Historical instructor

BENJAMIN DYKMAN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.23/5 from 321 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

PSY509 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Dykman's Abnormal Psych class was definitely very difficult, but also very doable. Use the readings as reinforcements of the lectures, and don't be afraid to send him emails to clarify any confusion between the two. (he is good about sending emails to clarify content--if brought to his attention) The curve will help your grades in the end!
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PSY202 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Dykman is clear, interesting, knowledgable, respectful of students and very nice to students. Very smart, knows a lot about a lot. His liking of psychology is contagious to the class. I'm more likely to be a psych major now. He'll inspire you. All round great teacher. HOT smarts and hot bod.
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PSYCH509 · course not matched
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
Although abnormal psychology sounds super interesting, Dykman sucks the life right out of it. I enjoyed reading the book more than going to lecture; but you have to do both to pass. Thankfully, he drops one exam score.
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PSY202 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
The lectures are very dry. His test are based off of the lecture and the book, but he tends to contradict the book in his lectures. Test questions are very specific. For an intro level psych class he focuses more on small details than the big picture when it comes to the test.
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PSY509 · course not matched
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
I worked my butt off to get the grade I did and would not take this class with him again. He rarely acknowledged students with their hands raised. Lectures were dry, he doesn't do a lot to engage students. Tests are rote memorization but detail-heavy and require A LOT of studying to do well. Nice & knowledgeable? Yes. But he's not a good teacher
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PSY509 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Dykman is an extremely knowledgable professor and an all around great guy. He cares about his students and really wants them to excel in his class, and his age adds a sometimes unintended, quirky humor to his lectures, which is a bonus. If you reciprocate his interest in the course, do the reading, and attend lectures, his exams are pretty trivial.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with BENJAMIN DYKMAN

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

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Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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