PSYC 3160

TLDR: Great professor, you learn a ton of useful information that’s highly relevant to your major. The class is challenging but definitely manageable if you stay on top of the material.

Professor: I’m honestly not sure why Dr. Long gets a bad reputation. Most of my classmates and I agree that she’s incredibly intelligent and genuinely nice. She’s always willing to answer questions during class and is super approachable if you ask for help one on one. Some people might mistake her confidence for being rude, but I strongly disagree with that. In fact, I think her teaching style is clear and effective. She uses excellent slides that cover all the essential material, making it easier to follow along.

Class: The grading structure includes 3 midterms (with the lowest one dropped), a final worth 25%, 10 quizzes (lowest 5 dropped), and participation (5%). You can definitely succeed in this class. Just avoid cramming the night before. Instead, focus on understanding and memorizing the slides, and actively quiz yourself on the material. Connect the different topics as you go. I found the first exam and final to be significantly easier. Don’t stress too much about the final being cumulative — the cumulative questions were straightforward, but make sure to study everything.

TLDR: this class is very challenging but you will pass if you are proactive about your assignments and studying. VERY relevant to the neuroscience/psych major so PAY ATTENTION.

Professor: Long creates her lectures to be straightforward, engaging, clear, and organized. I think she is an incredibly effective professor when it comes to having the knowledge to teach AND answer every random question she receives. However, I do think she can be incredibly rude most times. She's willing to answer questions during lecture, but she has a very small limit until she seems to become agitated. I advise asking questions after class/during office hours, NOT lecture.

Class: The grading structure includes 3 midterms (with the lowest one dropped), a final worth 25%, 10 quizzes (lowest 5 dropped), and participation (5%). Her exams are mainly multiple choice, multiple answer, and her final is cumulative but focuses mainly on the last 5 lectures. Focus on memorizing and conceptualizing her lecture slides. I don't believe reading the chapters before lecture was useful. instead, use it to simplify or clarify topics you don't understand. avoid cramming the night before or procrastinating. In order to succeed in this class you have to be willing to review the material in depth after EACH lecture, while continuing to connect topics, quiz yourself, clarify your questions with the book, and attending office hours. In all, I spent around 8-10 h/week (more if we had an exam) on this class inlcuding lecture time, office hours, and studying after lecture.

My friends and I who are straight-A students were scared of not passing the class (We all ended with Bs and Cs). You have to have photographic memory to prepare for exams because you are not tested on overarching themes of study/research results presented in class but instead expected to memorize entire graphs, IVs, DVs, type of participant tested, and other small details.