Scott McNaught - Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI

Professor: Scott McNaught

Department: Biology

College: Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: BIO213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Nice guy, bad prof. He's approachable, but critical. Homework is super easy, exams are not. I tried going to him to get help but he just made me feel bad about myself. I don't think that was his intention. At the end of a semester, he did agree to bump me (probably because I went to reviews and office hours, so he knew me). My advice? Hella study.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: BIO600
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great professor who always has an open door and goes out of his way to meet with students when they have questions. He is a very in-your-face and personal professor which helps with really keeping you awake and retaining the information!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: BIO213
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are strictly taught through his own Power Points and outlined notes. Exams are very difficult; if you go to office hours for help he specifically asks what you are doing wrong and doesn't offer much help as a resource. He told my friend to quit their job to devote more time to studying for his course. Approachable, just not helpful.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: BIO213
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

It is clear that he is very interested in this course but he takes simple concepts and takes them way out of proportion. The exams are very difficult and increase in difficulty as the course goes on. Going to his office hours is somewhat helpful but he seems to get distracted very easily.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: BIO213
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

HARD EXAMS and NO curve. Difficult course overall. Study for a few weeks before the exams and maybe you'll do better but the exams get harder as the course goes on.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: BIO500
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

As a 500 level class should be, this was my hardest class ever. The professor was fine, some things were not explained thoroughly enough but I still passed. The class is just very difficult.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Solid professor. Come to class and study the notes and you will do fine on exams. His study guides are very helpful! Some labs were easy and some were difficult, and you only have to write one big paper for lab. Lots of graph making and data analysis for lab, and a lot of labs were outside so be prepared to do a lot of walking

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: BIO213
• 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:

Dr. McNaught is a good prof who is very passionate about what he teaches. You do need the book for reading quizzes about once a week. He has 3 question iClicker questions about once every 2 weeks that act as a sort of random attendance policy.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's a great prof, for sure! Go to class and fill out the notes and attend the review sessions and you'll do fine. Watch his multiple choice though-they are very tricky! Requires critical thinking on some questions, not just memorization. Offers extra credit and the short answer/essay q's help with lost points. Lab was interesting and easy.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Mcnaught was one of the funniest professors I've had at CMU. He makes the best jokes, sometimes they are only funny because he thinks they are funny and you just have to laugh with him. He keeps you busy with weekly lab assignments, study guides, and lab quizzes. Watch out for his exams, because they are not easy.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• 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:

Not too thrilled about the cobbled course. Pretty obvious that many ideas are thought of yet lack of through completion. This happens during assignments. "Do that but it's alright if you leave that out (variable that can effect experiment outcome)." Frustrating and for someone that should know course fails to see eye to eye or even make an attempt.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• 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:

SO GREAT. Dr. McNaught is hilarious and really fun to have in lecture. Lecture is a full hour and he gives notes from start to finish. Three exams all semester, and final isn't cumulative. No homework and exams are easy to study for. Final grade consists of 3 exams, 6 study guides, and in-class assignments.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: BIO340
• 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:

Dr. McNaught is hands down one of the best biology professors I've had at CMU! He's incredibly upbeat and funny, making his lectures easy to listen to and engaging. Be warned though, his exams are hard! The formats can be a little unusual, so be ready for curve balls and make sure you study the notes really well. Lab is lots of fun, too!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: BIO500
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are generally helpful, though he frequently has mistakes in powerpoint slides. iClicker quizzes are about once a week and help to bolster grades--often includes extra credit. Frustratingly, if you have an earlier in the week lab section, you often will not know how to do the problems and will have to self-teach from the book.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: BIO500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He was a terrible teacher, I had to teach myself out of the book how to do all the problems. Going to lecture was important only because their are quizzes but don't expect to be taught anything useful.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: BIO500
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Mcnaught is interesting- his jokes were weird enough to keep me entertained in lecutre; and I KNOW he is better at this class than the Novitski. That being said, while he was helpful and I learned a lot it was pretty much all self taught because my recitation happened before we got to that lecture material every week. Also was slow to post the hw.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: BIO500
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst teachers I've had at CMU. I had to teach my self how to do all the problems because his lectures and notes are not helpful. This is a math class and he never did an example on the board, they were all pre done and a lot of slides had mistakes on them. He says bad jokes all hour and runs passed the time slot for class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 340
• 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:

I LOVE McNaught! So funny, so easy to understand, so dynamic in class! Super helpful, gives study guides and review sessions before tests (be prepared to go in with specific Q's to ask). Really energetic, relatively easy, exams are usually comb. of mult choice, short ans, and essay. Lab was fun and relatively easy!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BIO526
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Tests on the notes from lecture. Allows you to redo homework. Excited about the subject.

Rating # 20

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

I feel that this class could have been better taught by an instructor who didn't feel that showing superiority over students rather than student progress was more important.