Excuse my Gen Z language, but Prof Allen is peak UVA. He's a fantastic instructor and has really built the formula for teaching this class. Even if he doesn't let you skip out on lecture, he makes your time worth it. He's a gem in the department in teaching the right things in the right way and honestly left the class being sure that it was my favorite in my undergrad.

One of the best classes I've taken so far at UVA, and one of the few where I was actually excited to go to lecture! The content is so interesting and relevant to our experiences as college students: could find something to apply to my own life in every lecture. Allen always keeps lecture interesting by supplementing content with examples from movies and TV shows. The class is overall not difficult: grading is based on 3 midterms and a final, and you can drop the lowest midterm. To get an A I just showed up to class everyday and completed the readings (while there are a lot of them, they are very interesting.

Grading: 4 midterms and an option 5 page paper, 1 final. You drop 2 of lowest grades of midterms and optional paper. The other 2 are worth 33% each. Can't drop the final, which is worth 33%. Each midterm is 40 multiple choice and 1 open response which is easy. The final is worth 100 multiple choice.

The exams are pretty straightforward and the multiple choice are taken from the lectures. Don't waste your time with the textbook reading and the outside readings, but take really good notes in lecture.

Prof Allen is awesome. He's really knowledgeable and entertaining and includes a lot of movie clips in class to show examples.
The class material is very interesting to any psychology major and anyone interested in the ideas and influences of being a teeanager. Focuses a lot on effects of parenting, school, peers on teenagers and how this causes their internal and external issues. Also touches on social issues of race, gender identity, etc and effects on adolescence.

LOVE DR. ALLEN.

Such an interesting class and so fun to go to. He does outlines on word that he puts up on the projector and sends out prior to class, so easy to follow along. 3 midterms and an optional 5-page paper, takes the top 2 grades of all of these. Cumulative final you have to take.

Do the readings but skim, he will ask exam questions about them

Take this class, it is so interesting and Dr. Allen is amazing

#tCFF23

Joe is hands down my favorite professor ive had at UVA. He genuinely cares about his students and this is especially obvious if you go to office hours, which I had neverdone before but Joe is so casual that it just feels like you're having a normal conversation. Overall, the class wasn't hard: just study lecture notes, skim the textbook, and read the extra assigned articles for the big picture ideas (because those are on the test) before exams and you'll get an A. Super interesting content, most of which is sourced from his own research lab here at UVA.

Great class. Professor Allen is extremely knowledgeable, and he's conscientious of his teaching. He engages the class well with interesting videos, poll questions, etc. despite the large size of the class. And the content is fascinating, especially because it allows you to think about how your adolescence went/goes in the context of all the info you're learning. You're guaranteed to learn something about yourself. The textbook readings were a little annoying because you had to wade through a lot of unnecessary details to get to the important stuff. But the lectures were great. And the exams were about the right level of challenge. But make sure you can answer those short essay questions. Overall, highly recommended.

This course is super interesting, well-taught, and not very difficult. The lectures are great; Professor Allen is such a kind person and a great lecturer. Since I'm a psych major, this class wasn't super difficult for me, but I studied hard for the exams and I know some smart people who got B's on the exams. I didn't do most of the textbook readings and I did fine on the exams, just make sure to do the extra article readings he assigns because he does test on those. Your grade is made up from 2/3 midterms that you take and the final exam.

This class is honestly the best class I've taken at UVA. This class looks into the backgrounds of what the adolescent period means, and why adolescents act and think in different ways as well as touching on a lot of subjects where many people have different views and experiences (school, work, peers, family, transitions, delinquency, abortion, racism, ethnicity, ethnocentrism, mental illness, etc.). Prof Allen was wonderful at describing many views objectively and separating myths from facts and from speculations. He creates a welcoming and respectful environment for all students and focuses on the learning and education of life (rather than stressing about grades). He is one of the best professors in the department!
The class has three midterms, of which one is dropped and the other can be swapped with an optional paper and one final. It's an in-person lecture-heavy class with a lot of readings. If you stay on top of the work and give enough effort, you'll be fine.

Loved this class, learned SO much and looked forward to lectures. Not very hard and lectures are not mandatory (but they are very helpful for exams).

This is the best course I have taken at UVA so far, and Prof. Allen is an amazing professor. I can tell that he really enjoys teaching and he cares about what his students learn. There are three exams (40 multiple choice questions and a short answer essay question) and a cumulative final (100 multiple choice questions). There is an optional paper that can replace one of your exam grades. The lowest exam grade gets dropped. Even though this course was online this semester, I felt like I was really engaged with the material. Prof. Allen is passionate about what he teaches, and it's definitely refreshing to have a professor that genuinely cares about the students. I really loved this course, and I would definitely recommend this class to anyone.