Howard Giskin - Appalachian State University

Professor: Howard Giskin

Department: English

College: Appalachian State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

It's one of the easiest classes I've ever taken, in my opinion. The thing is, however, that the class is more suited for middle school students than college students. He assigns a lot of work, but you can retry all of your quizzes and he either gives you 100% or nothing on his essays. Pretty meh class, but an easy A.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Easily one of the worst classes I've taken at App. Dr. Giskin is a nice man with good intentions, but a horrible teacher. His class requires much, MUCH more work than is necessary in a general level class. There is something due almost every single class, and many of the assignments overlap. I have not learned anything in this class, DO NOT TAKE!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Easily the worst professor I've ever had. Excessive amounts of work for a 2000 level class. 500 word posts on readings before every class. 2 1200 word essays,2000 word research paper, 10 minute oral presentation, 1000 word website review, 1000 word movie review. Boring classes that are a waste of time. Avoid at all costs.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have never dropped a class in my three years at ASU besides 2030 with Giskin. (I attended until the last possible drop period.) It was horrid. If you can take this with another professor, do yourself a favor. Attendance is required, bland curriculum, heavy coursework for GenEd and quite possibly the most annoying lectures here on campus. Avoid.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This class is completely useless. All of the work we do is online and in class all Dr. Giskin does is ramble on about the readings. Therefore there is no point in showing up to class, which is why the attendance policy is so strict. Despite this the class is not hard, even though it is very time consuming.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENG2510
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took him for World Lit. Six textbooks were required to buy. Have to go to class but it's boring and has little to do with the homework. There's massive homework but as long as you do it under his guidelines you'll made just about whatever grade you shoot for. Watch out for the HUGE (12 pages) research paper at the end of the semester.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: EN2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Giskin really lacks confidence in himself, and it's a confidence that is required in order to teach at the college level. The class is easy enough, although time consuming, but I really can't stand his class. I am an English major senior, and I love to learn, but he gave me nothing to learn except patience. He's nice, but really boring.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE HIM IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU. Worst professor at Appalachian. All the work is online, yet attendance is required. Terrible public speaker and assignments are unclear with no guidelines what so ever, but then grades it as if we were supposed to know the "guidelines" that are in his head.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's one of the worst professors I've ever taken here. He was nearly unintelligible, and classes were useless. He only rambled. It really felt as if he knew little to nothing about what he was talking about. And the work load (if you want an A) was greater than my junior honors English course. There was way too much work for such a low level class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Giskin, I assure, is very misrepresented on this site. He's a widely knowledgeable guy though he has trouble getting out his point. You'll learn a lot from him if you aren't so judgmental that you let his quirks make you dislike him. Do your work and you'll pass. He's a hard worker and puts a lot of time into his student's work. Try him out.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lord, can the man stutter. Not only that, he repeats himself like 15 times and says "You know" a lot. Simple enough class to take, his in class activities are pointless, but he never gives any grades on them. It's all credit or no credit. Use big words and be verbose and you won't have any problem with his assignments.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

worst professor at ASU. this man is the worst public speaker i have ever witnessed. gets flustered easily. assignments are unclear. too many assignments to count, but none of them are graded. avoid taking if at all possible. i am now taking a 5 week class from him. i could not imagine what 16 weeks must be like.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

most useless professor that I have ever had. You can't take anything in his class seriously because he is a joke. An annoying class with an annoying teacher. If there is any way to avoid him then try at all cost!! Worst professor I have ever had here in my three years of college.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I'm currently taking this teacher, but I felt the need to warn others before registration started. Do not take this man if you enjoy English or literature. He does not grade or provide feedback on any of the 100's of assignments, and his class is literally painful to sit through. It's as if he doesn't even try to make it interesting. DO NOT TAKE!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENG2030
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Currently taking.This professor not worth taking.Severe Stuttering problem and repeats himself over and over.no relation of what we read to what we discuss.2000 level class and doing a 4000 worth of work.sent an email stating if he caught students texting he would turn them into some office for student conduct.LAME professor DONOT TAKE AT ANY COST!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: WLITE102
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm currently in his class and it's kind of ridic, He gets distracted very easily and I can fall asleep in his class and it doesn't even matter. He tends to drone on and can't stay on topic. Writing 500 words every class is a little crazy for a 2000 level class but that is just my two cens

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENG2510
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Took his world lit class, which completely focused on 3 translations of Gilgamesh. Ver knowledgable man, and pretty nice, but terrible professor. Poor public speaking skills, unclear assignments, and repetitive classwork. Difficult to stay awake through. I would definitely avoid taking a class from him again.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENG2510
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

While the course name was World Lit, we only talked about the Epic of Gilgamesh for the entire semester. We had to read three different translations of the Epic as well as a huge selection of essays about it. The class was awful but an easy A. Also, Giskin needs to take some public speaking classes because he takes forever making his point.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENG2510
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

We talked an entire semester about Gilgamesh. He is a horrible teacher although he is very knowledgable about Gilgamesh. The topic was just not interesting at all and there is a lot of writing assignments.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENG101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

While his class was easy, I learned a very little about world lit. The class is basically a history class, not a literature class. He repeats things nine times before going on tot he next idea and to compare him to the teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off would be a compliment-BORING!