Anderson, James  

Business

3.31/4.00

29 evaluations


BUS 215


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Jul 1999
Dr. Jim Anderson is the epitome of a good profesor. He goes in the class, lectures material, answers any questions, and lets you go. I had him for two hour lectures twice a week. We barely stayed in the class an hour each session. His tests are not easy though. They are mostly scantron with one problem. If you need to take any accounting classes, take Jim Anderson, who is also the head of the accounting department.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
Jim Anderson is a coll teacher. If you are looking for a "cool" teacher then take him, but if you came to college to learn then don't. He lets us out early and sometimes cancels class. When asking for help in office hours he offers little to nothing. The grading system is fair (each test is worth more points the the one prior to it). Good lectures but not clear. He seems to be going through things like a robot. Take him if you don't plan on remembering much or becoming an accountant.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2001
Dope teacher. He lets you out early, but in the time you are there he teaches effectively. I learned alot cause he uses methods from the real world.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
Dr. Anderson was a great professor. He didn't take himself or the course too seriously - in a good way. By this I mean that he helped students understand the important concepts of the course, and he wasn't nit picky about forms. Dr. Anderson always tried to find the easiest way for us to get things done, which is nice for a change. It showed that he cared about us getting frusterated. Sometimes he did seem rushed when I would ask him questions, but he always stayed to help. His tests were challenging, but definately on par with the course. The grades were evenly spread around the high 70s to the low 80s with a good proportion of A's and B's. I believe that I could have done better if I had studied more than just one to two days in advance of the tests. He also tells stories once in a while to break up the monotony, uses great real-life examples and lets the class out a bit early when there isn't anything more to say on a topic. Overall, a great professor.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Feb 2002
Anderson is great. He teaches you material through homework problems and then puts stuff on the tests just like the homework. But more importantly, his lectures are fun, he's funny, always making jokes about beer and how he's gonna cancel class so he can watch the world series. He is also just a great person: fair, nice, understanding, helpful. You can also look foreward to stories like when he saw a student on campus (when he was teaching somewhere else) and they started drinking together, after sharing 2 pitchers with the guy he realized he had a class to teach, so tought it drunk. There's an even better one about how some studens switched his water bottle with one filled with vodka and he took a big swig, but was clever enough to not even flinch. He then surveyed the class to find the people with amazed looks on their faces, thus catching the culprits. Great stuff. . .Anderson is my favorite COB prof so far; this status will likely remain.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2002
For an accounting class you can't hope for a better teacher than Jim Anderson. He is straightforward with his grading, assignments, and tests. He'll give you a good idea of what the problem(s) will be on the test and the multiple choice isn't hard. He'll let you out early and probably cancel class a couple times. I rarely went to class and just studied off the powerpoints offered on the textbook's website and got a B in the class. If you do that and maybe 50% of the homework problems you can easily get a B or an A and with Jim's method of going over things, you'll actually get a good understanding of it.


Junior
C
Required (Support)
Jun 2002
Jim's definitely a funny guy and goes over homework in detail every day..but the test questions always tended to go a little further than the homework problems and that was hard for me to deal with. Also, During office hours, he's not very patient. All in all, he's a good prof and I would recommend him for Bus 215. Oh yeah-people who studied off of the old accounting tests tended to do better.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Oct 2002
Anderson is an unfair teacher. He assigns very little homework and goes over it so that it is easy to understand. The problem is that only half of his test are like the homework problems and the rest of the problems on the test he pulls out of the gap between his teeth. His tests are very unfair and include much more than he teaches you. He rushes you during the test so he can go home and watch baseball and he doesn't like to help you during office hours. I give this butt mongrel a 2 out of 10. He seems funny during class but when he gives you an unfair test that he didn't prepare you for it is no laughing manner.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2002
Jim goes over homework in detail every day. That is all you do, no lecture or anything. If you happen to go to his office hours be careful. He is not patient at all and barely answers your question. This is a 2 hour class, but we got out after an 1 hour everyday. An hour and 15 minutes was a long class. In all, be prepared to teach yourself everything!!!


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Jan 2003
Anderson is a good professor who present the material clearly and mixes in a sense of humor. The cours is made up of homework problems that are due each class period. He only collects five total but you go over every problem in class. There were 3 midterms and a final. The weight of each test increases further into the quarter. His lectures are short and to the point. He also let us out about 45 min early each session. You need to read the chapters and do the homework to really succeed in the class because if you ask dumb questions in class he recognizes that you didn't read and offers little help. I would recommend Anderson for 215 because youll learn the material and enjoy coming to class. Oh and his tests are tough but not impossibe.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Jan 2003
Anderson is a good teacher. In his class you have 3 midterms and a final. He is a fair grader and makes class interesting. He does give homework that is checked, but is helpful in office hours and in class. I would recommend him.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Nov 2003
Take Managerial with Anderson. Easy A didn't put much effort in to this class. He takes the highest grade on test and make it out of that. Didn't really make a difference since the test were not difficult and someone usually got a 100%. I learned a lot he's a great teacher.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2003
Jim is a really cool guy but he is very hard to learn form if you need help outside of class. In class he is really helpful and easy to understand but if you need help after, he is gone and know where to be found until the next class. He always lets you out after about one hour of class and thats nice but be ready to teach yourself. Tests are all curved but someone always gets 100% so it dosent really help all that much. I would recomend this teacher to anyone as long as you are willing to learn the meterial on your own.


Senior
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2004
Anderson is a sick teacher. He presents material well, his tests are very fair, and his grading system is great and he's a super funny kid!


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
Mar 2004
James is a nice guy but he lost his love for teaching. He missed several class periods, postponed a bunch of tests, cut out a few chapters, and let us out early everyday. If you have the time to teach yourself the material, by all means take his class. But I look at it as a student being a teacher's customer--I wasn't satisfied. Unfortunately, I didn't take anything out of this course.


