Professor
Isaac Speer
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - I came into the class with a degree of indifference and feel as though I came out the same way. Very reasonable coursework with the easiest exams I have taken since high school. Professor Speer is extremely passionate about what he elects to discuss but that occasionally leads to tangential narratives that have less relevance to the coursework. In short, Sociology 1 with Professor Speer is a solid, well-around course.
Spring 2022 - I came into the class with a degree of indifference and feel as though I came out the same way. Very reasonable coursework with the easiest exams I have taken since high school. Professor Speer is extremely passionate about what he elects to discuss but that occasionally leads to tangential narratives that have less relevance to the coursework. In short, Sociology 1 with Professor Speer is a solid, well-around course.
Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - TAKE THIS CLASS! As a transfer student I was nervous about the transition from a Community College to a 4-year University. Professor Speer made sure that my experience in this class was a positive one. I will admit some of the readings were difficult, but Speer went over them in class and discussed it until everyone understood. Such a caring and understanding person in light of everything going on. I really wanted to take him for Sociology 182 for Winter 2020, but the class filled up so fast, and rightfully so. Speer is hands down the BEST professor in this department. Honestly, the BEST professor at UCLA!! Also if you're good he'll show his dogs Bogart and Nyla.
Fall 2020 - TAKE THIS CLASS! As a transfer student I was nervous about the transition from a Community College to a 4-year University. Professor Speer made sure that my experience in this class was a positive one. I will admit some of the readings were difficult, but Speer went over them in class and discussed it until everyone understood. Such a caring and understanding person in light of everything going on. I really wanted to take him for Sociology 182 for Winter 2020, but the class filled up so fast, and rightfully so. Speer is hands down the BEST professor in this department. Honestly, the BEST professor at UCLA!! Also if you're good he'll show his dogs Bogart and Nyla.
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Most Helpful Review
Winter 2022 - I find that Speer is not the worse professor to have, with lectures that are easy to follow. However, the style of having a midterm, 8-page paper due in Week 9 followed by a final in Week 10 did not make sense to me. I wish that instead of a final we only had the paper or vice versa. The format of the midterm and final is divided into two parts: multiple choice then short essay answers (about two.) The multiple-choice questions felt unnecessarily tricky, and as someone who did the readings and took notes, I was annoyed that several responses felt like trick questions. On that note, there are multiple lengthy readings required with weekly homework assignments (answering about 6-8 questions on the week's reading with a 150-word response to each.) I did not strictly adhere to the word count and was not penalized for this, but this depends on the TA. I think what made the class manageable to me is having a really good TA to break down the concepts, so I have to admit I'm hesitant to take another class with Speer without guaranteed additional help. (Approaching him for questions can be intimidating.)
Winter 2022 - I find that Speer is not the worse professor to have, with lectures that are easy to follow. However, the style of having a midterm, 8-page paper due in Week 9 followed by a final in Week 10 did not make sense to me. I wish that instead of a final we only had the paper or vice versa. The format of the midterm and final is divided into two parts: multiple choice then short essay answers (about two.) The multiple-choice questions felt unnecessarily tricky, and as someone who did the readings and took notes, I was annoyed that several responses felt like trick questions. On that note, there are multiple lengthy readings required with weekly homework assignments (answering about 6-8 questions on the week's reading with a 150-word response to each.) I did not strictly adhere to the word count and was not penalized for this, but this depends on the TA. I think what made the class manageable to me is having a really good TA to break down the concepts, so I have to admit I'm hesitant to take another class with Speer without guaranteed additional help. (Approaching him for questions can be intimidating.)
Most Helpful Review
Spring 2022 - Great class to meet your Soc requirements. His class is very structured and organized, assignments and expectations are clear, and he does care about student's success. In my opinion, his lectures are not very engaging and because attendance to lecture wasn't mandatory, not a lot of people always showed up. The readings he assigns are interesting and connect well with class material. He gives a lot of time to work on the research paper and we had a midterm and final. MC questions and a short written response. I could have been a more productive student, going to class every week, taking better notes, studying more, but I still was able to get an A-. Also, the TAs are so helpful, shoutout to Rohan!
Spring 2022 - Great class to meet your Soc requirements. His class is very structured and organized, assignments and expectations are clear, and he does care about student's success. In my opinion, his lectures are not very engaging and because attendance to lecture wasn't mandatory, not a lot of people always showed up. The readings he assigns are interesting and connect well with class material. He gives a lot of time to work on the research paper and we had a midterm and final. MC questions and a short written response. I could have been a more productive student, going to class every week, taking better notes, studying more, but I still was able to get an A-. Also, the TAs are so helpful, shoutout to Rohan!
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2020 - Professor Speer was such an amazing professor - he was very understanding and approachable. The class was recorded and attendance was not mandatory. The material was very interesting and applicable to what is currently happening today. We had weekly readings and reading questions to turn in. The questions helped me understand the main points of the readings. There was supposed to be a midterm, but he canceled it last minute and instead we had a cumulative final. We had to write an 8 paged literature review on a question we created in the beginning of the quarter. The final exam was take home.
Fall 2020 - Professor Speer was such an amazing professor - he was very understanding and approachable. The class was recorded and attendance was not mandatory. The material was very interesting and applicable to what is currently happening today. We had weekly readings and reading questions to turn in. The questions helped me understand the main points of the readings. There was supposed to be a midterm, but he canceled it last minute and instead we had a cumulative final. We had to write an 8 paged literature review on a question we created in the beginning of the quarter. The final exam was take home.
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