EDHS 2240

I absolutely regret taking this class. Easily the most unfair course I have ever taken and the worst I have ever been treated by a professor. I had an A throughout the entire semester because I actually attended class and read the books due to my interest in the material (unlike most people who take this as an elective). Then, at the end of the semester, Dr. Pleszkoch gave me a D for no apparent reason on our final paper, which I put a lot of effort in to. This dropped my grade an entire letter. When I exchanged emails and then finally phone calls with her, she was absolutely horrible to communicate with. I was very stressed about some other classes and crying during our phone call because I couldn't believe my one elective was going like this, and she literally laughed at me. It is hard to believe a woman this condescending and unsympathetic works with drug addicts. Do not take this class.

The course has changed and has gotten harder over the past few semesters. The final is no longer take home and there are more assignments. That being said, it's not a super challenging class. It really isn't as easy of an A as is described by other reviews though.

I took this class with the expectation of learning more about issues of drug abuse in our culture as college students and living witnesses to significant changes in drug policy. Professor Pleszkoch presented as very condescending and discourteous to her students. In a school environment where we place the honor code at the forefront of our education, she began the semester with the assumption that cheating would take place and taught the class accordingly making assessments unreasonably confusing and difficult and creating questions to trick students. Additionally she would publicly shame students in class calling them out and pausing class to reprimand them. This class was 2.5 hours long for no reason, by sharing unnecessary anecdotes and giving the class loosely timed random breaks, this class was dragged on way past a reasonable time for 30 slides to be reviewed. Finally, Professor Pleszkoch was unbelievably unapproachable and incredibly rude in her email responses, shutting me down and not inviting conversation or debate. I completely regret taking this class and would strongly advise anyone taking it unless it is absolutely mandatory. This professor is incredibly unpleasant and did not support me as a student or respect me as an individual. She was an incredibly negative aspect of an otherwise great semester.

This is no more an easy A folks. I took it in fall 2016 and I am telling you: It is a waste of tuition and you will probably end up with a grade lower than A so it's just not worth it. For the first time this semester, she integrated 3 really REQUIRED very thick books and you actually have to read them to do well, as well as memorise all the powerpoints and have watched all the in-class videos. This semester the class average is at B-B+ range. She talks as if the school told her to make the class harder and so she did. Either take this and be ready to put effort into it, or don't take it because you will end up getting a B from an "Easy A" class. Don't listen to what anyone else says because the content and the structure of this class has changed!

She kind of rambled on a lot, but overall a easy and semi interesting course. 1 midterm, 1 final, 5 quizzes (open note online), 1 paper

This class is super easy overall, but the exams are annoyingly specific. They're take-home and online. She's not a great lecturer, but the class such an easy A that it doesn't really matter.

do yourself a favor and literally take any other class. there is no longer a test bank and having to sit through 2.5 hours of this every week is just a waste of your time and tuition dollars.

Class is pretty easy but your grade highly depends on your TA. Unfortunately mine was really bad. Her grading was really strict and never gave useful feedback. The professor is one of the worst I have had. Her lectures were dry and boring without any value and if you ask for a regrade on your paper, most likely she will give you a lower score. I was hoping to learn a lot from this class but I did not. We did not receive any test banks to prepare for the midterm and final. We had to study from the study guide and there was a lot to memorize. In the final, questions were pretty detailed and some of them were not from the slides. Finally, if you get a 94.8, your grade won't roll up to an A. So, if you are taking this class as a GPA booster, I would definitely recommend to look for another class.

Some things were changed for this semester. We did not receive any test banks to prepare for the midterm and final. We had to study from the study guide and there was a lot of memorization involved (she asked pretty detailed questions on the final). The writing assignments are easy (Qing Gao was my TA and she is aweosme). If I were you, I would look for another class for a GPA booster; I feel like I didnt't learn as much as I had wanted to. Also, I would say this class is an easy A- (A starts at 95 so not all students end up getting an A).

This professor is the most entertaining person ever. Its like listening to your old grandma nag after suffering from nostalgia. All you need is pretend your listening to her. She's too old to know who's actually listening or not. The tests are easy (I got a C though because I was drunk while taking it). Taylor is the best TA ever. The hottest TA you will find in UVA.

Yes, this class is an easy A. Would I recommend it solely on that fact? Not necessarily. It's a 2.5 hour BORING lecture once a week. The material is interesting but she teaches it in such an uninteresting way. The papers are extremely easy and you only have to attend 10/12 lectures. I barely used the textbook. Honestly, I think there are better GPA booster classes to take at UVA than this one.

Honestly, not worth the easy grade. Most boring class I've taken here and the professor might be the least intelligent one I've come across at UVA.

I took it for the easy A. It's minimum workload and actually pretty interesting. The professor is pretty funny. I actually learned more than I thought I would.

Really great class! The professor is great and has lots of fun stories. There are 3 papers, a midterm, and a final. You also have to attend 10/12 classes and they take attendance via a 1/2 page paper. Really manageable workload and interesting topic!

I would recommend this class only if you are trying to boost your GPA because you will def. get an A or A- but this class is boring and painful despite the fact the subject matter is interesting. Memorize test bank questions, memorize the powerpoint slides, follow the APA guidelines for the papers, and go to class and you'll be fine

I don't mean to sound snooty, but if you're paying for tuition, why would you take this class? I took it because I wanted the easy A, so I know I should not complain because I got what I bargained for, but I don't feel like I got anything out of the class. I just wasted 2.5 hours every week sitting there pretending to listen.

For starters, this class is 2.5 hours long, so if you struggle to sit through your 50 minute lectures I don't recommend it because it's extremely boring. However, it is definitely one of the easiest courses I've taken at UVa. You MUST go to class because of the reaction paper at the end of every lecture. The exams are a joke as long as you memorize the test banks (75% comes from these) and lecture slides. She lets you have the option of taking the exam in class or on Collab, and about 75% of people choose Collab. The papers should be a guaranteed A every time, but only if you follow the rubrics and properly cite with APA style. In regards to Dr. Lisa, she's about as weird as a professor can get. Lame jokes, ridiculously long anecdotes that nobody cares about, and she's addicted to caffeine ("huh? but this is a substance abuse class" TELL ME ABOUT IT). She knows exactly how to lose your attention, which becomes even easier since the class is so long. Don't take it for the professor, just take it for the easy A.

Easy class, great GPA booster. She gives you a study guide/test bank questions for the 2 exams. The 3 papers are 1200-1500 words and also really easy. There are 10 point response papers at the end of each class. You only need to write a paragraph and you will always get 10 pts if you answer the question. You can only miss two classes.

This class is as difficult as most 4th grade social studies classes. So if you had trouble with 4th grade social studies, I don't recommend it.