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2004
Anderson is a really nice guy who likes his students. He lets you out about an hour early each class period which is nice. He's a really fair grader and gave free points on questions he messed up on the final. All you have to do is read the book, which is pretty straight forward. I didn't learn much from him at all except for answers to hw probs he would show us on the overhead because I would draw all period. THIS IS THE MAN YOU WANT FOR 215. My roomate had elbannon or someone else who sucked balls compared to anderson. Anderson is the man.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
May 2004
Professor Anderson likes to keep class short every time, which means you'll only be there for an hour and a half at the very most. If you do the homework and read the book, the tests are easy. Make sure to go to class since attendence is required. He is a nice guy and he tells lots of good stories. I would reccomend taking him- you don't have to do any projects in his class, just homeworks and tests.

BUS 321


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Nov 2001
He is a funny teacher. However, he doesnt teach well. He doesnt really give lecture on the chapters, but only goes over the questions without clearly explainations. If you take his class, beware to have a lot of self study and then you can get a good grade.

BUS 342


5th Year Senior
C
Required (Major)
Mar 2006
As someone who has taken this course over again, I can say that he is really a damn good professor. There is no homework but about a quiz a week which in total counts for 20% of your grade. He drops your lowest quiz score. Because there is a quiz, you have to study every week so when test time comes around you don't stress as much because you have already seen all the material and types of questions plus he doesn't try to pull fast ones on you by talking all concepts and spending no time on problems, then testing you all on problems like some other teachers who teach finance. He thoroughly balances concepts and problems and then tests you accordingly. Don't get me wrong, this class is no cake walk but James is the best teacher to learn from. He makes sure you get it while teaching helpful everyday applications of finance and not just for those whose concentration is finance.

BUS 420


5th Year Senior
N/A
Elective
Dec 2001
I strongly disagree with the comment below this. I don't know what I got in this class, but I figure I better comment on Anderson while I am not bias. Anyway, I am an accounting concentration obviously, and I DO think that the information will stick. He doesn't allow a cheat sheet, but that's really better in the long run since it makes you really memorize the material. True, he let us out early sometimes, but not often, and I felt I learned a lot from this class, and that he was a fantastic teacher. All in all, I recommend him, though he is not an "easy" A. But in the long run, do grades matter? Or does passing the CPA exam matter?


Junior
A
Elective
Apr 2002
lectures are based on book..all we do in class is go over homework. midterms are straightforward


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2006
This would have been a better class if we actually met. Since the school gave us 2 Mondays off last quarter, and he cancelled class 2 times, it was so sporatic. But he's a great professor and is good at giving you background about why things are and why you have to do all this funky accounting in the way that you do. This class should be renamed Int. Accounting 3, so take from that what you want. So don't sell your 321/322 book! It's not a bad class to take, but I bet there are more interesting accounting electives. (The tests were either VERY EASY or VERY HARD, so that was frustrating.)

GSB 500


Graduate Student
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2001
Jim can flat out teach! They should clone this guy...

GSB 511


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Sep 2003
Anderson is a great guy, and a great teacher. He finds a why to make accounting fun and interesting by incorporating stories and examples from his own experiences. He's really funny and laid back, and he goes over the homework in class. His tests can be a little tricky, but he's a fairly easy grader. When it comes to accounting, you can't beat Anderson.


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2006
Prof Anderson is pretty much the coolest/nicest/FUNNIEST prof that i've had at cal poly. However, his teaching style is not as cool. his lectures are super funny and super entertaining but he does not teach concepts very deeply in his classes. rather, he expects you to teach yourself from the book and then he will review the assigned problems with you in the class. some of you may thrive on this, but for others who expect lectures to be helpful in learning material, Jimbo's not the guy for you. A great thing about Prof Anderson is that he lets you out of class early pretty much every day and he's a super easy grader. If you have trouble with the material, he is very available in his office hours and is a good teacher then; plus he's very accessible with appointment times. In his office hours, it seems as though he does what he should do in class. Bottom line, if you take him and get confused in any way, talk to him outside of class and he'll get your mind right. Take Anderson if you have a good grip on accounting already, if you do, you'll LOVE him and the class. If you are just a beginner and are trying to get a handle on the subject, you may want to go with a more thorough lecturer. You gotta give it to him though, he's a damn funny guy and will often times make you laugh out loud multiple times in one class period.


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
May 2006
he is no doubt a funny guy and knows his shit. unlike most teachers who seemed to be up there fulfilling some ego trip, this guy comes off as totally genuine in his intention to just get you to understand the subject. it isn't exactly the toughest class to get an A in if you try at all either. however, you should read and do the homework he never collects to understand the lectures, which consists of him going over the solution for the assigned problem. nothing less, nothing more. as soon as he's done with it, you leave. you ask questions and he'll sometimes answer or sometimes give a brief explanation on how you don't need to know that and not answer. i disagree with the person below me who says take him if you know accounting. those who knew accounting seemed bored and frustrated at the many things he didn't cover. those who didn't appreciated his complete reluctance to confuse you on anything he didn't plan to test you on.

GSB 521


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Apr 2005
This guy is awesome. He's the best professor I've had at Cal Poly. He's very easy to listen to and great at relaying information. He's the only Professor I've been frustrated with for letting class out early (which he always does). I wanted him to teach me more.


Graduate Student
B
Required (Major)
May 2005
Jim Anderson is definitely one of the better professors at the OCOB. He is funny, conveys his ideas relatively well, and does not waste class time or your time with stupid busywork like many of his colleagues do. Take his class and you probably won't regret it.

GSB 827


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Nov 2016
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