THOMAS GIVNISH

Dr. Givnish's lectures can be fairly disorganized and research-heavy (difficult to know what concepts you will be graded on). Although he does genuinely care about his students he can come off as very intimidating at times. Botany 460 is an interesting class but be prepared for a lot of work coming from studying and a big research project in lab.

I dropped this class due to the confusing and disorganized teaching style. He would rush through complicated topics with wordy definitions and spend the rest of lecture on loosely related examples.The exams were heavily based in the readings (old research papers) that had to be memorized. I didn't learn much at all from my 6 weeks of this class.

Tom's classes are definitely hard and require a lot of effort, but if you put in as much effort as he does you'll learn a ton. He admittedly seems scary and rude but honestly he does care a lot about students passing his classes and learning, he's just super smart and I think sometimes forgets that we aren't all on his level.

While Dr. Givnish is very knowledgeable but he isn't a great lecturer. He runs through material very quickly and focuses a lot on his research & interests (Hawaiian flora). I never felt comfortable asking a question in lecture. His tests are very challenging and he takes no accountability for his dysfunctional teaching style. Avoid if you can.

Lectures are boring and FULL of information, he is way too smart to be teaching an intro ecol. class. Also he's kind of mean when people asked questions in class Things I recommend: - don't waste your time reading the textbook - Do read and understand the discussion texts (they show up on exams) - practice exams are very similar to real exam

Very few resources given to succeed on exams that are graded at a high difficulty. Only given a few practice questions (with no answer key) to prepare. Prof is intimidating and will NOT record lectures so don't bother asking. Grading is not consistent. DON'T TAKE unless absolutely necessary.