Fiorito, Basil  

WAIT!!!!! Don't let the CR fool you! I haven't taken the guys class yet, HOWEVER, I just went to talk to him at his office hour and he is one of the most approachable Professors I have met yet here at Cal Poly. Take this class! Crash it if you can. Get ready for a ride cause this guy is going to teach you a lot (as long as you do your part of coures).

Fiorito class was one I would reccomend. You had to write one big paper but it was on your family and fairly intersting and not too tough. Also, you had to write little papers every other week on your reactions but they were so easy to bust out in less than half hour and he gave everyone who did them an A. Tests were not bad if you studied his notes and objectives he gave for the book. Interesting class and not very hard - I say take it if you are interested in Psychology

Fiorito was not a very good teacher. Be prepared to take LOTS of notes in his class and not get very many chances to speak your mind. His tests are all non-cumulative 50-question multiple choice. However, his questions couldn't be more ambiguous or unnecessarily wordy. It's as if he refuses to give a solid A. You must get over a 93% to get the A. Even if you write a magnificent reaction paper, chances are you will never get the elusive check++ because he is too afraid to give it. Finally, he is far too concerned with what the department thinks of him, "they will get mad at me if I give too many A's."

Basil is great. He is easy to listen to and does not leave you saying what the f... His test are fair. Really read the book and do the learning objectives. his test are 50%notes,50% book. A lot of his notes over lap the book too. He is awesome and I definitly recomend him over some of the other Psych teachers.

He's one of the nicest teachers I've ever had. His class is interesting and he knows the material well. It isn't an easy A, but he doesn't try to make it incredibly hard either. Every other week you turn in a 2 page response paper basically relating your life to something you learned in class. There is one 5 page paper, and 3 exams.

He's a great teacher! Basil is the most "in-touch with his students" type of teacher. I really did enjoy his class despite family emergencies that prevented me from doing as well as I thought I could do. His tests were "tough but fair" (that's what most students say). Some questions were a little vague but make sure you read up on the Learning Objectives and key words. We turn in 2 page reaction papers every other week that are real easy to complete because it's your own opinion on the topic. At the end of the quarter there's a 5 page paper due, It wasn't difficult at all but make sure you ask him exactly what information he wants in it, and how he wants you to discuss it. The chapters in the book are fairly short but mostly BORING. The best part of the quarter is attending his lectures. I totally recomend him to anyone.

This is a good class which provides useful information for anyone, especially those people who plan to date/marry/have children. The class consists of 5 reaction papers (two page papers on any topic due every other week), one 5 page paper which is not difficult, and three midterms - each multiple choice and 50% from lecture, 50% from the text. Tests are fair, but not easy. Fiorito is interesting, personable, knowledgeable, funny, and tells many stories to help illustrate concepts. Good class!

Basil is an awesome prefossor. His lectures are clear, precise, and he makes them very interesting and fun. There isn't much homework, just a lot of reading. He also assigns about five two-page papers to write along with a larger paper, all of which are really easy. His tests are also really fair and easy if you do the reading, go to class and take notes, and study a little bit. This was a very fun and interesting class. Take it with this guy.

Fiorito is the guy to get for Family Psych. His lectures are kinda slow sometimes, but some of them are pretty interesting. It's pretty easy to pick up the concepts of his lecture, so be sure and go to class. His tests are very straight-forward, just make sure and at least go over the learning objectives in the reading. You don't need to actually read, just before the test skim for the learning objective answers. He also has reaction papers which are easy to write, but really hard to get a full 10/10 on. He also has a paper about your family which is pretty easy as well. It isn't fascinating material everyday, but you will look at your family differently after taking this class.

Family Psy was okay with Basil. The lectures were a little slow at times, but easy to follow. The tests were fairly challenging simply because he words his questions in such a strange way. It was like you had to figure out the word puzzle hidden in each question before you could actually answer it. He makes it fairly clear what will be on the tests. I believe it is pretty much impossible to get a full ten on the four or five reflection papers. If you really want an A, I don't know if I would take him because in order to get a full A (not an A-) you have to get a 94%. All in all, 254 was a pretty stress free experience.

