COMM 4260

Kitchens didn't tell us this class was weighted on a bell curve until after grades were due. Most of us were doing fairly well in the class, yet received a lower grade because of it. It was neither mentioned in the syllabus nor in class-time. For example, I should have received a high A- but ended up with a solid B in the course, simply because I was on the low end of the grading scale. It didn't seem fair to tell us after-the-fact that we had been competing against each other, nor should we be punished for the fact that the class was relatively easy. Individual assignments being graded by a 2% difference could make or break your grade without you knowing it. I only spoke with 2 people in the class that received the final grade that they calculated.
Also, we had Professor Li originally but she left halfway through the semester on maternity leave, which was when Kitchens replaced her. Kitchens didn't take attendance, nor did he learn our names, yet docked some people in our class on participation just because he "didn't even recognize their face on the day of final presentations." He told us that not a single person in his two sections received a 3/3 for participation, but since nobody received the full points, nobody would be docked in their final grade for it. Yet, when some of us emailed him individually, he claimed we were downcurved for our rank in the class AND participation.
The grading was extremely arbitrary, and, to not give anyone a 3/3 on participation while he didn't bother to take attendance or learn names was... unprofessional. A lot of us worked tremendously hard on the group assignments and the individual assignments/lab work were very informative, I felt like I learned a lot in the course and earned my A-.

Professor Kitchens is the best! He's really personable and will make a HUGE effort to explain things to you when you don't get something. This class is great because it really focuses on the concepts of Business Analytics without being too technical/unapproachable. I learned a bunch of things I was able to use in other classes, and I'm really glad I took it with Professor Kitchens. For participation, you can get by with pretty much skimming the reading and asking thoughtful questions in class. Then there are a few reading writeups, which are super easy, and weekly assignments in RapidMiner (which can be a little tricky but if you go to Kitchens you'll figure it out). Then there are 5 quizzes, which can also be tricky, so make sure to go to office hours. Everything else is group work, so definitely try to get a good group.

Professor Kitchens is pretty awesome - he's funny and tries to make sure that you learn not just the technical aspects of analytics, but how they can be applied in real life/why they are useful (e.g. using analytics to better predict the stock market; curing cancer, etc.). There is no midterm or final, just 5 quizzes (which can be a little tricky). There are 6 or 7 reading write ups, and 6 or 7 homework assignments using RapidMiner software (if you have a Mac, have him help you install it on your laptop so you don't have to constantly go to the COMM computer lab to do homework). Readings are not tested, just discussed in class and you can skim them efficiently. Would recommend overall