Polyratings.com: Orth, Joel

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Orth, Joel

Cumulative GPA: 3.26/4.00 with 19 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.32
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.26

History Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: A General Ed 10:34 am, Jan 7, 2013 Report Evaluation		Lots of reading and the reading quizzes seem impossible but at the end of the quarter he curved them so you did not do as bad as you think you did. He cares a lot about what you think about the history rather than the facts. The in class assignments are the easiest points! The midterm and the final are the same so use the midterm to help with the final. Orth loves history and you can tell the class seems hard but you will most likely be happy with your final grade.

HIST 207 Junior Grade Earned: C General Ed 10:14 pm, Dec 11, 2012 Report Evaluation		Orth is a guy who is obviously very passionate about history, and it made lectures about otherwise bland subjects bearable. There is work to be done, and a lot of reading, but nothing insanely difficult. He is an enthusiastic speaker, and very good about taking questions, as well as addressing students' individual needs if they approach him. He'll know your name before too long and wants to help you. Overall, good professor to take for this class.

HIST 207 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 10:46 pm, Dec 10, 2012 Report Evaluation		I was really dreading this class from reading all the polyratings about Orth, but to be honest, his class isn't too bad if you do the readings and take good notes. Yeah, the MC quizzes are hard at first, but after the first few you'll get a feeling about what he looks for and then you can take notes accordingly. Good notes will also help you with the ID terms for the midterms & final. As part of the class you have to compare and contrast the two author's view on US history, so make sure when you're taking notes to jot down or star parts that the two authors disagreed on, or gave different versions of a certain event. For the tests he gives you 4 or 5 ID terms and you pick two to write on and then you have an essay with two options based on the course themes. You also get a 4x6 notecard so the ID terms should be a breeze since you can fit all of them on the card. Ususally these ID terms can also be applied to the essays, so overall the tests aren't too bad if you're prepared. He'll also ask you on the test to compare the two authors when writing your ID terms and your essay, so this is where your notes come in handy. We also has in-class assignments which are basically free points if you actually put a little bit of thought into it, and don't BS too much. He also curves the MC quizzes, so I wouldn't be too worried if you screw up on a few.

HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 4:52 pm, Nov 30, 2012 Report Evaluation		I was skeptical about this class at first because of all the work, but I do not regret taking it. This is one of those classes you work so hard in and although you get frustrated sometimes, you know you learned so much. He is passionate about history and is always happy to answer students questions. He knows the class is a lot of work so he is always more than willing to give you an extension if you have a good reason. The multiple choice quizzes are very hard so make sure you pay attention to detail when reading the book but don't get too worried because they are not a big chunk of your grade and he will end up curving them. Midterm and final are easy if you study- you are told exactly what is on the final and get to write on a flashcard front and back. Overall, very good class and very nice and understanding teacher.

HIST 207 Sophomore Grade Earned: B General Ed 4:43 pm, Jun 8, 2012 Report Evaluation		Great class. Liked it more than most GE. Have to read lots from two different authors and compare them. One is a conservative the other a socialist. Not that hard once you get used to it. The reading quizzes are hard and lame. Orth is a nice guy and very evenhanded.

HIST 207 Sophomore Grade Earned: No Credit General Ed 1:10 am, Apr 11, 2012 Report Evaluation		Holy fucking reading. This class is like 100% based off the two boring ass books that you read during the quarter. Along with that you do other crappy readings in class, this class has way too much work and reading. Not worth it, if you don't like reading and have time for this crap which is why i dropped the class. This class is way different than other 207 classes take someone else.

HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: A General Ed 8:21 pm, Mar 12, 2012 Report Evaluation		Orth's class is quite a it of work. Your midterm and final is an essay test from the books that you read. Two very boring books with about 100 pages every 2 nights. Class is very boring and nothing he says really helps you with the essays you have to write. You also have reading quizzes. You spend the whole time comparing two authors of books.



HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 7:05 pm, Jan 3, 2012 Report Evaluation		Professor Orth is really a wonderful person. He is very understanding towards the students and one of the fairest professors I have had. His class is a hard class and there is a lot of work, but it is do-able. I am not a history buff and I really do not enjoy history classes but this class was interesting at times. Be aware: there is a lot of reading and the quizzes that follow can be hard. Read/skim the book and underline what you think is important so it is easier to find for the open-book quizzes. The quickwrites are great it is basically getting points for showing up to class. The midterm and final are difficult because you must write an in-class essay. The class is work, however if you manage your time well, it should be no problem. Professor Orth is very nice and will always answer questions. Email him if you are confused and he gets back to you right away. Overall Orth is very nice and understanding, but make no mistake the class is work.

HIST 207 Sophomore Grade Earned: B General Ed 4:53 pm, Dec 12, 2011 Report Evaluation		This was a joke of a class and an easy A/B. Its a general ed and really I did the minimal work and walked out with a B. Yes, you need to show up for class, there is always a Quick-write at the beginning of class. You can b.s. it. Yes, there is homework. Intense reading out of 2 books. I never did the reading and when the quizzes came, which were either online or in class, you can use your computer and books to take the quiz. If you are smart you will have the books looked up on google books and search the keywords to the questions being asked, and be fine with the quizzes. Midterm, you get a 4x6 notecard for both the midterm and the final. All you need on this is the key terms, with the wikipedia definition and both the books authors opinions on the issue. Also, there are 2 essays throughout the quarter, and 3 questions to write on and you get to pick which one. If you pick two different questions for the essays, put those on your notecards for midterm and final and those can be the essays you write for them. SUPER EASY!!! Plus, he doesn't even check your notecard so you can probably bring 2 if you wanted. TAKE ORTH FOR EASY QUARTER AND GOOD GRADE. oh yeah, he is SUPER boring, so bring your computer and facebook or something.

HIST 322 Junior Grade Earned: A General Ed 9:52 pm, Dec 5, 2010 Report Evaluation		Orth is a great teacher. He is very passionate about History and very knowledgeable. He grades very fairly and I found the midterm and final to be extremely easy if you studied and prepared for it. He gives you a list of \"ID Terms\" to study. On the test, he gives you 8 from that list and asks you to write about 5. All you have to do is write the Who, What, Where, When, and Why about that term and you\'ll get a good grade. For the essay portion, you are given 3 essays ahead of time. On the test, he gives you two of them and asks for you to pick one. He practically gives you the tests ahead of time, you just need to study the material. There were 3 group projects that were fairly easy. There was one 5-6 page essay that you have the entire quarter to write on a topic of your choice. The only hard part of the class for me was that there were 3 different books for the required reading with an online quiz or two each week. These were great for boosting your grade and weren\'t difficult if you read the book. Overall, great class and professor.

HIST 207 Junior Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 4:36 pm, Aug 27, 2009 Report Evaluation		Prof. Orth was an amazing teacher who really wanted our class to do well. A lot of people had difficulty with the quizzes, so he curved and averaged them out, making peoples grades a lot higher than they should have been. Quizzes are worth 30% of the grade, which is huge. I took him during the summer and he would have a quiz 2-3 times a week unannounced, however he often would hint around that there "might" be a quiz the following day. So to get a B+, A- on quizzes was not that hard to do. Participation was worth 20% of the grade (10% being note check). So that was another easy A for 20% of your grade. The rest was a midterm (20%) and final (30%). The midterm and final are the same structure and are very easy to study for. He gives us a list of around 15-20 Identification terms which we have to know about and what the 2 authors we read about think about the term. He gives us 4 terms on the test and you get to pick 2. You get a 4x6 notecard front and back and I typed mine and used type 4 font so that I could just barely read it. But I was able to put all the information down that I needed in order to cover all the ID terms possible. In addition, he has 2 essay questions he gives you and you get to pick one. And he has a total of 3 questions, which is on the syllabus, which he picks from. So the midterm he choses 2/3 and then the final you know the one he didnt use on the midterm will be on, and he will repeat one of the others. He really prepares us for the essay and what we need to know in order to succeed in it. The only challenging part of the class is the level of readng we did, since we read two different books. It was interesting reading the 2 books about the same exact history because the different authors have different viewpoints and Orth teaches us how to analyze critically and historically these differences. But I did do this class over summer, so the reading was of course a bit heavier. Easy A in this class, I dont know my grade yet, but all I need is a 89% on the final and Ill have a solid A in the class. Pretty legitt

HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: A General Ed 10:55 pm, Dec 15, 2008 Report Evaluation		joel is a very good lecturer. he conveys the material in a very straight-forward manner, and also incorporates various class activities so you don't really get bored. i'm not such a history fan, but he made the material (us history) very interesting and really stimulated me to think about it rather than memorize facts. he is pretty lenient and respects each students. sometimes his requirements might be a bit redundant, but it only makes you learn significantly better. overall, very good teacher. take him.

