Shelton, Mark  

I took People, Pests, and Plagues (PPSC 110) with Dr. Shelton as our lecture professor. I was hesitant at first, but I think it was a great alternative to general bio. The class was super easy to go to and Shelton always kept it interesting. He posted the powerpoints online and you didn't have to go to lecture, but it definitely helped because he stressed the most important topics that would show up on midterms and quizzes. The final contained some pretty obscure questions. Overall a great course and great teacher. Bonus: no book was required.

I had Shelton for PPSC 110 and absolutely loved his class. He is a kind, understanding teacher who truly wants his students to succeed. He is passionate about his field and made the class interesting and enjoyable. He is extremely understanding if you communicate effectively with him, especially if you are going to miss a class. He posts his all of his lectures on line which is nice in case you do have to miss, but be sure to still get the class notes from someone as he goes into more detail during lectures, most of which is on the quizzes and finals. The midterms and final were difficult, but as long as you pay attention during lectures they aren't too bad. There is a term paper which seems daunting but Shelton offers corrective advice one your first draft and as long as you follow his suggestions you're bound to earn a good grade. I would definitely recommend Shelton, he's an excellent professor.

Dr. Shelton is the nicest guy you'll ever meet! He is also the fastest grader, you don't have to wait more than a couple days to get grades back. I have a terrible fear of bugs but this class helped me get over it a little. There is a lot of information we are expected to know, and Dr. Shelton is extremely detailed on quizzes and exams, but it's doable. You MUST show up to class, a lot of quiz and test questions are based on what he says during lecture and the only way you'll know it is if you go to class. The lab is a piece of cake, as long as you follow instructions, you'll get A's on lab assignments. Overall, great professor and interesting class, but a lot of studying is required (but there's no hw except for one paper).

Great individual and a smart professor. With that being said, he expects way too much from his students. The questions on his tests come from his powerpoints and lectures in class. His exam and quiz questions are super specific, so make sure to memorize basically each slide. His final for this class was ridiculous; the final was cumulative (150 questions) and the total number of powerpoint slides were around 600 slides to memorize. I came into this class expecting an easy A, but ended up getting a C+. He will definitely not curve your grade if you are on the border. Overall, this teacher was excellent at presenting material, but he expects way too much from his students (most of us are just trying to get our B2 and B4 GE done). Interesting class to say the least.

Professor Shelton is an awesome person and teacher, he is really passionate about the class and cares a lot about his students. In order to get a good grade you have to go to class (he does put his powerpoints online), and pay attention because test and quiz questions tend to be specific details from what he lectures on. You get to choose your own subject for your research paper and as long as you put effort in he will see that and give you a good grade. The labs are really interesting and you get the opportunity to really experience hands on learning. I would definitely recommend this class!

He's a great professor if you are obsessed with bugs. If you don't, you're fucked

Doc Shelton is rad for AEPS 110. Super easy GE class. Two midterms, a collection of bugs outside of class that is due at the end of quarter, some labs, a couple quizzes, and a lab practical and final are the entire class. Literally just regurgitating information. He lectures at mach speed but his powerpoints are always available online. Would def recommend him and his class for a B2 B4 GE.

Doc Shelton is the man. I have never really liked sciences classes, but he definitely made learning about bugs interesting. Class is very straightforward with a 3 quizzes, a midterm, final, insect collection, and lab practical. As long as you show up and take very good notes during lecture (watch out, he goes very quickly through slides), then you'll be in good shape. One of my favorite things about him is that he'd curve assignments that no one did very well on. Dude loves what he does and is very passionate about the subject.

Dr. Shelton is a nice person, but beware of his grading system. He doesn't give +/- grades, which is great for the lower end, but bad for the upper end. Overall, the class was okay. Dr. Shelton tends to lecture pretty quickly, but he does post his presentation slides onto Polylearn. The midterm and final did contain some specific material, so be sure to study the slides and/or take good notes.

Professor Shelton is a really chill dude. He's not going to go out of his way to help you, because his classes are big and he only has a limited amount of time. The ones who come to him for help or even just to talk are the people he will notice that care. First of all, come to to the lectures. While this may be fairly obvious, I noticed there were a large amount of people during the final exam that I had never seen before, and it probably didn't go well for them. Showing up and taking notes on the lecture slides is the way to go, as he sometimes includes things not on the slides while hinting they may be on the next quiz/test. There are a few quizzes throughout the quarter, they're not difficult at all, but they are usually about fairly specific details from the lectures. The two tests (midterm and final) are long, and they're questions where you either know it or don't. That being said, I found the tests quite easy for the lost part, and I only studied the night before for both. Give all your notes a good lookover, maybe make some flash cards (especially to help memorize the insect orders), and you'll do fine. There's also a bug collection throughout the quarter, in which you collect various orders of insects. This was the hardest part of the class, as it's something you can't study for or find in the internet. I would recommend going out early and looking for bugs, as I think I waited a bit too long to start looking with my partner and our grade was a little hurt by this. Not a hard task, perhaps just a bit tedious. Pro tip: go for the most insect orders possible, as those get the most points. In review: Come to lecture Take good notes at lecture Start looking for bug specimens early on Look over your notes in detail before tests and quizzes. Talk to Professor Shelton, he's a cool guy and he'll tend to help you more if he likes you!

