PSYC 1010

I rewatched each lectures more than 3 times. It was very time consuming on my end because I wanted to make sure I got an A! Engage with the material and you will do well. Dodson is AMAZING and super funny and interesting. Stay active and do not procrasinate lectures!! #tCF2020

Chad is great. He is super pumped about psychology and whenever someone asks a question, he always says "that's a GREAT question", which makes you feel good. This class was synchronous online this semester. It's a giant lecture hall, with around 300-400 people, so at first, it was a little unexpected that the class was synchronous. Personally, I preferred the class being synchronous because it allowed students to ask questions in real-time. However, all the lectures were recorded and uploaded to COLLAB so sometimes if I was working on something for another class, I would skip the synchronous lecture and watch the async recording afterward, which was really, really helpful. This course is basic psych, you don't get too deep, but Chad always suggests other courses within the psych department if you express interest in a certain unit covered in the intro to psych. There are no papers, but there are three required exams throughout the semester (you can take the fourth and they will drop your lowest exam grade- highly recommend taking the fourth), and then a mandatory final exam. Sometimes the class was boring, in regards to the neuroscience unit we covered, but generally, it's pretty interesting because you get to see how the mind works. Be aware that if this is your first psych class at UVA, you will need to fulfill 6 Participant Research Credits (3 due halfway through, other three due at end of the semester). This just means you have to participate in psychological studies with the UVA research center. There are a lot of cool studies, but start working on them early in the semester bc you don't want to be rushing to do them with concluding assignments toward the end of the semester. The only thing that takes a long time is taking notes on the parts of textbook that correspond to the lecture notes. But that is only reading you will need to do in his class.

Being my first introduction to the subject, PSYC 1010 was a great course. Although it was online due to COVID, Professor Dodson was a very enthusiastic and comprehensible lecturer. As long as you pay 100% attention during class and take detailed notes, there is no need to read the textbook. You take five exams including the final, all of which are equally weighted, and the lowest of the first four is dropped. The exams can have fairly tricky conceptual questions, so make sure you grasp what he talks about in class. Otherwise, it wasn't a particularly difficult course, and the content was very interesting... it actually got me really interested in psychology as a possible major, but we'll see where that goes. #tCF2020

The course was overall extremely interesting and easy to follow along. Lectures kept me entertained and there was not much work to do outside of studying. I would highly recommend attending the review sessions that he mentions in the beginning of the semester because those instructors were super helpful all year! The exams were a little bit more difficult than I had expected, but overall solid class! Highly recommend.

So, I started the semester assuming the class would be much easier than it is. There is no homework, and the only thing that is graded is your top 4/5 exams. Frankly, I found all but the first exam to be difficult; the exams probably felt difficult this semester since the course was online. The exams were open book, but I assume Prof. Dodson counter-balanced this by making them longer and more heavily focused on the textbook readings. The issue is that it can be fairly time-consuming to locate the answer from the textbook if the exam is on 140 pages of reading. Prof. Dodson is pretty nice and tries to make his lectures fun and interesting. My only issue with him was that I thought he organized the powerpoints poorly, which made note-taking more frustrating.

I didn't think this was a super easy class. There was no homework, but the exams I thought were really hard. Chad is super enthusiastic which made me excited to take the class, but I wouldn't take it if I didn't have to. Also, don't buy the textbook. We never once did anything with it and the content is nicely displayed through his powerpoints

