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McGaughey, Karen

Cumulative GPA: 3.66/4.00 with 47 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.83
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.45

Statistics Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:20 pm, Mar 21, 2013 Report Evaluation		This is a great teacher. I really felt like she gave everyone an opportunity to succeed. She was always there to help if you needed it. Presented info clearly. I wasn't too into stats, but she made it pretty painless. All the objectives are clearly laid out.

STAT 217 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 12:18 am, Mar 19, 2013 Report Evaluation		Karen is super chill. She might try to seem tough, and her grading can get a little nitpicky, but once you get the hang of it Statistics is really not that hard. And this class only covers the basics so yea, its pretty easy. Make sure you check polylearn often for practice problems and pre-labs that you have to do online. All in all, I had a great time in Karen's class, and I feel very comfortable with the material she taught us.

STAT 217 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 1:33 pm, Feb 13, 2013 Report Evaluation		Great teacher. Very understanding. Take her.

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:33 am, Dec 8, 2012 Report Evaluation		This professor really knows what she is talking about and presented the information in a quick but surprisingly clear manner. the information was very fast paced but she did a good job of explaining it. If you go to class and do the practice tests you will do fine

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:29 am, Dec 7, 2012 Report Evaluation		Loved her. She was so awesome. Made getting up early every day enjoyable because she was funny and made the class not suck. I'm awful at math but she taught it so well and really helped me understand so much more than I had expected I would. You waste quite a few trees printing off her notes, but having your laptop to look at them during class is an option. Her tests are somewhat hard, because they pull everything we learned into one question. Her quizzes are easy though-she gives either one quiz or one team assignment a week. Team assignments were kinda sucky because we never finished in class and meeting up was always hard. But other than that, she was such a great teacher and I wish she taught 252!!

STAT 252 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:12 am, Dec 4, 2012 Report Evaluation		If you take McGaughey, consider yourself lucky. She's one of the greatest, most straight-forward, helpful teachers I've ever had. It's impossible to blame her for not teaching you, so you know that if you're not doing well in the class it's because you're not applying yourself. She is very good with updating everything on PolyLearn and lets you use cheat sheets on all three midterms and the final. Take her! You won't regret it.

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 12:30 pm, Jun 7, 2012 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey was an amazing stats professor. I loved this class. It consisted of 3 lectures and 1 lab. She breaks things down and makes it really easy to understand. I had never taken a stats class before and I found that Dr. McGaughey understood that this was the first stats class for most of the class. She made everything really easy to understand. She is totally approachable and easy to talk to. Homework load is little to none. Only assignments were the pre-labs and labs and the rest of the materials she provides you with on Polylearn are for your benefit only (study guides, readings, practice sets, practice exam questions). There is also a 5% participation grade. She looks at if you have done the readings and practice problems to get that grade. Over all great teacher, great course. Highly recommend taking her class if you can.



STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 5:02 pm, Mar 27, 2012 Report Evaluation		This was the first stats class I've ever taken and I could not be happier to have McGaughey as my teacher. She makes everything easy to understand and communicates really well with her students. She finds ways to make her lectures interesting too. The only complaint I have about this class is the fact that instead of having a textbook we went to the computer lab every week to do partner labs. Personally, I feel like instead of learning from the labs I just wanted to get them over with. But overall McGaughey is a great teacher and I definitely recommend her.

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: A General Ed 11:54 am, Mar 27, 2012 Report Evaluation		McGaughey was an awesome professor. I had never taken a statistics class in high school or college and her approach to teaching really helped me grasp the concepts. She focused more on the interpretation of the statistical information than the actual calculations. It definitely made the subject more interesting and I'll be able to apply what I learned to my real life. I strongly recommend her class!

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:06 pm, Dec 13, 2011 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey was probably the best math teacher I've ever had in my life. She's able to magically make everything easily understandable and explains every little step of the problem. There's no need to read the textbook because she explains 10 million times better. She knows exactly what she's doing and her tests and quizzes are fair. She'll tell you exactly what's on it and what to study for them. Every test, you get a cheatsheet that you get to fill out. There's 3 midterms and 1 final and the final is cumulative. It's not too bad, but you will really have to work your butt off for an A! I don't regret taking her for stats at all even if I didn't get an A after working so hard! Her class was entertaining and she is a great person. Fair grader. I really enjoyed this class!

