Professor

Michael Chwe

AD
3.8
Overall Ratings
Based on 78 Users
Easiness 2.7 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Workload 2.9 / 5 How light the workload is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Clarity 4.0 / 5 How clear the professor is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Helpfulness 4.1 / 5 How helpful the professor is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

Reviews (78)

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POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 22, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A

Professor Chwe is literally a KING. So sweet, and always engages with the class. Very patient and willing to help when people were having difficulties with material. The course itself was overall good. Some of the material was tricky, but again, he makes himself very available for any questions over email, slack, or office hours. In response to zoom learning, he restructured the course to where we just had to complete a certain number of problems (correctly or mostly correct) for an A, instead of traditional exams. My TA was Soonhong and he was super helpful. From what I've heard, the other TA's were fantastic as well.

Helpful?

3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Dec. 29, 2020
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A+

Professor Chwe was easily one of the best instructors/ teachers Ive ever had. He’s funny, nice, and is always willing to answer your emails or questions, even before and after class. All the lectures and most of the office hours were recorded and posted which was extremely helpful in learning the content (you could still attend the lectures live if you wanted to). Overall the work load was very manageable. Sometimes the homework and material was rough but my TA was willing to give extensions if I needed it. The professor and TA were also very helpful in explaining the homework problems and course material during office hours. The lectures are also very organized and he usually started it off with breathing exercises and fun things like pet show and tell.

Fall 2020 Grading Policy:
The grading policy during Fall 2020 (online) seems to be much different than the reviews for when this class was in person, so keep that in mind. This is how the class worked in Fall 2020: You are GUARANTEED an A- or better if you turn in all the work. There is a weekly set of homework problems that you have to do (excluding the midterm week) which can take half an hour to a few hours to complete. If you make minor mistake(s) you still get full credit. If you make a major mistake you will be told where your error was and you can resubmit it for full credit. There is no real mid term or final, all you have to do is turn in 12 exam problems by the end of the quarter. Like the homework, if you make minor mistake(s) you still get full credit. If you make a major mistake you will be told where your error was and you can resubmit it for full credit. You can always email your TA or professor about an exam problem if you’re confused, and we went over some of them at the end of the quarter too. Lastly, you also have to turn in video explanations of a few exam problems. The videos were quite manageable as we were given the answer keys for most of them. You also have to turn in one video where you come with an explanation for a situation that happens in real life, a movie, a video game etc. using one of the concepts taught. It doesn’t have to be long though. (note: The exam video explanations requirement might be different in later quarters since our class managed to get in video explanations for most of the past exam problems already. )

There is a cut-off for getting an A- (doing all the 12 exam problems, 8 homework sets, 8 video explanations, 1 personal video) and B- (doing most of the work). So you are guaranteed an A- if you do all the work. To get an A or A+ or B or B+ etc. is a little subjective based on the TA and Professor discretion but there’s a lot of ways to get it like participating in class/lectures a lot, or doing extra exam problem(s), or doing extra video explanation(s), or doing video explanations on difficult problems, etc.

I would definitely recommend taking this class ( at least while it’s online) because the material was very interesting and the grading policy was excellent.

My advice for this class is don’t procrastinate on the problems and don’t hesitate to contact your TA or Professor Chwe if you’re confused!

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
March 4, 2021
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A+

Professor Chwe is easily one of the most knowledgeable, helpful, kind, and caring professors I have ever had the pleasure of taking in my 6+ years of college throughout multiple colleges. Professor Chwe emphasizes the importance of actually learning and understanding the material rather than getting everything correct. He is funny and extremely understanding of personal struggle in which he remains completely accommodating in any way he can. The workload is quite a lot, but given the load upfront, students are generally free to complete it at their own pace and shouldn't struggle as long as they don't procrastinate and put it off until the last week. Lecture is very friendly and informal with a constant openness for discussion and questions. These lectures are very engaging with interesting material that bolsters/explains the required homework. Homework and projects are graded generously and allow for redo's for full credit. Professor Chwe also has no issues staying after class and working out problems from homework and projects that students do not understand or are having trouble with. Overall, if you're dipping your toes into poli sci or are a poli sci major well into your degree, I HIGHLY recommend taking Professor Chwe at least one time. He is easily one of the most kind-hearted, smart, and generous professors of all time and it is an absolute pleasure to be a student of his.

