PSYC 1010

Professor Bonvillian is a bit of a rambler so reading the textbook is essential for exams. However, he has a bubbly personality and has a lot of stories to tell. Lectures were not the most interesting but the class overall is not that hard.

Where do I even begin to describe Bonvillian? He likes to brag about how awesome he is cause he knows all these famous psych people and his "good friend Margaret Ainsworth." He constantly gets off topic and jumps all over the outline (if you write your notes by hand beware) which are on an overhead projector by the way. Most of the test material is from the readings and the actual tests are very similar to the practice tests he puts on collab. There is a review session with the TA every week to go over the assigned readings which is honestly more helpful than lecture. DO NOT FALL BEHIND ON READINGS. He didn't order anymore books to the bookstore in the beginning until 2 weeks before the first test. I ended up staying up until 4 reading about depression and anxiety... There are two tests, a final, and 6 hours of participation in psych students. Bonvillian knows what he is talking about and is very qualified and experienced in his field but he spends so much time talking about himself and then will scan through 5 overhead outlines the class before the next test. He also starts almost every class by talking in French and will probably start yelling or laughing at his own memories/stories that have nothing to do with lecture. He also will continue talking even when 3:15 comes around. I mean the class itself is not that hard, it is just very dull and mindnumbing. Last week, the kid next to me was watching ESPN on his phone and the girl in front of me was watching the Silver Lining's Playbook.

I have mixed feelings about this class. On one hand, the readings were very interesting. Take it if you're interested in pursuing psychology. However, the work-load is very heavy and the tests are tricky. I got a total of like 10 questions wrong on all the combined tests, and I ended up getting an A-. Bonvillian gets off-topic a lot and his lectures are kind of boring. But he's very knowledgeable and intelligent. I would check out other professors first, but if there's no one better, i would take the class with Bonvillian. He's not that bad, just not that good either. If you're only taking this class as an elective, I'd stay away from it if you care a lot about the grade. If, however, you're just interested in the material, I would definitely take the calss

Bonvillian has the best intentions and is very knowledgeable, but his lectures were somewhat confusing and a bit dry.