Doyle is really nice but his lectures are pretty boring. Every time I looked around in the room people would be doing other work. He mostly just reads off his powerpoint and will sometimes tie in what we're learning to the real world especially now with Covid. Your grade consists of two quizzes, two exams, participation, discussion, and the final. The quizzes are all multiple choice and the exams are a mix of multiple choice and short answer. Your participation grade comes from playing kahoot in class which is always fun. I found the level of difficulty on the final to be a lot harder than the two exams. Also there's a textbook for this class but you definitely don't need to read it to do well because he teaches everything in the book anyway. It's good to have though if you ever want to check something that you don't fully understand. Overall it was a good class but not necessarily an easy A if Econ isn't your thing. #tCFfall2021
Grade Distribution
Sections
1Lecture (1)
31 Reviews
Just go for it. This class is not too difficult at all and Professor Doyle is willing to answer any questions you may have in office hours. I took this class during COVID and it was asynchronous lectures taught from power points he created. The powerpoints are not extremely in-depth but if you listen to his examples and maybe watch a few Youtube videos on the topic you should get the hang of it! There is one midterm, a few quizzes, and a final in this class along with discussion quizzes and practice exams for grades in the grade book. He also uses the "Dutch Knock Out" approach to grading (the grade you get on the final can count as your entire grade at the end of the year if you want it to) therefore just ace the final and that's all there is to it. #tCF2020
Doyle was a decent professor, but lectures are sometimes a bit dry and boring. However, he does seem to care about his students and occasionally will make a few jokes during the lecture to help it go by. The difficulty of this class is not too terrible if you stay on top of the readings, but there are only a few grades so there is not much wiggle room. The tests can also be trickier than expected as multiple choice can be very difficult and each question is worth a lot so you have to stay on your toes.
Professor Doyle is a really nice guy, loves his students, and will help you greatly if you ask -- you can tell that he wants his students to succeed in his class. He also has a lot of experience in the field of macroeconomics and is very passionate about the subject. But as other reviewers mentioned, his lectures can get a little bit dry and can sometimes be unhelpful. It's mostly up to the students to practice the subject on their own. As Professor Doyle likes to say: FIND A STUDY GROUP. Solely going to lecture and discussion won't yield good results.
This class is okay. Professor Doyle clearly has a wealth of experience in the macro field. However, that doesn't translate to his lectures, which can be unengaging and dry. The class is manageable time-wise, and exams are fair.
A very dry course, Professor Doyle's jokes fall...flat most of the time and it's not necessary to go to class unless there's a quiz that day- Doyle reads from the slides. Structure of the course is difficult to learn a lot from as it's up to the TAs' discretions to give out practice problems. As stated below Dutch knockout is a killer, definitely don't rely on it for your grade, but the rest of the course definitely felt relatively easier than other intro econs.
Professor Doyle is probably the easiest professor to take both 2010 and 2020 with, although it is still difficult to get an A. There really isn't a need to go to class unless he is having a clicker quiz, which is participation based, as he mostly just reads from the powerpoints.
For the first two midterms, read all the necessary chapters and the ppt and do all the practice problems from the book, then you'll ace the test. However, the final (dutch knockout) is a killer. I studied for 5 straight days using the same method and ended up with a C on the final. good luck with his class. :')
Doyle seems like a nice guy but even he can't make the material interesting. The tests are poorly worded and constructed and will wreak havoc on your grade. Discussion is a waste of time because TA's sometimes don't speak English well or present information contradictory to what was taught in lecture. If you do take this class, know that while it is very easy to choose not to read the textbook, doing so (especially before tests) is the only way to scrape out a decent grade. Be prepared to be constantly stressed about the horrible questions and grading on the next test.
Professor Doyle is very nice and helpful outside of class. The main problem is that the concepts are easy but we dont do any practice problems and the book doesn't have any either. Tests are very problem oriented. If you dont want to major in econ then i dont think this class is for you