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1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Jan. 3, 2021
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A

Amazing class and professor, one of the best I have ever had. He was super helpful and extremely approachable if you had any questions at all. Chwe really cares about his students and wants to see everyone succeed and will make himself available to help you do so. The material is fascinating and truly makes you look at the world in a different way so that's another bonus. I highly recommend taking this class with Prof Chwe if given the opportunity.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Feb. 21, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+

Easy yet slightly boring class to take. Professor Chew is as absolute sweetheart who takes student feedback into account and does his best to accommodate to individuals. There are no tests although there are many project to balance for the class during finals week which is doable when spread out.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 9, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

prof chwe is an absolute king of a man!!! pls pls take this class if u can!! he is a real one <3

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Jan. 4, 2023
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+

Class was great, I definitely recommend taking it. Grades were based on homework, P problems, X problems, and an M problem. Almost every week there was a homework assignment based on the strategies and game theory we were learning in class. The homework could be a little difficult at times, but for the most part if you took notes or utilized the professor's slides and recordings, you will do well. P problems were us taking a flipgrid and walking through past Midterm and Final questions. We were originally required to do 3, but due to the TA strike he dropped that down to 1. There was no "real" midterm or final either. The professor had these things called "X Problems" that were essentially problems we had to turn in for a midterm and final-like grade, but we had them in advance and just needed to turn them in by the due-date. The grades we received were also mostly based on attempts over accuracy but professor Chwe was always willing to walk us through the problems so there really was no reason for you to struggle through it. I believe that COVID-previous years there were actually in-person midterms and finals, so just beware of that. There was also an M problem where we used what we learned in the course and applied it to a movie scene. Here you would record a flipgrid again and submit. Overall, I really enjoyed this class. Professor Chwe was so accommodating in regards to the strikes going on and even dropped the workload for us after expressing our concerns. He was also super helpful in office hours. I was initially nervous due to the aspect of math and strategy that I had never learned before, but the class turned out to be really interesting and I'm glad I took it. A great pre-requisite to take for Political Science!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 29, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND WE LOVE U PROF CHWE!!!!!
If u do legit the work it doesnt even have to be correct IF U JUST TRY u are guaranteed an A if u submit everything. if u participate extra or do extra hw u get an a+. there is no reason not to get an A. ALSO SHOUTOUT TO MY TA MR.CHO UR THE BEST

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Dec. 5, 2022
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A

I thoroughly enjoyed Proffesor Chwe's lectures and his style of teaching. He is very patient and willing to go over any problems in OH. There was a homework assignment due each week, no exams, and 9 x problems to do. I would say this difficulty of this class is not super hard but you just need to understand the concept and learn how to apply this for homework assignments. It's duable work and there is no midterm or exam, instead there are just x problems to complete. The only thing is my TA was not the best. She didn't really know how to explain the solutions and just sort of regurgitated the answer book~ and she was constantly cut her discussion hours short and move around the schedule. There was no accommodations really for turning in assignments especially during the strike and she was always really passive aggressive when explaining problem that I had to ask (multiple times). Otherwise, Professory Chwe is a great prof and everyone should go and take him!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
June 18, 2022
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A

The professor was super chill and always willing to answer questions. There was an assignment with around 10 questions due every week.
The lectures were available in-person and on Zoom (also recorded). Sections were optional and the TAs went through a few of the homework questions (recorded on Zoom too). If you asked for help on the homework questions, the TAs and professor were always willing to give a quick rundown of the question.
The questions were on stuff like strategy games (Prisoner's Dilemma, etc).
The final was given like an entire month before it was due so that you could work on it at any time. You could choose which questions you wanted to answer and you had to make questions of your own. You also have to create videos on how to do some of these problems.
This class was pretty easy if you could apply the stuff from lectures onto the homework and final. But it might feel kinda dull just learning about hypothetical game theory. Most of the game theory isn't applied to politics in the class, just other situations.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Dec. 22, 2020

Professor Chwe is literally a KING. So sweet, and always engages with the class. Very patient and willing to help when people were having difficulties with material. The course itself was overall good. Some of the material was tricky, but again, he makes himself very available for any questions over email, slack, or office hours. In response to zoom learning, he restructured the course to where we just had to complete a certain number of problems (correctly or mostly correct) for an A, instead of traditional exams. My TA was Soonhong and he was super helpful. From what I've heard, the other TA's were fantastic as well.

