Charles Abel - Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX

Professor: Charles Abel

Department: Political Science

College: Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He has been the LEAST helpful professor I have had here at SFA. Ask him for help? You can forget it. He is rude, condescending, and down right does not care about you or your GPA. You will get a 0 on an assignment you COMPLETED if he doesn't like the way you did it, and refuses to help you fix anything. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you want an A, attend his office hours. Super smart guy. The people who fail the papers don't attend his office hours. Quizzes over readings. He gives extra credit for participating in class discussions; he takes the contrary on every opinion, which helps you think better. Be careful though because he's capable of shredding your beliefs apart.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: POLI141
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Abel is one of the best professors I've ever taken. He is strict and demands participation within his lectures. The amount of work isn't too bad, and he grades easily. His class consist of debates over controversial issues, which helps me learn. He is pretty funny, too. I went to his office once, and he is much nicer one on one.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

THE worst professor I have ever encountered. It is absolutely impossible to reach him by email- I've sent 3 on the same topic, & yet I don't ever get a reply. I go up to him in class & he tells me to email him. He makes you write a paper on Brock Turner (it has nothing to do with poli sci), which triggered me & he didn't care/help when I told him

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI141
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you are already on the edge I recommend for you NOT to take this class!!!! You can be in his office 24-7 & show that you are a caring student.. HE DON'T CARE! He email back so slow!! He expect you to be on time everyday not caring if its an emergency! I saw his rates before & thought i'll be able to hang and no I regret that ! DONT DO IT!!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Do your assignments, show up to his office hours when you have a paper, participate in class, and pretty much you will get an easy A. Most of his lectures are very debate driven and it's hard not to participate.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Abel is one of the best professors I've ever had. Poli Sci 141 is not an easy class and you will have to work for your grade, but you will also enjoy this class as well. His lectures are more like debates and he generously gives points for participation, so don't be afraid to speak up! Highly recommend taking a class with Professor Abel.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

No way to fail this class as long as you do the bare minimum. You take the test as a group afterwards and both tests are graded equally, I failed every single test but passed the class with an A. A lot of the work book answers you can find online. Hardest thing in this class is the book responses but even those aren't that hard, just make them long

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PSC142
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I liked his class a lot. There's no way to fail. His lectures are full on debates. You have to keep up with assignments and due dates yourself tho. Groups quizzes.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Loved his class!! Makes class very entertaining! Its easy to make a good grade if you write your papers and pay attention in class and take notes! Its more of a debate class than a political science class! I would highly recommend taking him!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PSC142
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the absolute worst professors. His class is absolutely useless as he teaches next to nothing, choosing instead to just have class discussion over nonsensical topics such as "what the holocaust might have been like if Jews were robots." I gave up on going to class and just showed up for tests. Don't bother studying, they're random. DON'T TAKE

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PSC142
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This professor is awful. His lecture are nothing like what you would expect in a Political science class. It's more like a debate. The notes that you take in class are no help. studying for the "tests" are pointless because nothing that he tells you to study is on it. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: POLI141
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took Dr. Abel my first semester and he's great! His lectures take up the full amount of time in class, he gives homework due at least one day a week based on readings from the book. The homework is always going to be an essay over chapters and a lot of times if you make a bad grade he'll let you correct. You don't have to show up but you should.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He teaches in a very interesting way and manages to draw the entire class into a discussion. However, he assigned reading reports due every two weeks and went very quickly on his powerpoints. If you study your notes and keep up with reading you will be ok, but he does have a tendency to tell you to study things and then they are not on the test.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I absolutely love Dr. Abel! He challenges you to think about your political views from every possible angle. He isn't one of the professors to try and change your opinion though; he just loves to play devil's advocate. I also love that participation is a major grade in his class!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Class every day might as well have been a debate class. He talks about subjects that make a lot of people uncomfortable. Nothing to do with political science at all. The quizzes are impossible to pass because the notes have nothing to do with what they are over.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: POLISCI141
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His class is bulked with information so just be ready to write down a lot of stuff. Class discussions go off topic but YOU MUST PARTICIPATE. He gives half a grade just for talking in class. Lots of papers and lots of reading - quizzes are hard if you don't read the correct material. Pay attention.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: POLI141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Class discussions had nothing to do with what was on quizzes or essays (never quite knew what to expect of quizzes). Discussions often went to unnecessary places that made students uncomfortable. He wants you to step outside of your comfort zone and that's okay! But it's only okay if it's actually relevant to political science...

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I was lost the entire class. He doesn't explain the material well at all and then expects you to be an expert on it. The class is pretty much a discussion that is irrelevant to the material. He assigns two papers, which count as the midterm and final, and they're impossible because you don't learn anything. He's nice and means well, but avoid him.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PSC141
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't understand why people are complaining about Dr. Abel. "He made me write a 2 PAGE PAPER!" ... and? Welcome to university. Also, he says on the first day of class that he take s a contrary opinion to whatever case you try to make. Anyone who claims that's bias is just upset that they had their opinions challenged. Be prepared to think.