Professor
Michael Lofchie
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2021 - hahahahahahahahahahaahahaa Don't let the A-rate fool you. Professor and his one (1) teaching assistant made it clear that they were going to make this class harder this quarter than previous quarters so that we could transition back to in-person learning. That should have been a red flag, but who knew that it would also manifest into such terrible and confusing policies. - No more recorded lectures during a pandemic. Mandatory attendance. - The midterm. Oh, the midterm. Ask any PS50 SPR 21 student about the mid-term and they can tell you a story. Here are some of the facts (there are more, and I hope other reviews can mention them too): - About half of the class to more than half got an 88 on the mid-term. Yes. An 88. Very little variation. Why? Why an 88? Was it poor writing? Bad technique? Misunderstanding of important concepts? No. It was because they didn't mention a single concept on an essay whose prompt did not in any way shape or form indicate that mentioning that concept was necessary to answer the prompt. In fact, the prompt said "(not checks and balances)." Yet the TA insisted after the grading, to the whole class, that we should have mentioned the motion of confidence (which is a CHECK against the executive branch). Even though the prompt was asking about what factors played into the DOMINANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE. Even though the professor and TA said before handing out the midterm prompts that we could just write about what we know to show our understanding, and gave lots of suggestions that the prompt was open-ended. Yes, not mentioning one concept out of relevant concepts from five weeks of lectures was enough to bring you down 12% to an 88. Oops, I'm getting too much into the weeds. Here are some more facts: - getting the mid-term grades released in week 9 - ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts. - 10 clarification/info emails and continually changing the citation requirements a few days to one day before the final paper was due. - Even if you do extremely well it is borderline impossible to get an A+, only 1 person max gets an A+ every quarter (and sometimes it is 0). That being said, there were some plus sides to the class. We were allowed to meet the TA to talk about our midterm and rewrite our midterm to move the 88 to a 90. We were given a bonus extra credit prompt on the final. That is how a large amount of us were probably able to get an A in this class even though we had 88s on the midterm. Also, the lectures were relatively interesting and the readings were extremely light (a few journal and wikipedia articles). The TA and professor also seemed well-intentioned by allowing midterm rewrites, the bonus question, and a 3-day extension on the final paper. However, I would not take this class again. The confusing and subjective grading policies were not worth it. This class has been a source of frustration ever since those subjective midterm grades were released up until today when I got my grade. Glad it's finally over.
Spring 2021 - hahahahahahahahahahaahahaa Don't let the A-rate fool you. Professor and his one (1) teaching assistant made it clear that they were going to make this class harder this quarter than previous quarters so that we could transition back to in-person learning. That should have been a red flag, but who knew that it would also manifest into such terrible and confusing policies. - No more recorded lectures during a pandemic. Mandatory attendance. - The midterm. Oh, the midterm. Ask any PS50 SPR 21 student about the mid-term and they can tell you a story. Here are some of the facts (there are more, and I hope other reviews can mention them too): - About half of the class to more than half got an 88 on the mid-term. Yes. An 88. Very little variation. Why? Why an 88? Was it poor writing? Bad technique? Misunderstanding of important concepts? No. It was because they didn't mention a single concept on an essay whose prompt did not in any way shape or form indicate that mentioning that concept was necessary to answer the prompt. In fact, the prompt said "(not checks and balances)." Yet the TA insisted after the grading, to the whole class, that we should have mentioned the motion of confidence (which is a CHECK against the executive branch). Even though the prompt was asking about what factors played into the DOMINANCE OF THE EXECUTIVE. Even though the professor and TA said before handing out the midterm prompts that we could just write about what we know to show our understanding, and gave lots of suggestions that the prompt was open-ended. Yes, not mentioning one concept out of relevant concepts from five weeks of lectures was enough to bring you down 12% to an 88. Oops, I'm getting too much into the weeds. Here are some more facts: - getting the mid-term grades released in week 9 - ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts, ambiguous wording on prompts. - 10 clarification/info emails and continually changing the citation requirements a few days to one day before the final paper was due. - Even if you do extremely well it is borderline impossible to get an A+, only 1 person max gets an A+ every quarter (and sometimes it is 0). That being said, there were some plus sides to the class. We were allowed to meet the TA to talk about our midterm and rewrite our midterm to move the 88 to a 90. We were given a bonus extra credit prompt on the final. That is how a large amount of us were probably able to get an A in this class even though we had 88s on the midterm. Also, the lectures were relatively interesting and the readings were extremely light (a few journal and wikipedia articles). The TA and professor also seemed well-intentioned by allowing midterm rewrites, the bonus question, and a 3-day extension on the final paper. However, I would not take this class again. The confusing and subjective grading policies were not worth it. This class has been a source of frustration ever since those subjective midterm grades were released up until today when I got my grade. Glad it's finally over.
