ECON 2010

Actually, good professor, though I've heard her office hours aren't consistently helpful. I definitely don't regret choosing to take her class.

The professor has potential to be effective at teaching this level of economics, but she hasn’t quite achieved that yet. Coming from teaching intermediate microeconomics, it seems she applied a similar pacing to this course, which may not be appropriate for its level. There’s often a disconnect between the material covered in lectures and what’s assigned as homework or included in lecture quizzes. Currently, the class is structured with one homework and two lecture quizzes per week. While these assignments aren’t particularly difficult, it’s important to pay attention to small details, as points are frequently deducted for minor errors. However, I found the textbook readings and lectures to be unhelpful overall. The most valuable learning resources were the discussion sections and the TAs, who essentially taught the core material more effectively than the professor. I can tell the professor is knowledgeable, but her presentation and delivery need improvement. Additionally, she lacks understanding and flexibility, which makes succeeding in the course unnecessarily challenging. With some adjustments to her teaching approach and a stronger focus on student support, she could become a much better instructor.

Similarly to the other review, my biggest complaint with this course/instructor is the gap between lectures/textbook and assignments/tests. It is still a good idea to attend lectures, however, because there are some quirks in the course that will be on the test that are not found in online resources. The tests are supposed to be on concepts only found in lecture material. My biggest suggestion is to attempt homework as early as possible, because the TAs are extremely helpful in explaining the questions you might struggle with. Kriplani is a pretty good instructor, but sometimes I left her lectures feeling like I had no understanding of the lecture topic which was discouraging. That being said, it is not too difficult to get an A, especially if you have some foundation in economics. There are extra credit points available to earn to boost homework grades, and each test usually had a curve. The final test was optional, and replaced your lowest test grade. Attendance was not checked.

Overall, I found professor Kripalani to be an effective teacher. I had a lot of friends who did not share my viewpoints, but I think a lot of my success can be attributed to going to office hours. Due to this, I will stress: always go to office hours when you can! Even if you don't have specific questions, showing your face and being present/listening while other students receive explanations seems to make a world of difference to the professor. I had a couple of friends who would go to office hours every Thursday when I went, and I could definitely see a difference in the way we were treated vs. other students. I think she really appreciates when students show effort and put in extra work to succeed in her course, and I always found her to be flexible and understanding with me even as my peers complained that she wasn't with them. In terms of coursework and exams, there were three small homework assignments every week, and while they are not worth a lot of points each, they can be graded harshly at times. There are three unit exams throughout the semester, and the cumulative final is optional but will replace your lowest exam grade. There were also many extra credit opportunities that were added onto the total homework grade at the end of the semester. In general, I would recommend this course, but only if you know you can put in the effort to build a relationship with the professor.

Overall, Prof Kripalani was a solid teacher and someone I'd recommend if you're going to take Intro to Micro. While her lectures can sometimes feel like they're dragging on and are not always the most engaging classes, I definitely felt like she explained what was needed for assignments and exams in a mostly concise and clear way. She assigns weekly textbook readings (either 1 or 2 chapters a week) with questions that go along with them. A lot of stuff in the reading won't actually come up in class/exams, but make sure you do the questions on time, as they count towards your final grade (graded for completion). After every lecture, you'll have a "lecture quiz" due 11:59 the following day with 1-2 questions (20 minutes max) on material you learned in class. She also assigns a weekly homework assignment due on Friday, which tend to be harder and take longer but you can work on and submit them as a group. Compared to the way some of the other professors teach this course, it can sound like there's a lot of work, but I personally felt like having this much practice was very useful for the exams. For the most part, everything on the exams was something we'd already seen, either in a homework or LQ or in the review slides she provides. There are 3 midterms and a final, and if you take all four tests, the lowest score is dropped. Kripalani also gives tons of extra credit opportunities throughout the semester, and they are not that challenging or demanding, so make sure you're doing them (all the EC points I had by the end of the semester brought my A- to an A).

