PHIL V1401

Nine homework assignments - they each take less than an hour. Weekly reading assignments--you don't have to do them if you can intuitively understand the material. Three in-class exams, one after each segment. NO cumulative Final Exam.

Course grading is broken down by 3 equally weighted exams (30% each), and 10% for homework assignments. Homework is done via 4 software programs that come with the textbook, Language Proof & Logic, which allows a server at Stanford to grade the assignments (instead of the TAs having to grade them manually - great for them, not so much for the students). The software is terrible, in that it is not intuitive to navigate and quite buggy; print functions don't work, submissions often result in vague error messages, etc. Having to do the work then enter into and try to submit through these programs results in a huge time investment. You receive almost full credit just for submitting the file, even if it's wrong (8 out of 10 points), but if you want to learn the material in the course, the homework is extremely important to do correctly. I have no problem investing hours doing my homework, but do have a problem wasting time with bad software. Lastly, several of the more time consuming homework problems don't map to the material covered on exams, so are pretty much a time-consuming waste of time. The workload and level of difficulty ramp up significantly from the first exam to the last.

Weekly homework problem sets, two exams, final. Exams are easier than the problems in the homework. Not especially difficult.

Keeping in mind this was a six-week summer session, the course load required working on problem sets each night, quizzes every week (one is dropped) and two exams. She is an extremely fair grader and sometimes offers extra points on quizzes and exams.

Weekly homeworks, 2 midterms, and a final. If you go to class and do the homework, you will have no problem with the tests (there are no surprises. completely straightfoward and fair.) Not at all difficult to do well in this class.

Elementary Logic is NOT a difficult course. But Daniel Rothschild (despite his pleasant nature and good intentions) does not communicate very well. He is, clearly, a new teacher. And he did improve over the course of the semester. So he may become a better instructor in future semesters... But, for now, if you are going to take this class--and you do not have a background in formal logic or programming--be prepared to learn from the book because the lectures are too freakin' confusing. Rothschild actually says things like, "I know that what I just said didn't make any sense..." and "I'm glad I'm not a student in this class!" Comments like that are honest, charming and self-deprecating. But they don't help you learn the material! I think he knows that he isn't the best communicator, though, so he keeps the exams basic and pretty easy. All you need to do to get an easy "A" is do the homework and pick up the basics. Also, if you are TOO confused after class to BEAR going forward, Rothschild and the TAs have plentiful and flexible Office Hours. They are ALL very nice! And they go out of their way to be helpful.

If you can't afford a tutor, don't take Intro to Logic with Karen Lewis. Just don't.

I took this class to fulfill my QR requirement, and have no background in either philosophy, cs or math. After everything I had read on Culpa, I thought this intro class would be quite good, even enjoyable. Boy, was I mistaken. All other reviews notwithstanding, this professor clearly has absolutely no interest in teaching this course currently. This is a shame, as I had spoken directly to two of his previous students who raved about him, and can see where it would be interesting subject matter if I didn't have to literally teach it to myself with the help of a tutor (which I pay for out of my own pocket). The major problem is that Professor Morrison doesn't teach. He distributes slides before class, then posts the slides up on a projector and reads them, word for word, to the class. When he's done reading, class is over, which usually occurs about 40 minutes early. Class that's scheduled to last for 80 minutes usually ends in about 35-40 minutes. While many students might think it's great to get out early, I would prefer to actually be taught the material and the methods behind doing things like proofs, not have someone read me his slides verbatim then slip out when class is barely half over. He does ask before he concludes if anyone has any questions, but is generally met with blank stares, so takes this as meaning everyone magically absorbed the material he just read to the…

Prof. Mendelson is a great professor- she is intelligent, patient, willing to answer questions, and very available for students. Although she has not taught logic for awhile, she explained the concepts clearly. This class presents an introduction to formal logic and is great for students with no logic experience (such as myself). The only time this presents a problem is when students aren't paying attention when things are explained, or simply don't get it, and ask lots of questions that detract from the actual presentation of the material. However, with weekly office hours and the weekly "logic hour" just for our class, Prof. Mendelson made plenty of time to answer students' questions. Overall, a dry class (what do you expect?), but a great way to fulfill the Q&DR requirement. Good if you plan to take the higher level logic course and don't have any logic experience.

Professor McIntyre is an intelligent, patient and dedicated professor who teaches Logic with enthusiasm. When we moved on from Sentential Logic to Predicate Logic, she tells us: “You should all be very exited about this, now you can write real sentences. She takes the time to tell you why a concept is important from a philosophical point of view and doesn’t focus on Logic from a “mathematical perspective – something I valued as a math-phobic student. She treats everyone with respect, is willing to answer any question, and makes herself available to every student. She even offers extended office hours before exams. If you “don’t get it, all you have to do is ask – and she’ll explain things until you do understand. She really cares about her students. I would recommend taking this class during the Fall/Spring semesters – or perhaps during a longer summer session. I found it difficult to keep up with the pace of the six-week summer session.