James (Jim) Penn - Grand Valley State University

Professor: James (Jim) Penn

Department: TBD

College: Grand Valley State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: GPY352
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He cares about the topic, but his lectures are boring. He assigns hw that is 4 essay questions about an article, but then you read the article and it's a super obscure boring article about brooms in peru because he wrote it. He never gives full credit, and his questions don't make any sense. I'm in honors but he is just too hypocritical and unclear

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: GPY362
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Jim is very respected in what he teaches for this class because he has so much experience with it. He knows a lot about all the types of crops because he has traveled all over the world and been to farms with these crops. The class mostly consists of lectures and readings. There is a group project with a paper and presentation. Great professor.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: GPY362
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Dr Penn for GPY362 and really enjoyed having him teach the class. He's very knowledgeable in the field of bio geography, and brought a lot of his personal experience to the class. There was a group field trip to a chestnut farm that included amazing food, and he gave one group project that was a little rushed but graded fairly.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took James/Jim as a biweekly hybrid 6-9. Hybrid weeks u did nothing. He did not work BB very well (not sure why he's teaching online). Exams were the study guide but u needed to know every word he said during lecture. The HW assignments were kind of challenging and lengthy. Very monotone. Would never take again. Found it easy to get an A or B tho.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: GPY202
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Penn's lectures are boring, his voice is very unexpressive and he can talk you to sleep. This is 100% the kind of geography class where you're expected to memorize facts, such as "What river flows through XYZ region of country ABC?" to pass exams. I don't think I learned anything from him and his class didn't make me appreciate geography.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Professor Penn was a super nice guy. Wouldn't recommend taking the class as a 6-9 though, it can get a little boring. But the homework assignments weren't very difficult, and tests weren't too terrible either. However, there weren't a lot of assignments so it is in your best interest to do well on them.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Penn is a great guy who cares about his students passing, but at no fault of his own, this class was boring as hell. Maybe it was just the fact that the lecture was 3 hours long, and the topic wasn't particularly interesting but I would not recommend this class. It was a fairly easy class though.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He mostly just talks about the trips that he has gone on. It seems like he is very proud of going to Peru since he talks about it all the time. Lectures are boring. There are a lot of opportunities for extra credit. I mostly just listened in class, so the tests were pretty easy. The other homework assignments were easy as well.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor is very knowledgeable about subject. Has a lot of real world, personal stories to share related to class material. Very interesting class.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's alright, he definitely knows what he's talking about. The exam review guides don't always cover everything in the PowerPoint slides to make sure to take notes. However, he doesn't answer questions very well and just tells you to look over your notes. Which I hope you do anyways before emailing a professor. Overall I wouldn't take it again.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lot's of writing. Nice guy but not the best teacher. His lectures are long and dry and the slides are out of order/different then the ones he has you print out.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good guy, not a good teacher. His online powerpoint are not helpful, and he is very unorganized. Very boring lectures as well. His test are very different from his lectures.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's an okay prof, he's very knowledgeable. However, he doesn't answer questions clearly so it makes asking questions hard. Also, exam reviews cover a lot of stuff that was not covered in class or in the BB notes. Overall, the class was okay but I wouldn't take it again.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: GPY352
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I actually enjoyed this class. But, if you dont have any interest in Latin America, I dont suggest taking it or youll be very bored. Professor Penn is a really nice guy and very knowledgable on a huge variety of topics. The lectures are long, but you dont have many homework assignments and both the midterm and the final are take home.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: GPY352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice man, terrible professor. Doesn't teach, rather just talks about his experiences with geography and the trips he's taken. Lectures are dull and notes aren't even used on the tests which are take home essays. 8 page research paper due the week before finals and then a take home essay final exam due the week of finals. Ridiculous and pointless.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: GPY352
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are long and dry but Penn really knows what he's talking about because he has a lot of experience in Latin America. A few homework assignments throughout the semester but they don't take long. The midterm and final are both take home. One long research paper and presentation but other than that the class is pretty easy. Show up & get an A.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GPY220
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Penn is passionate about Geography and enthusiastic about the material he teaches. His lectures are very long and his expectations aren't always clear. It's easy to get bored during lecture. He shows videos in class and assigns readings from the textbooks to read on your own time and references them on the exams.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: GEO235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't teach, he talks at you. You have to pick out the information you think is going to be needed for the tests. Majority of the test questions are from the textbook not his lectures.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: GPY235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

very very boring, map quizzes were so so depending on time you put in. tests sucked first one I don't think anyone did good. then he got better with study guides but many people leave he just keeps talking. would not recommend

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: GPY235
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Really nice guy. Tests can be confusing because his study guides don't always match up to the tests, and his in class powerpoints are always missing slides compared to the notes. Attendance not mandatory. Overall kinda boring, but not hard.