Western Kentucky University / R / Daniel Reader
Averages:
Overall Rating
Poorv
Grade Received
Bv
Course Difficulty
Moderatev
Quantity of Notes
Moderatev
Tag Summary:
True/False: 4
Multiple Choice: 22
Matching: 3
Fill in the Blank: 6
Essays: 1
Mandatory Final: 20
Cumulative Final: 8
Textbook Required: 22
Extra Credit: 3
Attendance Required: 4
23 Total Evaluations
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 12/1/2011
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
This guy basically copy-and-pasted all the wikipedia notes for each region we discussed, then read them to us verbatim in a condescending manner. He is a die-hard liberal, (not that I have a problem with that, but I pay for his time as an instructor, not a political soap-box); he is obsessed with global warming and will spend about 60% of the time talking about it. His tests are easy enough, except for the 5-7 questions on each test that have nothing to do with anything covered in the class. This class is boring, I struggled to stay awake, and the only reason I even went was because of the extra credit quizzes he gives; which are so diluted, getting all the extra credit gives you around ten points over the whole semester (not percentage points, regular points). For an easy Gen-Ed class, he teaches it like a 400 level class. He's rude, doesn't allow student questions or discussions. Take someone else if you can, definitely not worth it!
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 11/6/2011
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Not Specified
Difficulty:
Not Specified
Comments
DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS!!! Unless you have some weird love obsession with geography. This is not an easy class. He talks about what he wants to talk about for 55 minutes and talks in circles. It was very hard to listen to him for that long it was so boring. You basically had to read the chapters to know anything about the course, and the chapters were unreasonably long and boring and you were tested on 4 chapters at a time. This class had to be the biggest mistake of my life!!! Do not take him!
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 5/12/2011
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
Daniel Reader is NOT a teacher I would recommend! He is a nice man, but he doesnt have a good way of teaching the class. He comes into class every time and sits on the front desk with his flip flops on and just talks for the whole class period. He has a powerpoint presentation for the first week of class, but after that your on your own to just listen to him and write down whatever you can catch from the lecture. If you do get so unfortunate to have to take his class, then make sure you listen to what he says and take notes about every little thing and most importantly make sure you READ EVERY CHAPTER and make flash cards of the vocab words and study the maps. The course is VERY poorly structured! Once again, hes a nice guy and my grade was alright in the class, but its gonna be a class you are gonna have to work hard to make up for what he lacks in teaching.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 2/24/2011
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
He is an okay teacher. He tells facts that are disproven by the book which can be frustrating. Some questions on his tests are super tricky in which any one of the answers could be correct. He does allow for a SMALL curve on the tests ( I think one time our curve was .6 points) and will answer questions if you have them. He defintely has his favorite topics to talk about and kind of rushes through the others. No powerpoint, just lecture. Try to stay awake if possible. Not too bad, but I don't think I would take him again.
GEOG- : World Regional Geography - Posted 11/3/2010
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
Not Specified
Quantity of Notes:
Not Specified
Difficulty:
Not Specified
Comments
This professor teaches what ever he can remember which half the time contradicts with what's in the book. He doesn't have a power point to go by even though the entire class is lecture and it makes for a hard note taking class. He has three tests which consist of 1/3 of the information in the book.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 5/13/2010
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
The only reason I am putting that the difficulty of this course is moderate is because you do actually have to do the work. You need to read the chapters before taking the online quizzes. The quizzes and tests are set up like the others have stated. I can see where they are coming from about the hippie ideologies as well, but when it comes down it, he is telling you the truth about most of it. And yes, I thought the same thing about saying Russia wasn't communist, but then I realized he worded it in a way which was actually true: Russia never practiced communism for even one day. Overall, I'd recommend him if you're not a slacker.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 4/26/2010
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
This class is doable, so don't freak out if he's the only option left.
However, the only time you'll use the book is for the online quizzes, which take forever to complete. You get 3 chances. The test is made up entirely of these questions straight from the quiz, with a map section too.
