Tom Couraud - Eastern Washington University

Professor: Tom Couraud

Department: Graphic Arts

College: Eastern Washington University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: TECH393
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I had this class once a week from 5-8pm, it was basically entirely lectures reviewing concepts from the reading (and there was a lot of assigned reading). The lectures were all very dry, not sure if that's his lecturing style or just because the class was so late and long even he was tired of it. Hardest part is staying focused and staying awake.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: TECH393
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I normally get along with professors but this guy marked me absent one day (when i was there) and when I confronted him he claimed his notes said I wasn't in class, and I had to convince him that I was! He also frequently came to class 5-15 minutes late. He was almost always unprepared and would stutter his lectures out

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: TECH393
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tom has been one of my best professors at Eastern. At first , I hated all the homework he assigned , but by the end of the quarter , I can actually say that I have learned and retained information. His class has a very good structure that stays on schedule according to the syllabus. He always answers emails and keeps up on his canvas grades.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: TECH393
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Terrible. I was forced to take this class for the EE program. He hammers you with reading, homework assignments, projects, and exams, and expects you to attend every class and get full grades. The amount of work required for this class is more than my Calculus and other engineering courses. Very tough grader!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I can see how his style doesn't work for some students, but for me he was great. He's clearly up-to-date with everything going on in the world of design, which I believe is necessary. Teaching isn't the greatest but will direct you to great sources. Do the work and you'll almost always get 100 on assignments. However, it is a fairly big time suck.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Lengthy lectures that follow rabbit-holes. Very vague instructions on assignments. Far too many assignments for a 4 credit class - usually 4 to 5 difficult assignments each week. Expect about 20 hours of homework each week if you want to keep up, not kidding. Sadly, everything I learned with this class came from the assigned text or Google.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: DESN259
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

When you follow directions on projects and include every single thing you need to, you are lucky to get 50% for the grade. Very confusing. He's helpful but not enough to get great grades on things.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: DESN366
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Honestly, it was the only class I have ever taken that I absolutely hated. I love school, and I normally try to get along with all of my profs, but Tom just wasn't helpful at all. His lecture always ran on tangents, and the amount of work assigned isn't possible to get done when you have any other classes besides his. Do not take this prof.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Tom is an amazing professor. He's really passionate about design and it shows. He will help if you ask, and he goes above and beyond when doing so. He's really understanding about late work just talk to him ahead of time. Its a pretty busy class both in and out of the room but i got a 97%. just be committed and it'll pay off.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This was one of the worst classes I have ever taken, teacher was very vague and only helped if you asked over and over again. Sometimes he never even helped resolve the problem. Insane course load for a 4 credit class. Confusing and poor instruction. I would not recommend this teacher because he is horrid at giving instructions and clarifying.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Probably the worst teacher I've had. He would spend most of the class talking about thing we were not even working on. Yes he seems like he knows the subject but he does not know how to teach he just leaves you more confused then you were before the class and when you ask for help he rarely ever helps you.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is incredibly brilliant at knowing and understanding nearly everything about design, however, he doesn't translate that knowledge to students in a way that helps them to learn the information. He's super quick and a fast talker, so it can be hard to keep up at times! This course has so many assignments that you have no time left to really LEARN.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

In all honesty, this course was the hardest class I have ever taken. I am a PRJRNM major and this is a required course. Having no design experience before going into this class made it very challenging. The work load is insane, but you will learn a lot and Tom is very helpful during his office hours.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: DESN216
• 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:

Learned a lot from this class, but only because I spent 20 hours a week messing around with the assignments on my own. He can be helpful in class but when he responds to emails he is rude and condescending. Too much packed into one class that is supposedly for beginners. Not only is there an oversized workload, he grades incredibly harshly.Dislike!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: TECH393
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is very unorganized in what he ask for in students. He grades very hard compared to what his rubric requires making you loose tons of points you had no idea you needed to do. his exam are very random questions so you never know what he is going to ask. He says his quizzes will cover certain chapters then ask questions about othertopics andvideos

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: DESN366
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Ive had several classes with tom and think its unfortunate that students give him such a negative rating. I learned a lot from how he teaches. Learn to teach yourself and don't rely on someone to guide you 100% of the way. His classes are hard but he will always help if you ask. People are too quick to point the blame on someone else. Learn respect

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: DESN360
• 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:

Tom is possibly the worst teacher at Eastern. Does he not know that CMST students HAVE to take this class and do not know a thing about coding or web design. the lectures were not informative and the amount of homework for 4 credits was more than my two 5 credit classes put together. AWFUL class

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: DESN216
• 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:

Tom asks way too much from his students, way too fast. His work load is 2 to 3 times as much as the other teachers who teach this course and he did a bad job of explaining how to do the projects. He relied too much on his written instructions. The only good thing I can say is he did very well at helping in class if needed.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: DESN259
• 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:

Tom doesn't teach. He piles on the reading and expects us to teach ourselves. He grades assignments in a very picky and unfair manner. If he doesn't like one thing about the assignment you turn in, you'll get docked points. With that said, if you do all of the work, there's a good chance that you'll pass the class with a 3.6 or higher.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: DESN216ONLINE
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class needs a pre-req. Tom assumes you're already skilled w/design software. His instructions are vague & incomplete, as if purposely omitting things you should know. Seems reluctant to help. For an online class, he's absent & not real responsive to questions. Does grade liberally; gives EC and 4.0. You'll learn but out of utter frustration.