Historical instructor

HAROLD TOBIN

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.55/5 from 20 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

ESS105 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 4/5
Pop quiz-group participation projects in class, he may or may not tell you beforehand. Quizzes were sequentially more difficult than the last (4 total). Tobin is a nice and a researcher, and explains fairly well. However, his quizzes were vastly different and difficult because they cover some very minor details missed WO notes; CLOSE note quizzes.
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ATM140 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
This class is about natural disasters. If you have the chance to take this do yourself a favor and enroll. Prof. Tobin is awesome. He keeps lectures interesting and he's a funny guy. Class is super interesting and out of class work is super manageable. No textbook, no cumulative final. This has been my favorite course I've gotten to take @ UW.
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GEOSCI 100
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Prof. Tobin is clearly very passionate about Geology. He tries his hardest to make lectures about rocks interesting and usually succeeds. The midterms were okay, not too hard but not easy. The labs are tedious and hard to finish in the class time. Overall pretty easy course if you keep up with the labs and study for the exams. Overall grade curved
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GEO100 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Tobin is a great lecturer who's clearly passionate about geology. The labs are a very important part of your grade; get help from your TA for them. Midterm and final were both fair, you're just expected to know a lot. My advice would be to study geology each week so you won't be cramming the night before the exams.
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GEOL101 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Great guy. He cares about his field and it shows so much in his lectures. I took this course only to complete a science credit, so having no interest in geology i was nervous to take this course. However, he at least sparked some interest in the field for me and made it easy to learn about. Textbook is not neccessary but really helps when studying.
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GEO100 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
He is an awesome lecture and the tests are fair and graded fairly.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with HAROLD TOBIN

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2019GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2018GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2018GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2017ATMOCN/GEOSCI 140Natural Hazards and Disasters
Fall 2017GEOSCI 758Mechanics of Earthquakes and Faulting
Fall 2017GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Fall 2017GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2017GEOSCI 100Introductory Geology: How the Earth Works
Spring 2017GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2017GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2017GEOSCI 999Advanced Independent Reading
Fall 2016GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2016GEOSCI 100Introductory Geology: How the Earth Works
Spring 2016GEOSCI 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2016GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2015GEOSCI 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2015GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2015GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Fall 2015GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2015GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2015GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2014GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Fall 2014GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2014GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2013GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2013ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Spring 2013GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2013GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2012GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Fall 2012GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2012GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2012GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics
Spring 2012ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Spring 2012GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2011GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2011GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2011GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics
Spring 2011ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Spring 2011GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2011GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2010GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2010GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2010GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics
Spring 2010ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Spring 2010GEOSCI 199Directed Study
Spring 2010GEOSCI 692Senior Thesis
Spring 2010GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2009GEOSCI 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2009GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2009GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2009GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics
Spring 2009GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2008ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Fall 2008GEOSCI 199Directed Study
Fall 2008GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2008GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2008GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2008GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics
Spring 2008ATMOCN/GEOSCI 105Survey of Oceanography
Spring 2008GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2007GEOSCI 990Research
Spring 2007GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Spring 2007GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2006GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2006GEOSCI/GLE 594Introduction to Applied Geophysics
Fall 2006GEOSCI/GLE 595Field Methods in Applied and Engineering Geophysics

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

Instructor identity & provenance 
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