Prof. Dodson is an amazing lecturer and is always well-dressed. You can tell he is very passionate about teaching and he makes lectures very interactive. Almost every class, he would demonstrate a concept by using volunteers from the class or having us experience the phenomenon ourselves. Chad does speak fairly quickly as there is a lot of content to cover, but he posts the slides before class so I always printed them out. The textbook is by no means necessary to succeed in the class, but I found it helpful for reviewing for the exams. I would only read over concepts that overlapped with lecture and found that I was almost over prepared for exams. There are definitely questions on the exam that require you to build and combine multiple concepts, but these are manageable if you focus on understanding concepts versus memorizing them. Attendance is not required for this class, but there are usually two or three questions on the exam about case studies/videos that we covered in class that are not available in the slides. Also, Dodson will always answer your questions in OHs or in class and is very responsive to emails. Intro psych is definitely not an easy course, but you can get an A if you are willing to put in the work. I spent an avg of 6 hours studying for each exam, attended every lecture, and ended with a 95%. I highly recommend this course if you are even remotely interested in psychology. It will introduce you to content you will need for higher level psych courses, and it's overall just a great class.

DON'T BUY THE BOOK! Study his powerpoint slides for the exam!! I didnt buy the book and no one really buys it. For the exam i studied his lecture power points and also take notes on the videos he shows in class, he puts like a question or 2 on the exam about them!

Some test questions are designed to trick you, just like in any other introductory course. Prof. Dodson is a cool, approachable guy who passionately lectures about the course material, but the tests can be frustrating. The only reason I succeeded was because I went to office hours a lot to fill in the gaps. Don't buy the textbook as his slides are sufficient. Overall, definitely recommend the course for a taste of psychology, not for a GPA boost

Would NOT take this course again. For an intro class, the test questions are written incredibly difficultly. I had an A- before the final exam, and now I have a B. He literally teaches the surface level of the material and on the test expects complete application. This is literally an INTRODUCTORY course which he has seem to have forgotten. Would NOT recommend taking this class- you will completely regret it as I have- this was literally the worst decision I made this semester. He should not be teaching this course.

I felt that I understood all of the material in this course yet did not do well. I studied for hours upon hours for each of the exams and did average. Would not recommend unless you enjoy being frustrated. And I don't think the grade distribution shown is correct. Questions are worded very poorly and confuse your understanding of the concept.

Chad is the best! You don't really have to do any reading, just studying before the tests from the slides. Tests are all 40 multiple choice questions, can be a little difficult but easy to do well if you study.

Chad Dodson is my favorite teacher ive had so far. He makes the class interesting and he teaches the material in a really helpful way. Definitely recommend this class.

I personally loved Chad Dodson! He is a very engaging lecture and is easy to follow. He also posts all of his powerpoints online, and most of the questions on the test come from what we talked about in class and not obscure details from the book which I appreciate. Overall, take this class if you want a interesting class, low work-load, and not to hard tests.

CHAD IS AMAZING! He knows so much about psych, and his lectures are very engaging! I really look forward to going to this class.

This class is an easy A if you just study for the tests. As long as you take good notes during the lectures and study the slides, you're fine. Plus he drops your lowest exam grade!

Class is super interesting and Chad is awesome! The tests can be tricky because material is super broad, but the questions are specific.

LOVED this class, and Dodson was so great. Very straightforward material - the tests come entirely from the lectures, and he puts the slides online. He would also show videos in class that were relevant. If you want to take intro psych, definitely take Dodson!!

Love Love Love Chad Dodson. He seems to be really excited about the material he is teaching. Do not buy the textbook, you absolutely do not need it. Just memorize the slides and lectures are a must. But a tip from some of my friends, don't take this class with anyone other than Chad Dodson, especially Smyth, he makes the class way harder than it should be, and you must buy the textbook if you have Smyth.

Tests are impossible, lectures are not enjoyable. 10/10 would not take this class

The class requires absolutely no reading outside of class, don't even bother getting the textbook. Chad matches his tests to his power points - memorize these and you'll ace the class. He covers an incredible amount of information in this intro class, so much that I did not learn any new major topics in the 3 2000-level courses that I have taken after 1010. Chad is a great professor, always happy and full of energy, really makes you interested in the material. TAKE THIS CLASS even if you are not a psych major. Loads of fascinating material. 10/10 would recommend.

The exams cover so much material. Like a typical intro class, this class is surprisingly difficult. Just do now take it with Dodson. He seems detached from the class.