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Most Helpful Review
Fall 2021 - Professor Lofchie is a nice man and his class was okay. His lectures are long and he sometimes goes on a tangent. I wish his slides correlated more with his lecture as he would often jump back and forth. between different slides. Your grade is based only on two 800-word papers. The midterm is worth about 33% of your grade and your final is worth about 66% of your grade. However, this was not clear till after our midterm was graded so I wish he gave us more clarity on that. Go to office hours, he may give you extra credit. There is assigned reading every week that does not take too long, but to be honest, I stopped reading during the last 4 weeks and did fine on the final. I am not sure if he did this to everyone but he did bump my grade from an A- to an A without me asking. Overall a good class, as long as you put in the work!
Fall 2021 - Professor Lofchie is a nice man and his class was okay. His lectures are long and he sometimes goes on a tangent. I wish his slides correlated more with his lecture as he would often jump back and forth. between different slides. Your grade is based only on two 800-word papers. The midterm is worth about 33% of your grade and your final is worth about 66% of your grade. However, this was not clear till after our midterm was graded so I wish he gave us more clarity on that. Go to office hours, he may give you extra credit. There is assigned reading every week that does not take too long, but to be honest, I stopped reading during the last 4 weeks and did fine on the final. I am not sure if he did this to everyone but he did bump my grade from an A- to an A without me asking. Overall a good class, as long as you put in the work!
Most Helpful Review
Winter 2021 - Professor Lofchie is easily one of my favorite professors I have ever had the pleasure of taking in my 6+ years of college across multiple campuses. Professor Lofchie is extremely knowledgeable and has immense experience over countless disciplines. He is very friendly, welcoming, and understanding. With that being said, he is an older gentleman with a more old-school teaching style/expectations. If you attend lecture, keep your camera on, and ask questions, I assure you you will do just fine. Student participation in this course for some odd reason was extremely low with two cameras on and the same two people participating which was slightly disheartening for myself and the professor. One important thing to note is his hesitation to record lectures in an effort to maintain a higher student turnout during his live lectures was surely influenced by this low student participation throughout the quarter. This personally did not affect me because I attend lecture regardless, but I understand this is a deal breaker for some students. Professor Lofchie took into consideration the accommodations some students required, and went ahead and began recording lectures for these reasons. This quarter's workload consisted of multiple readings (of which he provided free of charge), and was graded on only two reasonably sized essays that drew from the knowledge and experiences from both lecture and the readings. Professor Lofchie has a great heart and much to share. He really does his best to ensure his students learn something valuable. I would highly recommend any poli sci or economics student take at least one of his courses and develop a great relationship with this man who has much to share and give. It truly was a pleasure.
Winter 2021 - Professor Lofchie is easily one of my favorite professors I have ever had the pleasure of taking in my 6+ years of college across multiple campuses. Professor Lofchie is extremely knowledgeable and has immense experience over countless disciplines. He is very friendly, welcoming, and understanding. With that being said, he is an older gentleman with a more old-school teaching style/expectations. If you attend lecture, keep your camera on, and ask questions, I assure you you will do just fine. Student participation in this course for some odd reason was extremely low with two cameras on and the same two people participating which was slightly disheartening for myself and the professor. One important thing to note is his hesitation to record lectures in an effort to maintain a higher student turnout during his live lectures was surely influenced by this low student participation throughout the quarter. This personally did not affect me because I attend lecture regardless, but I understand this is a deal breaker for some students. Professor Lofchie took into consideration the accommodations some students required, and went ahead and began recording lectures for these reasons. This quarter's workload consisted of multiple readings (of which he provided free of charge), and was graded on only two reasonably sized essays that drew from the knowledge and experiences from both lecture and the readings. Professor Lofchie has a great heart and much to share. He really does his best to ensure his students learn something valuable. I would highly recommend any poli sci or economics student take at least one of his courses and develop a great relationship with this man who has much to share and give. It truly was a pleasure.
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