Darren Griswold - University of Nevada - Reno

Professor: Darren Griswold

Department: TBD

College: University of Nevada - Reno

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• 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:

Professor Griswold is a gifted teacher with an intense passion for the Spanish language. He also happens to have a great sense of humor. Yes he has high standards but you will learn Spanish because he always give you very specific feedback. If you show up to class and do the homework, you have a very good chance of succeeding in the class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: SPAN211
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This professor went on many tangents trough his lectures and ended up losing me. If you skip class, you will not pass and you will miss out on a ton of information. Instructions for projects were unclear and I had to ask for help multiple times. I would not recommend him if you don't already have a good understanding of Spanish grammar.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was more difficult than 400 classes that I have taken. The professor has unrealistic expectations given the amount of time for each class. For projects and exams he gives a couple days notice, if that. Tests: 45% of grade, Hwk: 15%, Speaking: 10%, Participation: 5%. Would highly recommend taking the course with any other professor

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: SPAN309
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Griswold was decent for Spanish 309. I heard not to take him for any other class though. Pass or fail class so it wasn't too much to handle. Easy homework.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: SPAN305
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is an amazing Spanish professor. Although he does not assign a lot of homework and the tests are simple, he explains the language in a way that just makes sense. He takes time out of his schedule to message you links to websites to help you understand concepts if you struggle with them. He will ALWAYS be my first choice for Spanish.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tons of online HW, you will learn nothing. Never sticks to the syllabus, tests are very difficult, and he never says what will be on them. Great guy, good intentions, just falls short. Should teach 300+ level classes. He also tries to explain the roots of the language, as opposed to just explaining the meaning in context.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He was, by far, the best Spanish teacher I have ever had. The class is designed to be difficult, but he tends to over-explain concepts. If you attend class, pay attention, and study before tests, you will pass. If you are taking Spanish to pursue fluency and studying abroad, I highly recommend him.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Don't listen to all the good reviews because I did, and it was a mistake. The whole class was just a jumbled mess the whole semester and he assigned a project to us the last day of class due on the day of the final that we had been asking about FOREVER. He acts like he cares, but then fails you anyway. Words cannot describe how infuriating he is

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tries to help but goes off on tangents that lead nowhere. Tons of online HW that teaches nothing. Never sticks to the syllabus and never clear plans even up to last week of the semester. Only 3 tests but worth 45% of the grade and very hard, never says what will be on them. Great guy, good intentions, just falls short. Should teach 300+ level clas

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: SPAN 111
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Overall he knows a lot about his field of study and is very knowledgeable but may come across as overly aggressive when communicating with students and he can assign a lot of material. An A or B is attainable if you are willing to go to a lot of his office hours, do all of the work and come to all of the classes.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: SPAN211
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Unlike most professors who work strictly out of the book which is boring, too fast and just plain hard to follow, he is truly knowledgabe and explains things to you. He really allows you to understand the material and works through it with the class. I'm not great at Spanish, but he really helped me grasp it. I know why things are the way they are.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: SPAN211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I love him. So passionate about what he is teaching and is so helpful. Yes you need to try hard and put in effort, but you are learning a new language so what do you expect? I learned more from him than any other teacher I have had. He puts in a lot of effort to make sure he students understand what we are learning. One of my favorite teachers ever

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: SPANISH111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Griswold is a pretty good teacher. His spanish lectures are lengthy and he expects you to know and understand things very quickly but he's pretty helpful. One thing he does that is annoying is that when you ask him a question he pretends not to know the answer. He is a decent teacher with funny stories.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: SPANISH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This man helped spark a new interest in Spanish. He made learning a language fun, instead of just another class to get through. Attending class was something I looked forward to, definitely not an obligation. His tricks and techniques in learning words and conjugations improved my Spanish speaking abilities immensely. Take him if you can.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: SPAN112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Best professor ever. If you have trouble with Spanish take him! He explains everything in a way that makes everyone just understand it. He does get off topic but we learned everything in our assigned chapters and then some so who cares? Seriously. Take him. ONLY negative is he almost always goes 1-2 minutes over class period.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: SPAN112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This man is amazing and you'd be an idiot not to take him. I learned more in his class than I have in any Spanish class previously. He's really good at explaining and he makes you internalize the language rather than memorize it. He does ramble a lot and gets off topic pretty easily, but he keeps the class entertaining and informative. Take him!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

After the first four weeks, I was seriously considering dropping the class since I knew I wouldn't receive an A. I decided to stick with him because he has been the most enlightening/intelligent Spanish professor I've had to date, without a doubt. His lessons are great at internalizing Spanish. I won't receive an A, but I'll have actually learned.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: SPAN211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very, very smart man. Knows more about languages and speech pathology than any foreign language teacher I've ever had. Speaks a little too much English for my liking though, I want to speak Spanish in my Spanish class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: SPAN212
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Great professor! Knows everything there is to know but unless you show an effort to push yourself he comes off rude so make sure to go beyond or he will be more critical of you. Good prfoessor, Bad attitude 50% of the time

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: SPAN112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Darren Griswold is a really nice guy. You can tell he loves the language. He likes to talk about not only the history of Spanish and where things came from but history in general. Has some funny stories.