POLS15 . 1 Year, 5 Months Ago
Prof. Mahdavi has extensive knowledge of Research Methods in Political science and offers great examples. Lectures are clear, especially for tough course content. Assignments include 4-5 coding problem sets - I strongly suggest you work with friends in the class - as well as a midterm and final. Keep up and pay attention and you will succeed.
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POLS15 . 1 Year, 7 Months Ago
Professor Mahdavi seems to be the only political science professor at UCSB with any quantitative skills. The class is hard in terms of math for a political science class, but very easy if you have any prior understanding of basic statistics. Coding is in R studio and is pretty trivial.
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POLS15 . 1 Year, 8 Months Ago
Prof Mahdavi is an awesome professor! He really wants his students to succeed and everything he does is very fair. Lectures are super helpful and same with the coding labs, so for sure go to class and section if you want to do well. He also gives so many extra credit opportunities which was great.
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POLS15 . 1 Year, 8 Months Ago
I won't lie, the class is hard. That being said, he makes sure to take his time combing through hard concepts and ensuring that students truly understand them. His grading criteria is very clear: it relies primarily on weekly problem sets, which you have ample time to complete. He's also incredibly helpful in office hours, would def take again
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POLS15 . 2 Years Ago
Boring lectures; doesn't make coding any easier or exciting to learn. It's a required class, so do your best and get it over with...
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POLS15 . 2 Years Ago
He's great. Does a great job of making intimidating material understandable. Much of the grading came from weekly problem sets with R, which aren't difficult but can take time and you MUST do them to pass. Midterm and final were just like the problem sets. Definitely take him for 15 if you can!
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POLS15 . 3 Years Ago
Would definitely recommend him for this course, went in with no coding experience and still did well. His lectures are very understandable, don't fall behind because there's a LOT of new things to learn almost every week. Get started on the work early/work with others, it'll make your life a lot easier. Posts midterm/final reviews in advance
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POLS15 . 4 Years Ago
Mahdavi was the only professor I had last quarter that was on top of his work! Half of your grade is dependent on the homework. Grading is super subjective because it depends on your TA. R is intimidating at first, but Mahdavi makes it really easy to learn. It was stressful at times, but watch lectures, go to section, and work with people.
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POLS15 . 4 Years Ago
ABSOLUTE G he adjusted to online so well and gave so many opportunities for extra credit. was really kind and actually cared and did such a good job explaining material in lectures. kind of a tough grader but totally makes up for it with extra credit. ended up making the final optional in light of everything because he really cared about us
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PS206 . 4 Years Ago
Professor Mahdavi is really good at explaining materials. He gives super useful advice and is very accessible. Nobody should be scared of R or stats with him helping out!
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PS15 . 4 Years Ago
He explains material very well. Lectures were enjoyable and engaging. Helped me understand how to code in R, no small feat. Would take again!
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PS15 . 4 Years Ago
Prof. Mahdavi really is a statistic wiz with the ability to communicate this material effectively to students. He is also very approachable and helpful during office hours. Hard class, but if you do the work, it is definitely passable with this guy.
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PS15 . 4 Years Ago
GREAT PROFESSOR! Hard class, but it's the material, not his fault. Makes it understandable and is very helpful.
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PS15 . 4 Years Ago
He is a new professor and to be honest does not have the proper teaching skill to teach a class as hard as this one. We had more homework and harder tests than my other friends who took PS15 before. We had a whole extra problem set! Other than that his grading scale is based on checks and not actual grades, for the sets, which was very confusing.
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