Stephen Buckles - Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Professor: Stephen Buckles

Department: Economics

College: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His exams and quizzes are usually tricky and wordplay. His lecture and test questions tend to be confusing and playing around your thoughts regardless of how much you study and learn. His textbook does help! I would recommend not to take his class if you want to find inspiration to fuel your econ interest.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I don't think I quite ever learned how to take his quizzes/exams, or how to think exactly like him, which feels like the expectation sometimes. Read the book, go to class and take notes, and then read the book like four more times and you should be good to go. Sometimes, the lectures are pretty entertaining, and he is clearly passionate.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Buckles is a good guy with humor and very knowledgeable about economics. But he is definitely not a good teacher. He has no idea what he is teaching. You need to read textbook yourself for tests. He uses his own textbook which has a lot of flaws and typos. Tophat attendance counts for small percent of grade. Three test and quizzes every week.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not going to lie, it's hard to get an A, but an A- or B+ is doable. GO TO OFFICE HOURS to ask for points back on open responses. Textbook teaches you most things, but he's a very nice professor who tries to keep the class engaged. Attendance is part of the grade, but not a huge amount.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• 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:

This man has been teaching for so long that he is bored with the material and fails to teach an intro-level class effectively. The lectures are ineffective because he often gets side tracked by unnecessary concepts that are difficult to understand. The textbook is good and straightforward but is not reflective of material covered on tests.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ECON101
• 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 Buckles is a nice professor. However, the content in his class is confused and quite different from his exams. His exams are tricky and difficult. A knowledgeable professor but maybe not suitable for basic economic classes.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• 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:

Buckles is a great guy. Very charismatic and knows what he is talking about. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to understand this class unless you have taken some sort of econ beforehand. His lectures are confusing and he explains things in a way only he can understand. Would not recommend if you have not taken econ before.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a nice guy, but his lectures are so confusing. He mostly asks questions and leaves you to figure out the answer during class. Plus, the textbook is written by him so it doesn't help much. The curve on every quiz/test is VERY generous though, so not hard to get a solid B with minimal effort. Do not take if you actually want to understand econ.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ECON1020
• 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:

Why Buckles is still teaching at a top 15 school is beyond me. Oh wait, it's because he's been here since the 70's and has tenure. Buckles is senile, and barely understands the economic concepts he teaches. He cannot write test questions for his life and seems to condone widespread teaching (phones out, taking tests outside the room) in his class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Buckles is the best professor I had in the economics department. Not sure why there are some negative comments on here, but probably those are mostly from people who just didn't do well and are entitled. Buckles is clear, memorable, and funny. I remembered a lot of his stories and examples well after the class was over. Absolutely would take again.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECON1020
• 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:

Horrible teacher. You can go to every class, study for days, understand the textbook and information inside and out, and still completely fail the tests and quizzes due to terribly worded questions, completely arguable answers, and inconsistent/unstructured short answer grading from the TAs. He is not helpful in office hours. Don't take.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not a huge fan of his teaching style. Lectures aren't all that helpful and a bit dull, and you're better off reading and re-reading. Quizzes can vary a lot in difficulty. Tests aren usually fine, and there's usually a curve. Overall, the class is fine and not super hard but you probably aren't going to fall in love with econ or anything.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lecturing style is not for everyone and his tests and quizzes are worded kind of bad, but beyond that, great teacher with charisma and knowledge.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not until you go through the whole semester that you'll realize how good Buckles is. His lectures may not be that effective or clear, but the textbook and online quizzes should be enough for you to grasp the picture of prins of macro. Tests are doable with enormous curves. He is your best choice for 1010 by far if you care about how much you learn.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

his lectures helped me understand the material much better, even though sometimes theyre a bit dry. pay attention though because he says exactly what the essays will be. also, definitely do the multiple choice questions at the end of the section because they help a ton on the quizzes.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I ended up reading the textbook like 8 or 9 times through by the time the final came around. Reading and rereading and memorizing the what he says in the textbook is key to doing welll. have to put in a LOT of independent work

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Buckles's lectures barely help you understand what you are tested on. Read the textbook and fill in everything, and if you do not understand something go to office hours. Do not need to go to class but answer all top hat questions. Tests are difficult and you really need to understand the concepts to do well. Very specific grader on writing.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The textbook is really important for this class, so read it and do the problems. His lectures range from very interesting to average. Overall, he is funny and he will answer all questions you bring to him. I cannot recommend him because 75% of the questions are tricky (worded weirdly or requiring topics not yet learned). Take Luea if you can.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Students taking ECON 1010 with Buckles should consider his lecture as an emphasis to the reading assignments that are supposed to be read prior to be coming to class. If you complete and understand the assigned reading, you should do fine in this class, considering the generous curves. Relying on lectures to spoon feed you and you will not do well.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECON1010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Buckles lectures are really confusing and not very helpful at all. The textbook is basically your only way of passing the class. He does curve generously though