PLAP 1010

Very interesting course, however the readings are quite long. Klein is a great professor and really gets you to understand and appreciate the political system. Only grades are a midterm, final, iClicker points and a discussion section (which you basically get an A in if you contribute).

This class will be a breeze for anybody familiar with politics and not difficult by any means to somebody who doesn't even know anything. Professor Klien was simple to understand and too the point. The reading wasn't that important and it wasn't on the exams, but it made lecture easier to understand. You write a 1-page double spaced paper each that is graded as pass/fail and simply covers what all happened in lecture/discussion that week. The discussion happens in lecture during "break-out-sessions" for 5-7 minutes. There is a mid-term and a Final each with 40% that is take-home. Not difficult at all, but the multiple choice can be a tad tricky. All in all, I recommend the class to anyone and everyone- can never hurt to understand the basics of the American Political System and the class isn't hard to get an A if you are semi-competent.

Great Professor. I really enjoyed the class and found it more than do-able. If you like politics or have any interest in it definitely take Klein's class. Klein is very personable and an all-around nice guy. His lectures are often thought provoking and key to succeeding in the class. Reading can be a little dry, but helps give perspective on lectures. Short essay due each week graded on completion and effort.

A fundamentally boring class. You might notice the grade distribution is a bit low....though the class's concepts are not hard to grasp, the TA grading of the midterm is extremely arbitrary. Professor Klein wasn't bad, but he wasn't good....he just kind of carried on in his monotone voice as the students tried to stay awake.

Klein is a nice professor, but he is not the most dynamic professor and his monotone voice is hard to always pay attention to. There is a weekly response to the class which is just graded for completion, and the other grade is the final and midterm. Both of these graded by a TA and some TAs are harsher than others (you don't get a choice in who grades them.) The only time I would recommend is if you don't have a background in the basics.

Professor Klein isn't the best professor-his lectures were sometimes disorganized and I felt like we were expected to have background knowledge on politics despite this being an intro level course- but overall he was very nice and a good lecturer. I'm not sure how much I actually learned in this class, but it was really easy. The grade comes from a take-home, open book midterm and final, plus weekly one-page responses about the classes that week. There were weekly reading assignments, but the stuff in the book wasn't on the tests.

Reading is completely unncessary, I didn't even buy the books and got an A. All the exams are take home and open note so it's not difficult if you just come to class and write down a few key points. I probably took a half page of typed notes per class. There is a weekly one page double spaced writing assignment about what was said in class that week that takes about 15 minutes to do and is a grade boost. If you know a lot about politics this class is a joke, if not, then you'll probably actually have to pay attention but it should still be an easy A since there isn't any studying involved.