She is nice and kind, really helpful if you just go to class and watch her powerpoints carefully before exam.

Karen Schmidt...where do I even begin? Karen is definitely a character. She claims that she's been teaching this class for almost 20 years...you would think that by now she would have come up with a way to make lecture more interesting. However, she does iClicker questions basically every class, and they're always opinion questions, so you get points just for participating. Therefore, you really should come to lecture because those points really do give you a nice grade boost (they're worth like 6-7%). Karen pretends to be all funny and cutesy during lecture, but then she transforms when it comes to exam time. The day of the exam, she starts passing out the exam at 8:45, even though the class technically starts at 9, so if you have an 8 am, you're already at a disadvantage. She claims she does it to give us more time at the beginning so that we have a full hour to take the exam. Apparently she takes points off if you're still writing at 9:50. Then, the day we get the exam back and go over it in class, she's even worse. She has a super strict procedure when you're getting your exam back, and it makes no sense. I think she's just such a stickler about the Honor Code, and she will go great lengths to make sure you're not sharing test questions with anyone. You aren't allowed to have anything out while we're going over the exam. Don't even think you can have a notebook out, thinking you can jot down some things so you know how to do better on the final--there was a kid who did that and she took his notebook and ripped his page out in front of the whole class. She also once called a girl out for waiting in her seat when we all went up to get our exam back--the girl was just waiting for the line to die down! There's really no point to ask questions about correct answers on the exam, because she'll just reply in some rude, condescending way that it was on the powerpoint. That she at least does right--she doesn't ask you anything from the readings, just her powerpoints, on the exams; so I never did the readings and I was fine. She does let you drop your lowest test grade or not take the final, which is nice. Honestly, my opinion of her is so back-and-forth, because although she's super mean on exam days, it's pretty nice of her to drop exam grades like that or weigh your super-easy clicker scores so high. The one time I went to office hours, she was also super nice and helpful.

The labs are a little different from 3005. We use R Studio, not SPSS (which, if you've by chance taken Bio Stats, you'll already know how to use). There are no lab homework assignments--you do everything in your lab section. My TA was super nice but a pretty strict grader, so I didn't do as well in lab as I did in 3005. But if you ask a lot of questions, your TA will definitely be willing to help.

I really don't like how this class is required for the major when I know I'm not going to go into research (and I doubt most psych majors do). It's not the funnest class, but it's not horrible either, if you can get past Karen's mood swings.

It makes me sad to see so many bad reviews for Schmidt. That being said, she's definitely a unique person, but I've come to respect her the most. Although people would surely tell you differently, she doesn't make the material hard at all. She actually does a really good job of detailing what you should know about the material and recognizes that it's difficult. It's a hard class so of course the professor isn't going to be loved! People come into this class thinking they can look at the powerpoints and do fine on the tests but Schmidt specifically outlines what to do to do well in the class. All you have to do is come to class every day, pay attention, and study hard for the tests. If she tells you to do something, just do it. Like study, use the review sheets, and ask plenty of questions if you're confused. If she says not to have your phone out while going over exams, don't do it! Just respect her rules and she is perfectly fine. She is very strict about going over exams because she doesn't want the questions to be shared, so do as she says and don't write or take out your phone during that time. Don't ask dumb questions that she's just went over, or yeah, she will get a little condescending. She doesn't tolerate stupidity or inattention so treat her respectfully. During the semester she joked a lot and was happy almost every day. I really enjoyed the class and I hope you will too!


If you're curious, here are my own personal grades. Four exams (89, 90, 90, 91), clicker points (6 total for the three days she randomly picks), and lab (90). I did not take the final because even a 94 wouldn't have changed my overall grade a single point. I had to take this class as I'm a 4th year. I was scared to death after reading reviews that I would have to learn R and that I'd fail the exams. But people in the psyc. department really blow it out of proportion. There are no more lab write ups. The lab is very easy (unless you get a TA who grades funky) and all you have to do in R is copy and paste. They're currently changing some stuff though, so be warned that this may not be true by next year. After getting a B in 3005 I was terrified of 3006. But I made it out with an A because of Schmidt's teaching style and materials. You can too. Don't be afraid of 3006, it's challenging in a good way and you'll be so relieved once you've made it through.

Schmidt is a crazy woman who does not teach well in class but her powerpoints are super helpful. Regardless you should def. go to class even if you do not pay attention to get clicker points and attendance points (they help out in the end). She has the option of dropping your lowest score which could be the final so try to do well on the tests since the final is hard from what I heard. The hardest part of her tests are the matching which are all conceptual. Make sure to do practice problems and memorize how to write out responses otherwise you will lose unnecessary points. Not a fun class but you have to do it for the major so try and make the best of it.

This class is not as hard as everyone makes it seem - just follow these few steps and you can come out with an A, trust me ;). For the lecture component: 1. Attend every class - no one likes 9 AMs but the bonus points from clicker questions really do make a difference, 2. Ask questions - she is really helpful if you make an attempt to try to learn. For the lab component: 1. Keep up with the work, don't slack and leave your papers for last minute, 2. Ask your TA questions - even if it means you have to send them 9999 emails, they like to see you are putting an effort to produce the best work and are always willing to help, 3. Follow directions - There are easy points for just keeping your head screwed straight on and following directions that are written clearly in black & white, 4. Have fun - This was one of the coolest classes I took because we got to design our own research projects with friends, don't be afraid to be super creative and make your project worthwhile - you get to hang your own poster in Gilmer! Good luck, you're going to do grrrreat.

Put in work! Professor makes far too many smart comments.

Schimdt is condescending, rude and comes off completely unapproachable. The content of the class is too difficult and the statistics portion is easy if you practice, she just made her concept questions more difficult than they needed to be. If you go to lecture, and do the practice problems you should be fine. Schmidt just made the class a pain to sit through.

I would recommend this class with Schmidt since she takes efforts to make you understand the material. However, the tests can be more straight forward. It's ironic how in a class in which you learn about validity and which is taught by a professor who specializes in Item Response Theory (a scale used to measure the effectiveness of tests themselves) how ambiguous some of the test questions can be. A lot depends on how lenient your TA is since there are huge disparities between some TAs and others. If you have Siny like I did then I feel sorry for you since she grades harshly.

She is better than freeman

Don't be fooled, Kathleen is not related to the professor. She is really great--funny, nice and approachable and a nice grader I think. The professor unfortunately is annoying, petty, and full of herself. Tests were really stressful because every 5 minutes she was just like hey, you have __ minutes left. And then one time she knew that we had to sign up for timeslots for the Lab section (you'll find out), and some people left slightly early and after she left, she asked the clicker question. After that I realized that she was actually kind of mean. In terms of the course material, it is what it is and she does a good job of teaching you it and her tests are fair and she does tell you basically what's on the test. I heard she was better at teaching than Freedman. I agree I think. But I really disliked this class (but if you are a Psych major you have no choice).