No homework and exams come right from the lectures, which are actually pretty interesting. Dodson is super passionate, but his exams can be very tricky. Really enjoyed this class and the book is not needed

I loved this class! Chad is the best. He's a nice guy and a really interesting lecturer. There's no homework for this class, and you don't have to do the readings, all you have to do are the psych studies, if you haven't already. But yeah, just show up to lecture, and study the slides before the tests, and you should do fine. The material was really interesting and the class wasn't much work, so I would definitely recommend taking this with Dodson.

Although Professor Dodson is a pleasant person to talk to and he definitely makes his lectures enjoyable, I would not recommend taking his class to students who have already taken 2000-level courses in the PSYC department. Although most of the relevant information can be found in his slides and reading the textbook will not add much onto what is taught in class, Dodson's tests tend to be much more difficult than expected--mostly from applied problems and unnecessarily, difficultly worded questions. This difficulty is exponentially greater when you have already studied further in the topics by taking more specialized classes. As Dodson once told me during a test when I asked a question, "Do not learn anything [in the topic] besides what has been taught [in class]." If you are looking to fulfill your psychology requirements for the major or minor, I recommend not taking PSYC 1010 with Dodson.

I took this class with Dodson in the spring term and really enjoyed it. Got the textbook but never even opened it. The tests were not super hard if you studied the class notes. Yet, they could get a little tricky at some point. ‪#‎tcf2016‬

This is a good overview of psychology as a subject, and Dodson explains concepts thoroughly and memorably. Tests are manageable with only skimming the textbook, although it would be beneficial to read it more thoroughly.

Intro Psych is an extremely interesting class with a great professor so I'd most highly recommend taking it. This class honestly gave me an interest in considering Psychology as a major. Dodson does tend to read off of the slides but honestly there aren't many professors that reference them often during lecture. That being said, Dodson gives great anecdotes and provides some examples in class that bolster your understanding of the material. With a good work ethic and interest in the course a B+ is easily attainable, just don't underestimate the first exam because Chad will definitely test your understanding with a couple tricky questions.

STAY AWAY FROM INTRO COURSES. They're very broad and cover sooo much information, so you're better off taking one of those more specific classes. The material for this class isn't that difficult, but the exams are unnecessarily tricky. Plus, the final grade is based solely off of your exams and it's pretty easy to mess up your grade with one test. However, Professor Dodson is an awesome guy and makes the class pretty fun and interesting.

No homework assignments or readings, do NOT purchase the textbook! You won't need it for the semester at all, unless if you really wish to have it as a secondary resource. Chad is an excited lecturer, and is passionate about teaching the material. However, I HIGHLY DO NOT recommend taking this class at all, even if you have a reason to. The 2000-level psychology courses are much more engaging, and this is not a prerequisite for any of them. Dodson is a great professor, but the course is not worth it.

PSYC 1010 with Dodson is a fairly enjoyable class to be in! He is a passionate lecturer and will keep you engaged with interesting videos and examples, however, there really isn't much need to go to class as all of the test material is covered in the PowerPoints. DO NOT READ THE BOOK for this class (unless you really, really feel the need) but just study everything on the PowerPoints and you'll have yourself an easy A!

Chad is a great professor, he teaches everything on the test (so there is no need to read the book unless you're truly curious about the subject), and the information is relatively easy to take in. It's the perfect class really.

As far as material goes, I thought it was interesting and gave me a good background about Psych. As a professor I thought Dodson was really energetic although he does just read off his slides. As far as grading goes, really do not see how people can think this class is that difficult. You literally just memorize his ppts and you will get a good grade, you don't even have to go to lecture except for the test days. Do not buy the book it is a waste of money and using it will not get you a better grade. I guess there are a few "trick" questions on the tests but knowing this is half the battle...you just then have to be extra careful taking the test. If you know the slides and you are looking out for trick questions this is not a hard class. And you get to drop your lowest score on the tests. One of the easier A's at this school in my opinion if you are good at memorizing.

