Reviews for Charles G. Stangor
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: PSYC300 Grade Expected: April 30, 2012, 10:52 am | he is an idiot!!!!! do not take this class with him. its boring and dry enough without having a dumb professor. he has no clue what he's doing, he thinks he knows everything, he doesn't know how to answer questions and its just so frustrating to sit in his class. so not worth it. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A November 7, 2011, 4:17 am | Stangor is kind of a weirdo. He's very dry humored and doesn't get very involved with his students. He's weird about answering questions. He's REALLY smart, though and extremely involved in the field. He writes his own books for his classes and they're pretty well-written and definitely prepare you for the exams. I feel like this class could have been more interesting but he made it boring. Not a BAD professor, just.... "different." Exams are tough but fair. Stangor makes sure every question is fair and well written. He curves the test or takes out questions if he feels like he didn't word them well enough or if EVERYONE got one wrong. He's a TOUGH grader when it comes to research reports but I have to say I learned a lot through him. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A- August 4, 2011, 5:35 pm | The material in the class was very interesting, but Stangor was not very engaging. His teaching style is very convoluted, and his textbook was confusing (even though it was free). So, take this class. But wait for another professor. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: July 1, 2011, 7:15 am | Let me just say this class was horrible. It seemed decent at first because of the way the class was set up - exams multiple choice, two papers, and extra credit opportunity and the material seemed somewhat interesting. However, the grading and expectations by Stango and the TA's was so ridiculous I could not believe this was a 200 level class. It was extremely frustrating to have A's in 300 and 400 level classes and put in so much time and effort into the class only to receive D's on all my assignments. Since the class was doing so horrible he gave us the opportunity to rewrite our first paper and drop the lowest test grade (which did not help much thanks to the vagueness and horrible grading of assignments and lectures). Also when I approached the TA's about my paper that was extremely well written, concise, well supported, and included all areas of the paper all they could tell that it did not address topics that were not even mentioned in the rubric. Lesson be learned: DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: C June 1, 2011, 8:52 am | I don't even know where to start with Stangor. I'm a psych major and in ALL of my other psych classes I've recieved A+ but somehow through this class I got a C. I studied and wrote and reworte my papers and still coudn't get above a C on anything. Luckily I did the extra credit which helped my grade SOME but not enough to get me a B. So my advice would be to avoid Stangor at ALL COSTS. This class material is very interesting but I hated the class and getting a C when I'm an A student does not sit well with me. I agree with the other posters that he's very vague and often doesn't answer questions completly or even the answer you were looking for. I thought I could take this class and follow the rubric and be fine but that isn't the case. If you have a photographic memory and can regurgitate everything Stangor says then you'll be fine. This is in NO WAY an easy class which really stinks because it could've been so great. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND TAKE THIS CLASS WITH SOMEONE ELSE. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A May 23, 2011, 11:55 am | Too many haters right now. Maybe Stangor changed his teaching habits recently but I thought he was a very smart teacher, very accommodating to student needs but a bit unorganized. His exams were real easy and he even dropped one of the exam grades along with adding an extra credit online activity. He did everything he could to help his students get an A. You don't really need to go to lecture because he wrote the book he used so everything is out of there. If you were to study strictly the vocab out of the book (which he encourages) you could manage a B on every exam. So anything beyond that and you are sitting pretty for a high B or A. His paper grading is real harsh but he offers a re-write where you can get points back. There are a lot of haters, but Stangor is a smart professor that knows his stuff. His lectures are usually not that bad either and his exams, at least when I took him, were simple. |
| Kris10 Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: C May 17, 2011, 10:03 am | He is not at all a clear teacher. The notes he gives in class are very vague, leading you to believe the exams will be as well, which affects how you study. Instead they were all specific, which easily threw off my grade (though admittedly I'm sure there were some students who still did well). The papers are also graded very harshly, as many of my peers showed proficient knowledge of the topics covered but still received low grades. Avoid this professor. PLEASE! |