First off I want to say that Basil is an INCREDIBLE professor. Take advantage of all his knowledge by going to office hours! There are 2 midterms and a final (none cumulative), a two page paper due every other week, and a five page paper on the dynamics of your family. I think that this class should be renamed Life 101, because it gives you a lot of good information about society, being an effective, friend, brother, sister, spouse, and parent. The reading isn't bad and the book has lots of pictures and interesting statistics. During class you take notes from an overhead which can be a little boring, but for me it was helpful because it told me what was important to remember. He gives you learning objectives from the book, which help you know what to study for the exams. If you know all the learning objectives backwards and forwards you will do well. If I would have studdied more than I probably could have gotten an A...regardless I learned a lot from this class. You can also earn up to five points extra credit by going to different speakers or volunteering to be a helpee (be counseled by someone in his helping relationships class). Basil gives examples from his life and also from his experiences as a marriage and family therapist, which brings the material to life. Next year Basil is going to be department chair so he will be teaching fewer courses...so if you can wait until he teaches this class.

I'm only half way through his class so far, but I strongly recommend Basil. He explains things clearly, answers students questions and concerns thouroughly, and seems to sincerely care about the success of his students. The class requires a lot of work, such as three midterms, three papers and three taped counseling sessions, but he grades fairly. I am enjoying the class and am learning a lot.

Basil is a nice man. The class is very time-consuming; but that's just the nature of the psy 323 despite which prof you have. I really liked Basil, but I also recognize that counseling is something that I'm looking to go into. He talks a lot, and he does take roll. Still, I would recommend him to anyone taking psy 323.

I walked into this class with the mindset that I would get in and get out as soon as possible. Therapy seemed like wishy washy technique fused with constantly dealing with the insane. This class helped brush away a bit of my ignorance and sparked a genuine interest in the field. This class also teaches a variety of useful skills that helped me, and my classmates, interact with people in daily life. Basil has 19 years of experience in the field and it shows. He gives clear, sound advice and is very willing to help you do your best with your helpee. To me Basil seems like a nice down to earth guy who knows his stuff. Maybe I just liked him because he actually taught and didn't use power point presentations. I really liked the structure of this class, there was a lot of student- student interaction but not in a hassle filled group project way. A large part of the class was spent practicing the dialog skills with other students in class, and offering insight to other students who had a question / or needed help. Studying for the tests wasn't too difficult, a few pages of learning objectives. The tests were predominantly MC with 2 simple short answers. Most of the grade however comes from audio tapes from sessions with your helpee (in this class you act as a "helper" to another student on campus, your "helpee,"), and a demonstration of the skills you've learned throughout the quarter in class. Basil does grade on participation, part of which you grade yourself on. there are plenty of opportunities to participate and since the class is designed to be cohesive it's a safe atmosphere to do so. To any pursuing a psych degree, don't write off the clinical path until you take this course.

I really enjoyed Basil. He is such a cute man and is willing to help his students in anything they need. The class does take up a lot of time (its 3 hours 2X a week) but you learn a lot of skills. He gives you study guides for the tests and they are pretty straight forward and similar to the material on the test. He loves participation and he is pretty funny sometimes. The class is a lot of time, like i said, but if you have to take it, take it with basil.

Basil is very precise. All the notes are written out on overheads, so you definitely get all the information. The tests are pretty predictable, because you get objectives for the reading, and if you follow them, you'll do fine on the tests. Don't waste time reading parts of the book that don't cover the objectives, because the Psych of Religion text is horrid! There are no pictures, the type is tiny, and so much useless and contradicting information is presented. And speaking of contradictory information, be prepared for a lot of it in this class. The most frustrating thing about psych of religion is that there are no definite answers, and almost nothing can be proven. You do learn a lot of interesting things, and if you're interested in religion in general, it's a good class. Basil, however, is no expert on religion, except for Catholicism, so don't expect to learn much about actual religions. He really should have someone in the religious studies department help him, because the information presented is very Christianity-based and doesn't really explain much about other world religions. He is a kind of nervous teacher and doesn't really answer questions directly, but he presents the material pretty clearly and is very fair. There is an 8-page class paper which is graded pretty easily. There are 3 tests, the last of which is the final, which isn't comprehensive.

