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COMM 1800 Foundations of Commerce
Last taught: Spring 2017
95 Ratings
⏱ Hours/Week
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80 Reviews

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Fall 2014
3.0
Average

Comm1800 was an overall easy class. Its material was basic as you'd expect from an introductory class and exams are based 96% from the book. The other 4% is usually current event "takeaways" or guest lecturer material. Good class to gain a literacy in the language of business and Kemp is an entertaining lecturer. You really can't not enjoy his stories and mannerisms.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 1.0
Fall 2014
1.7
Average

The single worst class I have taken. Not very difficult, but absolutely boring. Kemp is an enthusiastic man, but the class is an absolute waste of your credit hours.

Instructor 3.0
Enjoyability 1.0
Recommend 1.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 5.0
Fall 2014
4.0
Average

Oh Bobby Kemp, he is a character! Great guy, passionate about business and cares about his students very deeply. This class is an easy A- (what I got) but a difficult A. About half of the test questions are straight from practice quizzes- memorize them! Read the book, take the quizzes, and you'll end up with a good grade.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2014
4.0
Average

I want you to appreciate the value of the online practice quizzes.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 3.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 0.0
Fall 2014
4.0
Average

Professor Kemp's a great guy and tries to make class interesting with his anecdotes. This class is really well organized and his expectations are very clear. It's not too tough to get an A-, but getting an A is really tough since you need a 95%! Class isn't really necessary, but I went anyways.

Instructor 5.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 5.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 0.0
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Fall 2013
3.3
Average

Undoubtedly the easiest McIntire prerequisite. Exams are easy - make sure you read the book. Lectures are unnecessary. Follow instructions for online quizzes, problem sets, and group work and you'll get 100s.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Spring 2014
4.0
Average

Oh Bob Kemp...you will quickly learn there are many phrases he tends to repeat, but he is a super entertaining lecturer, in a way that makes you laugh like "what did he just say?". Lectures were optional, but he had takeaways that he would only mention in class that could appear on tests, so a good amount of people showed up anyways. I honestly surfed the web, checked my email, or played 2048 while waiting for a takeaway. He basically regurgitates the textbook (since he wrote it) in class, so going to lecture isn't super useful. He has several guest lectures during the semester, and those were somewhat interesting and material does appear on the exams, so you should go to them. While many people will tell you the class is easy, which it is, it can be deceptively hard to earn an A in the class. I found that most people were able to get an A- easily if they tried. The day-to-day workload was pretty easy - read the textbook (although this is optional I guess), online discussions, and online quizzes. Basically to get a good grade - read the textbook, study the vocab, and study the online quizzes. The group project was boring, but if you fulfill the requirements, it looked like everyone got a 100. The problem sets are also pretty easy, but be sure to follow the directions! Overall, the class was an easy pre-comm prereq, and that was the only reason I took it.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 4.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Spring 2014
3.3
Average

Bob Kemp outlined this course perfectly when he says, "You won't be good at business, but you'll be literate at it." This course is a pre-requisite for the Comm School and, quite frankly, is very useful. My major complaint deals with the lectures. Kemp is a very nice guy and loves what he does, but he did not at all take advantage of class time. He motivates students to attend lectures with current event take-aways, but all of the course content is learned through reading the textbook. Since Bob wrote the text, lecture was essentially a boring and useless regurgitation of everything in the book. There was a lot of potential wasted with the lectures. I did, however, enjoy his use of guest speakers. It was very fitting, in an "Intro to Commerce" course, that students are introduced to the Comm School with lectures by the various department heads within the school. It definitely shed a lot of light on the different paths and opportunities within the Comm School. Aside from lectures, this class involved a lot of busy work, including discussions and quizzes for every chapter, several problem sets, and a two-part group project. This work was all more tedious than helpful. As far as difficulty, the course was pretty easy. Aside from the busy work, there were three exams- none of which were difficult. It was especially nice that the final exam was not cumulative; rather, it was simply a test on the last third of the semester. It was not difficult to do well in this class, though it was not especially easy to get an A. This is because Kemp raised the bar this semester to a 95% for an A. Given that the class is not curved, this is a pretty stupid policy. However, he claims that he doesn't curve final grades, but he actually does. Overall, this was a fairly easy and useful class, despite the boring lectures. Bob Kemp is an experience...and I would even recommend this course to students who are not interested in the Comm School, as it provides excellent insight into the world of business.

Instructor 4.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 4.0
Difficulty 2.0
Hours/Week 5.0
Spring 2014
1.7
Average

Kemp is a nice guy, but after a while you realize attending class is pointless. He tests straight out of the book. Class is easy, you occasionally have group or individual projects which could be accomplished without attending lectures. Tests are not too difficult, I put in minimal effort and got an A-, B+, and an A- on the final. The commerce school looks for good grades from the course. Take it if you have to, but the lectures are painful, and the online coursework annoying.

Oh, did I mention Kemp wrote the book? Because he will.

Instructor 2.0
Enjoyability 1.0
Recommend 2.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 3.0
Spring 2014
2.7
Average

Has some really great guest lectures. Found my minor through it. Really boring class, but go to get the takeaways. Bob also has some pretty funny stories.

Instructor 3.0
Enjoyability 2.0
Recommend 3.0
Difficulty 1.0
Hours/Week 4.0
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