Donald McEachron

School: Drexel University
Department: Science
Location:Philadelphia, PA
Overall Rating
rated by 15 students
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Easiness
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 Pros: He really like teaching and wants people to learn, and is very knowledgeable on the topic. He also wants students to do more than just rote memorization of the material.
Cons: -Refuses to clearly explain what is expected for an assignment, purposefully being vague.
-Will often wait till the very end of the term to grade anything, so you'll have no chance to adjust how you do the projects and papers.
-Completely unorganized teaching style.
I really want to like his courses, but for once I find myself worrying more about my grade than actually learning, which is the exact thing he doesn't want to happen. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to want to admit this this course and his others ARE mostly memorization courses with very little critical thinking involved.
His quiz and exam questions are also fantastic examples of how to write terrible questions. First you must figure out what the sentence is supposed to say, due to typos. Then you need to figure out what he actually wants to ask, because he cannot phase things in a clear way to save his life.
If he was more organized in both keeping up with grading and his scatterbrained slides then I would easily be able to recommend him, but as of right now, I just can't.
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 Pros: none
Cons: very disorganized
boring lectures
grades very hard
quizzes are very random
I had him for BMES 130. Overall, that is the most pointless class ever. It should be taken out of the curriculum. His lectures are very boring and he grades assignments very hard. Be prepared to actually read the 4 pointless books we are assigned and actually pay attention in class. He also messed up everyones final grade and gave us a whole letter grade lower than what we actually got. We had to wait for him to make a grade change which took a very long time. He is very particular when it comes to only emailing him on bblearn. He can be funny but he is also very strict. I find it funny how he wears suspenders.
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 Pros: Speaks his mind
Cons: Unnecessary perspective
McEachron speaks his mind about just about everything. He cares too much. That being said, if you have a group project and have to evaluate the team's performance, do not give each other a 5/5 for everything. He wants you to use your brain and actually analyze performance.
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 Pros: Great Educator
Cons: Has a sophisticated sense of humor, and may offend a lesser intellect.
One of the best professors I had. Not just a lecturer but a educator who makes you think, laugh and appreciate the subject matter.
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 Pros: Lets the class out early and we watch videos. Lectures are engaging and interesting.
Cons: He doesn't stop talking, and it can get boring if he talks about his redundant ethics stuff.
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 Dr. McEachron applies a unique teaching style that should be emulated. He does not spew facts and expect us to accept them, but rather he presents ideas and supports them with studies and supporting discussions. His primary concern is his students and how they are learning and he is honest and fair in his execution of the course. If he makes a mistake, he admits it and finds a fair way to resolve it, rather than having the students pay for it (if he has a date wrong on the syllabus, he adjusts the course so the students don't pay for the error, rather than expecting us to do a project or exam early).
If all professors cared about the students like he does, Drexel would be a stronger institution.
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 Lecture slides/lecture are far more important than any textbook or other work given.
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 Pros: Very good teacher...taught on part of students also
Cons: Do not leave topics superficial..go into sufficient details...this might be problem for some
A really good and considerate prof
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 Pros: explains well
Cons: tough exams
good
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 Pros: Dr. McEachron is the type of professor that every school needs. He strives to NOT generate human Xerox machines, which seems to be the goal of most Bio professors, but to create dynamic, free-thinking and creative scientists, engineers, and general thinkers. He has a serious burden and concern for employing effective educational methods and puts his own reputation on the line at times in the best interest of the students.
Cons: Much of the grading in his classes seems to be subjective. If it IS based on some standardized system, he does a poor job of making this clear. Additionally, he does seem to have an air of arrogance, but I view this more as well-deserved pride.
Many students who don't like to actually think critically dislike Dr. McEachron. Many would prefer to be given a spreadsheet of what to study and what not to study, so that they can memorize some information and do well on an exam. Well, friends, this is not true learning. True learning is what happens when you are forced to think outside of the box, to synthesize solutions from diverse sources outside of class materials, and to draw on your own personal code of ethics from time to time. Dr. McEachron understands this, and challenges students to go beyond the superficial and useless practice of memorizing a textbook. Embrace the opportunity to experience true growth and learning.
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 Overall, good professor. Very dry sense of humor makes it seem like he doesn't care at all for the students, and if you accept it at face value, that's what happens. But if you take the effort to see him outside of class, he is very approachable and helpful. Hardest part for me were the homework sets and a couple labs because the questions involved were never addressed in the text or in class. Apparently, you were supposed to approach him beforehand to get all the info.
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 This is not kissing up… McEachron is absolutely the best teacher. Do NOT miss his lectures and you will be fine. For business students like myself Bio151 course is like eye opener to wonderful world of bioscience. Take this course with Dr. McEachron. It will be worth your time and money.
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 Although I will admit that this prof. has a vast amount of knowledge on his field his arrogance and unorganized teaching style made this class somewhat difficult. There was absolutely no correlation between what he discussed in class and what was on the test. The text book was very little help, and had it not been for the TA, Mauce, many students would not have survived this class. This guy is really full of himself.
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 This man seems to have some sort of problem with business students and it was obvious that he hated having to teach them, the sad thing is he made it so that I hated being in class. There is a total disconnect between the textboook and the lecture and ultimately what appears on the test. Of all the professors and people I have encountered at Drexel, this man has the worst personality I have ever come across. He is unapproachable, unwiling to help with any problems, and basically an asshole. That about sums it up.
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 Worst teacher ever. Exams are unrelated to lectures. Lectures are boring and pointless.

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