Chad is extremely feminine. It can feel a bit weird trying to approach him. However he is a nice man with a good heart. Chad's lectures are pointless because all the power points cover his lecture. This class is an easy B+.

Chad Dodson is great- a super passionate lecturer and definitely on the ball. However, the tests are SO tricky that it takes away from the enjoyment of the class. In order to do well, you need to not only know EVERYTHING from every slide, but also know it well enough to apply it to other examples and concepts. You don't ever need to read the book.

Dodson is a very passionate lecturer, he will make you feel excited about psychology. However, the exams are very difficult. Make sure you understand the concepts. The tests is more about application than memorization. There are 4 tests before the final but the lowest one is dropped so it's okay if you flub one. Don't bother with the book, you won't need it.

I didn't crack the textbook all semester and was fine, don't bother buying it! Chad's exam questions can be a little tricky, so make sure you understand the underlying principles and don't just memorize the examples he gives in class. The material is fairly interesting and Chad does his best to keep everyone as excited as he is.

Professor Dodson makes this class way harder than it needs to be. His questions are tricky and he tests you on things that he doesn't cover in class. Do not take this class unless you are a psych major. Not a good class.

Dodson is a very engaging professor. The course material is very interesting and he puts in the best effort to make the lectures fun, and engaging. His tests are pretty tricky, but the class is very worth taking.

Professor Dodson is a great professor! The class wasn't very difficult ,the textbook was enjoyable, and the lecturers were always really interesting. I highly recommend this class to anyone interested in psychology.

Dodson is incredibly engaging and a great prof. Easy class if you put the time in and memorize the key terms in the textbook. DO NOT read the textbook because he could care less if you do and takes all his questions from his power points.

This class is super easy, if you have good memorization skills. You do not have to do any of the textbook readings, as all of the exams are based on the powerpoint slides. The lectures themselves aren't really necessary to go to, but he shows videos in class that are interesting and he is very enthusiastic about the course! To study for the exams, I just made made the powerpoint slides into flashcards and memorized them.

Chad is a great guy and great professor. He has entertaining lectures with lots of videos and experiments. The course covers a lot of material but that is with any intro course. Tests are a bit tricky, although he drops the lowest score so you can get away with a screw up. The textbook is not necessary, Chad's slides have all you need to know. As the semester goes on, you will get the hang of the tests and how he asks questions. They are all identical in format and style so as long as you focus your studying on that you'll be fine. I ended up with an A-.

Chad is an excellent lecturer and he is very passionate about the material. I know that I learned a lot in this class, even if that wasn't exactly reflected in my grade. The tests are tricky, sometimes the answer is only right based on a tiny, specific detail.

Chad makes his lectures very interesting, which is good, because there are certain concepts you probably won't understand unless you go to class and hear him lecture about them. Overall, easy material, but his exams are designed to let you easily narrow the answer down to 2 close options and then pick the wrong one. Don't even bother reading the book. It sat on my shelf the entire semester without a single glance. Slides will be posted online, so make up is easy if you miss, but I wouldn't suggest missing class unless you absolutely have to. There may be a few questions on each exam that relate to videos he shows in class and there's no way to see them unless you go. The psych department at UVA is very good, which makes it hard to get an A. Unless you plan on majoring in psych, or need this class for some pre-req, I would only suggest taking it for what you'll learn and not focus so much on how it will affect your GPA. Chances are, you won't get an A+

Dodson is great. Drops the lowest test score, but the tests can be tricky. So much better than Bonvillian I can't even tell you. I really enjoyed this class and would highly recommend it to all first/second years, even if you don't need to take it

Interesting lectures but pretty challenging exams. No homework at all, just studying! DO NOT order the textbook, it's not needed at all. He puts all of his powerpoint lectures on Collab, so technically you could skip class. I recommend attending class because the lectures and videos are really interesting! Study the power points for the exams and start studying early because it is a lot of memorization! Overall, good class :)

Dodson always seemed to love being in the classroom and was excited about what he taught. Test questions can be tricky.

