[YungJoc]

I took this course during the 2010-11 academic year. It was great!

The prof was Dr. Mercier. He was very thorough when explaining lecture material (even when it was very rudimentary). He would supply course notes, test/exam study guides and he also canceled class quite often (could be a bonus depending on what you want out of the course).

The course material began by covering broad regions of the USA such as vegetation, economic, physiographic, cultural regions etc. We later moved onto the various regions of the USA in more depth. Regions included the mid-west, the deep south, the great plains, the densely populated northeast etc.

The break down was:
Test 1 20%
Test 2 20%
Assignment 15%
Exam 45%

The tests and exam were very simple. Multiple choice and short answer. M/C usually had one word answers as options. The S/A questions consisted of labeling maps (cities, states, regions, etc), defining and comparing terms, listing off sequences of events and testing other simple concepts emphasized in class (it's easy to guess what he'll ask questions on. The exam S/A questions focused heavily on comparing and contrasting various regions of the USA based on different criteria (ex. compare the economies of the northeast with the great plains).

The assignment was an essay (~ 750-1000 words) about one of several topics relating to the USA. There were about 10-12 topics to choose from.

Overall, this course is easy, interesting and very well taught. If I had any complaints it would be that there was only one TA for a class of about 500 students. Therefore, it took over a month for the tests and assignment to be marked.

would you say the textbook is required for this class? or is his lecture material pretty much summarizing key themes and concepts from the text?

I found the book useful for learning all the different cities, states and regions such as physiographic or climate regions on a map since you need to know how to draw them on the tests and final exam.

Originally Posted by Sevan

would you say the textbook is required for this class? or is his lecture material pretty much summarizing key themes and concepts from the text?

never bought it... he gives pretty good notes and the lectures are fill in the blank so you learn as youre writing

I found this course a little dry to be quite honest. Mercier is a great lecturer, but unfortunately, the material wasn't too interesting. The tests & exam are fair though.

Also, I don't think the textbook is necessary. He's pretty thorough with his explanations, and the concepts are usually quite clear.

This class is great if you can actually attend it!
he doesnt post everything on the slides but he does in the actual lecture! so you actually have to go!
there isnt any labs or tutorials which is awesome! and if you miss classes he provides a discussion board to post so you dont get annouying emails!
The prof makes the content interesting and it is easy to understand
Mid term was very fair and he provides a study guide! like there is no reason to do poorly!
LOVE THIS CLASS

I strongly recommend not taking this class. It isn't exactly a rough workload but it is extremely specific and requires a ton of memorization. You will neglect the class and most likely come out with a poor mark for something you thought would be an easy elective.

Does anyone the new prof H. Dorries who will be teaching this in 2012?