Western Kentucky University / F / Wade Ferguson

I took the online version of the course and learned very little. I read the book chapters for each section, worked the problems, and then took the test. Working the problems is difficult because the program that comes with the book is hard to figure out and there is no help available. Also, there is no feedback to let you know which problems you missed. On most of the problem sets I scored 50 - 75%. The regular tests were easier and there was time to look up the answers I didn't know. You do need to read before the test so you have an idea of what you are doing. The regular tests can be repeated to raise your score.

I contacted Dr. Ferguson a couple of times through email and he was somewhat helpful. I never tried to contact him any other way.

If you are a management major, I recommend taking the class in person. You probably need to know some of the concepts covered in the course and the online version doesn't seem a good way to learn them. If you do take the online version, start early and work ahead. I did that and the cushion I built up allowed me time to devote to other classes when they had tests or projects due.

This course is totally online and unless you plan a career in manufacturing, it is totally useless, but WKU requires it for all business majors. He posts all of the course material before the first day of class. There are two types of exams, homework exams for which you must use this screwy computer program. You may only take these tests one time and I did horrible on most of them. The other type of test is the concept exam which is much more heavily weighted than the others and you may take these exams as many times as you wish. They are like 50 questions an have a 1 hour time limit. Find other people who are taking this class and do it as a group effort. It is much easier. Also there is a built in curve in the class and an is 78%. I have never met the professor, so I cant really comment on him. I took this class as a full semester class and had it totally finished by the second week of the semester.

This is definitely not a class that should be offered online, especially by a professor as worthless as Ferguson. He is absolutely useless. His "study sessions" are held while most people are in class, and if you do get the chance to go to him he'll take every opportunity he has to ridicule you because you don't know how to do the problems. He has hardly any other way of teaching other than the book. The few example problems he puts online are often mislabeled and require more time to figure out which problem it really is than they're actually worth. His tests are ridiculous. You'll have information from 4 chapters ago mixed in with new stuff, and you better be able to translate his massive number of typo's because he can't spell/type at all. Don't bother going to see him because that only makes things worse.

If you can avoid taking this class with him, then definitely do it. It is hard material but it's definitely much better with a professor who actually cares enough to show up on campus and reply to your emails.

Perhaps Western has wised up and stopped letting a) this man teach this course and b) having it be online.

I can't count the number of hours I spent trying to figure this material out without any type of help at all. The professor is no help. If you seek his assistance, he simply tells you to "read the book."

He offered help sessions MW from 9-11, but as you might guess, most people have class during that time.

If you try to contact him, don't bother -- it will take days to get a response and often they are completely worthless.

Three out of the 5 exams I took through blackboard had insufficient information or prompts that had been cut off, leaving me to complete the problem without all of the information.

The only positive thing about this course is that in Ferguson's classes, he inevitibly seems to lower his grading scale because everyone does so (SO) poorly.

I had him for Operations Management and according to his scale, I earned a C, but came out with an A.

My only hope for this class is that he will do the same.

In short: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS ONLINE. DO NOT TAKE WADE FERGUSON FOR ANYTHING -- EVER.

This is not an easy course at all. I was completely expecting to work really hard in this class. But to have a "teacher" that is as lazy as they come and no help at all was beyond comprehension. I cannot believe this man is allowed to teach here. He frequently messes up on his OWN problems he has assigned, is VERY inconsistent in his grading, and gets gives one word responses through email communication (mind you this IS an online course - email is a very important communication tool). He has a help session scheduled during the same time from two days a week that most others have classes - how convenient for him. When I asked him for help, his exact words were "If you can't understand what the book is saying, you do not need to be in this course". DO NOT TAKE THIS GOOD FOR NOTHING MAN. WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE. This man should be fired. No good complaining to anyone- he has tenure, and every other faculty and staff turn a blind eye. FYI: I am a 3.8 student and am failing the class as of right now.

DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH THIS PROFESSOR!

How this man has a job is beyond me. He teaches this class by simply posting assignments and posting tests, no extra materials to help you learn and has one help session that is when everyone for the most part has class. You can email him for help but good luck getting a response and if he does respond it often is of no help either. I am a 4.0 student and had to drop this class with a W to avoid destroying my GPA. This man should be FIRED.

