Mendel, Norman  

Probably the most relaxed easy going teacher here. He made Plato, Locke, and Mill interesting, and always let us out early. We had three papers and a final, all very straight forward from the lectures. He told us what would be on the final ahead of time, and was great at clarifying students questions. Take him if you can get him, he's great!

I had a really difficult time with the lectures; he taught some interesting things, but the majority of the time I couldn't see how it related directly to the book we were reading. Once I started my own study, it was fine. The essays are fairly easy, and for the final we had to write 4 short essays (difficult, but doable.) Overall, take him for a laidback class, but I wished I would've been taught more in depth.

Definately try to get Mendel for Philosophy. Your grade is based on three essays (or one long one if the class chooses that) and an essay question final. I probably read a few chapters of each book and paid minimal attention in class and I got A's on all my essays. The main thing is to write a lot of your own opinion and just relate it to the philosophers views. You have to go to pretty much every class (he takes attendance) and they're boring as hell. I recommend bringing a crossword puzzle. By the way, his class is really easy to crash. He tries to let in as many as possible, even if he has to change rooms.

If you're not a fan of Philosophy, you'll probably enjoy this class. If you are, like myself, then this class probably will not give you too much. It's redeeming grace is its ease. Three essays and a final, and the essays are not graded for content so much as evidence that you put some thought into them. It's not at all difficult to walk out of the class with an A if you're careful to stay on message while writing essays and include your own beliefs. As for Professor Mendel, he's a decent guy, but he doesn't exactly deliver on his promise of making the class discussion-driven. He does tend to tell the same stories over and over (ask him about the doctor wanting to jump off a building--it's not a particularly good story, but you might as well get it over with), and he doesn't always stop for student input, so often he ends up giving a monologue. For someone unfamiliar with the ideas but interested in them, it would probably be valuable, but I had already read Plato and was fairly well-versed with Locke and Mill, so I had a difficult time paying attention. Critical thinking is important here, but critical reading isn't--you only have to get the broad strokes of the philosophers' views, and he goes over all the essay prompts in class, so there's no need to worry about not coming up with material. Ultimately, he is a pretty good teacher, and not too tough either, so he's an ideal for the intellectually-uncurious GE student, or someone who isn't comfortable in a capital-P Philosophy class, but if you're familiar with the material and want a bit of a challenge you might look elsewhere. Anyone? Okay.

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This is one of the best professors at Cal Poly. He REALLY just wants his students to learn. I enjoyed his lectures and learned a lot about Judaism. I would reccomend EVERYONE to take him, hands down the best teacher ever!

This was an interesting class, and it was always a low-key, informal setting. It was wonderful because there are no multiple choice tests- only two essays and then a written, take-home final. Going to class wouldn't be necessary, but he does take attendance. The books were somewhar drawn-out and could be overwhelming at times- I started reading them but ended up not and it didn't affect me at all in terms of being unprepared- he goes over everything in lecture and the reading is supposed to be supplemental. Definitely gives you a general overview on Judaism, and he is one of the nicest professors you will have. Make sure you do more than he says to on the assignments- he will make it seem like no big deal and then he will grade hard. Don't drop the ball on the final, either- even if it seems like no big deal, it is worth 40% of your grade. I had an A going into the final and ended up with a B+ (and I am not even really sure why, but I didn't put quite as much effort into this one, so actually that is probably my answer right there.) Doesn't take too much work and it is a good class to have if you have an otherwise difficult courseload.

This is the nicest professor you will ever meet! He cares so much about his students and is really understanding. Go to class, pay attention in lecture, and do thourough take home assignments. The midterm and final were also take home which was awesome, but again, be sure to be thourough. He wants to make sure you learned something in his class! But I would definitely recommend taking this class, he is a cool guy!

I do not care if you want an easy grade. Do not take this class. It is meaningless. I learned NOTHING. His grading is so random! I had no idea what he would come up with for any of my papers. It depends on when he grades them, whether it is at 4 am or 6 am..... nice guy, awful lecturer

In this class students were required to give a presentation, write a research paper, take an at-home final, and take an in-class final. I received an A on everything but got a B on the final. Ended up with an A-. Bullshit.

Take this class as your GE requirement. You're going to have one take home midterm where he gives you six topics and you have to write on four of them. No real length requirement just write till you've explained yourself. There is also a 3000 word essay although mine was only about 2500 and I got an A on it. You can really write on anything related to social ethics that you want to. The final is basically the same as the midterm but in class. For all of these you just need to express your point of view and back it up with logic. There is also a presentation that you can give on any topic related to social ethics. It follows roughly the same format as the essays. Don't get caught up in regurgitating what the book says or simply presenting facts. He really wants to hear your opinion mostly. I found the books pretty interesting but I really like philosophy although I did about 1/3 of the recomended reading and had no problem getting an A on anything. He takes roll so you have to come to class but I enjoyed coming to the class. My main problem was that there was nothing due till the 7th week and then everything started coming due. I tend to procrastinate a lot so it kinda stressed the end of my quarter but I still think Mendel is perhaps my favorite teacher so far at Poly. Also a lot of people didn't like the class cause there was very little structure to it and he gives you a lot of freedom to write and present on whatever you want.

