Gamboa, Miguel  

He walks in and reads off a packet of notes, I am not sure if he even realizes what he is saying or if he is just reading notes from years ago. A couple of lectures he started reading the wrong packet and only one person caught on to that because she was the only one in the class doing th reading because he assigns an unfair amount of reading for a GE. He talks about how his is descriminated against all the time and assumes no one else in the room has ever felt that way. The class requires far too much work for what it satisfies...try another professor or a different class.

He gives you a sheet of terms/essay questions and says some will be on the midterm and final. Those were very easy. However, he assigns a ridiculous amount of reading and there is a required presentation that everyone in the class will sleep through anyway. The quizzes, which he does not tell the questions to beforehand, are ridiculously hard even if you do do the 100 pages of reading assigned between the class meetings. I never read because I had better things to do, and miserably failed both quizzes. Still ended up with a B in the class. Overall, the class is easy, but a giant waste of time and an excessive amount of assigned reading.

Ok...where to start? The quizzes are incredibly hard because Gamboa picks the most random information to know. It's never the general concept but instead a little knit-picked detail. So it's really pointless to even study for them because chances are that even if you do all the reading you won't know that RANDOM piece of information he's going to ask. The midterm and final are easy because there's a study guide for them and so you know exactly what's going to be on them. Overall it's an ok class but when people start doing presentations it gets boring... Don't be surprised if you fail the quizzes...they really are HARD

hes a pretty cool guy, but the class can be a bit sketchy at times. the hardest thing about this class is his quizzes. once you understand what he wants even those are pretty easy. he assigns a LOT of reading (normally a chapter out of 2 text books summing up to about 60 pages total and then a couple articles that range from 6-20 pages. that is the amount he expected to have done every tuesday and thursday pretty much no matter what). the good news about the reading is you dont really have to do it. it helps, but is not necessary. his lectures are designed to cover all the key points from the reading. things that are going to be on the test are repeated 2 or three times very slowly so that you can get all the information. he also gives out loads of extra credit. i got a 21/50 and a 32/50 on my last two quizzes, but he gave me a bunch of extra credit which brought them up to 42 and 43. other things that he grades are:participation (just show up everyday and you get full credit on that), 4 quizzes, a midterm, a final and a book or movie presentation. the midterm and final are both easy to study for since he gives you the questions before hand, and the presentation is stressful, but not very hard. you basically pick a book or a movie off a list, write a 4-5 page paper and then talk about it in front of class (9-11 min for books, 14-16 min for movies). overall, the class is probably way more difficult then a GE should be but its very much managable. the professor himself has very sarcastic humor which often made it look like he was making fun of kids. and his lectures were as good as any other lecture that goes for 2 hours.

Well first off, this class was very hard! If I really knew how much work I was going to do for this class, I really wouldn't have taken it, however, for me, it has been the most rewarding class I have ever taken. He is a funny guys and is enjoyable to listen to during lectures. If you do take this class, I have one suggestion, that is to take notes on his lectures carefully, and then study those notes! By the end of the quarter, if you have been paying very close attention to his tests and lectures, you can see and hear when something is going to show up on a quiz. The reading isn't really necessary IF he lectures on the subject, but it does help and make the class more complete by the end. If he asks the class if they want him to lecture, of course they will say no, and that is when you need to read extra carefully. Pay attention to his lectures, because that is when he tells you what is on a quiz. It's not completely random. Oh, he also grades the final and presentation pretty leniently in my opinion; I was shooting for a C+ in the class, and was surprised by the end. It is truly a great class if you are willing to work hard, and if you are open minded, it might have an effect on you.

Don't leave CalPoly with out taking a class with Gamboa. He's an amazing teacher and he'll challenge you to be a better person. The subject manner was interesting and he presented it well. Quizzes and tests were fair and you generally know what to expect. One of the best teachers at CalPoly, hands down, don't miss out.

VERY boring lectures. Class discussion was a complete waste of time. There's a ton of reading in this class, and he tests you on completely random facts. The last third of the class, he didn't lecture at all, but you were still expected to read and study for quizzes. Take a different instructor.

I don't think he was a great instructor, but I don't think he was a bad one. He bases most of his lectures on the assigned reading, so do the reading. Some of it may get boring, but he quizzes on the assigned reading so your grade will be directly affected by it. For the quizzes, know important figures discussed in the reading. For midterms and finals he will give you a list of what will be on the exam, you will be asked to identify terms, short answer and an essay portion. I thought that was very fair on his part. The second half of the class is based on student presentations so he will no longer lecture, but will expect you to continue reading. Some of the presentations will be good and some will be bad, but he asks that you be there.

Pretty good teacher overall. Just study the slides and take notes and you will be fine.

Gamboa wasn't terrible. My problem was that I went into the class first quarter as a blissfully unaware freshman. Just make sure you keep up with the reading for the most part. The quizzes are brutal, but you can definitely compensate for them on the exams. There is one project on a book or film; make sure to choose which book you want well in advance, it's a lot easier to do a project on something semi-interesting.

Ok.. so I really despised this class, though I don't think it was Gamboa as a teacher that made me want to run. I understand that it is an ethnic studies class, but some of the readings were just too liberal and bias for me. I had a hard time relating to the subjects and thought a lot of the readings were pointless complaints. This class requires a lot of reading, so get ready. Gamboa is a nice guy, but his quizzes are really REALLY HARD! They cover a lot of information and small detains. Just study hard... and do any extra credit he offers. He's funny and personable, I would take this class if you are interested in the subject.

Pro: gives a lot of extra credit Con: puts the most minute details on the quizzes If you are a student who can't stand teachers who are just idiots, do not take him. He is not a great teacher, but not a bad one. You can tell he cares because he gives extra credit, but he is a moron. If you are like me and can't stand being taught by a person with an intelligence half of yours, do NOT take him. I really wonder how he became a professor. Also, if you hate doing a lot of reading, STAY AWAY.

This class is cake if you just pay attention and do the assignments. He posts his powerpoints on blackboard verbatim, I barely read the books for the class but reviewed the powerpoints and article links before quizzes and got a B+. He's good about providing extra credit opportunities, one on one help and understanding if problems come up during the major quarter project. And he's a pretty funny dude, I had no problems with this class, just show up and you're golden.

He was a pretty good teacher, and i thought the class was interesting. He teaches straight from powerpoints which he puts online (and gets test questions from). but also, outside reading that he never goes over in class can also be on the tests. There were small tests every couple weeks which were hard because for me i never knew what to study for them, and there are some fill-in-the blank with no word bank which can make things really hard. However, for the midterm and final he gives a study guide that the tests follow exactly, so i got a 99% on the midterm. I never checked what i got on the final, but i got an A in the class. There is also a book review you have to do but it is not difficult at all. He also gives an absurd amount of extra credit opportunities which puts a huge cushion on the grade.

Gamboa was pretty chill. His power points were always on PolyLearn so you never really had to take notes. He sometimes played ES-related movies during class, sometimes for the entire two hours of class. He offered plenty of easy extra credit if you missed an assignment or didn't do very well on quizzes. Overall, an easy A coming from someone who has never really been great with history, which is kinda what ES 212 was.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.