Valencia-Laver, Debra  

She is a very nice lady who tries her best to be helpful. However, it doesn't really seem like she knows what she is talking about most of the time. She says the words "anyway, um, actually, and again" a lot and she will start to explain something and then say "never mind" because she realizes that she isnt making any sense. Overall, its not even necessary to take notes on her lectures, there is hardly and work to do, and a very easy A

Ms. Laver is a very very nice lady. Although she is nice she does not know how to get her lectures across to students. She gets lost in her own notes, and repeats words like "Ok, Good" and half way through her lecture she will say "Ok, Moving On" and will not explain what she just said because she gets lost. Their is 10 concept checks and a essay at the end. Overall their is no reason to go to class, and just do good on the midterms.

Sometimes Debra talks in circles in class, but she is cool with student comments/questions, so if she's not really answering your question, don't be afraid to rephrase, and if you don't understand something she says in lecture, don't be afraid to stop her to tell her you don't understand. She can be a little obtuse, but she does make an effort to clarify things when asked. She's good about getting back to students promptly when they e-mail her with concerns, and all the time I went to her during office hours, she was helpful. The book she uses can be a bit hard to understand, so read carefully, and ask questions if need be. Her tests are very hard, even though she gives a pretty thorough study guide, so really prepare for her exams. And because her exams are tough, if she gives a paper and/or has labs, make sure you do well on them! Also make sure you do extra credit if she offers and you are able!

Debra knows her subject very well, but may forget that it is all new to us students. Some of the subject matter seems foreign at first, but you get used to it. I would recommend asking questions to slow her down. She laughs a lot at her own jokes which is kind of funny. Three hard tests, and three very time consuming labs. She's kind of a tough grader on the labs- so do your best! I would recommend taking Psy 329 before you take this class to prepare you for the labs.

This class is very frustrating. The material was really easy but the way she teaches makes class hard and a little annoying. If she were to stick with the important stuff the 2 hour lecture would last about 30 mins. She tends to go off on personal examples which are often long, boring, and usually irrelevant. If the examples aren't personal, they are really confusing in that they don't make sense or aren't logical. I know this seems harsh but I have becoming increasingly frustrated in class to the point that I have considered bringing her up to the department chair. Her reasoning is often illogical and just confuses the class. Lastly, she definately is her own comedian. If one person so much as snickers at something she says, she's off and rolling. She is obviously a good person, just not the best teacher I've had.

First off, you don't ever have to go to this class to pass. She gives you a study guide of the things you need to know for the exam, so just fill it all out and study it, and come on test days. You'll do just fine. I realized that half way through the quarter that you really don't even have to go to class. Secondly, her lectures are very, VERY, boring. She lectured about shit that should only take about 30-45 minutes, yet it ends up taking about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I can't even begin to tell you how boring her lectures are. ONE WORD, BORING!!!!! I got a B though, so I'm cool with that.

She provides an good examples during lecture, she mixes in an occasional joke, and the subject matter is pretty interesting, and she comes to class well prepared. I say all that very truthfully so I can't really explain how she manages to make her lectures so bad. She is nicer person than a good lecturer. If you study her exams are not too bad. The essays you should know ahead of time and be ready for them, but many people found the multiple choice difficult. I would suggest reading the text book. Her labs are graded fairly, just do them completely.

It is usually pretty difficult to pay attention to her lectures, but she does offer a chapter outline which is helpful in studying the material. You can get a lot of the information from the text. This is a difficult class with a lot of writing. Each exam has at least four short essay questions, so it is importaint to be able to discuss each subject well. There are two labs that take some time, but she is very clear with what she expects in the lab guidelines. When she talks about the labs, it can get confusing.

Valencia-Laver is a really nice lady, but she does not know how to teach. Her lectures come straight from the book but she somehow manages to completely confuse all the concepts. She posted lecture outlines on Blackboard to help with note-taking, but again, they only served to further confuse the class because her examples are not helpful or even relevant to the topic. She makes poor use of class time, spends too much engery discussing insignificant details and not enough discussing the overall ideas. She is unable to answer questions in class and is even more unhelpful in office hours. I dreaded going to this class because I knew I would not get anything out of it; You have to go though because she does in-class concept checks worth a fairly significant portion of your grade. Besides exams, there are two written assignments that reminded me of high school busy work. They did not help clarify the concepts, they simply took hours upon hours to complete because she grades on paper length and not content. Overall, I was really disappointed with this class and this professor. It was nothing like I thought it would be. Honestly, I have no clue how I pulled off an A-, she must have curved the grades in the end. If you can, find another professor who teaches this course...good luck

This class dragged on. The tests were challenging, but definately doable. She hands out a study guide before the test and includes essays questions. The tests (one midterm and a final) are about 50 multiple choice questions and four essays. You also get to use a notecard for both tests. Do not bother reading the book, she follows it exactly, but it does help if anything is unclear or you were sleeping during class. If this class is not required for your major, do not take it for "fun." It is your basic lecture class, dry and boring.

As stated by the other students her test do not reflect her lectures at all. What she teaches in class is rarely what is covered. Much of how well you do in the class is based on whether she likes you or not. If you don't suck up to her and make her feel good about herself then you aren't going to do well in the class. Though she might come across as a nice person she is really quite rude when you don't follow what she tells you to do. I have never been treated so rudely and been spoken to in as abrasive a manner as with her. Teachers need to learn to respect students just as they expect respect.

THIS INSTRUCTOR IS AWFUL!! I had her for more than one course, in this course I got a B+, in the other I got an A. Her lectures are disorganized and do not reflect what will be on the test AT ALL!! Most of your grade will be based on how much time you spend in her office (the more the better), she has serious self-esteem issues and wants her ass kissed. DON'T PLAN ON ACTUALLY LEARNING ANYTHING IN HER CLASS!!!!!!!!

Dr. V-L really tries to help you with your senior project. She gives a lot of direction and advice on how to word your paper.I suggest taking her for seminar.