John Birmingham - Moorpark College

Professor: John Birmingham

Department: TBD

College: Moorpark College

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHILMO7
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a great guy, and the long lectures were broken up by entertaining stories about his life that were a reach in terms of relevancy. You wouldn't do well on the exams without studying both your notes and your textbooks. The homework wasn't mandatory, but definitely was good for preparing for the exams!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: COS126
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Class is just a joke and If you really want to help yourself get a better teacher because this guy does't know whats up or down....

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a very nice guy, but by far the worst teacher i have ever had. His lectures have zero structure, and are often composed of off topic ramblings. Makes it very hard to identify actual test material. Which is important, because your only grade in the class is 4 tests based on these nonsense lectures. Im a great notetaker and it does not help.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: M07
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

By far the worst philosophy professor. I would recomment Caplan, Herlocker, or Morgan. They are all excellent teachers and know their material. Birmingham never sticks on topic and spends most of the time doing a stream of consciousness babble. I got an A because I was taking symbolic logic at the same time which was taught by Morgan.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are very hard to follow. He spends 90% of lecture time rambling about random things that have nothing to do with the course material which makes it impossible to take notes. He's a nice guy, but if you have no prior knowledge of philosophy i wouldn't recommend his class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have had this professor twice now and they have been my two worst experiences in class. He is extremely boring and will talk about subjects not related to the class which makes it hard for notes. Both times the class was graded on one test and a final because he wasn't able to go over all the material. JUST DON'T TAKE HIM. YOU WILL FAIL!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

When lecturing I wasnt sure what to write down. When asked how to take notes for class reply was whatever sounds important!? Has been my least favorite class so far because he is so vague so I dont know how to stay on top of class for now I write down almost EVERYTHING he says and hope Im getting the material thats important.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHIL230
• 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:

4 midterms and no homework assignments. Please read the section of the chapter before class. It will help. The class is well organized but boring. Professor Birmingham really tries to engage with his students and encourages class participation. If you don't get it, ask him! He will re-explain and help. Only thing he is sort of monotone, but funny.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHILM02
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He definitely knows his material but a lot of his lectures will run in circles and he will give vague answers. He also assigns readings above the reading level for the majority of the class (dense). We also talked about a lot of topics for brief periods of time so we never got a detailed description which made it hard to keep up with by finals

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHILMO1
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I believe that he truly knows his stuff but for me i took this class as an elective and wasn't using it for my major. I wouldn't recommend him unless you are majoring in Philosophy because he tends to go off into more difficult lectures and topics. Come to class and pay attention. READ THE READINGS HE POST ONLINE!!!!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Literally had the worst experience with this professor, his lectures are extremely boring and his voice will put you to sleep. I had no idea what my grade was throughout the semester because he is the exact opposite of tech savvy. I do not recommend him in the slightest!!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHILM07
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Amazing professor- Knows that the subject he's teaching is difficult, and does his best to teach it so that it can be easily understood. Will help you if you get lost and genuinely wants to pass his students and gives fair tests. Would highly recommend! :)

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHIL7169
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Logic can be really boring but he makes Logic interesting and unique. He makes sure everyone understands before he moves on the the next part of his lecture. He's even willing to push back a test date if the class is having trouble understanding. He is a great teacher but often gets sidetract with random stories but it's a good break from the notes

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHILMO7
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This is a easy course with him. attend lecture, read the chapters, and do a little practice to get the A. Birmingham is nice, but he covers the material extremely slowly to make sure everyone understand logic. Often, he gets off track and he gets boring. Tests are easy, 40 multiple choice with extra credit

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHILM07
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He's a little disorganized and often gets distracted. That said, he's a fine professor and pretty clear on everything. Relaxed with rules, doesn't mind if you leave or text during class etc. Says it's "your loss" if you choose to do so. He teaches from the book so you don't need to read, test's are relatively easy, and he gives 10% extra credits.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

his knowledge that he lectures and the knowledge in his tests are different. He is very unorganized, it took our class a month to get the syllabus out from him. Makes the class seem easy but his tests are almost impossible to ace. Very displeased with the class, one of the worst teachers I have had.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He seemed kind of annoyed to be teaching an intro class. He actually said he'd prefer to practice philosophy than explain the what and hows of it. He cancelled class a lot, and he only covered two of the four planned sections. Nice guy, but I'm glad I had no real investment in the class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: M01
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I got an A only because I worked very hard for it. The class was lecture based. His voice puts you to sleep would not take again and i love philosophy...

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHILOM01A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Birmingham is really knowledgeable in his field.So knowledgeable that he at first appeared as a Desiciple of Descartes to me One thing I can say is that the word Lectern will be abused.He's not tech savvy, still in the process of going from vhs to dvd. Other than that he is truly a nice being. I learned a lot.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHILM01
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Whole class consisted of lecture and some video. He assigns a 10 page paper regarding readings that he gives. Not really tech-savvy as he could not upload any files to D2L. Messed up grading tests. No one knew whattheir grade was going to the final. Still a nice professor and willing to answer questions. Wouldnt be the 1st professor i'd recommend.