Carol Hurney - James Madison University

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Carol Hurney - James Madison University

Professor: Carol Hurney

Department: Biology

College: James Madison University

Rating # 1

Overview:

Course: BIO103
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This class is somewhat of a gamble. If you get a good team, you're golden. If you don't, it's going to hard to make up for everyone else's slack. The way the class is set up, you have no work outside of class during the week and basically have two assignment over the weekend (one due on friday, one on sunday). Overall, I'd say go for it.

Rating # 2

Overview:

Course: BIO103
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This entire class is all group work, so if you're not into working with other people, definitely stay away. If you hate lectures and exams, this is a good class for you. The work can be time consuming, but once you get the hang of it, each week is the same. This class does require you to be a little creative and not just look at things biologically

Rating # 3

Overview:

Course: BIO103
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 2.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class is all group work. There's no textbook and you read articles and answer biology questions by yourself and with your group. At the end of each week you post a blog post which has to be somewhat creative. She is very enthusiastic and wants her students to learn and remember more than the basic "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of a cell"

Rating # 4

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

No tests, all homeworkprojects. The class was okay, but expect a lot of thinking and busy work and weekly group projects. She expects a lot out of you that's not necessarily related to biology, if you like creative writing and projects then this would be a good class to take. If your more forward and informational, I would stay away.

Rating # 5

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She's the worst man. Avoid at all cost. She's super picky and this class was 103. She's also very condescending and needs to be taken down a peg honestly. Also, the course load was way to much for such a low level class and she's just the worst in general. I hated her and you will too.

Rating # 6

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Hurney is a funny lady. The class set up is my style. No tests and constant group projects. DO NOT TAKE IF YOU HATE PEOPLE. You have a group project due every week. If you need a science credit for geneds but hate it as much as I do, take this class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

Course: BIO114H
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I would not recommend taking the Honors section for this class. She grades her lab reports really harshly, and the criteria she used to grade was confusing. You really have to study for the lab practicals as well as work really hard to write a good lab report. Attendance is mandatory because it is a lab.

Rating # 8

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
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:

There are no tests which seemed good at first but the assignments every week take much more time. I hate that she has the assignments up but refuses to open them until a certain time, which is frustrating. She is extremely nitty picky about details and takes points off for the smallest things. I wish she talked to the groups more for improvement.

Rating # 9

Overview:

Course: BIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Easily the hardest gen ed I've ever taken. I'm literally still pissed right now.

Rating # 10

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is straight busy work. It says lecture, but she doesn't lecture a single thing about biology. She throws you into current science and talks about reliability way more than she should, this isn't critical thinking, its BIOLOGY. You better appreciate computer graphics because this is also basically a SMAD class. I hate it.

Rating # 11

Overview:

Course: BIO114LH
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Hurney is a brilliant, amazing woman, but a very confusing hard prof. There is a lot of teaching yourself , and you should always make sure you know how to do the experiments before class bc she will ask Q's. She's not very straightforward at answering Q's, and her lab reports will KILL your grade. GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS FOR HELP ON REPORTS

Rating # 12

Overview:

Course: BIO114
Grade Received: Not sure yet
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very intimidating. She constantly grills you with questions and is unclear about what she is asking. Grades lab reports very harshly after making multiple rounds of edits on the report. She will tell you to remove something from your paper and then take off points when it is not in your final draft. DO NOT TAKE HER.

Rating # 13

Overview:

Course: BIO114H
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Hurney definitely knows her stuff, but she's very demanding and condescending. And incredibly vague. DO NOT TAKE HER. I would dread going for her three hour lab class and all she does is assign lab reports which take WEEKS to write and she just rips them apart with her edits and then gives terrible grades at the end no matter how hard you try.

Rating # 14

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

AVOID if you can. She is a nice lady but gives you SO MUCH WORK. All this work takes up a lot of your time. It's tedious and useless, so much busy work, not worth it. Work in a group all class. It's confusing what she wants and it's never clear. Beware, a lot of effort required.

Rating # 15

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Hurney was very enthusiastic and really really loves bio, although she may be too obsessed. This semester she decided to completely change the way she taught class, all group work no lectures or exams which sounds great but it's not. Her assignment prompts are unclear and she expects you to do way to much work out of class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

she expected you to know exactly what she wanted. she would regularly have a substitute come to class. all group work and there is a lot of work outside of class. confusing what websites she wants you to use and when and reliability statements are the biggest waste of time.

Rating # 17

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I loved Dr. Hurney, best prof I've had at JMU! She is funny & enthusiastic. She gives selected readings in place of a textbook & gives warm ups, clicker questions, in class assignments, projects & tests. You manage your own grading criteria (division of points) for each unit based on what you think you do best on.

Rating # 18

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She was enthusiastic but overall, she makes you feel stupid and is pretty rude. I liked her at first but then she gets angry if everyone doesn't get it, even when she explains that she understands that not everyone is a bio major. She's extremely picky with the project, and tests are a lot harder than expected. Would not recommend

Rating # 19

Overview:

Course: BIO114H
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Extremely time consuming class. She treats the class like an english class because all you do is spend hours on lab reports that she rips when grading... very condescending and makes you feel stupid. Avoid

Rating # 20

Overview:

Course: GBIO103
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Completely structured (with the exception of the last unit, which the class was allowed to select!) course, high energy professor, simplistic assignments, no textbook. What's not to love?

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