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:20 am, Jun 9, 2011 Report Evaluation		McGaughey is a great communicator teaching a subject that may be hard to grasp for the non-math types. She is an interesting lecturer and very approachable with questions. Her office hours are great and she will do everything possible to help you understand the content. The Labs and Exams are very wording-oriented and this was slightly frustrating. But if you remember that and study the wording (once you have mastered the concepts) you will do fine. Would definitely take again if I had to take another Stats class.

STAT 217 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 1:27 pm, Jun 5, 2011 Report Evaluation		I love her, so cool! I was in hysterics over Stats to begin with, but if you go to class and take notes you will do well, she is a really great teacher! Print off her slides before class and take notes on them, because it's hard to take notes in a notebook without the slides as a reference to what it is you are talking about. If she posts practice problems online, do them, it'll help. Sometimes she'll throw random curve balls on a test or quiz on something you have not yet done in class or something, but usually it's just using logic to figure out how to use what you know to figure it out. Quizzes can be tricky, so try to review your lab/activity for that week and know the material for the quiz. Labs are good practice and it totally helps having a partner to work things through with. She is really straight forward and super nice and just wants you to get it and do well, she's not trying to fail you at all. Occasionally offered extra credit, but don't count on that. As long as you put the effort into your quizzes and labs and go to class regularly, the material will stick. Review your labs and quizzes for tests definitely, and she will give you a review sheet prior to a test/final. Don't just know the info, be able to work out a problem or apply the info on the test. You do get a CHEAT SHEET for both midterms and final, 1 page front and back hand written with formulas, steps, definitions, etc. I suggest making your cheat sheet and doing exam review or practice problems with it, and if you come across something you don't know how to do, add it to the sheet. This way you won't waste time during the test scanning your cheat sheet for microscopic writing, you'll already know where it is, or may not need it from practicing. Totally doable class if you practice, do the work, show up, and take advantage of office hours and extra help. If there is something you don't get, ask her, she WANTS to help, and chances are, nobody else gets it either! Good luck!

STAT 217 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 5:49 pm, Mar 22, 2011 Report Evaluation		Professor McGaughey is one of the nicest teachers I've had at Cal Poly. I came into the course dreading math, but she gave me the encouragement and help I needed to prove to myself that I can do well in a math class. I completely bombed the second midterm after getting an A on the first one, and she took the time to go over my grades and reassure that I would still do fine in the course. She truly cares about all her students, and wants them to succeed. DEFINITELY TAKE HER if you need to take an Stats class!!!



STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 11:28 am, Mar 10, 2011 Report Evaluation		I really enjoyed her, she is really energetic and fun. I would not think twice to take her again.

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 4:48 pm, Mar 3, 2011 Report Evaluation		McGaughey is a great teacher! She presents the material well and tells you exactly how to do everything to get points on the test. If you go to class and do the homework its an easy B. The only bad thing was I had her class on Fridays and she puts quizzes on Fridays just so you have to show up to class. And all the quizzes are group quizzes, she says it might be individual so make you study harder, but its a group quiz unless she specifically says individual. She is also very helpful in office hours and doesnt make you feel like an idiot for not knowing stuff. I definitely recommend professor McGaughey!

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 6:19 pm, Jan 27, 2011 Report Evaluation		McGaughey is the best stats teacher if you want to know the material. Expect to work hard to earn every part of your grade. Tests are difficult and nothing like the hw or the examples more about multiple concepts into one problem that you have probably never seen before. She is a cool person and is more than willing to help if you are having difficulties in anything. I strongly recommend taking her to be prepared for stats 252.

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:30 pm, Jan 25, 2011 Report Evaluation		Professor McGaughey is an awesome teacher. Shes an absolutely amazing teacher and really works hard to present the material in a way you can understand it. Stats 251 is a decently hard class especially if you have never taken any form of Stats before. Professor McGaughey does a really great job in getting students through the class. She moves very fast but she teaches the material very well. Also she may seem a little intimidating at first but shes really not. If you dont understand something, GO TO OFFICE HOURS! Shes always more than willing to help. However dont expect and easy class. McGaughey is very tough but hey she teaches well and if you really want to understand Stats and be ready for Stats 252 take Professor McGaughey!