Class is ok, interesting

I LOVED this class. This is what made me decide on a Psychology major. Chad is a really engaging lecturer, and a great guy. His lectures are always interesting, and he shows A LOT of cool videos. He posts his slides online, but questions from the videos sometimes show up on tests. The tests are very straight forward. I didn't read at all, and I still got an A in the class.

Good class. Dodson was enthusiastic and got me interested in Psychology. Tests were pretty easy if you studied

memorize the slides and you'll be fine!

Only study the powerpoint. But you will get some tangential two or three questions right if you take the time to skim the book.

ONLY STUDY THE POWERPOINT SLIDES! There's no need to read the book. Enthusiastic professor and lectures are fairly interesting.

This class is difficult in the sense that the exam questions either go in depth about things that he generalized in class or they generalize topics that he elaborated upon. Some questions are very ambiguous. There is no homework outside of class. He never assigns readings from the textbook, and I found it difficult to use the textbook to study because the topics were all scattered.

Straightforward lectures. Literally, Dodson just reads off the Powerpoints, which is where he gets his test questions. You have 4 tests (one gets dropped) and then a final. The questions can be extremely tricky sometimes and cover a lot of material since it's an introductory course. It's an okay class. Wouldn't necessarily recommend.

Shouldn't be a hard class...if you study the slides two days before the test you should be fine. Yet, I still found a way to get C's on nearly all of the tests even when I thought I did well. Chad's great, but his tests can be a little tricky (they are fair, however).

It wasn't a bad class, but I thought the class would be easier. It is extremely broad, which can make things difficult at times, and the tests, though they shouldn't have been hard, were very nitpicky and even if you study, go to all the lectures, you could get a C on the test because they are designed to trick you. However, the professor was enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy teaching, so that made the class good. Otherwise, I wouldn't take it unless you have to.

Dodson is so enthusiastic that it makes otherwise dull lectures relatively fun to go to. It is a good general overview of psychology.

The professor is good and keeps the lectures interesting with videos of cool psych experiments. Pretty easy class and all lecture slides are online.

Although I never really got to know the professor, he makes lectures very interesting and is incredibly animated. As noted before, we watched a lot of videos and the lecture slides were all online (which is really nice). The TA was awesome. The tests weren't very hard if you study. Overall, i'd really recommend this class!

Great class!

Very interesting lectures, funny, movies every class, go to lecture do some reading and you will be fine.

Great teacher, fun lectures, good class! Tests aren't difficult, and you don't always have to read the textbook because he covers most of the material during lecture.

Funny class. Straight forward. Very general.

Interesting, but most topics you only get a vague overview of. I really like the professor but never really got to know him. All multiple choice tests.

Dodson really just reads off the slides and plays a bunch of video clips. I didn't enjoy the class, neither did the friends I took it with. The exams were worded to be unnecessarily difficult, but the material itself was simple. I'd recommend taking intro with any other professor possible.

Great professor, good intro class and got me into taking higher level psych classes. just going over the slides was really enough to do well

Your basic 1010 college class. Dodson was a fun guy and a decent lecturer. The exams were all multiple choice and you could drop the lowest grade. Don't take this class unless you have to, because it's a lot of material and only very general.

I agree with the guy below me; Dodson does just read off of the slides. I fell asleep in this class multiple times and still got an A, as you didn't really need to attend lectures. Reading the book isn't really necessary either as it goes into more detail than you need for the tests. I would still probably go to lecture because a few of his slides require some explanation. You get one drop test, and I'm not really sure how much he curves for the class. That being said, I was considering being a psyc major but this class kinda killed it for me. You learn some interesting things but overall I had a mediocre experience.

