Western Kentucky University / Y / Jun Yan

Prof. Yan is really nice. However, he is EXTREMELY hard to understand. I got an A in the class but i really had to work hard. He gives you review questions for each chapter and he will tell you that all the answers on the test come from them...but they don't. (I learned the hard way!) You definately have to read the book in this class. I did not like this class and don't recommend taking him. He is really nice but i felt like it was a waste of time going to class b/c i got nothing out of it.

I found this course to be somewhat difficult even though I got a B. A lot of other evaluations say there is a language barrier, but there really isn't. The first day you might not understand at first, he speaks pretty good English, being from China. The course is interesting, but if you want to do well, you must read the chapters and know the review. He gives I think 4 extra credit opportunities worth 2 points that go towards the final grade. He gives a review and the slides for the chapter online, but you have to read the chapter. Half the questions on the test come from the book.

I was really worried about taking Dr. Yan b/c he is Asian, but his accent is really not that bad. Everything is on powerpoint and you can print them out. He gives you study guides for the tests, which everything comes off of. He has movie reviews for extra credit. This was the easiest class I've ever taken. Just come to class and sign in & then you can leave. There is no reason not to make an A in this class.

DON'T TAKE HIM!! He can NOT speak good english and for anyone with little patience--IT'S TORTURE! Half of the class he spends just trying to pronounce words correctly (which he still doesn't) and the other half trying to control the class b/c students keep walking out. His quizzes are open book, but he only gives you about 10 minutes to take 2 quizzes. When you try to argue with him, he gets all flustered and then it's all down hill from there. Just DON'T take him if you absolutely don't have to.

Dr. Yan is a good professor, however the class is relatively un-engaging. The lectures are rivers of information that seems to all run together, the issues concerning one world region are more or less the in every world region. Pollution, population problems, oppressive governments, and religious conflict. You really just need to be up to date with general world history since 1900 to understand the concepts and how they developed. The tests are not easy and the answers to the quiz questions are hidden well in the book, which you are permitted to use (quizzes only). Often the tests are curved with up to 8% offered in relatively easy extra credit assignments that are movie reviews or a bit of research into a topic with a 300- 500 words write up. The notes are all available online as well as study guides, and maps. One thing that a lot of students complained about was his accent making if difficult to follow along. I personally didn't have a problem, but nonetheless it was still something others made an issue of. Dr. Yan very interesting professor as shares his knowledge of other world cultures. However, I was to understand that he would not be teaching this course after the Spring 2005 semester, but things and hopefully this will help if you are just trying to get a feel for his teaching style if have enrolled or consider enrolling in one of his other courses.

geography shouldnt be hard, but it is when you cannot understand the teacher. This man has english problems, bless his heart. It is a great oppourtunity to catch up on sleep though.....

I was really scared going into this class, but it turned out to be one of the easiest A's I have ever recieved. Jun Yan is a little difficult to understand because he is from China but he will repeat anything you need him to. He gives test reviews that pretty much is the exact same questions as the test. He also will curve the test. Plus he gives tons of extra credit. He has 3 test and 6 open book quizes. If you want an A take Yan.

This was Yans first semister teaching. I know this is the last GIS course inthe series and the most difficult of the lot, but still there was a bit of overkill here. Yan seemed like he was teaching computer science students rather than geographers (A BIG DIFFERENCE). If you are familiar with visual basic programming this class may not be that hard, but none of us were. I didn't really learn anything from this class except that GIS is a lot more confusing than I used to think it was.

This was Yans first semister teaching. Mostly in class he covered topis that had already been gone over in 317 and 319. He really needs to improve on his english,he posts copies of the powerpoints on the shared drive and repeatidly asks if anyone has any questions thought. Sometimes he doesn't come across as too friendly but if you ask him for help he'll cancel other appoinemnts jsut to make sure you inderstand. Work load dramatically increased at the end of the semister