ECON 3010

First of all, Econ 3010 is a weed-out class, it is the hardest class, by far, in the Economics major, besides possibly Econometrics. Thus, you should expect Zirkle's class, like anyone else's to be challenging. In my opinion, he was a very good professor, especially compared to the other options. He knows his stuff, and incorporates humor in his lectures, and is an all around nice and approachable guy. Go to office hours. It will pay off in many ways. Also, don't whine if it was confusing and difficult, I have several friends whom I consider brighter than me who failed/got D's in other 301 sections. Thus, I argue, you should take it with Zirkle. Don't take it if you're not planning on a major, though.

Zirkle tries really hard to teach the material well so everyone can understand, but makes mistakes and teaches in a way that can be difficult to understand when you go back to review your notes. The best way to succeed in his class (and it is possible and manageable) is to read the chapter following the lecture, do the relevant practice problems(non-graded) and go to TA or Zirkle's office hours if you have questions. Tests were fair, after viewing taking the exams, i realized that they were in fact related to the homework and practice exams.

Zirkle is such a wonderful and nice guy, it's hard to begrudge him for some of his shortcomings as a professor. He frequently makes simple mistakes on the board, but overall, he's a good lecturer that has an obvious love of the material. The tests really focus on the practice problems - study them for the exams, understand them, and you're set!

NOT A GOOD CLASS. I thought I loved Econ, but this class was miserable. He is SO hard to follow during lectures, and honestly the book is the best resource. His exam reviews are worthless as well. A really really nice guy who you can't help but like, but as a teacher? NO.

Huzefe Torun is an awesome TA and is really the only solid way to learn the material in the course. Going to lecture confused me more I think

People rate Zirkle badly because econ 301 is hard and they did not put in the work, so they got a low grade. I put in literally ZERO work except for the night before tests and got a B-, but I cannot blame Zirkle for this. He is a great guy and the tests are very very fair. Know how to answer the questions in the book and you will be set.

Zirkle is a nice and light-hearted guy, but he has a way of making the material seem harder than it is. if you take this class (and don't take this class if you don't actually have to), definitely go to lecture and take notes, but simply to get the main ideas behind the examples he does in class, since his examples are always way harder than exam questions. as long as you know how to do the problems he gives you before exams, you'll do fine.

From my experience, the grade distributions and some of the reviews here should be taken with a grain of salt. Yes, nearly half of the class received C's, but more than half of the class also takes advantage of Zirkle's no-attendance and no-grade-homework policies. Zirkle himself is a very nice guy and tries his best to be a great teacher. He does tend to explain things more complicatedly than needed sometimes, but it's possible to deal with it by asking your TA. He teaches based on the book and adds some of his own touches so read the book, do the assigned book problems on time, and go to class to take notes, and getting an A is certainly doable.

Huzeyfe is a good TA. Go to discussions and office hours.

Zirkle is a decent lecturer and great guy but the tests are impossible. GO TO CLASS and attempt to do the homeworks as well as the practice tests and you'll probably get a B. A's are a stretch but doable if you put in A LOT of work (which generally requires sacrificing in your other classes)