Historical instructor
Original student reviews · all captured dates
Hes very passionate about the subject which you want in a professor. Sometimes I wish he'd go more in depth on certain topics that do get covered in exams and quizzes, but overall his style of teaching is pretty solid. The exam structure is my biggest criticism as you have one midterm and one final which is too little imo, but not bad overallRate My Professors ↗
Fun class, lots of cool rocks and natural disaster case studies. Prof. Cardiff gives good lectures with multimedia demonstrations. He uses in-class questions, and attendance counts towards your grade. Labs are the most difficult part of the class (they often run overtime). The textbook is easy to read, but it covers a lot each week- take notes!Rate My Professors ↗
This class was excruciatingly boring (one of those classes that everyone is playing the NYT games to ease the pain). He has very little grade transparency as well. Final grades were put in and they appeared much differently in grade letter than canvas had indicated all semester. This class is a definite no from me.Rate My Professors ↗
Not a terrible class if you go to every lecture and discussion. I just didn't enjoy the material.Rate My Professors ↗
Some concepts and assignment expectations weren't made clear and the discussion section usually left students more confused. However, I think the course gives a good overview of many geological concepts and was an interesting class to take for General Education requirement.Rate My Professors ↗
Professor Cardiff is extremely passionate in his work. His course taught me a lot, despite some challenge with labs and the pandemic. I definitely recommend him.Rate My Professors ↗
Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.
No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.
No courses match this selection. Try the full catalog or another term.
| Term | Course | Title |
|---|
Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.
{
"instructor_uid": "instructor_50a25bd080665c0a65286563",
"source": "legacy",
"source_instructor_id": null,
"identity_basis": "name_only",
"identity_status": "unresolved",
"name": "Michael Cardiff",
"email": "CARDIFF@WISC.EDU",
"first_observed_at": "2025-07-13 04:59:22.367394+00:00",
"last_observed_at": "2025-11-16 05:32:31.273726+00:00",
"ratings": {
"review_count": 22,
"quality": 3.73,
"difficulty": 2.59,
"quality_count": 22,
"difficulty_count": 22,
"profile_id": "rmp:1908909",
"source_url": "https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/professor/1908909",
"match_basis": "exact_name",
"observed_at": "2026-09-07 16:18:36.281231+00:00",
"courses": {
"course_9583857ad55fe28b37a6eef1": {
"review_count": 22,
"quality": 3.73,
"difficulty": 2.59,
"quality_count": 22,
"difficulty_count": 22
}
},
"bayesian_quality": 3.696517039784093,
"prior_mean": 3.6596857835465957,
"prior_weight": 20
},
"current": false,
"courses": [],
"revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
"instructor_url": "/instructors/MICHAEL_CARDIFF--instructor_50a25bd080665c0a65286563"
}