Professor
Niko Besnier
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Most Helpful Review
i really enjoyed the class; besnier was a bit long-winded, but overall an interesting character to see in front of a lecture hall. i stopped going to the lectures after the first midterm; it was really easy to do well on the tests, as long as you did the reading and go to the discussions. I felt I gained a lot more from the discussions than i did from the actual lectures. the questions on the exams were WAY easy, and as long as you got down the general principals and a few examples (which besnier and the TAs would beat into your head; i must have heard about tuvaluans a million times) you're bound to get a good grade. overall, i'd recommend anyone who doesn't mind reading to take the class.
i really enjoyed the class; besnier was a bit long-winded, but overall an interesting character to see in front of a lecture hall. i stopped going to the lectures after the first midterm; it was really easy to do well on the tests, as long as you did the reading and go to the discussions. I felt I gained a lot more from the discussions than i did from the actual lectures. the questions on the exams were WAY easy, and as long as you got down the general principals and a few examples (which besnier and the TAs would beat into your head; i must have heard about tuvaluans a million times) you're bound to get a good grade. overall, i'd recommend anyone who doesn't mind reading to take the class.
Most Helpful Review
people who say that Prof. Besnier is a horrible teacher are just bitter jocks and frat boys who got their exams back, and didn't like what they saw. It's not the Prof.'s fault that you slept through class and didn't do the readings. and it's not the TA's fault that you can't write a decent paper to save your life. get over it. Personally, I found Besnier's lectures very interesting and engaging, which is extremely rare in my experience at UCLA. He mixed personal experience and knowledge with textual and researched data that created a well rounded lecture. I'm sure you could pass the class without attending lecture, but lecture was INTERESTING, although not completely mandatory for the average student. I would much rather go to an interesting lecture, than go to one where I have to furiously write EVERYTHING the professor says in order to even pass the course. everyone should stop whining, professor besnier is great.
people who say that Prof. Besnier is a horrible teacher are just bitter jocks and frat boys who got their exams back, and didn't like what they saw. It's not the Prof.'s fault that you slept through class and didn't do the readings. and it's not the TA's fault that you can't write a decent paper to save your life. get over it. Personally, I found Besnier's lectures very interesting and engaging, which is extremely rare in my experience at UCLA. He mixed personal experience and knowledge with textual and researched data that created a well rounded lecture. I'm sure you could pass the class without attending lecture, but lecture was INTERESTING, although not completely mandatory for the average student. I would much rather go to an interesting lecture, than go to one where I have to furiously write EVERYTHING the professor says in order to even pass the course. everyone should stop whining, professor besnier is great.
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Most Helpful Review
Besnier is a good teacher. I dreaded taking this class because I wasn't interested, and only took it because I had to. This was one of the few classes I came out of with much more interest than I went in with. He is organized and very clear. He asks for questions and is willing to discuss things. He is a fair grader. His multiple choice questions are worded funny sometimes and he has a tendency to have two correct answers, one being general and the other more specific to his question, but overall they aren't too bad. The essay questions are fair. Besnier may be a bit arrogant,but most professors are downright narcissistic. My only real complaint is the incessant dumbing down power-point. It is impossible to keep up decent notes, listen to lecture and read the constant power-point screens. Besnier is a good teacher. He doesn't need it.
Besnier is a good teacher. I dreaded taking this class because I wasn't interested, and only took it because I had to. This was one of the few classes I came out of with much more interest than I went in with. He is organized and very clear. He asks for questions and is willing to discuss things. He is a fair grader. His multiple choice questions are worded funny sometimes and he has a tendency to have two correct answers, one being general and the other more specific to his question, but overall they aren't too bad. The essay questions are fair. Besnier may be a bit arrogant,but most professors are downright narcissistic. My only real complaint is the incessant dumbing down power-point. It is impossible to keep up decent notes, listen to lecture and read the constant power-point screens. Besnier is a good teacher. He doesn't need it.
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