Scott MacDougall - Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA

Professor: Scott MacDougall

Department: Political Science

College: Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Scott is a nice guy, but his teaching and management are pretty poor. We spent almost 4 weeks on 1 presentation that had little to do with the actual tests. Reading the textbook is mandatory as without it, you will not understand the test. He understands that his grading is hard, so he curves the class grade according to the average of the class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PLSC220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Nice dude. He spends all of lecture talking about characteristics of society but nothing of comparitive politics. Tests are based solely on the reading from the book. He had no time management skills so we only ended up covering three chapters. Interesting person and enjoyable lectures but didn't really teach anything valuable from the course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POLS250
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was entertaining, and I love MacDougall. But trying to take his class is hard. The first test came around and I literally had ZERO idea as to what was on it, as we never covered a majority of answers in class. And there is only 2 tests, so good luck trying to recover. If you haven't taken all the other polysci's, save your GPA and wait.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• 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:

We spent the first two months learning that Western peoples are all advanced or "modern" and that non-Western peoples are all primitive or "traditional." Not sure where this information came from because it was presented only in lecture, not in any readings. We spent the latter half of the course focusing on actual material, which was nice.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PLSI121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

easiest class ive ever taken. Only showed up for quizzes and final and passed with an A. His lectures are extremely wordy and for the most part boring if you arent super in to politics like myself but. Went to the first two lectures and tapped out and stuck to reading the book. Also he gives quizzes at the end so you can show up late if you want.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: POLSC250
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Solid teacher, I did not think I would do well in a poli-sci class but he made me really enjoy learning. Quizzes to him are exams for us, do the reading and you're good to go. Very good Professor and very helpful to use his office hours. I only used office hours once but I could have gotten an A had I gone more frequently.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI121
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Pretty easy teacher. His tests are very much based off of Revel and Lectures. Final is a collaboration of all of the previous tests we had taken which he lets you hold on to. Nice guy, just be ware that the dates for quizzes and tests on his slides normally aren't correct...

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

MacDougall is a super chill dude. He's funny, opinionated and knows a ton about polisci. I think of lectures as a chance to have a conversation with him and the class. And yeah, the test material is largely from the textbooks. That's college! So I'd recommend him for polisci majors or people who really like the subject, but otherwise maybe not.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PLSC220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Macdougall is really nice and he knows what hes talking about. The issue I had with this class is that he lectures, but all of the tests are based on reading. Why lecture about something different than the reading of it wont be on your test?

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI121
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

One of the best professors I've had so far. Took this class during the summer and the outline was very specific and he stuck to it. Good lecturer a little much for a two hour class though.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PLSC220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Lectures do matter! It sounds like he's just rambling, but in reality he'll help explain and give really good examples that will help you on the test. Also read the textbook and take lots of notes. Basically you'll have a lot of information to soak up. I took this class in the summer and still passed with a B+.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PLSC220
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prepare for endless multi layered stories and metaphors to explain simple concepts, which he then needs to simplify to circle back to the main point 20 minutes later. He's constantly asking rhetorically questions which just results in wasted time. Lots of reading but it's interesting content. Pay more attention to the book than his lectures.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PLSC220
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Just don't take this guy. A guy in my class showed up only on test days and I came regularly. We both got the same grade. His grading is terrible as he does not give study outlines/guides. You could not show up for weeks and still get a B. If you HAVE to take him, do not focus on PPT's in class, only briefly. Focus more on the readings/concepts.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI121
• 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:

Terrible method to grade, lack of organization, didn't give u an outline to study for the test which it's terrible. He's nice as a person, but his teaching method is not easy to follow. Don't take him if you care about your GPA.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

In my opinion, Professor Macdougall gave great lectures. While they are anecdotal and extremely simplified, certain concepts that otherwise would've been lost on me became a lot more clear. His exams are pretty tough, as the multiple choice section is just questions on the book. However, his essays are simple enough if you attend class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I could write an entire paper on why this man should not be an educator. Let me start by saying that he spent 45+ minutes one class attempting to persuade his students to take out $10k loans to study abroad. It was a complete waste of my time and absolutely terrible advice to give to a school full of lower-income students.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLS220
• 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:

He's a nice guy, really. But as a political science major, I found this class a waste of time. Didn't learn much at all. Poor grading criteria. Lectures are irrelevant to the tests, they're strictly on the book, which is never used in class. Boring lectures. Lot's of rhetorical questions. It's very vague as to what he expects as answers on tests.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• 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:

Only gave two tests and two portfolios, and then the final. His class is mostly discussion, with very few concrete concepts, and he doesn't go over much material but expects you to know everything for tests - which he doesn't give study guides out far. Run. Fast. I wish i did. Nice guy though, knows a lot about the world. Horribly organized class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: POLSC220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Because of his class, I decided to change my polsc major and dropped with a W. Please avoid him, unless you are trying to figure out you want to go with pol sic major or not.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PLSI121
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

MacDougall is awesome, I don't care for the revel book as I would much rather write essays and receive input directly from professor. I will say the online book makes the class VERY easy. Lectures are rad and while he may sku from actual content the tangents are arguably more interesting. Would deffinetly recommend if you're a cynic!