At first I was not excited to take this class after reading the reviews, but I did anyways and a very glad I did. His humor may be subtle, but when you do its enough to laugh out loud in class. I ended up missing about three lectures during the quarter and even when I was in class I had a hard time paying attention because of some intense personal issues going on. Even with all of that I managed to get a B- in the class and that was with me bombing the midterm. And I'm not one of those incredibly studious or naturally smart people. I studied as much as I reasonably could. He helped during office hours and showed pictures in class of the stuff we were studying which helped a lot. I retained alot of information from that class and really appreciate it. If you're wary about taking this class, don't let it be because of the bad reviews. See for yourself

Orme is, like most people say on this board, a nice guy. He genuinely cares about his students and wants you to learn. But his teaching methods are incredibly dry and sitting through lectures, which include a million examples on slides and his rambling for what seems like hours, is a struggle. It's very hard to stay awake. His exams are crazy. He picks out random details from his lectures and from the book that no one will remember and then asks you about it. The midterm and the exam are VERY HARD. I pretty much bombed the midterm (got a 54/92, as it was curved, and that is a 58%). I panicked because only two things count toward your grade. The midterm and the final. I studied because my life depended on it for the final and read almost ALL of the chapters in the book (1-8) until my eyes felt like they were going to fall out and my brain was numb. I made flashcards and memorized all the terms and read over them for what felt like a million times. Then I rocked the final, I suppose, because I ended up with a B+. Or he has a huge curve. But now I realize that the class was doable. You just have to read his notes AND the book THOROUGHLY. I could have gotten an A!! My expectations for my grade were lowered after the midterm. But the key is to do well on the midterm, then rock the final.

Now I can say that although the class was painful at first, as a surfer what I learned turned out to be very useful. I see beaches and coasts in a very different way now.

101: Coastal Geomorphology
I didn't like this class. Orme's a nice guy but his exams are ridiculous. I mean, his classes are usually as follows: for 15-30 minutes he'll review stuff on course outlines that he posts online. Basic things like definitions. Then for the next hour or so, he will give you examples of the stuff that he just barely mentioned. EXAMPLE AFTER EXAMPLE AFTER EXAMPLE. He turns off the lights, turns on his projector, and kids get ready for a show. He tends to ramble and it's really hard to distinguish between what's a story and what you're supposed to remember. His exams are RIDICULOUS. Does he really expect us all to remember exactly which dam he mentioned that rose this much in sea level this much time ago? Exams are multiple choice. The final was 100 questions, I don't remember for the midterm. This class was a struggle. Going to lecture felt pointless because when I wasn't bored to death, I was struggling to see what his point was as he rambled on and on and on... and on.
Yeah. No thanks. I wouldn't do it again. And I hope I passed. And I was so excited to take a class on coasts too.