Overall, the class was fine. It wasn't the most engaging of classes, but I still think that she did a better job than most economics professors would. The class isn't exceptionally tough, but it is still challenging. You will need to show up to class, take notes, do the homework, and study in order to do well. The exams are especially tricky, not because they are particularly difficult, but because you only have 50 minutes to complete them. There is also a ~20 minute lecture quiz after every class as homework, and ~60 minute homework assignment due every Friday. If you are interested in microeconomics or need it as a prerequisite, I think this is probably one of the better microeconomic classes offered, but if you're just taking it for fun, I would skip.

Kripalani was one of the worst professors I had. Her course consists of lecture quizzes, homework assignments, readings, case studies, and exams. Although this would be ideal for learning, the assignments she provides are not beneficial to what is actually on the exam. Especially on case studies, lecture quizzes, and homeworks, she is especially nitpicky, and you WILL lose points for small things. She is more of a math-based teacher rather than a conceptual one like Elzinga, so do what you will with that. I also do not believe lectures are required, but I attended every single one, and for some reason, she has a tendency to solve the equation her own way/formula than the one provided on the slides, which makes it even harder to follow. Personally, I would NOT recommend her, even if you believe you are good with math, but do what you will. She also does not put your grades into Canvas throughout the semester. So if you want to know your current grade, you'll either need to calculate it yourself or wait til the end of the semester.

Contrary to some of the other reviews, I though Prof Kripalani was a great professor. The homework is definitely a lot more than some of the other econ classes (2 readings a week that take about 30 minutes if you read in depth; 2 lecture quizzes a week after lecture that take about 10-20 minutes; 1 homework assignment a week that takes about 45-60 minutes), but having the readings, lecture quizzes, and weekly homework assignments set you up very well for the exams. There is no shortage of resources that Prof Kripalani provides because after completing all of the previous homework, there are extra practice worksheets she provides every week (the EP is very similar to the exams!). The exams are relatively fair, although sometimes there are questions that we didn't cover in depth and only touched on once, but if you attend lectures, review slides, and go over all of the work completed each week, you will be set up very well for the exams. The grade breakdown is 5% reading completion, 10% lecture quizzes, 10% weekly homework, 15% case studies (to complete the day after exams), and 20% each for three exams. Even if you don't do well on the exams, you can take the final to replace your lowest exam score, and there are extra credit opportunities before every exam that you can use to boost your case study, lecture quizzes, and homework grades. Although I didn't really attend discussion, the few times I went, the TA was very helpful and willing to explain things, even after class. Overall the way this class is structured is fair and very forgiving, and Prof Kripalani has office hours multiple times a week if you are struggling. I would highly recommend you take this class with Prof Kripalani over any of the other professors. Another personal note: this class isn't even for my major, and I took it for fun, but I really enjoyed the way it was taught.

Kripalani was an ok professor. Her notes were decent, however, much of the lecture was simply reading off the slides and not providing much more explanation. She also recorded the lectures, so attending in person was not incredibly important if you watched the lectures online. Her office hours weren't super helpful either as much of her explanations came back from re-reading course material on the slides. In my opinion, I didn't think the class was hard and would take the class again. However, I took Econ in high school, so maybe my perspective is different from others.

I think the class overall is pretty skippable since it’s fairly plain and mostly involves reading and solving questions on the slides, and she records all the lectures as well. The quizzes are very easy, and the homework is too, but make sure you do all the extra practice before each exam so you can secure an easy A at the end of the term.

The exam has five versions that vary in difficulty, which means your test can end up being either extremely easy or extremely hard depending on the version you get. That said, the exams aren’t difficult if you’re willing to put in some extra practice, and they’re definitely much easier than Elzinger’s class. I would recommend taking Prof. Kripalani if you’re deciding between the two if you are not confident with doing dutch knockout. Overall, i think Prof. Kripalani is an excellent professor if you are not good at conceptual questions.