Paul Sicilian - Grand Valley State University

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Paul Sicilian - Grand Valley State University

Professor: Paul Sicilian

Department: Economics

College: Grand Valley State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

Course: ECO495
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I have ECO 495 entirely online. We are using R and he does not explain how to do the assignments in his lecture videos. If you ask questions, he seemingly gets angry at you. I am an economics major and not a computer science major, so I do not know how to code in R. He also made us buy a book he only mentioned in the syllabus and not in banner.

Rating # 2

Overview:

Course: ECO312
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Not the best professor he seems nice and knows what he is talking about but a horrible teacher. I took him as a hybrid but all his lecture videos are all over the place. Barly goes over any examples in the text or in class. very graph and calculus heavy. Just avoid not worth taking even if he's the only teacher for the semester your better of wait

Rating # 3

Overview:

Course: ECO355
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Sicilian means well, but his lectures are all over the place and soooo hard to follow. He gets sidetracked very easily and is the most unorganized professor I have ever had. I ended up doing well in the class because I love econ and am good at it, so don't take him if you aren't either of those.

Rating # 4

Overview:

Course: ECO360
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He gets off topic, but lectures are important. The info in lecture is exactly whats on test, and he'll always give extra help. The class is interesting, but only really graded by tests and one project. Make sure you can explain things well. Didnt use book alot; you can get away w/ sharing to save money. Always ask for clarification, hes super nice.

Rating # 5

Overview:

Course: ECO312
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Explains concepts very well, gives plenty of extra credit, is lenient on grading. He can be a little combobulated at times but will always make an effort to help students.

Rating # 6

Overview:

Course: ECO495
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

495 will be a pretty tough class no matter who you take it with. Unfortunately GVSU requires econ majors only take theory classes until this very last one, so it can be somewhat difficult. Sicilian is fine. He can't complete a thought, and before he knows it a 15 minute chat takes the entire class. Lots of homework from book. Project isn't bad.

Rating # 7

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

I really liked Professor Sicilian. At first, he was a little difficult to follow, but he responds quickly when you email, and he is very accessible if you go to get some extra help. DO NOT hesitate to use office hours if you are struggling!! He gave me some great suggestions when I was struggling with a particular concept, and I got it.

Rating # 8

Overview:

Course: ECO495
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

I took Professor Sicilian for my senior econ project and learned almost nothing in his class. He has a hard time staying on topic and often jumps from tangent to tangent making it almost impossible to listen to him lecture. His grading criteria is very unclear and he grades tough. Avoid if possible!

Rating # 9

Overview:

Course: ECO312
Grade Received: C+
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Teaches with graphs but tests on conceptual concepts. Doesn't care if the class average for a test was 67% and blames the students. No extra credit available. If you do poorly on the tests you're in major trouble. He knows the info but is terrible at explanation. Avoid if possible. Class is passable but with a lot of extra work

Rating # 10

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE if you aren't an economics major or interested in this information. He jumps around and gives practices questions that have nothing to do with the actual quizzes and exams. My class continuously did terrible and he didn't do anything to help us out. Take any other professor

Rating # 11

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: C
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

There are literally 8 grades in the entire class and if you do the "extra credit" he drops your SECOND lowest quiz. He talks forever and you cannot even follow it because he is goes off on tangents. You will NEVER get out early. Do not take him unless you want your life to be a living hell.

Rating # 12

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

He doesn't care that nobody understands the material, and that the whole class is failing his quizzes. Tells us to get it figured out before the exam

Rating # 13

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He was very hard to listen to lecture. He rambles and gets nervous a lot while he is speaking and gets off topic quickly. He loves what he does and know a lot about economics, he just isn't good at explaining it. If you aren't an economics lover, I wouldn't recommend!

Rating # 14

Overview:

Course: ECON312
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Professor Sicilian is great at making a difficult subject easy to understand. There is no homework throughout the entire course, and for his tests you can choose which answers you would like to answer. It definitely makes things easier for this difficult subject.

Rating # 15

Overview:

Course: ECO312
Grade Received: B-
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Tough class, his lectures are long and he stumbles on his words a lot. Loves to use graphs and clalculus so if your not great at math don't take this class

Rating # 16

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

This prof is so hard to understand and doesn't seem to care about how the students are doing in the class. One of the hardest classes I've taken here at GV. Would not recommend.

Rating # 17

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 3.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

He might have ADD. He jumps around talking about many different topics at one time. He draws a bunch of graphs on the board and class can get confusing. I had class during his office hours so I don't know how helpful going to them would have been.

Rating # 18

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Worst professor I have ever had. He's a nice guy, however his teaching methods are the worst I have ever experienced in any school I've ever been in. Literally anyone else on the planet could've presented this material to me in a less confusing way. Tests and quizzes are comprised of surprise material that is not on study guides.

Rating # 19

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Professor Sicillian was one of the worst professor I have ever had. The class was needlessly difficult and he would teach us things we didn't need to know for the tests or exams. I have never studied harder than I did in his class. I spent at least an hour in his office everyday before class and studied a lot outside of class. I failed. Do not take

Rating # 20

Overview:

Course: ECO211
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

If you can avoid it, do not take a class with Paul. His slides are extremely useless, as well as bland. He goes off on tangents throughout his lectures, that have nothing to do with the subject matters. Also tends to get nervous while lecturing, and in turn is not effective.

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