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 1:47 pm, Dec 16, 2010 Report Evaluation		Professor McGaughey is definitely one of the best Stats teachers in Cal Poly. She presents her material very well, and cares about her students. If you want to succeed in this class, you must be consistent. She will usually give midterm/final questions where a majority of students have gotten wrong throughout the quarter, so make sure you know it! Overall, if you have a chance to take her, don\'t hesitate! She can be strict and give you a lot of workload, but isn\'t that what college is all about?

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 2:12 pm, Dec 13, 2010 Report Evaluation		STAT 251 is a hard class if you didn\'t take statistics in high school. McGaughey isn\'t that bad of a professor, but she grades really hard. Even if you throughly know all the concepts and studied really hard for an exam, it\'s not out of the ordinary to get a B. She WILL take off points for small insignificant details, and she grades your scratch work on the margins of the page. Her tests are about 50-60% true/false and \"word problems\" where you have to throughly explain a concept in context to a problem. the other 40-50% are worked-out problems. Not a bad professor, but not the best either.



STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 12:54 am, Dec 5, 2010 Report Evaluation		Mcgaughey is a thoroughly average teacher. I took thoroughly average tests and got thoroughly average grades in a subject I was quite obviously thoroughly average at. She has 0 tolerance on changing your grade unless you can prove that her grader is maliciously out to get you. I went over an assignment with her once, she told me it would get 100 because we reviewed every problem together (she is quite approachable) I got a C- on that assignment...Even good work and the correct answers will not save you from her underpaid and spiteful homework grader\'s wrath! She might make a mistake here and there, but overall its thoroughly average...

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:04 pm, Aug 26, 2010 Report Evaluation		McGaughey is awesome. She is extremely helpful and isn\'t intimidating. She doesn\'t make you feel stupid for asking questions and presents the material in a relatively relatable manner. I bombed the first midterm, but she recognized that the majority of the class did so she made an offer where we could make our other midterm and final grade worth more, so I did well on those and ended up with a B-, which I was more than satisfied with. There\'s also a project, which isn\'t too bad, it should only boost your grade. TAKE HER!!

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:42 pm, Jun 9, 2010 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey is an excellent teacher!! Her course notes are very clear, and she is very good at explaining the material in class. She answers any questions students may have and clarifies everything so that you get it. You have homework every week (most of it requires a PC to do because the program MINITAB is not compatible with Macs) that takes up a good amount of time, so don\'t try to finish it an hour before class starts. Make sure that you understand everything that is taught in class because the class is cumulative and you need to know the beginning material to understand everything else. I highly recommend Dr. McGaughey for STAT 217!!!

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 2:45 pm, May 19, 2010 Report Evaluation		Awesome teacher! Very smart, but she makes you work hard. Her class is pretty engaging for STAT, and it made me interested in the subject. I\'d take her if you you want a good teacher that makes you put a little work in.

STAT 513 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:31 pm, Jan 6, 2010 Report Evaluation		Even after the first class, I knew she was a good and knowledgable teacher. She explains the material very well, backed with various examples which only make learning the material easier. Her notes, which is 10 times better than the book, are all you really need for the class. If you don\'t understand something, she is more than happy to help you both via e-mail and in office hours. Her tests are definitely not for the faint of heart, and can be quite long, but she does warn you ahead of time what she will focus on, and what she expects from each type of question.

STAT 313 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:19 pm, Jan 5, 2010 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey is an excellent professor. Although it was her first time teaching 313 (I think), she presented the material clearly and interestingly. Perhaps one of the most helpful things she does is relate what we\'re learning to a single, running example of a real-world experiment. The assigned end project was a great way to tie everything together, and the presentations we were required to do were a good way to give us experience in putting together semi-formal displays. The only thing I didn\'t like about the course were the tests, which ran on too long. McGaughey expects both tests and homework to be filled with specific details, so those who rush through exams without adding specifics may have trouble in the class. She doesn\'t curve, either. Overall, however, I\'d highly, highly suggest her.



STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 8:58 pm, Dec 15, 2009 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey is a very very good teacher. I was intimidated taking this class my first quarter at Cal Poly, but she made the class very easy to understand. Weekly quizzes and team assignments are pretty easy to get a 10 on if you go over her notes (which she puts on blackboard every week). Midterms and final are pretty difficult, and if you don\'t understand something, it is bound to show up on a test. Just do numerous problems and make sure you go to office hours at least a few times. If she likes you, she\'ll give you the extra boost. I highly recommend her!

