PSYC 2600

I took this class in the summer, and I found it quite enjoyable. Grading was based on two midterms (25 questions each) and a final (50 questions). The averages for the two midterms were quite high (85%). Oishi gave 3-5 clicker questions (not for credit) at the beginning of each class, and these questions were very similar to the types of questions on the exams. As opposed to the huge PSYC 2600 course offered in the fall/spring, the summer class had only 20-some students, and Oishi called every student by name. We also read primary texts, such as famous published studies, instead of the regular textbook. Overall, Oishi was an engaging, funny professor. He did several in-class demonstrations, often correlating with the studies we learned about. As long as you do the reading, pay attention in class, and review your notes before the exams, you should find the tests to be quite easy (several students finished within 20 minutes).

Oishi is hilarious and makes his lectures interesting. The class can become a little monotonous as the semester goes on, but I really enjoyed the class overall. The paper seemed easy, but I ended up getting a grade much lower than expected, so be sure to put some time into writing it. The only work most weeks is reading the textbook, which has long chapter but they can be interesting.

Shige is a great lecturer in that he organizes his material well and finds interesting ways to convey it. He never strays off topic, but the class is still interesting due to the material being inherently kind of cool.

This was a really interesting and applicable course! Professor Oishi is a funny man, and his lectures are easy to follow. It's crucial that you attend lectures because reading the textbook is not enough to ace the exams. His lectures contain a lot of studies and he does expect that you know them for the exams. The paper is not intimidating, but it should not be taken lightly. The TAs grade pretty hard on them. I realized too late that I should've gone to TA office hours for this paper... my paper grade brought my overall grade down. Grades consist of 3 exams and a paper. This is not a demanding class, but it's not an easy A.

After reading all of these positive reviews, I must say I was a bit disappointed with the class. Oishi is a nice professor, but I, on a number of occasions, was unable to learn effectively from his lectures. I was frustrated with the way class would often go through study after study. This was often interesting or fun, but not really useful to draw broader conclusions about social psychology. The course is also harder than I anticipated. They made the means on both midterms B's and the mean on the paper was a B-. You definitely need to go to lecture and pay attention and supplement that with reading the book. Overall, the material is interesting, and Oishi is alright, but this class was not my favorite.

Professor Oishi was fun. TA Erin Westgate is a bit**. She's going to be THE gpa killer for this class.

Oishi is the best! The funniest professor I've had, and if you take good lecture notes and read the book closely (he does pull from both), the class is pretty easy to get an A in.

This class is not as easy as people hype it up to be. BEWARE - so DO THE WORK and READ!! Took it as an "easy" class...ended with a B.

The distribution doesn't lie - if you go to class and read the textbook (the only reading for the course), it's pretty easy to get an A. Oishi clearly defines what you need to do to get a particular grade - 315/350 for an A, etc., so you know exactly how many points you need on the final. You get one free point (out of 350) for completing something like 80% of the clicker questions - I'm not sure if there's a regard for accuracy. The papers are graded generously - follow the directions and you should find yourself with an A on that. The material is all very relevant to everyday life and Oishi presents it in an engaging way, so the class is actually quite interesting and explains a lot of the interactions between humans. Very non-sciencey (I think there was 1 neuroscience question on the final out of 100). The only downside is that the final is cumulative (as opposed to Wilson), but he tells you what from each chapter will be on the final - brush on that and you'll do well enough on the final that if you've been paying attention all semester you should finish with an A.

One of my favorite classes I've taken at UVA! Professor Oishi is a great lecturer and teaches the subject in a very engaging way. Really relevant information regardless of what kind of career you pursue. I enjoyed coming to class each week.