Awful, awful class. While the subject matter can be interesting at times, unfortunately your grade doesn't depend on the big-picture items; more often than not, how well you do well on the tests is based off of how many irrelevant details you can remember, present in either two words in the PowerPoint or one sentence from the book. Rote memorization never makes for a good, interesting, or worthwhile class.

Dodson has the possibility of being a good professor, but I can't judge that based upon a class where he simply reads off PowerPoints (no reason to attend class whatsoever - they're posted on Collab even before he lectures on them).

Professor Dodson is a really engaging lecturer, posts his powerpoints to collab, the tests are all scantron (but shouldn't be underestimated), and your lowest test grade is dropped from your average. I loved this class, it was a great first experience with the psych department.

I did not like the lecture, but I did like the information. The lecture consisted of him talking about his powerpoint and showing alot of videos. I often fell asleep because the class is so cut and fry and straight forward. His tests were mostly derived from the powerpoint and the tests were kind of tricky. This class confirmed what people say about into classes being some of the hardest.

Interesting lectures for the most part, but the tests are very tricky. You really need to memorize his powerpoint slides and read the textbook (which is painfully long sometimes) if you want to get an A.

Really enjoyed this class, lectures seemed to go by very quickly because Dodson is a very engaging and enthusiastic professor! Strong emphasis on lectures on the exam, you definitely need to go to class.

Lectures can be boring at times especially when he just reads off the powerpoint slides. The experimental videos are always entertaining. Exams are fairly simple but reading the textbook might also help with concepts not discussed in lecture.

Dodson is an absolutely wonderful professor that explains the material very clearly. His tests are difficult though! Study the powerpoints and book thoroughly. No homework except to read the book. There are 4 tests and he drops the lowest grade, plus a final.

Take this class! If you're the slightest bit interested in psychology, take this class and you won't regret it! Very interesting material and Dodson is a great lecturer. He posts the slides online before the class but it's still worth going to the lectures because he does a great job explaining everything and giving examples. Midterms are reasonable, just read the book and study the slides and you'll be fine

I loved this class! Professor Dodson makes Psychology even more interesting than it already is by bringing in videos from experiments and just being a great, engaging lecturer. Tests were nothing to worry about if you paid attention in class and/or read the book as long as you reviewed a little. Take this class!

I enjoyed this class because I found the material extremely interesting. However, do not expect an easy A. The tests are trickier than anticipated, however doing well is not impossible.

Professor Dodson was very enthusiastic about the material, but the class moved really quickly and couldn't go very far into most of the interesting topics. The class relies solely on powerpoint presentations, but he usually included video clips to illustrate concepts that helped liven class up a bit. The chapters in the textbook are long, but it isn't really necessary to read all of every one. Exams were harder than expected, but he curves them based on how the class does as a whole.

It is one of the hardest introductory level courses in the psych department but a very useful class. Not a lot of work and the professor is very clear and helpful.

Professor Dodson's class was cool. His lectures can be long and boring but he gets most of his information off of them. His tests are straight to the point if you study the slides well and read the parts of the book that have to do with the slides. The tests questions are easy to understand (no trickery) and he lets class out 15 minutes early sometimes.

This class is very straightforward- only 4 multiple choice exams, each only 50 or so questions each. I didn't find them difficult, but going to lectures and readings definitely pays off. I never got below an A on them. Chad posts the Powerpoints that he uses in lecture, which is very helpful.

This class was really great. 101 is such a broad course, but Dodson made learning the material easy and interesting. Every once in a while we'd have some cool vids to watch, so that made the class go by quickly. Exams really focused on lecture slides and parts of the book associated with slide material. Overall, a great class

Chad is the man.

Dodson is a very good lecturer and nice professor. However, the tests are too hard for an introductory class. A lot of questions are unnecessarily tricky and are meant to trick you more than to test your knowledge of Psychology. If you're interested in the topic, it's a worthwhile class, but don't expect an easy A.

This turned out to be a very broad but interesting class

Powerpoints were always put up before the class started and he made it very enjoyable. Read the chapters and go over the powerpoints.