STAT 251 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:38 pm, Dec 22, 2008 Report Evaluation		McGaughey is a really chill teacher. She's very good at presenting the material and the homework really covered the material well. She's very inviting at her office hours. Just make sure to check each morning for the notes to print out. Those really help. She has you work in homework groups too. Take 20 minutes or so and study for the weekly quizzes. It's worth it. Definitely take her!!

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 6:58 pm, Dec 16, 2008 Report Evaluation		Her lectures follow the outlines nicely. Her grading for homework is tough, she grades specific problems and there’s no way to gain more credit if you get it wrong. The quizzes are fair, the team assignments a bit more tough. The midterms are also a bit tough, but the page of handwritten notes helps. For the final, she tests on the problems that people had trouble with on the midterms so make sure you talk to her about what you did wrong. Very clear teaching style.

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:04 pm, Dec 14, 2008 Report Evaluation		An overall hard class, but a very good teacher!

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 11:04 am, Jun 14, 2005 Report Evaluation		I had kmcgaughey this past spring and let me tell you that all these other posts are sooo wrong. She was such a horrible teacher. She could never go an entire class without someone correcting her on how to do a problem. SHe gave tests that were way too long that the entire class including me would be there until five past the hour. She is helpful in office hours but incredibly intimidating. I definatly dont reccomend taking this teacher. Take my advice and get someone else because i know that anyone that takes her is going to regret it. I think she switched up her teaching skills majorly from the past year to the present. I heard she was slacking off and then the admins told her to step it up and she made the class hella hard.

STAT 322 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 12:07 pm, Jun 7, 2005 Report Evaluation		Overall I would highly recommend professor Mcgaughey. If you want to learn statistics then professor Mcgaughey is right for you. Her lectures are always clear, direct, and coherent. On the downside if you want an easy A, that is not going to happen. It takes a reasonable amount of work to be able to do well in her class. Homework is collected each week, with the two lowest scores dropped. Her tests are slightly unusual in that they are simple and straightforward but there is a time component so you have to be comfortable with the material in order to finish the exam on time. Review the homework and work on the review problems(practic test) before exams and you should do well.



STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 4:17 pm, May 20, 2005 Report Evaluation		I would highly recommend her for stats. She gets to the point of what you need to know and how to study the material. She throws a little humor in her lectures every now and then which is always good. Her midterms are hard, but she gives you a lot of material to use to study for them. Overall just go to class and keep with the hw and you will do fine.

STAT 212 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 5:55 pm, Mar 27, 2005 Report Evaluation		She is a pretty good teacher. She comes across as kind of rude but she is actually very nice if you talk to her one-on-one in office hours or after class. She tries to be as helpful as possible if you have a question and she posts all the notes on Blackboard so you can print them out before class.

STAT 322 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:01 pm, Jan 16, 2005 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey is a good profecessor that makes stats a semi-enjoyable class. Her class consists of two mid-terms, a final, and weekly homework. Make sure you go to office hours as often as you can, because she is really good at explaining things that might not have been that clear in lecture. The class notes are all on-line, so warm up your printer now! She is a pretty tough grader, but has a pretty good curve at the end. The book is pretty much useless (you only use it for a couple of hw assignments). The only problem I had with Dr. McGaughey was that she somehow found it necessary to bring her political views to class which can make students fell uncomfortable if they don't share the same view.

STAT 218 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:40 pm, Jan 3, 2005 Report Evaluation		She is a really good teacher, but you have to pay attention because every once in a while she will make little mistakes on the board like telling you something is skewed the opposite way. She is great teacher, though. I highly recommend her.

STAT 218 Sophomore Grade Earned: B General Ed 12:21 am, Dec 9, 2004 Report Evaluation		First of all, I don't know what all these people are talking about. She is probably the worst stats teacher you can get. She constantly snaps at students for asking questions and gets mad when students interupt her for them. She also made a point to catch students who didnt come to class and one day gave extra credit to the students who came, told them what would be on the next quiz, and refused to teach the material to the students who had missed class. She doesn't want students to succeed, rather wants to prove the point that stats isn't an easy A. My advice? Take Rossman if you can or be prepared to never miss a single day of class. Ever.

STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:22 pm, Nov 8, 2004 Report Evaluation		HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TEACHER!!!! SHE MADE ME ENJOY STATISTICS!