Basil's class on religion i highly recommend for the information presented. There are three TEST which focus on the reading and lecture. the tests consist of 50 MC and 4-5 short answers. Admittingly the tests are pretty difficult in the sense of the wording of the questions. the A range is set at 94 and not 93 which he didn't really elaborate on. However, the book is really interesting and he provides learning objectives from which he directing pulls questions for the test. there is a ten page PAPER due at the end of the quarter, but this can be broken into 5 2-page papers due every other week based on "reflections" of the readings. I highly recommend this method over the bulk paper. He has a weird system of grading involving checks, +, -, and up and down arrows, but he grades papers well, so it all works out. the lecture is interesting but sometimes he tries to jam too much info into a class and you find yourself taking a lot of notes. But, overall the class is interesting and I would RECOMMEND it.

i do like basil and i have taken him for family psych and helping relationships, but this class was horrible. he expected us to know a lot of detailed material and what made it worse was that he didn't teach it very well. class was so boring. the majority of the time was highlighting his notes that we purchased from el corral. i personally could have just hightlighted at home. plus, the first pack of notes was sold out at the bookstore until 3 days before the test. with more than half the class without the book, i think he could have done more. also, we had to know 9 different family therapy techniques, in detail, and i felt that was a lot to know for the final. he could have split them up over the quarter. his tests were very hard. i would not recommend this for the counseling concentration.

I have to agree with the student a few evaluations below mine; Basil is a really nice guy, but this class was worthless! When I signed up, I was really excited to take another class from Basil (I had a pretty good experience in Family Psych). Little did I know that this 4 unit HELL was going to become the bane of my existence! Not only is this class boring and repetitive (we used the exact same book from 254)IT'S POINTLESS. Never in all my college career have I walked out of the final thinking to myself, "Did I even learn anything in this class?" Well, there is one thing: I'm never going to take another class with Basil ever again! His tests don't reflect the material talked about in class and the material talked about in class doesn't reflect the reading!! I spent most of my studying hours for this class in total frustration because there was so much material to know and not enough of an effort on Basil's part to help the students determine what was most important (EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT TO BASIL... before the final, a student asked, "What should we focus on for the test?" I almost laughed out loud when Basil responded, "Everything in the book, everything in the notes, everything from lecture, etc." I can't believe he thought he was actually being helpful!)I'm done. P.S. Thanks Polyratings... you're like free therapy!!

HOLY PISS!! This class was ridiculous! Even though I took it in Fall quarter, it still haunts me to this day and I thought I'd give everyone who checks Polyratings a heads-up. This class is based on 2 exams and a paper. The paper is a 10-pager about your family or some outside book review. He graded my family paper pretty harshly, as there must be a minimum number of terms required (that he doesn't tell you about) to get a good grade. I barely scraped by on the exams, which are RIDICULOUS! You need to know everything about everything he teaches and the only easy part about the class is the learning objectives he gives you (but there's tons of them and most of them are potential essay questions!). So yeah, lots and lots of work in order to get a good grade on the tests. For the final you pretty much need to memorize all 8 approaches to Family Systems and be able to write a lot about them. Cool. Have a good class!

Okay, if you are going to take Family Intervention, READ THIS. I am an A student and I had problems with the workload in this class. The material is interesting at times, and other times you want to rip your hair out for something to do. It is all about family systems and family therapy so watch out. He does not really listen to objections to anything about family therapy- individual and couples is pointless to him. There are two exams (inc. final) and a family paper, all which he grades harshly. He has very high expectations and for the family paper does not tell you how many terms you need, but you are expected to write the paper without all the information. Not to mention he is incredibly picky. He won't let you out a minute early and often starts class early. As far as student concerns, he usually answers those (as long as its not criteria on the paper.) He is a mixed bag. Not bad guy, very tough class, strict standards.

Basil's alright. Make sure to do ALL of the learning objectives he assigns for the midterm. For the final you're given the option of a midterm style exam (multiple choice, short answer, etc.) or a family evaluation. After having taking the family evaluation I would definitely recommend taking the midterm style exam-- the evaluation was much too broad and it was difficult to gauge what he wanted in terms of "correct" answers. He assigns a paper in which you evaluate your own family--don't be intimidated by it. If you turn it in early you can get 5 points extra credit. He tells you that he grades based on how many family terms you mention, however, does not tell you what that number is. I was able to get a 102 on a paper I wrote the night before it was due and mentioned about 15-20 terms. Hope that helps anyone taking his Family Intervention class :) Basil may seem intimidating...but he's not too bad.

A cool dude!

He was the best senior project supervisor I could've had. He was very clear about what he expected of me, and was into deadlines, but was understanding if something came up. And he is just a very pleasant person.

BOYCOTT!!!