Professor
Jim Potter
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Most Helpful Review
If you don't like competing with your classmates for your grades, don't take classes with Prof. Potter. After giving explicit directions on how to answer test questions -- essentially, produce as thorough answers as possible by regurgitating as much of the material as possible from your notes (allowed in exam) -- Prof. Potter made it crystal clear that he grades comparatively: the best answers are selected across the class, and all others are judged against them. This does not, however, necessarily mean that the best answers are guaranteed full points. The result at exam time was an exercise in seeing how much of the book you could copy into your notes, and then how much of that material you had time to copy onto your paper in the allotted time. Class time was also spent scribbling as much as possible -- so much so that it was impossible to think about the material as it went by. I feel I deserved a better grade than I got (B+), and, judging by the responses here, I am not alone. I was really looking forward to this class -- it covers great material and the Littlejohn text is a wonderful intro reference -- but Prof. Potter really pulled it down by focusing on test-taking/book-reading skills and on how to justify your arguments rather than focusing on the material we need to learn and retain for later.
If you don't like competing with your classmates for your grades, don't take classes with Prof. Potter. After giving explicit directions on how to answer test questions -- essentially, produce as thorough answers as possible by regurgitating as much of the material as possible from your notes (allowed in exam) -- Prof. Potter made it crystal clear that he grades comparatively: the best answers are selected across the class, and all others are judged against them. This does not, however, necessarily mean that the best answers are guaranteed full points. The result at exam time was an exercise in seeing how much of the book you could copy into your notes, and then how much of that material you had time to copy onto your paper in the allotted time. Class time was also spent scribbling as much as possible -- so much so that it was impossible to think about the material as it went by. I feel I deserved a better grade than I got (B+), and, judging by the responses here, I am not alone. I was really looking forward to this class -- it covers great material and the Littlejohn text is a wonderful intro reference -- but Prof. Potter really pulled it down by focusing on test-taking/book-reading skills and on how to justify your arguments rather than focusing on the material we need to learn and retain for later.
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