If you need solid structure this is not the class for you. It is a very interesting class and the instructor is great. You have a group project and two papers. You are given a list of topics and just told to write the paper about a social ethic. Sounds easy, unless you need a structured assignment. Overall, I would recomend the class. Mendel is a great guy. You gotta show up, too. It is part of how your grade is determined. By the way, there is no set amount of points in which the assignments are worth.

the best part about any ethics class is that there is no right or wrong answer. dr. mendel was so awesome in that he basically lets you think what you want and as long as you can back up what you say, you're fine. it helps if he knows your name so speak up in class and drop by office hours every so often. lecture can get a little slow-paced and boring but he let us out half an hour early EVERY TIME! how rad is that?? your grade is based on a midterm where you have to write 5 mini essays (2 pages each), a 5 minute oral presentation on any ethical topic you choose, and a final composed of i think 6 or 7 mini essays. He lets you take the midterm home so you can research all you want to make your argument stronger and let us bring in 2 pages of notes for the final essays (and gave us the topics before hand). i have never enjoyed a class more than phil 339. i knew this class would be rad from the get-go... 15 people wanted to crash the 30 person class and dr. mendel got the room changed to accomodate all the extra students. it sucks that phil 339 is only offered once every year or two, so take advantage of it if it's being offered!

Dr. Mendel is an EXCELLENT lecturer. Let's just say I never got bored listening to him lecture for the 1 1/2 hour class. He presents the material so well and makes it so interesting. His class is really easy if you put in the effort, 1 midterm, 1 oral presentation, and a decent (essay-writing) final. He is a nice guy and he cares about his students.

Professor Mendel is a wondeful teacher. He was perfect to teach this class because he has been on so many hospital ethics boards and really knows what he is talking about. He has a great deal of experience in this subject so he can offer alot of personal stories and examples. Some people may not like him as much because his teaching is a bit unorthodox. He doesnt assign page numbers to read or have an absolute class structure, but he explains why on the first day of class. The reason is that biomedical ethics is such an interesting and broad subject so we need to keep our syllabus flexible so we can talk about what we find more interesting and only skim things that are not as interesting to us. Besides you never know what kind of bioethical decisions are big in the news throughout the quarter and you might want to focus on it. The work load is not bad at all. We had alot of freedom with our essays. He doesnt grade too difficultly, as long as you try to grasp the ethical problem and give your two cents. He asks the most interesting questions, that really get you to think. I really wish he were a full time teacher. If anyone ever gives him a bad review, it is probably because they are used to the kind of structure given in other classes with a set schedule and page numbers. FOr this class, it requires an open mind. Alot of the time, there is not right or wrong answer... so if you are one of those people that are anal about structure and being able to give the "right answer" dont take this class. Go take statistics or something instead.

Dr. Mendel is a wonderful person. He has a great personality and it was a pleasure to be able to sit in his class.

Dr. Mendel has a terrific personality. He was never a bore to listen to and you can tell he truly cares about the students. That said, I doubt I learned anything in this class. There are three 1000-word essays where you can choose between different topics. I'm not sure if he even reads these. He is easily, and I mean really easily, swayed by the students. We asked for an extension on the midterm and he gave us a full 2 week extension. While I appreciate his kindness, I feel like my time was wasted on this course. If you are looking for an easy A, this is the class for you. But don't expect to learn anything about Biomedical Ethics.

Dr. Mendel is a really nice guy and a good professor. 3- 1,000 word essays, 1 midterm, and 1 in-class final. The best advice i can give is to cite sources and back up reasons with specific examples in the essays. Pretty easy class, a bit boring at times but he always let us out 1/2 an hour early. Take mendel if you can.

Biomedical Ethics was a very interesting class, and Dr. Mendel taught it very well. If you take this class with him, definitely emphasize your final exam grade and don't spend too much time on your other essays. The 2 hour blue-book essay final is worth over half of your final grade. A solid A going into the final and a B on the final got me a B+. If you like predictable grading take someone else. However, this arbitrary grading seems to be standard for most essay-style CLA classes that I've taken, so just expect it.

Mendel SUCKS. If you actually came to college to learn anything avoid mendel. He gets good evaluations because he teaches nothing and expects nothing. He doesn't read the papers that are written and grades arbitrarily. Rambles on and on about nothing. His class is a waste of time. If your just taking his class in order to fit some well earned nap time into your schedule this class is a good choice for you. No need to read. Sleep through class and write down some bullshit in essay form and your good to go.

Dr. Mendel is not a good professor. The class topics are interesting and the class should continue to be taught but by a different teacher. Dr. Mendel's lecturing is very biased so not all sides of a topic are shown and it's an ethics class so many points of view should be shown and left for the students to decide what they think. He gives grades on assingments not percentage points or points out of 100. We had a speech to give for our final and Dr. Mendel was falling asleep through the 2 1/2 hours so who knows what he actually heard and how he then was able to grade each presentation. Take this class but only with a different instructor.