Helpful?

3 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A+
Dec. 29, 2020

Professor Chwe was easily one of the best instructors/ teachers Ive ever had. He’s funny, nice, and is always willing to answer your emails or questions, even before and after class. All the lectures and most of the office hours were recorded and posted which was extremely helpful in learning the content (you could still attend the lectures live if you wanted to). Overall the work load was very manageable. Sometimes the homework and material was rough but my TA was willing to give extensions if I needed it. The professor and TA were also very helpful in explaining the homework problems and course material during office hours. The lectures are also very organized and he usually started it off with breathing exercises and fun things like pet show and tell.

Fall 2020 Grading Policy:
The grading policy during Fall 2020 (online) seems to be much different than the reviews for when this class was in person, so keep that in mind. This is how the class worked in Fall 2020: You are GUARANTEED an A- or better if you turn in all the work. There is a weekly set of homework problems that you have to do (excluding the midterm week) which can take half an hour to a few hours to complete. If you make minor mistake(s) you still get full credit. If you make a major mistake you will be told where your error was and you can resubmit it for full credit. There is no real mid term or final, all you have to do is turn in 12 exam problems by the end of the quarter. Like the homework, if you make minor mistake(s) you still get full credit. If you make a major mistake you will be told where your error was and you can resubmit it for full credit. You can always email your TA or professor about an exam problem if you’re confused, and we went over some of them at the end of the quarter too. Lastly, you also have to turn in video explanations of a few exam problems. The videos were quite manageable as we were given the answer keys for most of them. You also have to turn in one video where you come with an explanation for a situation that happens in real life, a movie, a video game etc. using one of the concepts taught. It doesn’t have to be long though. (note: The exam video explanations requirement might be different in later quarters since our class managed to get in video explanations for most of the past exam problems already. )

There is a cut-off for getting an A- (doing all the 12 exam problems, 8 homework sets, 8 video explanations, 1 personal video) and B- (doing most of the work). So you are guaranteed an A- if you do all the work. To get an A or A+ or B or B+ etc. is a little subjective based on the TA and Professor discretion but there’s a lot of ways to get it like participating in class/lectures a lot, or doing extra exam problem(s), or doing extra video explanation(s), or doing video explanations on difficult problems, etc.

I would definitely recommend taking this class ( at least while it’s online) because the material was very interesting and the grading policy was excellent.

My advice for this class is don’t procrastinate on the problems and don’t hesitate to contact your TA or Professor Chwe if you’re confused!

Helpful?

2 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A+
March 4, 2021

Professor Chwe is easily one of the most knowledgeable, helpful, kind, and caring professors I have ever had the pleasure of taking in my 6+ years of college throughout multiple colleges. Professor Chwe emphasizes the importance of actually learning and understanding the material rather than getting everything correct. He is funny and extremely understanding of personal struggle in which he remains completely accommodating in any way he can. The workload is quite a lot, but given the load upfront, students are generally free to complete it at their own pace and shouldn't struggle as long as they don't procrastinate and put it off until the last week. Lecture is very friendly and informal with a constant openness for discussion and questions. These lectures are very engaging with interesting material that bolsters/explains the required homework. Homework and projects are graded generously and allow for redo's for full credit. Professor Chwe also has no issues staying after class and working out problems from homework and projects that students do not understand or are having trouble with. Overall, if you're dipping your toes into poli sci or are a poli sci major well into your degree, I HIGHLY recommend taking Professor Chwe at least one time. He is easily one of the most kind-hearted, smart, and generous professors of all time and it is an absolute pleasure to be a student of his.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: A
Jan. 3, 2021

