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Edward McDevitt
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For an economics teacher, sure. I'll give him that - his lectures are clear and concise. But when you're going into this class, don't bring your hopes up. UCLA Economics requires you to do a lot of self study and understand the material by yourself.
The "best" teacher I ever had is Ravetch. This guy does not belong in this league of teachers. When you mumble and recite from memory an insurmountable amount of information, I am not impressed. This guy is NOT as good as everyone else says he is.
Do not buy the lecture notes, take your own notes. You need all the help you can get internalizing the theory.
Short answer is not tough, but multiple choice questions (answer choices a-k) are pretty ridiculous sometimes.
Overall, it really doesn't matter what professor you take for any economics class, as it's going to be ridiculous and BS anyway.
Professor McDevitt is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. He is extremely receptive to feedback and understanding of students struggles. He really wants to make sure his students understand the concept. He was by far the best at accommodating to the change in learning environment due to COVID19. He would prerecord lectures and then do them again live. He is very clear on what is on each test and gives lots of very similar and helpful practice problems. His teaching is clear and easy to follow. The only thing I had a slight problem adjusting to at first is that his multiple choice questions can have up to 10 choices including choices like "two are correct" and "none are correct" and there is no partial credit so if you get one wrong you've already lost 10 points. However, if you do the practice problems they should be pretty manageable. I would highly recommend taking this class with Prof McDevitt!
This is a very doable classes. The key to success is to make sure you show up everyclass, and complete all his study questions before his exams.
There are not too many workload, and all exams are open books which means that you can even print his study questions out since many exams questions are taken directly from the practice questions(maybe changing some number or some wording, but same idea).
Professor is very clear and as an international student with weak English skills, I am able to follow his lecture without any confusion. Gradings are 25% midterm1, 25% midterm 2 and 50% finals. His office hour is helpful as well.
The content is interesting for me, I would absolutely want to take his class again.
McDevitt is by FAR the best econ professor i've encountered at UCLA. His tests are hard and his tests make up your entire grade (45% midterms, 55% final) but he never tries to trick you and the tests are fair (nothing he doesn't cover in class are on exams). He gives practice exams which are incredibly helpful in studying for the tests, and provides detailed notes that are almost word for word in what he goes over during lecture, so if you miss something in lecture you can go back. McDevitt is so accommodating to his students, and gives extra office hours in the days leading up to the exams and always gives detailed answers and more to whatever you ask. I cannot sing higher praises for this professor, he knows his stuff and is fair to his students.
Maybe I am different from most of the students, I am not really like this professor. He will curve but not round up 0.1 ever. He never replies emails after the final exam, and usually in rude or confusing words, like " I told this balabala" instead of Yes or No. Recording has a blurry quality, too.
Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).
The "theory" part of the title is accurate - not many case studies like some other upper divisions, think Econ 1 and Econ 2 type graphs and theory.
Has a different style of teaching and tests which takes the first midterm to get used to. Listening to his lectures is the best way to study, not reviewing notes. He is a good teacher that clearly understands everything he is saying extremely well. Questions will be answered thoroughly. He explained some basic econ 1/2 concepts better than I had ever heard before.
Very unorganized lecture notes. Tests are NOT math-based plug and chug type but more concept based with free writing response sections where you are expected to copy down graphs and explain.
McDevitt is probably the most straightforward professor I've ever had. He doesn't use slides, he only writes on the board, but this is honestly not a bad thing (depending on your learning style of course). He's obviously VERY knowledgable and passionate about the material, and he keeps his lectures very engaging. Also, if you're ever confused, he posts typed notes and lecture recordings.
Your grade is made up entirely of three exams. Fortunately, he provides past exams for practice, which are extremely similar to the actual ones. He also holds extra office hours during the days leading up to the exams. The only downside to his tests (as other people have mentioned) are his multiple choice questions, which usually contain around 10 options and make up a lot of points. Besides that, the material on the exams is very fair, and the test themselves are entirely open-note. As long as you study his notes and practice exams, you will do great.
Overall, I would strongly recommend taking this class with Professor Mcdevitt. This class is easier than my Econ 11 and 41 class because it is open notes. The exams are straight forward and similar to the practice exams. All the grades in this class is based on 2 Midterms (20% and 25%) and Final (55%). However, this class follows econ department curve so the class average is about a B. He also provides extra office hours before the exam for us to ask any questions. One thing that is a bit frustrating about his exams is that the multiple choice part would worth like 9 points out of 100 and there are like 7 choices so it is an all-or-nothing scenario.
He is such a good professor. Engaging lectures. Exams can be difficult, but everything is open note. He gives practice exams which are quite similar to the actual exams. Practice those and you should be fine. Overall, I would take this professor again.
For an economics teacher, sure. I'll give him that - his lectures are clear and concise. But when you're going into this class, don't bring your hopes up. UCLA Economics requires you to do a lot of self study and understand the material by yourself.
