
Professor
Olivia Osei Twumasi
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2023 - I took Olivia over the Summer for Econ 1 and I was pleasantly surprised by her class, especially given the other reviews that are there on Bruinwalk. I felt like she was super caring and explained the material quite well. Thankfully, Econ 1 is pretty straightforward in terms of material, so as long as you keep up with the slides and understand how to apply the concepts you'll be fine. The graded assignments consisted of weekly quizzes, a report, course evaluation, and final exam. The open-note quizzes and final felt very fair and, if you understood the material and her slides, then you could easily get an A. She did mess up some of the questions on the first quiz because they included material we didn't really know yet, but she was super responsive and gave us extra points on the quiz to compensate for the mistake. She was always really nice in her office hours and taking it over the Summer was actually a great experience because there were a lot less people than there normally would be in an intro class. Overall, I felt like she was a great professor and I would highly recommend taking her for this class.
Summer 2023 - I took Olivia over the Summer for Econ 1 and I was pleasantly surprised by her class, especially given the other reviews that are there on Bruinwalk. I felt like she was super caring and explained the material quite well. Thankfully, Econ 1 is pretty straightforward in terms of material, so as long as you keep up with the slides and understand how to apply the concepts you'll be fine. The graded assignments consisted of weekly quizzes, a report, course evaluation, and final exam. The open-note quizzes and final felt very fair and, if you understood the material and her slides, then you could easily get an A. She did mess up some of the questions on the first quiz because they included material we didn't really know yet, but she was super responsive and gave us extra points on the quiz to compensate for the mistake. She was always really nice in her office hours and taking it over the Summer was actually a great experience because there were a lot less people than there normally would be in an intro class. Overall, I felt like she was a great professor and I would highly recommend taking her for this class.
AD
Most Helpful Review
Summer 2021 - One of the best econ classes ever!!! I am so happy I took this class. Professor Osei is so wonderful, knowledgeable, and kind. She was always willing to explain concepts very well during the lecture or even after reaching out to her. There were practice questions posted about every week to practice concepts and math learned during class. There was also a live discussion to facilitate understanding and discussion. My favorite part was the case studies we individually worked on through the quarter on a specific country. There were also 2 midterms and a final. The questions were extremely fair. I felt the level of difficulty was very very appropriate with what we learned and I sincerely appreciate that. I am not sure how the course would be structured if this was a regular quarter; however, I felt summer was perfect for it. I didn't feel rushed and I genuinely learned so much that I had felt I was missing as an econ major. Good luck!
Summer 2021 - One of the best econ classes ever!!! I am so happy I took this class. Professor Osei is so wonderful, knowledgeable, and kind. She was always willing to explain concepts very well during the lecture or even after reaching out to her. There were practice questions posted about every week to practice concepts and math learned during class. There was also a live discussion to facilitate understanding and discussion. My favorite part was the case studies we individually worked on through the quarter on a specific country. There were also 2 midterms and a final. The questions were extremely fair. I felt the level of difficulty was very very appropriate with what we learned and I sincerely appreciate that. I am not sure how the course would be structured if this was a regular quarter; however, I felt summer was perfect for it. I didn't feel rushed and I genuinely learned so much that I had felt I was missing as an econ major. Good luck!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2023 - I have taken classes with Olivia before, but this class was simply horrific. The material was very interesting and could be taught so much better. The class was broken down into 3 quizzes, a group project, a final, participation, and points for filling out the teacher evaluation. I have three concerns: 1. Olivia provides zero feedback whatsoever. You have no idea what you missed or could have improved upon for any free-response/essay questions on the quizzes and final. In Econ 111, the precursor to this course, she gave generalized feedback for the class, but even though this class only had ~35 people in it, she still refused to provide individualized feedback. She grades so harshly that you need to know what you did wrong, but that's impossible. 2. The group projects. The group projects took up 2 weeks of lecture time and there was no rubric to follow. The project is to evaluate a given economic development policy. That's it. There are no provided guidelines. When you ask her for a rubric or what else you should touch on, she was of no help and asked you to evaluate it. It's impossible to know what an A+ presentation would look like since she does not provide examples or direction. 3. The exams. I understand applying material from class but she expects more than that. You are expected to understand every nuance of economic development and the methodologies used to evaluate economic development even though it was never discussed in lecture, the textbook or other provided materials. AVOID THIS CLASS! You will be left in a black box staring at your grades in disbelief and awe.
Winter 2023 - I have taken classes with Olivia before, but this class was simply horrific. The material was very interesting and could be taught so much better. The class was broken down into 3 quizzes, a group project, a final, participation, and points for filling out the teacher evaluation. I have three concerns: 1. Olivia provides zero feedback whatsoever. You have no idea what you missed or could have improved upon for any free-response/essay questions on the quizzes and final. In Econ 111, the precursor to this course, she gave generalized feedback for the class, but even though this class only had ~35 people in it, she still refused to provide individualized feedback. She grades so harshly that you need to know what you did wrong, but that's impossible. 2. The group projects. The group projects took up 2 weeks of lecture time and there was no rubric to follow. The project is to evaluate a given economic development policy. That's it. There are no provided guidelines. When you ask her for a rubric or what else you should touch on, she was of no help and asked you to evaluate it. It's impossible to know what an A+ presentation would look like since she does not provide examples or direction. 3. The exams. I understand applying material from class but she expects more than that. You are expected to understand every nuance of economic development and the methodologies used to evaluate economic development even though it was never discussed in lecture, the textbook or other provided materials. AVOID THIS CLASS! You will be left in a black box staring at your grades in disbelief and awe.