Fun lectures, tests were more difficult than i thought they'd be

I absolutely loved the class. Yes, many thought the tests were difficult, and I do agree, but they are definitely not as impossible as some people make them out to be. The key is to really read the book and review lectures. Waiting until the last minute is a death sentence.

This class is definitely interesting and Chad is always well-prepared and entertaining. Here comes the caveat:

If you have amazing test-taking abilities, then you will have no problem in this class, as it is entirely test-based. However, if you tend to second guess yourself or get tripped up by the wording of tests, you should take a more focused class. I find the tests to be extremely difficult and the wording of questions to be intentionally confusing. Some test questions are undeniably easy, but others are extremely trivial (such as asking about a topic for which ONE SENTENCE appeared in the book and not at all on the slides). He emphasizes for every test that you "memorize the slides and read only where the book and the slides overlap", but this advice never helped me once.

Sorry to discourage anyone, but if you do not consider yourself to be a good test taker then I honestly do not recommend this class.

class is a basic 101. study the lectures and do the reading and you will get an A. You also get to drop one quiz which is nice

Dodson is one of the better lecturers at UVA. He always keeps it interesting with his classwide examples and volunteer-based demos. Tests are tough but not too tough.

I LOOOOOOOVE him! I think he is a great teacher. Lecturing to 200+ students for an 1.25 hours at a time could be challenging, but I find this class extremely interesting.

Definitely do the reading for this class. I didn't, and it hurt me in the end when I got a C+. The tests are really tricky and I think the reading helps. Also, Dodson's lectures are really engaging

Dodson is a pretty good intro professor, but it is an intro course. The entire basis of your grade is exams, which can suck if you aren't good with a multiple choice format, but hey, you did get into UVA. He drops the lowest non-final exam, but the curve is a "high school" type -he adds up everyone's final score, makes the highest a 100 and bases everyone else's on that, which again can suck if there's someone with psych experience or is just really good who aces every exam.

I hated this class. The readings were too long and I was already overloaded with my other courses. This class can be easy if you have time to absolutely memorize the chapters. I found the tests in the beginning of the semester to be very challenging.

Overall a really fun class. Dodson does a great job of making a lecture of 200 people really interesting by using videos and volunteers for in class experiments. Def. read the book and go to class.

He's funny and lectures are fun when he shows videos. But there's a lot of reading and this is a 101 course, so it's all bunched in together. Take something more specialized if you are interested.

All of his lectures are online in powerpoint format, and you could miss a lecture and still do fine on his exams. Only worthwhile thing was to see the videos he presents during lecture. Professor Dodson is exceptionally knowledgable in his subject but his lectures can be long drawn and boring at times. Other times they are really interesting.

Professor Dodson makes the class fun and interesting. I learned a lot. You don't even have to read the book if you go to lectures and pay attention and review the powerpoints before the tests. review sessions in the evening with mandy really helped too. it synthesized everything you learned in lecture.

Dobson is clearly enthusiastic about the subject matter, and he tries to lace his lectures with as much excitement as his read-off-the-powerpoint style allows. But since he posts every slide online, he leaves no reason to attend his lectures if you have something else to do at that time. There are several tests before the final exam, and each one covers (guess what!) the slides, which are actually diluted versions of the textbook's information.

Worst teacher ive had at Uva... incredibly boring, unengaging lectures... tests are on the book, not on what he teaches.

The class is very interesting but it does require that you read all the chapters that are covered to do really well on the tests.

The lectures are well organized and the tests straightforward. This is a good grade-booster for those taking science classes, but by the end you may be so bored with the lack of difficulty that you'll never want to take psyc again. Even so, there are many people who do poorly in this class.

He goes through a lot of information in lectures - but posts all of his slides so its ok. He lets you drop your lowest grade on your exams, which are all multiple choice. Tests aren't too bad - some questions are from the book and not lectures (but always same topics!)