Brock Ruggles - Arizona State University

Professor: Brock Ruggles

Department: TBD

College: Arizona State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: HST413
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This is my third class with Professor Ruggles and it was great! The modules consist of reading chapters, a quiz and writing an essay as the discussion post. The discussion post needs to be 5 paragraphs from 375-900 words so it is super easy.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

So I can't say much about Brock because he barely had any lectures and the TA graded everything, but I really liked the class. Both books are useful, but if you have to choose between buying one or the other choose Cleveland. I usually only did the readings that related to my essay topic and skipped the rest, and did really well that way.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

An essay, 2 quizzes, a DB response each week. I did not receive useful feedback but I did not seek out any feedback. He seems like an excellent, intelligent professor but the TA grading the essays is a buzzkill. I am a solid writer but she always slashed points and gave very little explanation. I'd take his class again but only in person.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: HST325
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Discussion based for an online class which is expected. For HST 325, 3 books were required to do discussions out of. Small quizzes based off lecture. Reading is expected but discussions are always pertained to a certain topic/chapter so it is manageable. Taking this professor again for a different course next semester.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: HIST372
• 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:

Ruggles is a great professor. The class was demanding on time- there was a lot of reading (5+ chapters each week), some lectures and videos. One 5 paragraph discussion post, a discussion reply and 2 quizzes due each week. This class is definitely worthwhile and challenging- you're going to get from it what you put into it.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: HST413
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Ruggles is the worse instructor I've ever had. I have never seen an instructor take such a hands-off approach to a course. Not only does his TA grade every assignment, he does not participate in course discussions, which happen to be the majority of our earned grade. He also only requires one response in discussions and his quizzes are laughable

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: HIST413
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I loved this class, Prof. Ruggles presents things in a very digestible way. There are a lot of books required, and you will read a good deal, but skimming was suggested. You do write weekly, but 300-900 words is very doable even with other classes. The TAs do grade a lot, but I found them fair and easy to reach when you had an issue.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: HST413
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There is a lot of reading involved, several chapters worth in fact. I was not particularly fond of all the reading, but the material was relevant to what we were discussing. The discussions were also a bit much, but the class was very enjoyable.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Pro tip: READ, READ, & READ. No BS with this guy. If you like clear expectations and consistancy then take his classes. Its the same thing every week: read, write an essay, take a quiz. There aren't any tricks but the expectations are high. So just do the work, dont submit it late, and you'll be fine. Took 3 of his courses. Also his beard is dope.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: HST456
• 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:

This class was very straight forward. Reading is 3-4 chapters a week, reading primary sources, a 600-900 word discussion board post and reply to classmate, plus a short quiz. Dr. Ruggles is one of the best professors at ASU. You will learn a lot if you apply yourself and do the work. Posts are graded by a TA, hard to get 100% on them.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: HST325
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Ruggles was a hard grader on discussion boards, and the quizzes covered so much reading content that those could be tough as well. The course was really interesting though, and Ruggles gave a detailed response on what he was looking for with the DB after each week. Lots of reading, but you can get by if you're a decent skimmer.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I loved this class! Be prepared to read a lot. There are 6 weekly essays (and a response to another student) but the prompts are easy and the rubric tells you exactly what you need to do. There are 10 quizzes, which are a little harder, but if you read you'll be fine. Ruggles makes Middle Eastern history easier to learn than you would expect.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: HST413
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

6 weekly quizzes and 7 500-900 word discussion posts weekly. Utilized 5 different books but stressed skimming material for content. TA was tough grader but fair. No extra credit. Best compliment I can give is that it was an easy B, but I had to work hard for my A.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: HST325
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't participate in discussions. Individual feedback is not given. TA grades tough. Assignments are made up of 1 weekly essay posted in the discussion form. 1 quiz per week. Study guide isn't given for the quizzes. No final. A lot of reading. Assignments were restrictive, dry & boring. No room for ancestry association. Only wants facts!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I took proff. Ruggles course HST372/ Modern Middle East because I thought it would be interesting and it was. My only problem is that he has a TA grade all of your work. She doesn't even have a degree in Middle Eastern Studies and she grades tough. She also grades as if this is an English course. You are taking the class to have someone else grade.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: HST372
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took the online Middle East history class in Fall, 2016. I just got an A in the course. There were two books. The course contains a weekly quiz and essay every week. Quiz answers can be found online, or if you read, they are real easy. For the essay, make sure you 1. Have a good intro with thesis 2. Cite sources 3. Write at least 4-5 paragraphs.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: HST325
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Awesome 7.5 week online class. Lots of reading, but worth every minute. Quiz almost every week, 5 paragraph discussion and reply due each week. Fair grading and lots of encouragement from Professor and TA's. Wish I had more classes with this instructor.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: HIS456
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I have taken several of Dr Ruggles classes and it was a pleasure taking his classes. The cadence and the content of the class i found beneficial and informative. I wish I had him for all of my History classes

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: HST456
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Fair grader and offers constructive feedback. Course offers a primary text and supportive information that is useful for weekly assignments. Dr. Ruggles is the ideal professor, I feel like I learned a lot in his course.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: HIST413
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I have taken both Dr. Ruggles' Vietnam War and Contemporary American History and found they are set up the same. 1 quiz and one discussion post each week, that's it. It's easy to fall behind but as long as you do the work and pay attention to feedback given you'll get a fair grade.