Professor profile for Nigel Atkinson
Student reviews of Nigel Atkinson
Review from a student who took BIO 344
This guy is an arrogant SOB who likes to throw out alot of extraneous information just so that you will know that he is really smart. You are much better off taking the class with Herrin -- he is a straightforward lecturer who is much easier to understand. You'll probably learn more with Herrin also because you can focus on the course material rather than all the other stuff that Atkinson babbles on about and that you don't know which of it is something you're supposed to know since he has an enormous tendency to digress.
This guy is an arrogant SOB who likes to throw out alot of extraneous information just so that you will know that he is really smart. You are much better off taking the class with Herrin -- he is a straightforward lecturer who is much easier to understand. You'll probably learn more with Herrin also because you can focus on the course material rather than all the other stuff that Atkinson babbles on about and that you don't know which of it is something you're supposed to know since he has an enormous tendency to digress.
Review from a student who took Bio 344
Dr. Atkinson is a really interesting character. He's a nice guy, he's very interested in the progress of his students, he's very into the subject matter, and I felt he was pretty organized. However, this class was incredibly difficult. The book is poorly written and difficult to understand, it's just experiment after experiment and with no clear explanation of what you're supposed to learn out of it. The material is massive, and as you can see from the grade distribution, it's very hard to get an A! His tests are absolutely killer, multiple multiple choice, very tricky. My advice would be to attend office hours, I couldn't due to work, nor the review sessions he held. Also, be sure to look over the old tests. Though he advises against it, there is A LOT of GOOD material in them. In the end, that's what saved me in this class, vs. trying to understand that crazy book. Oh and don't skip class!!!
Dr. Atkinson is a really interesting character. He's a nice guy, he's very interested in the progress of his students, he's very into the subject matter, and I felt he was pretty organized. However, this class was incredibly difficult. The book is poorly written and difficult to understand, it's just experiment after experiment and with no clear explanation of what you're supposed to learn out of it. The material is massive, and as you can see from the grade distribution, it's very hard to get an A! His tests are absolutely killer, multiple multiple choice, very tricky. My advice would be to attend office hours, I couldn't due to work, nor the review sessions he held. Also, be sure to look over the old tests. Though he advises against it, there is A LOT of GOOD material in them. In the end, that's what saved me in this class, vs. trying to understand that crazy book. Oh and don't skip class!!!
Review from a student who took BIO344
This guy sucks! He is one of the most unorganized lecturers i've had in four years. This summer session he crammed in 14 chapters into 4 weeks so that he could spend the last week covering topics that were of interest only to him. His exams are meant to try and trick you into choosing incorrect answers and taking severe deductions when you do so that it is possible to end up with a negative score. He claimed to have offered "extra credit" for attending and participating in discussion, but after examining how grades were determined i found that this was not the case at all. We did not receive extra credit, it was factored into the normal grading. To sum it all up, this guy sucks! Do not take this class or any other with him if possible.
This guy sucks! He is one of the most unorganized lecturers i've had in four years. This summer session he crammed in 14 chapters into 4 weeks so that he could spend the last week covering topics that were of interest only to him. His exams are meant to try and trick you into choosing incorrect answers and taking severe deductions when you do so that it is possible to end up with a negative score. He claimed to have offered "extra credit" for attending and participating in discussion, but after examining how grades were determined i found that this was not the case at all. We did not receive extra credit, it was factored into the normal grading. To sum it all up, this guy sucks! Do not take this class or any other with him if possible.
Review from a student who took BIO 325
His tests were very detail oriented. Gives a crap load of HW and doesnt drop ANY. Kind of scatter brained but obviously knows his stuff.....
His tests were very detail oriented. Gives a crap load of HW and doesnt drop ANY. Kind of scatter brained but obviously knows his stuff.....
Review from a student who took BIO 325
I really don't like Dr. Atkinson. His tests are very hot or miss, with a couple of quick free response questions effectively determining 50% of your grade. Either you do perfect on them or you basically get ten or so points off your overall grade. Very painful. I also found him to be rude and slightly full of himself. That wasn't all that bad. I think most of the reason I didn't get an A in his class is that he made it difficult to figure out exactly what he wanted you to know. For example, he had no practice tests or anything set out for student use. Would not recommend.
I really don't like Dr. Atkinson. His tests are very hot or miss, with a couple of quick free response questions effectively determining 50% of your grade. Either you do perfect on them or you basically get ten or so points off your overall grade. Very painful. I also found him to be rude and slightly full of himself. That wasn't all that bad. I think most of the reason I didn't get an A in his class is that he made it difficult to figure out exactly what he wanted you to know. For example, he had no practice tests or anything set out for student use. Would not recommend.