In class, he stands up and lectures the entire time, and he often lets his political undertones get in the way. A lecture on Europe turned into 2 days of "Global Climate Change" talk. It may be relevant to today's world, but he allows his biases to be so clear it gets annoying.
I try and study r e a l hard, and I currently have an 87. So I'd give him a C overall.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 4/16/2010
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
This is probably the weirdest class you will take. Mr. Reader teaches in a very unorthodox way. While his lectures do include material from the book it also includes a lot of his hippie opinions, my favorite was when he said Soviet Russia was never communist. Take everything he says with a grain of salt. You have 11 quizzes on blackboard which you can take 3 times. You have 4 exams which have 36 questions taken from the quizzes and then in the middle of the semester he added a map locations part which had 30 question which included ANY landform, city, or country. Which he lied to us about when he said only the major features would be on the exam. The final is open book and all quiz questions. Dont take this class unless you like having to study just about everything in the book or if your a hippie. Oh one last note he wears flip-flops to class everyday, yep even in the snow.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 3/3/2010
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
D
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 2/26/2010
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
Mr. Reader is a huge jerk! I got an A in this class but it was no thanks to him. His lectures have little to nothing to do with the exams. All your exams come from the quizzes you have online. You have about 10 online quizzes in which you can take 3 times, keeping the highest grade. And then 4 exams and a final. Thank goodness he doesnt take attendance. I have a beef with him because he handled a situation with a friend of mine in that class very poorly and treated him like dirt. He only likes the students that sit in the front row and suck up to him, hes also a huge hippie and tries to pass of his ideals as facts. I wouldnt recommend him to my enemies.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 2/10/2010
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
Mr. Reader is a very eccentric man. He will talk about what he wants to and is known to go off on wild tangents. He doesnt care if you attend class or not and never once took attendance. The book is not required at all but I would reccomend it to help you study. The way grades work is he gives several quizzes online throughout the semster which you can take as many times as you please. The final attempt is the grade that counts. There are a few tests which you take in class. Bith the tests and quizzes are all multiple choice. The tests consist of questions he selects from the quizzes. I personally enjoyed listening to his lecture but i can see how others will hate it. Tgis is an easy way to get an A as long as you are willing to take the quizzes enough times to familiarize yourself with the material.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 7/20/2009
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Not Specified
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
This was the summer session. I took many notes but it didn't help me at all. He would go over information in detail which you would think would be on the quiz but it's not. Open book/note quizzes and test really did help that much because his opinion mattered more. I am a non traditional student coming back to WKU after many years of being out. I thought this would be a little bit easier class for me BUT I was very wrong.
GEOG-110 : - Posted 4/28/2009
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
Dr. Reader Is one of the easiest professors I have taken in my college career. However, I benefited from the class a lot. He takes a different approach at geography instead of the typical boring topics of maps and landforms. Another great aspect of the class is he does not take attendence, nor does he truly care who comes and who does not. I would definitely reccomend taking him!
GEOG-110 : - Posted 4/16/2009
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
I went into this class thinking all open book/open note, how hard could it be? But that was totally wrong! This guy is terrible because it wasn't all open book. A lot of stuff was strictly based on his opinions and stuff. There was not benefit in going to class because when you did, he would talk for 55 minutes about whatever he felt like randomly talking about whether it be global warming or disease. He pretty much hammered the 5 themes and that is about all. This is a terrible class.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 7/9/2008
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Overkill
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
I took this class in a summer 4 week semester, I can't imagine having to drag it out over 16 weeks. I liked that we didn't have to memorize maps and that we learned about the significance of geographic features but the format of the class was difficult. The lecture info only covered about half of what was on the quiz and tests. I found about 20% of everything else in the book, and the rest was a guess or googled. Sometimes he would cover more of it the next day. We had a quiz everyday (ttl 20) which was half of our grade and a mid-term and final. Everything was open-book and notes. It was ok but definately not easy.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 5/27/2008