I recently took AEPS 110 (previously PPSC 110) with Professor Shelton, and I really enjoyed my time in the class. I received an A in his class, but it wasn't an "easy A" like many of the people who take this class expect. Professor Shelton is very accommodating in office hours and genuinely wants his students to succeed. I was stuck in the health center and missed one of his lectures, and he helped me find someone from class that had detailed notes from his lecture. The class consists of three quizzes, a midterm, a final, two or three lab activities, a bug collection, an essay, and a cumulative final. This class is very manageable with some hard work, and you MUST show up to lecture in order to truly succeed in the class. His slides are online, but he actually adds material to them and elaborates on his slides in class. I would estimate that only looking at the slides might give you 40 percent of the material needed for the tests. Print his slides out and write on them! The bug collection is manageable, but try to get a good partner and get started early. Search for quizlets online or make your own for this class; they're really helpful for learning the orders and the material. He also lets you revise your essay that you turn in after you do a draft. If you take his advice and do your citations correctly, you're looking at easy points. My biggest piece of advice would be to show up and expect to do a little bit of hard work for this class. Previous reviews mention that the midterms and finals are hard since they come right out of the slides. I received a high A on both the midterm and the final, simply due to the fact that I attended all the lectures, printed his slides and wrote notes on them, and made quizlets to review. This class isn't rocket science, and I've learned so much. Don't let reviews from people who didn't do enough work deter you! Shelton is awesome and this class was a highlight in my class schedule. Be diligent and ask him for help! I'm walking away with an A from a fun GE, and I promise that anyone who got into Cal Poly can do well (B or higher) with some hard work and diligence. Take Shelton! Good luck!

Okay, I'm going to start off with the stuff most of you want to hear first. This class (AEPS 110) is a good way to fulfill your B2 elective. It's not really hard as long as you attend class and pay attention to what he says (as quite a bit of his midterm and final comes from things he said but didn't necessarily put on the lecture slides). Really, though, you shouldn't expect to pass a class if you don't attend or pay attention, so this shouldn't be a shocker. Study key terms that you have difficulty remembering, and you'll be fine. As for the labs, you do dissect a grasshopper in the beginning. The rest of the labs are mostly observational, and a lot of time is given to collecting and completing your insect collection project. You will have to euthanize insects, if that is something which concerns you on moral/religious/other grounds. Now here's what really amazed me about the class. Many people came into AEPS 110 with a terrible fear of anything with an exoskeleton. I was lucky I was not one of them, but over the course of the quarter, I witnessed an amazing change in those around me. Dr. Shelton somehow--maybe it was his overwhelming enthusiasm, or his eagerness to answer questions, or his personal demonstrations handling insects, or the variety of other things he does oh so well--managed to all near eliminate the phobias faced by the majority of his students. People who were afraid to even go near a spider were catching them enthusiastically by the end of the quarter. Those afraid of bees were staring over a cluster of buzzing Hymenoptera, putting a gloved hand down to touch the colony. I have never in my life witnessed such an awesome change in such a large group of people. My only possible explanation is that Mark Shelton is a superhero, or that he has mind control powers, or... You could go take the easiest biology GE with some teacher that isn't even there half the time and gives out online tests twice a quarter that require nothing but the use of a single brain cell, OR you could take AEPS 110 with Dr. Shelton and learn about an unexplored world you didn't even know existed. Although, if you're the type of student who prefers the former, then just go do that and leave a spot open for someone who will appreciate how wonderful this course is.

If you’re incredibly lazy or terrible at memorizing things then this isn’t the class for you. HOWEVER, if you want a class where you: learn a ton about a totally foreign subject, explore parts of campus you typically don’t, potentially get over a fear of bugs, and be taught by an amazing professor take this class. Content wise there’s 3 quizzes, a midterm, paper, bug collection, and final. In terms of testing it’s all very straight forward and just like a regular bio class in terms of all memorization-based content. Sorry lazy ones, but you have to go to his class (but it’s enjoyable 9.9/10 times so get over it). Doc Shelton is astoundingly knowledgeable, super down to earth, and truly cares about his students (and his family which speaks a lot to his character). He manages to make learning about bugs an enjoyable experience and I promise you will leave his class full of fun facts! I would take this class again in a heartbeat- I learned a ton and can’t say enough great things about doc as a person/professor.

If you are not good at memorization, avoid this class at all costs. Mark is a nice guy who is more than willing to help his students out if they have any questions. The class was much harder than expected and I went to every single lecture/lab. Every lecture is him reading off a powerpoint which he posts online. There are quizzes every 4 weeks or so that you will not pass if you weren't in class. He says things in his lectures that you can't get off of the slides. There was one short paper but my real problem was with the bug collection. If you are signing up for this class, start on your bug collection as soon as possible. I cannot stress how much I wished I would've just gotten it done in the beginning of the quarter instead of waiting until the last minute. A lot of the bugs are not ones you can find in a common environment (lice, flea, tick) so it is worth it to start on it early. There is a midterm and a final both of which are multiple choice. Everyone does better on the final than on the midterm and he will likely curve your grade if you are on the edge and email him. Wasn't the worst class I've ever taken but I certainly wouldn't take it again.

Dr.Shelton is a great individual. I had him for AG-452. The class is one of a kind. We had leading agricultural experts coming in every week to speak to us about their respective fields as well as to address their thoughts on the top agricultural issues facing California. It also involved presenting as part of a group in front of a crowd of industry professionals who know their stuff, so you have to be on your 'A' game! This presentation is done towards the end of the quarter and you literally prepare for it during the weeks preceding it. This course has been the most influential that I have taken at Cal Poly and I highly recommend it to people that are serious about agriculture. You will gain so much from this class. I could go on forever about how much it will change the way you view the top issues in agriculture and how government really works but I'll let that part of it be a surprise for those who are lucky enough to take Ag-452. You will learn a lot!!!! And you will enjoy Dr.Shelton as an instructor! He is very fair, kind, straightforward, quick to grade and provide feedback, humorous, and thorough in his teaching approach. The course is not hard, but it does involve that you do a lot of research on whatever ag issue you're assigned. Lastly, you have to be selected to be a part of this course. You literally have to apply and get chosen and to apply, you have to be recommended!!! Yea, its that serious! :)