Matthew Daude Laurents - Austin Community College, Austin, TX

Professor: Matthew Daude Laurents

Department: Philosophy

College: Austin Community College, Austin, TX

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Extremely unpredictable w/ essay grading, random in his feedback on why you received your grade. Purposefully hid the opportunity of 50 points extra credit for an inactive FAQ discussion board, only revealing it when a student asked about it on the FAQ board the day before the class ended. Unhelpful lectures attempting to interpret Plato, Hume, etc

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The online 8 week course is a lot of discussion boards and short quizzes over the readings with a few essays spread throughout. He gives one hard deadline at midsemester but otherwise there is no latency penalty.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHIL2303
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I've taken several classes from Matthew and can't recommend him highly enough. He makes difficult concepts understandable through engaging lectures that include class participation. Most of the grades (except in logic) are based on writing; through assignments and Matthew's feedback, you will learn how to think and write. He's very accessible too.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took this class DL. Didn't need a txtbk. Reading, weekly discussion boards and 3 papers. If you explain your reasoning for your answers then he passes you. Thing w/philosphy is everybody has different opinions. So no right or wrong. Instructor was forgiving of late assignments and encouraged me to turn, even if they were late.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Took this class via DL in 8 weeks. He requires less reading than a typical class with a textbook. Flexible on assignment due dates. Realized I had a missed a whole week and he was perfectly fine with me turning everything in before end of semester.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you take this class, it's important to not wait until the last few weeks to finish your work. He pays attention to which students have met the actual due dates and which students are slacking. Make sure you put time and thought into the discussion posts as well. It wasn't a super difficult class, but the essays required a lot of time to write.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Be ready to read. The readings can sometimes be hard to understand so don't cram everything into a few days. He's a pretty tough grader. Can sometimes be slow to respond to emails and questions, but it's fine.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved this class - - my first introduction to philosophy. It inspired me to my major.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I did the whole 8 week course in a week, it was tough but I got a B. Not that hard of a class if you don't mind writing a lot of papers and responses to his forums.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very unclear, and very unfair on grading. Don't take this class if you care about your GPA. Be ready to put in a lot of work and end up getting a poor grade.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

MDL is a clever writer and teacher and he expects much from his students. You will read a ton if you are doing the online course and the quizzes can be tricky to navigate. My one beef with him is he holds his students to pretty high standards regarding punctuation, grammar, etc., but his own online content has errors within it. That is frustrating.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good online course, but not an easy "A". Very fair, lots of great communication, tough quizzes. 4 papers. Prof. Daude Laurents uses information from a book he is writing for the course materials. Very interesting stuff. I recommend this professor if you are willing to put in the work in exchange for a memorable course.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I absolutely loved my online Philosphy class. Matthew is so creative and does a great job of making his class fun and interesting. I was not too excited about this class and it turned out to be a favorite. You have to read to pass (however his lectures are very easy to understand). Paper requirements are iffy though. Definitely recommend!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHIL2306
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Matthew is a fun guy. Unfortunately this doesn't always translate into being the best teacher. He is somewhat unclear with his grading and expectations, and often loses focus during lecture. He is really interesting and loves to share his experiences, but I don't really feel like I've learned too much about ethics. Takes forever to respond to email

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 18406
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do not take this class! Online class with no communication from professor at all! Always had excuses why we did not get grades on essays and some people did not get grades until the end. It was like showing up to a class and no one was there! Worst ever and a waste of my money!!!!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Do not take this class. Take any other Philosophy class possible. Low scoring teacher on campus, both academically and personality-wise. Avoid at all costs.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I don't know how anyone could dislike Matthew. I loved his online philosophy course. He was so interesting, creative, and crystal clear. I genuinely enjoyed his course. Be warned that you have to be open minded for his class because you have to be able to argue all sides to a belief. Some people in my discussion group seemed upset about that.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The course was easy to follow, the teacher responded promptly to questions and was clear and concise. I spent a lot of time studying and reading and improved my grade on each of the 3 papers. I made a C because the quizzes were very difficult, it was hard to find the answers to the questions.

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Dont take him! Take Prof. Erickson

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHIL1301
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I've ever had. The class is philosophy, which is a fancy name for educated thinking. His oppinions are always right, even after he says that no philosophers have ever agreed on the subject. You'll do A LOT of reading and A LOT of writing. His quizzes have questions that were never covered. Avoid if you can, trust me...