Amazing class and professor, one of the best I have ever had. He was super helpful and extremely approachable if you had any questions at all. Chwe really cares about his students and wants to see everyone succeed and will make himself available to help you do so. The material is fascinating and truly makes you look at the world in a different way so that's another bonus. I highly recommend taking this class with Prof Chwe if given the opportunity.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
Feb. 21, 2023

Easy yet slightly boring class to take. Professor Chew is as absolute sweetheart who takes student feedback into account and does his best to accommodate to individuals. There are no tests although there are many project to balance for the class during finals week which is doable when spread out.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Jan. 9, 2023

prof chwe is an absolute king of a man!!! pls pls take this class if u can!! he is a real one <3

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
Jan. 4, 2023

Class was great, I definitely recommend taking it. Grades were based on homework, P problems, X problems, and an M problem. Almost every week there was a homework assignment based on the strategies and game theory we were learning in class. The homework could be a little difficult at times, but for the most part if you took notes or utilized the professor's slides and recordings, you will do well. P problems were us taking a flipgrid and walking through past Midterm and Final questions. We were originally required to do 3, but due to the TA strike he dropped that down to 1. There was no "real" midterm or final either. The professor had these things called "X Problems" that were essentially problems we had to turn in for a midterm and final-like grade, but we had them in advance and just needed to turn them in by the due-date. The grades we received were also mostly based on attempts over accuracy but professor Chwe was always willing to walk us through the problems so there really was no reason for you to struggle through it. I believe that COVID-previous years there were actually in-person midterms and finals, so just beware of that. There was also an M problem where we used what we learned in the course and applied it to a movie scene. Here you would record a flipgrid again and submit. Overall, I really enjoyed this class. Professor Chwe was so accommodating in regards to the strikes going on and even dropped the workload for us after expressing our concerns. He was also super helpful in office hours. I was initially nervous due to the aspect of math and strategy that I had never learned before, but the class turned out to be really interesting and I'm glad I took it. A great pre-requisite to take for Political Science!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A+
Dec. 29, 2022

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND WE LOVE U PROF CHWE!!!!!
If u do legit the work it doesnt even have to be correct IF U JUST TRY u are guaranteed an A if u submit everything. if u participate extra or do extra hw u get an a+. there is no reason not to get an A. ALSO SHOUTOUT TO MY TA MR.CHO UR THE BEST

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
Quarter: Fall 2022
Grade: A
Dec. 5, 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed Proffesor Chwe's lectures and his style of teaching. He is very patient and willing to go over any problems in OH. There was a homework assignment due each week, no exams, and 9 x problems to do. I would say this difficulty of this class is not super hard but you just need to understand the concept and learn how to apply this for homework assignments. It's duable work and there is no midterm or exam, instead there are just x problems to complete. The only thing is my TA was not the best. She didn't really know how to explain the solutions and just sort of regurgitated the answer book~ and she was constantly cut her discussion hours short and move around the schedule. There was no accommodations really for turning in assignments especially during the strike and she was always really passive aggressive when explaining problem that I had to ask (multiple times). Otherwise, Professory Chwe is a great prof and everyone should go and take him!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
POL SCI 30
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Quarter: Winter 2022
Grade: A
June 18, 2022

The professor was super chill and always willing to answer questions. There was an assignment with around 10 questions due every week.
The lectures were available in-person and on Zoom (also recorded). Sections were optional and the TAs went through a few of the homework questions (recorded on Zoom too). If you asked for help on the homework questions, the TAs and professor were always willing to give a quick rundown of the question.
The questions were on stuff like strategy games (Prisoner's Dilemma, etc).
The final was given like an entire month before it was due so that you could work on it at any time. You could choose which questions you wanted to answer and you had to make questions of your own. You also have to create videos on how to do some of these problems.
This class was pretty easy if you could apply the stuff from lectures onto the homework and final. But it might feel kinda dull just learning about hypothetical game theory. Most of the game theory isn't applied to politics in the class, just other situations.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
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