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
1. The 2 tests are open book/ open note.
2. He doesn't care if you show up for class.
This may sound good and it does but the class is awful. He just talks the entire class. His opinions are the basis of the class. The tests are ridiculous and impossible to study for. I used my online quizzes and my book as my main lifelines on the test. I didn't learn a damn thing in this class.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 4/15/2008
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
D
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
He is a nice guy, but he makes you take these quizes on blackboard. You can only take them once, they are not timed, and you can use your book. He only has two exams, the mid-term and final. He allows you to use your notes and the book for the tests, BUT his tests are extremely hard. He tricks you with the questions. He does not offer any extra credit. My advice, dont take him. If you have to take him, be prepared!!
GEOG-121 : Intro To Geography - Posted 3/24/2008
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
The class was pretty easy but definitely not what I expected. This is not your everyday geography class. No map coloring, etc. just listening to him ramble about the same thing everyday. Almost every week he'd have a new one of his theories on how the entire human race would be wiped out. He often repeats himself from the things he said the last class period because he just sits up there and talks. He's not good at explaining concepts because he talks in circles then expects you to figure it out. The book is a must: the test questions from the two exams come almost entirely from it. The rest of the questions come from his "special topics" he lectures on. There are lots of quizzes on Blackboard, so it's easy to get points. An easy class but definitely don't take Reader.
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 2/12/2008
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
D
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Difficult
Comments
He has two tests (mid-term and final), and makes you do these really stupid quizzes over the chapters in your book(5 points each). He also makes you do Theme quizzes (10 points each), and grades pretty hard on those. He does not offer any extra credit, and attendance is not mandatory. When he lectures he just stands in front of the classroom and talks about what HE knows about the area.
GEOG- : Environmental Science - Posted 1/3/2008
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
Changed my world views. Take this class. Reader is a good teacher and his tests are not too hard
GEOG-110 : World Regional Geography - Posted 12/15/2007
Overall Rating:
Poor
Grade:
C
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
Yes, I got a C and that is my own fault for not coming to class that often and listening to his "special topics" (topics he decided to talk about only in class so that those who didn't show up, like myself, wouldn't know about them on exams) so I'd know them on the final, but when I did attend class I learned nothing relevant. I learned because I read the book, and that was it. He is more concerned with the 5 themes of geography than he is with actually teaching any relevant material. I understood the 5 themes the first week of class, yet we had to keep coming back to them all semester by taking Theme quizzes on Blackboard which was a big waste of time. If you are responsible with getting your reading quizzes done on Blackboard (which I was not) you should be fine in here, but don't expect to learn a thing unless you read the book because actually attending class will only assure that you know about the few "special topics" he covers in class. I am sure this guy knows his stuff but teaching is not his forte.
GEOG-110 : - Posted 5/13/2007
Overall Rating:
OK
Grade:
B
Quantity of Notes:
Few/None
Difficulty:
Easy
Comments
The class is very, very easy. But I learned nothing, and he pulles the final out of nowhere. You have 2 open-book/open-note quizzes every day (very easy) which count for 1/2 of your grade. Then 2 weeks before both the midterm and the final he reviews as a class the entire class. Then the finals are kind of arbitrary.
GEOG-210 : Human Ecology - Posted 1/2/2007
Overall Rating:
Good
Grade:
A
Quantity of Notes:
Moderate
Difficulty:
Moderate
Comments
Very informative class on how and why civilizations have collapsed in the past, and where we may be heading now. Prof. Reader makes you work and makes you think, but is fair. Although attendance is not mandatory, he gives surprise quizes at the beginning of class, and missing his lectures will hurt you on the exams. If you show up, you will likely do well. The most difficult part of the class is the difficult questions if makes you ask about what looks like an inevitable collision massive consequences for humanity (and much of the other life on this planet).