I have never made a C in my life, and as of right now, I have a D in the class. He has one help session, which is during a time when most have class, and otherwise is never on campus - so good luck with getting any help, unless it is from classmates. Ferguson is one more reason that the educational system needs to get rid of tenure-status. The worst 'teacher' by far I have ever had. No exaggeration.

I took this class online. There were a lot of tests worth 25 points and a couple of homework assignments. I tried the math problems once and gave up towards the end of the year. You don't have any deadlines on the tests and you can take them as many times as you want. I ended up with a B and didn't learn anything about Operations Management, only because the grading scale was so easy. I think a low B ended up to be around 73%.

Well three years back in college and my first bad grade of a D isn't too bad. I felt I could have put forth more effort in the class but oh well I definitely did not. Even when I did try extra hard I would not do good though. The problem sets are super difficult. The chapter material you can take as many times as you want same with the review, but those werent super easy or anything. They took a great deal of time for you to complete with a decient grade. I would recommend emailing everyone in the class and try to form a group of 5 or 6 people

PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS

Form a group of as many people as you can on the review/chapter exams you can take those as many times as you like. I recommend getting as many people together as possible each of you select only the first question write the question down and go through the test not answering another question. When done if correct mark the answer correct and continue doing this until you have beat down the 200 or so question pool and your sure to get a 25/25 or a 50/50 on the review chapter test and regular chapter test. This method will take a while but oh well it would work!! Maybe answer a few questions from the book and the ones you know are right from looking up jot those down or copy and paste and pring and mark correct etc

well you get the point....Why did I not do this. I have no friends...lol

Goodluck!!!

I can't believe the university allows this course to be taken online. It is absolutely the hardest class I've ever attempted to take. The "electures" are crap, they don't help at all. Don't expect any email help from the professor either. Half the time his responses were one word answers, or didn't really help at all. I'm a typical "B" student, and I'm failing this class. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE

Do not take this class online. I am an A student and got a D in the course. I had to take off work to complete homework and tests. They took me all day to finish and he is impossible to get any help from. Very difficult class. Take it on campus and from someone else.

Dr. Ferguson is very intimidating, but dont let that stop you from showing up to class and asking questions. This class is very difficult because all it is, is working with excel and doing problems out of the book. It helps to work with a few people in this class. The test are very tricky. there's no final, but there is 3 test worth 25 points each. all the chapter problems are only worth 1 point each.

-al

Some professors are just in the classroom for a pay check. This guy is one of them. You will not learn one thing from this class. He does not teach. Be prepared to learn this material on your own if you take his class.

dont take him our class avg was a 45% He cant teach

I took this course as a summer course on the web. It is a very difficult course if you take Ferguson. He is awful! He is one of the worst teachers I have ever had! I got an A in the course because he curved the grades at the end, but I didn't learn one thing! If you had questions about the problems, he couldn't even tell anyone how to work them. He didn't know himself! I would definitely recommend taking another professor if possible.

Dr. Ferguson was one of the worse teachers I have ever had. I got an A, but I absolutely did not learn anything. This class would be interesting if you had someone that could teach it. He wasn't familiar enough with excel to teach a class that uses it religiously. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

Dr. Ferguson must have tenure because I can't imagine how in the world he is still teaching. He is by far the worst teacher I have ever had. It's impossible to actually learn from him. I went to class twice all semester and still made a B but it was only due to using the book on the exams. The positive side of Dr. Ferguson is his grading scale. He uses the class average as your lowest B, which is usually a really low grade considering some of the questions on the test are no where to be found in the book. If you want to learn something you must teach yourself don't expect to learn anything from this man.

I never attended this class and I received a B. He is not hard at all. I would team up with some friends to complete the take home math problems that were due before the tests. As long as you do all right on the problems and the multiple choice tests then you should be all right. The tests are open book, also. He was a good teacher whenever I went to class.

Dr. Ferguson is pretty cool. At first I thought he looked like a mean Army Drill Sergeant, but he turned out to be a very nice guy and good teacher. If you want a really good grade, you should do the homework, it counts as an extra test grade ONLY if you do it. I didn't do it and should have.