Is overtly qualified and does not come off holier than thou, but the class is hard. He is wonderful at lecturing and explaining and was a very fair grader. Rule above all: communication is key. Great, knowledgeable professor.Rate My Professors ↗
Current instructor
Alvin Thomas
What students say
Original student reviews · all captured dates
This class could be interesting but Dr. Thomas changes his explanations of key terms when students ask clarifying questions in class. His rubrics are wordy and unclear. When I asked questions I did not get clear answers and then got points taken off on big projects. Dr. Thomas also thinks highly of himself and it is very clear in his lectures.Rate My Professors ↗
Dr. Thomas was a good lecturer and I could tell he truly cares about his students. However, he is an extremely tough grader and most of your final grade in the class is dependent on 2 big projects. The grading criteria for these projects is not clear, leading to a lot of confusion about what Dr. Thomas' expectations were.Rate My Professors ↗
Very well educated and passionate about what he teaches but very harsh grader and there is only a few assignments and 2 big projects instead of a final overall not an easy course despite description.Rate My Professors ↗
He's clearly really knowledgeable about the topics he teaches about but oof, the assignments... the main thing I really disliked was the group presentations, which 1. took up about half of class time for people to present and 2. often ended up with one student doing the bulk of the heavy lifting.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
Classes with Alvin Thomas
HDFS 592 provides research experience in Human Development and Family Studies under faculty supervision.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2026Independent Study
1–6 creditsHDFS 699 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct directed projects arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleResearch and Thesis
1–12 creditsHDFS 990 is an individual study course arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
No recorded grade history
Independent Study
1–3 creditsHDFS 999 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct directed projects arranged with a faculty member.
Offering recorded · Fall 2026
historical GPA · grades
Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sampleRecorded teaching history
Explore courses taught by this instructor →Browse recorded courses
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
Instructor identity & provenance
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