STAT 251 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:40 am, Oct 26, 2004 Report Evaluation		This is the best STATS teacher I ever had. She has weekly quizes which aren't hard if you do the homework. She has all ner lecture notes on blackboard so you can print them out before class. She has a couple of midterms and a final. Plus with the quizes, you can drop 2 of them. He is really nice and cares about her students. If you need help, she is always there to help. Take her when ever you can. You will like the class.

STAT 217 Senior Grade Earned: D Elective 3:03 pm, Jun 15, 2004 Report Evaluation		This lady expects a lot from her students and the class is difficult if you hate stats like i do. there is two midterms, a final, a project, and five homework assignment. Her material is very straight forward, I just suck at math or stats. However, it is easy to go to class everyday because Dr. McGaughey is a nice piece of eye candy.

STAT 217 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:51 am, Apr 21, 2004 Report Evaluation		Excellent teachers, she wants a lot out of her students, she presents the material in a clear and logical way. easy to understand and comphrehend. She offers a little extra credit with some review questions before each lecture. Take her if you can.

STAT 321 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 4:41 pm, Apr 17, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. McGaughey is an incredible professor, who actually likes both Stats and students. Lectures are as interesting as they can be, I suppose, and her grading is stict, but fair. Her grader (for homework) was a bit harsh across the entire class, however, but Dr. McGaughey is the teacher to take.

STAT 321 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 9:43 pm, Apr 11, 2004 Report Evaluation		McGaughey (pronounced McGoy) is an excellent professor. She is very clear on lectures and fair about expectations with her students. This professor is helpful and friendly so that you will always have the best of opportunities to learn. Take her if you can.

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Support) 8:06 pm, Apr 5, 2004 Report Evaluation		Although I was not happy with my final grade in her class, I know it is really just because I am challenged when it comes to math and I didn't study hard enough for the final. Dr. McGaughey presented the material very clearly through notes, although there was a lot of printing out (which I suggest using both sides of the page) and a lot of wasted paper for someone who will not use the notes again. She uses several fun activities to help the class understand stat better, including one with candy!! There are weekly quizzes, which are kind of helpful cuz they keep you up to speed. The midterms were challenging, but if you are good at math, then they are definately doable. Good luck!



STAT 217 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 8:37 pm, Mar 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		this professor is REALLY good! i did get a C in the class but thats because i'm horrible at all things related to math. but the class itself is very straight forward without any surprises. there are quizzes every friday (relatively easy), two midterms (hard but not impossible), homework (very manageable), a project (very straightforward) and the final (difficult but doable). she has power point presentations and there are outlines of all the chapters on blackboard. she also posted supplemental problems on blackboard so that we could get extra practice for the tests. so if you're forced to take stats (like i was) i highly recommend this teacher.

STAT 217 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 8:17 am, Mar 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		Professor McGaughey was a pretty good teacher. She presented the material clearly and tried to make it...well, fun. I think her tests are kinda hard, but it's ok because there are easy homework and project points in the class which make up for low test scores. She even gives out a little extra credit. One thing I hated--quizes every friday. That sucked. I had to cram line dancing in with studying. I hate it when school gets in the way of my extra curriculars. Oh well. A couple last thing you should know is first, to go to her office hours. She's helpful if she's not stressed out. Otherwise, leave her alone. Second, don't buy the answer guide to the text. I didn't need it once. The text was horrible but you don't need to read or study it. Just do the hw probs. Have fun!

STAT 321 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 2:53 pm, Mar 25, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Mcgaughey must be one of the best professors in the stat department. She presents material clearly, thoroughly, and as many times as you need things explained without being repetative. He grading policy is completely fair. Tests are rigorous where you are somewhat pressed for time, but you are allowed a list of any formula's you want and there is nothing crazy or absurd on the test, just what would be expected for stat 321.

STAT 217 Freshman Grade Earned: A Elective 10:32 pm, Feb 2, 2004 Report Evaluation		Fall 2003 was Dr. McGaughey's first quarter at Cal Poly, but you couldn't tell it. I went into stats dreading the class, but it wasn't bad at all. She did a great job presenting all the material. Her tests were VERY fair and we got study guides for all of them. We got credit for homework and quizzes and got to drop our 2 lowest of each. She really wants everyone to understand what is going on. I went into her office hours a few times and she was very, very helpful. She also was very easy to email to ask questions. I really highly recommend McGaughey to anyone who wants to stay intersted in class. Hell, she even brought us candy so we could do "real life" statistical analysis. She is a great woman and teacher and I wish you luck in her class!

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