William Van Vugt - Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Professor: William Van Vugt

Department: History

College: Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I had Van Vugt for History 152 and I thought the overall class was good! There was a lot of reading that he expects to be done for every class but the lectures were always interesting. The papers were relatively easy to write and they were graded easily. If you participate in class and take good notes you will be just fine for the exams.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Get prepared to take notes. I came out of class with at least 2-3 pages of notes a day. The entire class is graded on a 10 page paper, a mid-term and a final, so if you don't like tests look elsewhere for your history credit. Be prepared with the questions for the assigned days and pay attention in class while taking good notes and you'll be fine.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Van Vugt loves to lecture, and he expects a lot from his students. His lectures are very good but be prepared to take notes and be ready to answer. Lots of reading.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

DON'T take Van Vugt's history class!! He assigns readings of 20-50 pages of material every day and expects every student to absorb and understand textbook readings perfectly. Interesting course and can tell he's passionate about what he teaches, nice enough guy just expects us all to know as much about the topics as him, with little to no direction

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very disrespectful of students. Expects intense readings to be fully understood and is judgemental of students who lack history background. Expects an extremely high understanding of all material for tests- impossible to master without previous background classes.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Van Vugt is such a tough grader! He only has 4 assignments due the entire time, and the final is worth 40% of the grade. There is so much reading that you have to do. He does not allow laptops and does not really have much of a guideline for how he will teach the class. The material is interesting, though.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do not take this professor for your history core! He mentioned in class that half of his students fail the course! Only 3 things make up your grade and that is paper midterm and final(40 pecent of final grade). He is awful! He should be fired! I want any of his students to do to pass or he would have changed how he taught

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Took him for 152 and got more than I bargained for with a core class. Not to say it wasn't good, I learned a ton and listening to his lectures made me generally more interested in the content of the course. You will have to study extensively to get an A in the course, but the it is worth the effort.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I would write at least 3 pages of packed full notes every single lecture. His lectures are long and go the entire hour. He is passionate about what he is teaching and does care for his students. Make an effort to see him during his office time. It helps you in the class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Assigns lots of reading and expects perfect knowledge of content. Lectures are off topic and boring.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He assigns ridiculous amounts of reading and expects you to remember all of it and more. He also spends the majority of class time talking about art and where he has traveled rather than the actual topic.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a nice professor, just super tough. Get ready to read just about the whole textbook. Pop quizzes are given and the tests are hard. Long papers are assigned and you have to read more than the textbook.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He expected way too much out of his students for a core history class. I did all of the readings and studied for hours before the test and barely passed the class. The tests are ridiculous and he's a bit arrogant at times. Definitely wouldn't recommend this prof.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Before I took History 152 last semester, I used to hate history so much, especially world history. However, professor Van Vugt changed my perspective forever. In his class, he loves discussion form. According to him, there is no correct way of looking history. He is one of my favorite professors that change my life forever!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HIS152
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tends to go off topic and talk about present day related events rather than what is taught in class. Does not explain the readings very well. Test questions could be anything and are all short answer and essay. Doesn't make the learning environment very fun. Expects you to know everything. Just expects too much in general, would not recommend.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His favorite saying is "As you all know...". He was saying it on the first day of class. I highly recommend you take a different teacher.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are your best help for this class (make good notes!). He assigns one long formal paper. He gave one pop quiz. A lot of reading which are good to read but be smart and skim through topics the study guide mentions when you don't have the time. Attendance matters. Tests are tough, suggest consultation with him beforehand (very willing).

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Assigns a ton of reading in the textbook almost every night. He doesn't check whether you read of not. But in class he expects the students to participate. It's basically a 50 minute long lecture that never stops except when he asks a question to which he expects you to answer.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

From my perspective, he was a nice guy, but not really that great of a professor. He seemed to expect to know everything about everything, but did a poor job on helping get to actually know everything. He never wrote things on the board, and I found that very frustrating. His test questions were very hard too.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST152
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Look he expected way to much for a student that is not a history major or minor. he assigned about a chapter of textbook reading per night, has some pop quizzes, assigns three books to read and of those three you have to write a paper on two of them comparing the book to another book. The tests are dreadful. One test had a question worth 70100pts