STS 1500

Very hit or miss with the excitement of lectures. Some are interesting and then the next you can't wait to get out of the class. Carlson is knowledgeable about the subject but it was just a requirement. The outside writing assignments weren't that hard but they were decently time consuming.

I wouldn't say I enjoyed this class very much. The lectures were rarely interesting and you learn to realize that there's no need to take notes because the only tests are the midterm and the final -- which are based off of readings, videos, and the powerpoints.

He doesn't add anything substantive to the powerpoints so you really don't have to pay attention. There are some outside writing assignments that are either individual or group based and your grade really depends on your TA. However, the midterm and final are very easy if you just read through the readings/powerpoints and watch all the videos.

Readings assigned before lecture period weren't useful until tests. Lab period consisted of a lot of group work and writing projects. Required to keep an idea notebook with 100 entries by the end of the semester, highly advise keeping it up to date.

This class was not that bad but the readings were useless for what we were learning, but we had to do them for the test. The T.As matter a lot. Not hard at all to get at least a B or B plus, however depending on your T.A getting a flat A may be impossible. Somewhat interesting but some of the stuff we were supposed to read really made me want to throw my computer at a wall and ask if our professor himself read it

This is a required first year engineering course. I suppose it is worth noting that the TA's are responsible for all grading of about 300-350 students and there are only three of them, so that may be a reason why I didn't enjoy the course at all.

Carlson is a pretty well known professor (head of the STS department, engineering business minor, etc.) and is kind of a big deal and he definitely knows it. I've never seen a professor excessively quote himself on exams and lecture slides or give lectures completely based on his own conjecture rather than a more objective perspective, but Carlson managed to do both. Be ready for a TON of blanket statements and iffy generalizations, because that's what most lectures are based upon.

Perhaps my biggest problem with the class was a lack of transparency in terms of grading. The class wasn't particularly hard in terms of weekly reading (though some were EXTREMELY long, like about 60 pages), but the grading was very annoying. There are several written assignments, like the idea notebook, PPA, tech description, etc. Be sure to follow the rubric 100%. The grades appear to be given pretty randomly, in that it's more of box-checking than actually reading for substance and going above and beyond. The TA's do all the grading and you have a much better shot of going to them for help/questions than Carlson.

Overall, I know plenty of people who were frustrated by this course. If you put in a lot of work, you should be able to get at least a B/B+, but I still haven't met anyone who got an A. It's required, so do your best, but don't expect too much.

Carlson's lectures were interesting. Loved that he brought Oliver in to talk to us. He's arrogant though. Tests were easy; study material from the lecture slides. All questions are multiple choice. I thought the writing was hard and weird for this class. Got some off-put feedback from my TAs but they were all very nice. I enjoyed the projects we did in lab.

This class is required, but isn't too bad. Just make sure you put in effort to the group project at the end and your technical description. The exams are all multiple choice and pretty easy.

The class itself is boring sometimes, and kinda cool the next. Just gotta live with it.

Overall the professor isn't too bad but the class itself just seems like a waste of time.

Carlson is obsessed with himself. You'll see more "According to prof. Carlson" than you'd expect. His lectures can have potential on occasion, but generally are a total letdown. Very little of what you learn is actually relevant to anything you do. The discussions are a different matter. They're actually fairly informative and you learn quite a bit about writing technical descriptions, the patent process, the library system, and a bunch of other fairly relevant topics.

Carlson treats this class like a joke but then has an absurd standard for grading. Over a five week stretch Carlson missed four out of five lectures and assigned video lectures instead.The themes of the course could be established and supported within three weeks but the rest of the course is fluff that does little to expand upon the overall argument of the course.

This class is led by a professor who has no intention to educate students at all. You will be taught and graded by TA s that has zero knowledge on what they are doing and only cares about getting Carlson’s attention. This class is a crucial class for engineers, yet UVA has let it become a complete garbage that you are forced to go through. Professor will copy and paste the wikipedia page for his lecture slides or just give you the link if he doesn't even feel like doing that. By the end of the first lecture, you will learn everything you will learn at the end of the semester.