| mdfried Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: May 15, 2011, 7:11 pm | Straight to the point: Stangor is terrible. Grades are extremely unfair. My biggest problem was with how he and his TAs grade. They take off significant points for grammar, even if the grammar mistakes do not detract from the overall meaning of your work. The most ironic thing is that Stangor's book and his tests are SO full of typos and grammatical errors! After we got our first paper grades back you could literally feel the tension in the class because people were so pissed off. It doesn't matter how well you understand the material and how well you describe it. If you do not say EXACTLY what Stangor happens to have in his head you will get points off. There are rules for his papers about how certain paragraphs cannot be longer than "x" number of sentences. Yet you can write the max number of sentences and get marked off for "not enough information." I got a 100% on an online assignment, then wrote a paper which for part of it asked the exact same questions as the online assignment, so I wrote the same answers. Yet I got those same questions marked wrong on the paper that I had gotten right on the online assignment. Other people had this same problem. Stangor explained to the class that just because you get 100% on the online assignment doesn't mean those answers will be correct on the paper. What?! Stangor thinks very highly of himself. He doesn't listen to students' questions during lecture and routine cuts them off to answer what he THINKS they are about to ask. Expect to write a great paper and then get it back with a C+. Great material, very interesting class. DO NOT TAKE 221 WITH STANGOR! OR ANY CLASS WITH HIM! |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B May 6, 2011, 9:13 am | At first the class seemed very interesting. Stangor started the first few lectures on interpersonal relationships, I found it one of the more interesting topics of the class. The material that the class covers is interesting. However, it is very frustrating that Stangor lets his TA's run the class and hardly has (if any at all) anything to do with the grading. They grade the papers solely based on grammar so if you take this class, make sure your paper has flawless grammar, punctuation and the exact number or required sentences. I would recommend that you find PSYC221 with another professor. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: April 25, 2011, 10:53 pm | If there has been one thing I could go back about college so far, it would be this class. If you care about your grades and want to take good classes...DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WITH STANGOR. Wait until another teacher is teaching it. I spend countless hours studying for this class and get mediocre grades. The online assignments are graded extremely harshly and it is very hard to get a good grade on them. It's hard to know what is going to be on the tests because he doesn't let you know. The papers are graded terribly and no one does well on them. They're pretty much just a big waste of time. Overall, Stangor knows what he's talking about but he's a terrible teacher. His textbook isn't grammatically correct and is agonizing to read. And lectures aren't much better. Sometimes I walk out not having learned a thing. DON'T TAKE STANGOR. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B April 25, 2011, 4:31 pm | Stangor's really boring. His lectures are mind-numbing and he's not exactly what you'd call an engaging speaker. The exams are designed haphazardly so it's difficult to predict what they're going to test, and the only source of informations aside from lecture is his horrible, horrible unedited textbook, which you can only get online. They're the kind of tests that you're likely to get a B on unless you've committed his (horrible, horrible) textbook to memory. There are two very long papers that you have to write for the class. The guidelines are unnaturally specific and the grading is very harsh (and often wrong, but I suppose that's a problem for the TAs). I suppose they're intended to teach you how to write professionally, but they fail in spectacular fashion. These time-consuming wastes essential consist of reviewing psychology papers. In addition to the papers, there are three exams, a final, and six online assignments (of which he counts the highest five). Grading is pretty inconsistent (and wrong again) across all of these, but I suppose that's another TA problem. Stangor's a bad teacher and his class is an exercise in maximizing workload while limiting learning. Don't take him. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: C April 25, 2011, 11:46 am | DO NOT TAKE A CLASS WITH DR. STANGOR!!!!! I am a psychology major and just being in this class makes me hate psychology more and more every day. He mumbles and clears his throat after every other word. Maybe know knows what he is talking about but he just can not get it out, and it takes him more than 45 minutes to even get a point across. He is the harshest grader I have ever come across. He uses the same grading TA every semester and if the paper does not say the exact wording that is asked of you, then points are taken off. It is impossible to get an A on the paper. The material for each exam is never ending, again it is almost impossible to do well. This class is miserable and Dr. Stangor makes this easy and understandable material almost impossible to follow and he makes it extremely uninteresting. So again, DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS WTH DR. STANGOR. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: April 23, 2011, 10:42 am | If you value your GPA, don't take this class with Dr. Stangor. Hardest graded class I've ever taken in college (and I'm a Junior). He's very knowledgeable in social psychology and the material is interesting, but the assignments are graded very harshly. They're graded almost like we're taking a graduate level class. HELLO, THIS IS A LOWER LEVEL COURSE! |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B+ April 11, 2011, 11:38 am | Definitely wait to take with someone else. The other 1-star/2-star reviews sum the class up well. This is by far the worst class I have ever taken. It's not difficult, but the teaching quality is horrible. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: C April 9, 2011, 10:52 pm | This teacher is absolutely RIDICULOUS. He's constantly vague, even when you ask direct questions. He makes a point of you participating in online discussions and when he answers questions or gives input, he gives you links to other places to find everything youself. I have no idea how many times he's said, "It's in the syllabus, I believe," instead of just answering a question. He's pugnatious in emails and often comes off as rude. He has slides, but he goes too quickly. Often asks for extremely minute details from one lecture slide out of nowhere. There was literally a question on the exam where you had to fill the blanks of the missing sections of a chart he showed once in class while he rambled. More than half the class is online. Even if you read the textbook, you're grades don't improve because he tests on about 4 chapters and gives you no idea what he's going to be asking about. Way too many videos to watch that are way too long. The TA's were generally unhelpful and show up late to their office hours. I also received about a million emails from the teacher- receiving about two to three every time I log in. The class was time consuming and superfluous. I should NOT have chosen this as an elective. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: April 4, 2011, 12:37 pm | HORRIBLE PROFESSOR!! Very ineffective at communicating the material, and the way papers and tests are graded is absolutely ridiculous! I'm in honors and on the first paper I got a 79%, despite following all of the instructions for the paper. He takes off points in random areas for no reason, or is SUPER picky about things that are just unimportant. Moral of the story -- Don't take 221 with Stangor unless you absolutely have to. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: April 4, 2011, 12:08 pm | Horrible Professor. The material is actually really interesting but he is just SO BAD at teaching it. He is very disorganized and not good at explaining concepts. He doesnt give you any idea of whats on the exams and the papers are graded VERY harshly. If there is any way you can avoid taking this class you should!! |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC300 Grade Expected: B December 20, 2010, 10:48 am | The worst professor I have ever had. Confusing, disorganized, vague (especially on exams). Always seems to be making up assignments as he goes along. You can't win. Wait to take this course form someone else. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B December 16, 2010, 5:44 pm | Horribly boring, he mumbles a lot and isn't effective in getting the information across. The class is kind of a lot of work - exams, papers and many online responses. The textbook was awful but you need it. I'm sure he knows what he is talking about he is just really bad at teaching. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B November 10, 2010, 1:24 pm | Psyc221: Do not take this class unless it is required for your major! And even then try to take it with a different professor. Stangor doesn't seem like a bad guy but he mumbles a lot and doesn't get the information across well, along with being horribly boring. The worst thing was his forcing you to pay for his illiterate, ungrammatical, and just plain bad textbook. Furthermore, he grades papers hard and takes off points for vague reasons. I definitely do NOT recommend this class. Psyc300: Having this guy for yet another semester illustrated his ineffectiveness at teaching even more so. For this class he also wrote his own textbook, but this one is much better and more professional than his social psych one (although very expensive). His lectures are boring but okay, the real problem is his horrible communication skills and his lack of professionalism. His tests are worded horribly and he puts in questions that aren't even in the reading. He also does not respect his students at all. Overall an okay course information wise but I would suggest trying to take the class with another professor. Also, there is a 2 hour lab besides lecture that is pretty pointless. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: May 19, 2010, 11:14 pm | Stangor is definitely passionate about what he teaches EXCEPT he is horribly monotonous and doesnt always explain his lecture slides well. The book is a preliminary edition which cost a pretty penny with many typos and missing figures/charts. Its quite repetitive and scattered. Its written as if you already were supposed to know certain parts because it will say as in Chapter 8 the concept of XYZ is etc etc etc. Problem is, youre reading a much earlier chapter in the book which isnt always clear. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A May 18, 2010, 8:07 pm | This class was pretty interesting. I have no negative feelings toward this class. Here's a quick overview: The class consists of 6 online assignments, 2 papers, 3 exams, and a final. Seems like a lot right? Well it is actually very manageable if you try. He does 5 online assignments and then one at the end to make up for all of your lost points so as long as you get 30 points on the first 5, you'll get 50/50 on the online assignments. The papers are very long, but with some effort it is not hard to attain good grades (I got As on both with some effort) The exams can be kind of tricky and you really have to read and understand the material. Overall the material is not that difficult. A lot of memorization and understanding concepts which is pretty easy. As far as the class itself, it can be boring at times. To me, the material was interesting so even though the class could be somewhat boring at times, I was able to pay attention. He tries to do examples of what he teaches using clickers to help you better understand the material which sometimes helps. Overall, if you put the effort in, you'll get the grade you want. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A May 11, 2010, 11:34 pm | Dr. Stangor is extremely knowledgeable about the field of social psychology. He wrote the textbook for the class which is extremely long, boring, and convoluted. While it may be tempting to skip lecture and just read the book since he wrote it himself, I highly recommend not doing this. The textbook is actually much, much more detailed than the lectures so you will definitely be doing yourself a favor by attending the lectures. The lectures will let you know what information you actually have to know from the book and what information you do not. As long as you attend the lectures, you should have no problem with the exams. They actually get easier as the semester goes on so do not get discouraged by the first one. In addition, definitely do the homework and extra credit as they will both boost your grade. The papers are a pain to write but overall not a huge issue. Overall not my favorite professor in the world, but when it came down to it, he definitely taught me a lot about Social Psychology. He is big on the "themes" of Social Psychology so as long as you understand those, it will be easy to predict the kind of information he will ask you on exams. As long as you do your work, it will not be hard to succeed in his course. Good Luck! |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B April 30, 2010, 7:36 am | An OKAY class. I always walk out from the exam thinking I did well, but I receive a C. His wording on the exams are a bit vague. Just be careful. Two papers to do. Otherwise, fairly easy class. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A April 13, 2010, 6:45 pm | 221 is an important class for learning principles about social psychology. Things that I learned in this class have come to help me in certain upper level classes. However, the class is ALOT of work for a 200 lvl. Some 300 in psychology where much easier. The papers were graded in a ridiculous way since they were looking for everyone to write more or less the same paper. Also like others have said the multiple choices are tricky and in many situations the TA's were unsure of how to clarify the questions because even they didn't understand the questions! It is true stangor is not around too much, but this didn't bother me that much. You must attend lecture and read the book to do well in the class. It wasn't fun to take, but looking back I value what I learned in the class. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: October 11, 2009, 11:33 am | I would not take this class with Stangor unless it is required for your major. It is a lot of work and he doesn't grade papers easily. Even if you know all the material from class and the book, he still tries to trick you with his questions on the exams. It shouldn't be too hard for anyone to get a B, but I would recommend taking this class with a different teacher. Also, he wrote the book, and it is actually pretty interesting to read, but for some reason he decided not to have someone edit/proofread the book, so there are mistakes everywhere, which is pretty annoying. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: B May 30, 2009, 2:22 pm | The class workload was manageable. I honestly did not find the material too interesting. He wrote the book which has several errors in it and is written strangely. |
| student1234 Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A May 26, 2009, 6:28 pm | Prof. Stangor is obviously enthusiastic about Psyc and wants to share his knowledge. The lectures are pretty interesting and he explains terms well and gives real-world examples which helps a lot. However he wastes lecture time whining about people coming in late in a 450 person lecture- useless. Also uses clickers. Extra credit is offered- not too hard to get the points you need for an A. Weekly online assignent require work however as well as two papers. One main negative is that he forces students to post questions on the elms Discussion Board instead of individually adressing them, but then he often does not answer the questions- even crucial ones before due dates so be warned. |
| Anonymous Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A May 10, 2009, 9:31 am | Meh, he is all right, but honestly you don't see much of him outside of lecture (and he has his head TA do a lot of the lectures anyway). Class is interesting but grading can be a little more difficult than you expect. The MC exams try to trick you by asking questions Stangor briefly mentioned in lecture, and things straight out of the book that weren't mentioned in class, so watch out. If you're really into psychology and can deal with a huge class/occasional annoying TA's, go for it cuz the material is pretty interesting. But otherwise, don't take this as an elective, it's not worth it. |
| qa197 Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A- April 29, 2009, 6:58 pm | Professor Stangor is extremely enthusiastic about his lectures. You can see it on his face. At first, this had me pretty excited about this class. However, as a 450-person lecture, there are obvious problems. Stangor will often allow his TA's to run the class and not show up at all. Usually when this happens, I feel like I'm being babysat, and the truth is that it's not interesting material - that's probably why Dr. Stangor didn't show up. The book is useful, but he wrote it and it's a preliminary edition that's largely unedited, which is annoying, because the text will refer to figure # __ and the figure won't be there... We also have to write two papers that are basically written for us. The topic is pre-selected, and there is a very strict rubric. For Psych majors: this class is requirement, you have to take it. Read the book, study, don't skip and follow the rubric on the papers! You'll be fine :D but it does get old... |
| Eish Patel Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A April 23, 2009, 6:22 pm | Stangor is never at the lecture instead he has his TA's give the lecture which is pretty much common sense. I only go to class because of the clicker points. |
| rbterp Course: PSYC221H Grade Expected: A March 7, 2009, 8:10 pm | Dr. Stangor is a pretty good professor. I would definitely recommend reading the book in addition to attending lecture, since he tries to get audience participation and thus doesn't cover some important concepts, but overall the class was easy when I took it. There is only 1 paper for the general course, and the honors students had to do a presentation and a final proposal for a research project (which involved a decent amount of work). |
| smgonzo Course: PSYC221 Grade Expected: A December 12, 2008, 1:44 pm | Professor Stangor obviously knows the material really well (as he wrote the textbook) but it is hard to see that from his lectures. The textbook was definitely more valuable than lecture. Professor Stangor constantly tries to get the class to answer open ended questions which often results in never getting a direct answer. Overall, he was a decent professor and the class was fairly easy. |