HIST 322 Senior Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 9:02 am, Mar 12, 2008 Report Evaluation		Orth is a very professional teacher. This class is hard though, with lots or writing, group work, etc. He really expects you to know your stuff. Nobody likes this, but in the real world you become a more intelligent person. I have to say that I wish there were more professional type instructors in my deparment.



HIST 207 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 6:33 pm, Feb 20, 2008 Report Evaluation		Orth's lectures are easy to follow and he puts the powerpoints on Blackboard. As long as you show up to class and read the book you'll be fine.

HIST 322 Junior Grade Earned: C General Ed 10:24 am, Mar 15, 2006 Report Evaluation		Joel is a great lecturer and manages to make history very interesting, even for people who would usually hate it. However I do agree with the person below me who said don't take his class and any other class at the same time. The workload is big to say the least. Not only 4-5 group papers and the strange individual reserach proposal are required, but the midterm and the final are both 100% essay, with no notes or outlines allowed. I actually like history and studied a lot but I bombed both tests because of my inability to memorize the full length, concise essay responses I wrote out ahead of time. To sum up: great teacher, tough class.

HIST 322 Senior Grade Earned: B General Ed 1:54 am, May 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		A nice guy and a fun class. He puts everything on Powerpoint and you can download the files ahead of time. It really helps out with the note taking. He also breaks the class time up into different activities so you don't get Powerpointitis. He does assign a ton of work, and most of it has to be done in groups. You also have to write a strange research proposal paper. At first I dreaded both the group work and paper, but they both turned out fine. He doesn't grade particularly hard. Not sure what teacher the other reviewer was taking about, but I got a B which isn't bad for me considering I'm not a big history fan. As for the lectures. He is pretty animated and funny once you pay attention. Sometime his humor is pretty subtle, but he had the whole class laughing several times. He also is strait up with his history. No real agenda. You'll definately look at history and our country's role in the twentieth century with a new light after this class. I would take the class again. Don't be scared off the first day when you hear all the stuff you have to do. You'll be glad you stayed.

HIST 322 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Elective 2:16 am, Apr 26, 2005 Report Evaluation		Orth knows his stuff but my advice to the unknowing is, "don't take his class and any other class at the same time." The reading load is pretty tough and you have to see two movies that you have to write and present a review of. He assigns you to a group and all your presentations are in group form(fortunatley I had a good one). He is absolutly the hardest grader I have had in 5 years at Poly.

HIST 322 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:20 pm, Feb 11, 2004 Report Evaluation		Prof Orth is pretty cool. His lectures always kept my attention and weren't too fast. He gave lots of work but after the first two weeks, you learn to manage it and it's actually not bad at all. Like every other history class, stay on top of the reading and you'll be okay. I recommend him though, good guy and Hist 322 is a good class.

HIST 322 Senior Grade Earned: B General Ed 10:53 am, Dec 22, 2003 Report Evaluation		I loved the class. I've never really liked history before, but Joel makes the class reasonably fun. Sometimes the lectures can get a bit boring, but he at least tries to liven these up with discussions, humor, and whatever. He requires a lot of group work and discussion. This can be kind of be a drag if you are in a bad group. It can also be cool if you have a decent one. My group was cool and I met new people and we even talked about history stuff a few times! LOL. Seriously, I really liked his class and would take him again if he was teaching other courses. He teaches a lot of things that I never knew about history before. I never really knew why history mattered as a subject before, but Joel actally explains some of that. Oh ya, we did a cool poster project. I was worried about this at first, but it was one of the funnest things I've ever done in a history class. Made me think about things different and was a fun way to work with my group.

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