicely for speech day. I enjoyed giving speeches and listening to other students speeches.
AMH 2010- Last spring I took the second American History class that goes up to present day. My professor was Harry Hunt. This was by far my least favorite class and professor at UCF. It was way too difficult and too much work for a gen ed class. THe professor was very frustrating. I do feel like I learned in that class but it was not enjoyable at all. I mostly learned from the huge research paper that we had to write. I would definitely recommend finding a different teacher.
I didn't want to look at RateMyProfessor.com while signing up for classes because I wanted to be able to form my own opinion. I didn't want to come to class expecting the teacher to be a certain way. But AMH with Harry Hunt changed my mind. After I signed up and went to class, I looked at the website to see what other students had to say. Their warnings were "Avoid Hunt's class at all costs." A little extreme, but I would say the same thing!"</p>
<p>I am a sophmore and can give you some insight on some of the gen-ed classes.</p>
<p>SPC1600 (oral communication)</p>
<p>-Speech is kind of a ridiculous class no matter who you take it with, but I had Harry Weger and he was a fair grader and a very nice person. The hardest parts about speech class are not the actual speeches, but the tests you take in the class. I know I underestimated how hard the tests would be and really didn't study enough.
AMH2010 (american history)</p>
<p>-I had Mark Long for AMH2010 and 2020 and he is by far one of my favorite teachers at UCF. His class is basically just two 12-15 pages papers and a couple of quizzes on reading material. He is a very informative teacher who
loves what he is doing and he also teaches you more than just who the presidents were and about wars. He talks about the culture of america, and what it was like to be an average American. If you like writing and really want to learn about the subject with a good teacher, this is the guy to have.</p>
<p>STA2014C (basic statistics)</p>
<p>-Statistics at UCF is pretty easy and one thing you will learn is that the teachers who teach it sometimes do not have doctorates and are not very good at this subject. I had Cutchins for this class and can honestly say that I did not need to ever go to class. I would call STA2014 "baby statistics" because you really do very little actual math and it is more about concepts in statistics. You do have a discussion component attached to this class where a grad student will teach you everything you need to know. I never went to class and went to the discussions and got an all A's and did not have to take the final. Definetely try to get into Cutchins class, she is easy and she usually finds good grad students.</p>
<p>Kind of a long post, but if you have any other questions about classes, let me know.</p>
<p>Although it's certainly not the last word on specific classes/professors, ratemyprofessors.com has shed quite a bit of light for my D when she researches various classes she's interested in taking. She says that thus far the ratings have been pretty accurate with professors she's had at UCF.</p>