ECON 2010

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, 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.

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.

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.

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