PSYC BC2151

group projects and an individual case analysis

P10 pg planning paper, 15 page written proposal, 15 minute presentation, all with the team,...8 pg indiv final paper and a final exam....a LOT of busy work with no real reward---avoid it.

3 group project assignments (you don't get to choose your group so good luck), some reflections, readings (you don't have to read). Presentations. You have to come to class because she takes attendance. Overall, there are classes that are better than this one. She is a really engaging presenter, but teacher, not so much. So far in my experience, this is by far, the worst psychology class I have ever taken. Personality wise she is very nice and inclusive.

Take this class! Honestly, this was the best class I've ever taken at Columbia. Professor Cruz truly organizes the class in a way that allows you to learn more about your learning style. He showed that he genuinely cared about the well-being and personal growth of each and every student in the class. If you keep up with the assignments, there is no reason why you can't do well. He is a generous grader, so grades shouldn't be an issue if you put in the work. If you do take this class though, I recommend not coming in with the mindset of just getting a good grade. You'll get so much more out of the experience if you come in genuinely wanting to learn, instead of just being focused on how many points you have. I was truly blown away at the end of the course. He gave a heartfelt speech that really tied together everything we learned. I never thought I would ever take a course that would make me cry for a reason that wasn't related to grades, but Professor Cruz proved me wrong. My only regret is not going to his office hours to get to know him more as a person.

I read so many great reviews for this course that I could not be more dissappointed. Be prepared to sit through three hours of meaningless common sense business environment advice like "when giving feedback do it in a constructive way, dont attack"...also the professor couldnt be less interesting to listen to. The reading is useless except to have the jargon. You spend three months in a team with three other people making up a fake business proposal (that you get no instruction on and has nothing to do with class readings, be prepared for an unfair grade for the written portion). All in all a really annoying, frustrating experience for what could be a great class. The fault lies on the professor and her selected readings.

Lectures were engaging enough where I would go to class at 7:40pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but the Professor is so disorganized. She did not provide us enough information for assignments such as where to submit assignments and courseworks was a hot mess. It is May 7th, and I haven't received a single grade from her (given we had multiple assignments we already finished). Until today, she posted on courseworks submission dropboxes but she put an assignment down that was not even talked about in class and we don't have key information to even start it.

2 position papers on lecture relevant topics readings for every class; you can get away with not doing most of them, but there are a few that are really important (you'll get it, he mentions them over and over) midterm and final a ton of small group projects 2 group case studies 1 individual case study

--there is a TON of assigned reading, almost none of which is required in earnest. i would do one or two of the assigned readings, or just skim a few random pages. sometimes i wouldnt do anything to prepare, and i still had no trouble being an active memeber of the class discussion. bsing is EASY here. try and look like you're paying attention, a little creative thought and some good synonyms go a long way. --weekly reading that could choke a horse, group project (dont ask), final paper, final essay-style exam, oh and a participation grade! hooray for teachers who feel like taking attendance is a good way to make people want to show up and get them enthused about joining the class discussion --the group project is potentially a nightmare. she appoints the groups, there is no way to guarantee input from other group members--you cant fire anyone or force them to do a fair amount of work, or if they do have an input, there is no guarantee that it will be near the quality of work that you would be comfortable with turning in. do i sound like im speaking from experience? not horrible, because there is limited crediblity in the field itself. most professional business psychologists make things up out of thin air, so its easy for you to do the same

This is literally the best class I have taken in my four years at Columbia. Worth every minute I spent learning the material, working on assignments, and meeting with Mateo. If you have the option to take this class, you absolutely should. The two reviews below are accurate 100%: The material is interesting and relevant to life after graduation. Lectures are organized and class expectations are very clear. Mateo's personal interest in every student is strong and he's willing to set up meetings to discuss not only classwork, but future career paths, and life in general. I can't say much else that hasn't already been said, except that I hope Mateo gets a gold nugget soon: he deserves it.

I want to start off by saying that the other reviews of this professor are naieve at best. --the course topic is interesting, engaging and pop-culturally relevant but not academic (or not presented in an academic way) at all. there is a limit to how well/much one can teach the virtues of good business. it's like training someone to have a better sense of humor. maybe it could work, sort of. and there's no way it's going to be a complete success. --the class is so long, it verges on torture. people spent copious time doodling, text-messaging and playing games like minesweeper, to give you an idea of what might be more entertaining than the lecture itself --the first half of class is generally a lecture. kammrath addresses the class as if they were in approximately the 7th grade. there are some cool things you learn about business dynamics, but the entire course is devoted to sugar coating concepts and abstracting real ideas so much so that they beocme vague/weak/misunderstood --incredibly annoying 'target' language that becomes the rule rather than the exception. no offensive words, nothing that inherently implies a conflict, distrust or failure. --the second half of the class is an activity that is geared at driving the lecture topic home. it resembles a psych lab. the activities are sometimes enjoyable, definately better than listening to the lecture, but everyone takes them…