in this class- don't know whether to keep it or drop it.... anyone in it this semester?

8/22/2011 2:08:56 PM

first

8/22/2011 2:09:59 PM

ok that's what i'm leaning towards.

8/22/2011 2:11:01 PM

Is that Philosophy of Science?

8/23/2011 9:09:09 PM

oh god yes i'm in it. are you in the M,W,F 12:25 section? i think i'm keeping it.

8/23/2011 10:19:26 PM

Is it David Austin still?

If so, I can offer insight.

8/23/2011 10:47:01 PM

Exams are ridiculous but his grading scale is weird. Made two 60s on the exams and a little better on the final (took it summer session I pass/fail, needed the credit hours) and still made a B+ in the class without taking a single optional quiz/extra credit thing.

[Edited on August 24, 2011 at 10:53 AM. Reason : .]

8/24/2011 10:52:51 AM

just in case you haven't reviewed the history on this class...

message_search.aspx?type=topic§ion=7&searchstring=340

8/24/2011 12:40:41 PM

I mega-loathed that class.

8/24/2011 10:38:30 PM

Class can be boring, but Austin is one of the best professors on campus. He's incredibly intelligent and a little bit insane, and as far as I'm concerned that's the best mix for professors.

As far as the class being difficult, his lax attendence policy is the worst part of it--you'll be tempted to just not go to class. If you actually pay attention, do the work, read the stuff (not all of it--jesus, eye-gouging stuff), and do the practice-exams, you'll get an A. I did shit for nothing and got an A in that class because I took the optional exam.

So keep the class.

8/25/2011 9:48:00 PM

cliched*

8/26/2011 4:21:09 PM

Austin was an easy A+ when I was there. You didn't have to go to class or anything. Reading was a good idea of course but it was all pretty interesting. If you are a religious wackjob you are going to hate this class (and likely other philosophy classes).

8/28/2011 4:37:10 PM

Yeah Austin doesn't pussyfoot around, but he's not mean or anything. He tells the truth and can back it up. He put a few things into perspective for me and I'm sure many others, definitely a smart guy.

8/29/2011 3:31:55 AM

the class was harder than i thought it would be

which isn't to say it was hard, per se, but i expected it to be easier

austin was a great professor, a bit crazy, but good

9/1/2011 11:28:04 AM

<pulling up pants> Back when I took that class I just got a copy of the old tests. I never went to class once. he USED to say ( this was like 6 years ago) that his whole class was open source and say "If you can call Ghandi and ask him what he said about ____ then you can do it" To which we replied "is it still okay if Ghandi has a copy of your old tests sitting in front of him??" He said yes... so... I never even walked in the classroom. I missed 3 questions all year. I'm sure he's changed the tests around in 6 years, but get a hold of some recent ones should be easy.

9/2/2011 3:27:52 PM

evilmustard i'm taking it online. i think im keeping it too

9/11/2011 7:05:48 PM

If austin is still teaching this class and you have any difficulties in this class then just drop out of school completely and pursue a career in fast food service. Open book online test and low volume reading.

9/13/2011 11:12:24 PM

^To be fair, open-book for Austin in that class is just a series of 20-page papers he's written up in the most confusing way possible and stored with little to no real indication of exactly where the information your looking for is at. If you have to go looking for every single question, you won't even finish.

9/14/2011 3:58:32 AM

Came in to say that I took this class last semester. Never went to class or read anything. When I would take the tests, I'd open up the reading and just use ctrl+F (which he suggests) to find what I needed to answer a particular question. Ended up with an A-

9/14/2011 9:42:45 AM

^ I can attest to this exact same situation as well, though I did attend the first 2-3 lectures.

If you can use the internet/a computer well, you have no reason to get anything less than a B.

9/14/2011 10:17:45 AM

find someone who has old tests


...


profit.

9/15/2011 12:01:34 AM

^He gives you the old tests outright.

9/15/2011 12:41:58 AM

i think the course is intentionally meant to be a mindfuck

hence why you can do nothing and get a pretty good grade, but you will kill yourself if you actually try to understand the real reasoning behind each question

9/15/2011 10:41:39 AM

^^

back in my day (god i feel old), the "old tests" he gave us were from 5-10 years back.

the old tests i borrowed from friends were from the previous semester.


they were GREAT study tools.

[Edited on September 15, 2011 at 4:07 PM. Reason : this was 10 years ago, mind you.]

9/15/2011 4:07:21 PM

first exam was a failure. david austin is freaking insane.

9/26/2011 12:57:34 AM

I told you not to blow it off.

9/26/2011 9:29:00 AM

this class was a breeze. and this was before all the online and take home shit he does now.

9/26/2011 10:16:03 AM

^ I took it when it was all online (optional lecture) and it was still a breeze.

9/30/2011 6:00:08 PM