Brett Shadle

School: Virginia Tech
Department: History
Location:Blacksburg, VA
Overall Rating
rated by 11 students
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
Rating Comment
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 He was my professor and student aid 10 years ago. Very helpful but makes his course way harder than it needs to be. I got my BA in history for the love of history. Not to do this dog and pony show of having classmates grade my paper and you all making other students feel less of themselves. I graduated from tech with my history degree in a job that doesn’t have anything to do with history and probably triple his salary. No thanks to any of the history professors that try to bend you over. If you want to get on your knees and take his course then do it. Otherwise, find another major.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Understanding
Knows his stuff
Funny
Easy going
Cons: A little intense sometimes
Sometimes a little fast to correct you
Required a thesis and documentary (end of the semester was a little crazy!)
Overall he is a nice man, and a good professor. He puts up a tough front, but if you go to talk to him he is actually really understanding!
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: He is funny.
Cons: He makes fun of people and is a little rude.
Know your stuff otherwise you won't do well.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Entertaining classes
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Good if you're like me and can write a good paper. Shadle grades them fairly easily. Also, he's got fun powerpoints. It's a fun class to be in.
Cons: We had 1 map quiz and it was pretty tough unless you studies really hard for it. Not a good class if you suck at writing, and Shadle does not spend time teaching writing, footnotes, etc. (things you're supposed to learn in Historical Methods). Shadle isn't afraid to make fun of his students, which rubs people the wrong way sometimes (although most of the time they bring it upon themselves).
Workload isn't overwhelming...just do your work and you'll do fine. If you're a skipper, don't add this class...5+ absences is an F and anything more than 2 will result in an 80% or below in your class participation, which is 10% of your grade. It's not a hard class to show up for, just giving everyone a heads up there.
The pros definitely outweigh the cons for me...it's a good class, and you learn a lot. The cons are mostly nitpicky things.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: His lectures are probably the best in the history department and really knows his stuff. He is also one of the most approachable professors on campus, and he'll hand out cigarettes and peanuts in class. Powerpoints are entertaining, but do the reading he may put in a quiz.
Cons: He's a really hard grader. I got an A and later I will post some of my old papers to help out. DO NOT put it off until the night before, talk to him the day after the paper is assigned (you get a week to write it).
Actually do the reading, study, take notes, and begin writing your papers early and you can get an A, but he doesn't hand them out like Chinese babies and they will require some work. Don't be intimidated by my review, seriously one of the BEST professors I have taken here.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Funny, interesting in lectures. Very informative.
Cons: Very picky on final paper
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Shadle makes subjects I traditionally found boring into interesting ones. He's a fairly easy grader on essays, just make sure you proofread before you turn it in.
Cons: You can tell what Shadle's personal beliefs are after a semester in his class. It's not a bad thing necessarily (I disagree with many of them and still enjoy his class), but at some point he might rub you the wrong way.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Very interesting class and very fair grading point system
Cons: Papers are hard, and a good amount of reading between classes that is sometimes quizzed.
Class is divided into quizzes (maps and material), papers, and attendance. Go to class every day or you will fail, and do the reading or you will get bad quiz grades.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Enthusiastic and fun
Cons: can be offensive sometimes
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Shadle is a really cool guy. He assigns a lot of reading that can be boring but also has reading quizzes a lot so you have to read. He adds things into his power points that make them funny and uses the class in examples. Thought I wouldn't like this class but it turned out pretty interesting

REFINE YOUR SEARCH

Refine Your Search

Professor Ratings Search
Search by Department var selectedDepartment = null; onResourcesAndDOMReady(function() { jQ.getJSON("ajaxapi.php?action=load-all-professors-departments", function( departments ) { var departmentsList = document.getElementById("sidebar_department"); var i, j, chunk, chunkSize = 200; for (i = 0,j = departments.length; i < j; i += chunkSize) { chunk = departments.slice(i, i + chunkSize); function addOptions(chunk) { for(var key in chunk) { var departmentName = chunk[key]; var selected = selectedDepartment == departmentName; var option = document.createElement("option"); option.setAttribute("value", departmentName); if (selected) { option.setAttribute("selected", "selected"); } option.innerHTML = departmentName; departmentsList.appendChild(option); } }; setTimeout(addOptions.bind(null, chunk), 0); } }); }); Search by Last Name
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