Belinda Archibong

● 2 Essays: 20% each ● 1 Debate: 25% ● 1 Final Exam: 20% ● 3 Short Quizzes: 10% (lowest score was dropped) ● Participation/Discussion: 5% Grading is pretty generous, besides on objective things like 3 short quizzes and MC section of the final exam.

3 HW, 1 Midterm, 1 Final (Cumulative), A group paper+presentation on a topic of your choice

Reading one unit from CORE econ textbook online (free thank god) each week. I didn't read it and most people didn't but it helps sometimes. 1 Debate (very chill) 2 Tests Biweekly problem sets that are mostly very easy but have a couple confusing problems

I think Prof. Archibong is a very interesting and engaging teacher. Yet, I did not think that her teaching style and slides prepared students well for the quizzes and final exam. The assignment that is weighed most heavily is the debate -- each student has to participate in one debate during the semester. Pretty easy to do well in the debate if your team prepares and if you practice your parts. There are also 3 quizzes (lowest grade is dropped), 2 essays, a participation grade, and a final exam (split between MC and short answer). She posted her lecture slides and recorded each lecture, but the slides were not informative. You had to either go to class or watch the lecture to actually understand. There are a LOT of readings posted, but most people don't read them as everything you need to know is gone over in class. There are many opportunities for "extra credit" throughout the semester, but keep in mind that the extra credit is allotted to the 5% participation grade, not to each individual assignment. The two essays are pretty straight-forward, but make sure to really research the question and go to office hours with the TA or the professor to talk about your arguments. The take-home final was super challenging, especially the multiple choice. Most of the questions were "trick" questions that were super hard to get wrong if you were relying on the slides alone. The average fo…

She's not the worst but she's far from the best professor you can have. Take her class if you don't have better options. I think in most aspects she was alright. I found her lectures boring and unengaging, but I know that wasn't the sentiment across the class. Some people really liked her lecture style and thought it was engaging. The workload for her class I would say is very reasonable. There are 3 homework each spaced out with decent time in between and not too long. The GIS portion of the homework can be time-consuming but the ERC workshop videos are helpful enough to get anyone through it without much trouble. There's one midterm and one final. Both tests are online and she gives the entire day for students to complete it. The tests have two portions: an MC portion and a written portion. Her MC questions can be difficult but overall both exams are passable with a decent amount of studying. And there is a group presentation+paper at the end of the semester on a topic of your choice. There is an overwhelming amount of reading for the class but you can get by just skimming a few of them. The biggest problem with her class is that what she teaches in class is very different from what shows up in HW and her tests. She barely covers math examples in her lectures yet 90% of her HW and tests require math. The math examples she does cover in class hardly help. There are a few of t…

I love Prof. Archibong so much! She is such a caring and patient prof, perfect for a first-year who has no idea about anything econ like me! I personally ended up not liking the subject itself but the class was great! Also, I find her dry humor so funny. She answers every question in class and spends too much time on each sometimes so we fall behind in the slides/lectures. I wouldn't say that's a big deal though what needs to be covered does by the end of the course. I would say it makes her lectures less engaging sometimes. The class has basically no math at all but has SO MANY connections to the daily political issues we see in the US. It's my absolute favorite part because the textbook and course centers on including the inequalities and downsides to the free market system so lauded by the Principles of Economy course at Columbia. She starts off every class by doing a 40 minute class discussion applying the concepts to political issues and current events. Overall, definitely take her if Homa isn't teaching!

Light. Nightly reading (from free online textbook) that everyone says they don't do but I found clear and helpful. Biweekly problem sets that take <1 hour to complete and are graded very leniently. One formal debate with a team, required Speaking Fellow meeting but graded easily and very chill. Two tests, part multiple-choice and part short-answer. Mean flat-curved to a B.

LOVE HER!! Professor Archibong is a super caring, intelligent, and patient teacher and prepares very well for class with organized and clear PowerPoints. I do indeed understand the basics of "economic reasoning" and how to apply them to a variety of situations, theoretical and real (every class opened with a casual mini-debate/discussion of current events and how they related to the textbook topics). Definitely a great course to spark interest in the field and nurture budding majors. Would recommend for anyone looking for a good understanding and a manageable workload/grading. I wish Prof didn't shy away from the quantitative aspects of econ so violently--all it took was one comment from one student about how calculus was scary/hard and she would immediately say nothing math-related would be on the midterm/final. But econ is full of math, isn't it? Shouldn't we be able to do more than the occasional calculation? I'm afraid I won't be as well-equipped to handle higher-level courses as students who took Principles at Columbia, which I've heard is more math-intensive. One warning: She sometimes takes too long answering questions so we get behind in the syllabus, but never changes HW due dates so some questions on the HW we had never covered in class. Overall the combination of a passionate and accessible teacher/TA, light workload, and interesting topic makes for a very enjoyable…