The "best" teacher I ever had is Ravetch. This guy does not belong in this league of teachers. When you mumble and recite from memory an insurmountable amount of information, I am not impressed. This guy is NOT as good as everyone else says he is.
Do not buy the lecture notes, take your own notes. You need all the help you can get internalizing the theory.
Short answer is not tough, but multiple choice questions (answer choices a-k) are pretty ridiculous sometimes.
Overall, it really doesn't matter what professor you take for any economics class, as it's going to be ridiculous and BS anyway.
Professor McDevitt is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. He is extremely receptive to feedback and understanding of students struggles. He really wants to make sure his students understand the concept. He was by far the best at accommodating to the change in learning environment due to COVID19. He would prerecord lectures and then do them again live. He is very clear on what is on each test and gives lots of very similar and helpful practice problems. His teaching is clear and easy to follow. The only thing I had a slight problem adjusting to at first is that his multiple choice questions can have up to 10 choices including choices like "two are correct" and "none are correct" and there is no partial credit so if you get one wrong you've already lost 10 points. However, if you do the practice problems they should be pretty manageable. I would highly recommend taking this class with Prof McDevitt!
This is a very doable classes. The key to success is to make sure you show up everyclass, and complete all his study questions before his exams.
There are not too many workload, and all exams are open books which means that you can even print his study questions out since many exams questions are taken directly from the practice questions(maybe changing some number or some wording, but same idea).
Professor is very clear and as an international student with weak English skills, I am able to follow his lecture without any confusion. Gradings are 25% midterm1, 25% midterm 2 and 50% finals. His office hour is helpful as well.
The content is interesting for me, I would absolutely want to take his class again.
McDevitt is by FAR the best econ professor i've encountered at UCLA. His tests are hard and his tests make up your entire grade (45% midterms, 55% final) but he never tries to trick you and the tests are fair (nothing he doesn't cover in class are on exams). He gives practice exams which are incredibly helpful in studying for the tests, and provides detailed notes that are almost word for word in what he goes over during lecture, so if you miss something in lecture you can go back. McDevitt is so accommodating to his students, and gives extra office hours in the days leading up to the exams and always gives detailed answers and more to whatever you ask. I cannot sing higher praises for this professor, he knows his stuff and is fair to his students.
Maybe I am different from most of the students, I am not really like this professor. He will curve but not round up 0.1 ever. He never replies emails after the final exam, and usually in rude or confusing words, like " I told this balabala" instead of Yes or No. Recording has a blurry quality, too.
Professor McDevitt is the best lecturer in the Econ department. To be fair, I put in minimal effort in the class due to extenuating circumstances from the COVID-19 pandemic. I didn't watch a single lecture, studied maybe 3 days before each of the 2 exams and final, and somehow managed to get a B. Getting an A is definitely doable if you put in the work to fully understand the material (which I've managed to do in other courses I've taken with him). I find his curve generous, and it only serves to help you. If you're not great at graphs, you'll struggle a bit like I did. You're only graded on the 2 exams (20% and 25%) and 1 final exam (55%).
The "theory" part of the title is accurate - not many case studies like some other upper divisions, think Econ 1 and Econ 2 type graphs and theory.
Has a different style of teaching and tests which takes the first midterm to get used to. Listening to his lectures is the best way to study, not reviewing notes. He is a good teacher that clearly understands everything he is saying extremely well. Questions will be answered thoroughly. He explained some basic econ 1/2 concepts better than I had ever heard before.
Very unorganized lecture notes. Tests are NOT math-based plug and chug type but more concept based with free writing response sections where you are expected to copy down graphs and explain.
McDevitt is probably the most straightforward professor I've ever had. He doesn't use slides, he only writes on the board, but this is honestly not a bad thing (depending on your learning style of course). He's obviously VERY knowledgable and passionate about the material, and he keeps his lectures very engaging. Also, if you're ever confused, he posts typed notes and lecture recordings.
Your grade is made up entirely of three exams. Fortunately, he provides past exams for practice, which are extremely similar to the actual ones. He also holds extra office hours during the days leading up to the exams. The only downside to his tests (as other people have mentioned) are his multiple choice questions, which usually contain around 10 options and make up a lot of points. Besides that, the material on the exams is very fair, and the test themselves are entirely open-note. As long as you study his notes and practice exams, you will do great.
Overall, I would strongly recommend taking this class with Professor Mcdevitt. This class is easier than my Econ 11 and 41 class because it is open notes. The exams are straight forward and similar to the practice exams. All the grades in this class is based on 2 Midterms (20% and 25%) and Final (55%). However, this class follows econ department curve so the class average is about a B. He also provides extra office hours before the exam for us to ask any questions. One thing that is a bit frustrating about his exams is that the multiple choice part would worth like 9 points out of 100 and there are like 7 choices so it is an all-or-nothing scenario.
He is such a good professor. Engaging lectures. Exams can be difficult, but everything is open note. He gives practice exams which are quite similar to the actual exams. Practice those and you should be fine. Overall, I would take this professor again.