Wonderful professor and easy to understand introductory class. Elzinga is funny, engaging, and will broaden your knowledge with his own personal economics research/interests. He is a great person to get to know and is very welcoming to all students.

Elzinga is a brilliant man. Though the class itself is a standard introduction to microeconomics, the real value of taking the class with Elzinga is to better understand logical argument and thought. Having argued in countless court cases, served as expert testimony for many businesses, and bringing decades of acute awareness of the business world, Elzinga is absolutely worth listening to.

Again, the class is not the best part of taking the class; subtly observing how Elzinga delivers material was incredibly worthwhile.

Elzinga is a really cute and caring guy, but most of my friends and I didn't think he lived up to the hype. He's sorta monotoned and his lectures can be hard to keep up with since he doesn't use power points/put up notes. He's definitely knowledgeable and does occasionally make some good points on the material. You do need to go to lectures so you don't miss material that can show up on the exams. The exams can be pretty tricky and unpredictable, but there is a fair curve at the end of the class. Still you have to study a lot and hope you have a good TA because Elzinga doesn't answer course material questions in office hours (although I would recommend getting to know him in office hours since he's such a nice interesting guy). His class and exams are structured pretty similarly to Coppock's, but I found Coppock's teaching style a lot more interesting and engaging. Overall this class isn't a total waste of your time and the material is good to know, but definitely does not live up to its hype.

Elzinga is great...just do the readings and use your TA when you don't understand something.

I took this class as a second year so I had heard a lot about how wonderful Elzinga is before I took it. While Elzinga is clearly a very intelligent and knowledgeable man, I do not think he is a good lecturer, at least for my type of learning. Unless you have a great TA or background ECON knowledge, it is difficult to do well. I got an A- in the class and I owe it completely to my amazing TA (Alicia Baik - take it with her if you can!). Elzinga spents about 20 minutes of the class teaching and the other 30 telling stories. Most students find it entertaining but I would personally rather have had a professor who spends the whole time going through the material carefully. Attendance is pretty much necessary not just for the clicker questions but he sometimes asks questions on tests from things he randomly mentions in class. I would reccomend trying really hard for the first two midterms and not relying on the final exam because the curve is much bigger for the whole grade together.

If you have the option of taking this class with Elzinga or with a TA, please do yourself a favor and take it with Professor Elzinga. While he has been teaching this class for longer than most of us have been alive, it does seem versed and a little monotonous at time, but overall I would not trade my ECON 2010 experience for any other professor. He is an absolute doll, and his lecture can be surprisingly funny, but dry at other times. The tests are pretty hard, especially the final, which completely sank my grade. But overall the class is fair, and worth taking. He applies Economics to so many real world scenarios and I don't regret taking it with him!

There isn't much work besides reading, but exams are tough.

Some commentary:
If you don't already like econ or otherwise are not a pre-comm student, you may find that this class does not live up to the hype. I appreciated being taught by such an esteemed professor, but at the same time as an e-schooler I often wished I was taking it with a TA or taking an easier class to fill an HSS credit. I made the mistake this semester of stacking this class with (several) core classes in my major and it cost me.

This was an average class. It was not even in the ballpark of living up to its rave reviews. Elzinga himself didn't really live up to his reviews in my opinion either. He's a nice guy, but this class was really boring, and I didn't get much out of it. It is also not that easy to get an A unless you do the work, so don't take the class if you're looking for easy As

Elzinga is a very good, if somewhat rehearsed, lecturer. He's probably one of the most knowledgeable people in the entire field of economics. The main problem I had was that, since it is such a large class, it's sometimes hard to hear everything he says, and he doesn't have any sort of online notes or powerpoints or anything. Tests require a bit of studying, but the final was definitely manageable.

Took this class as a Pre-comm second year at the same time as accounting after taking Macro last spring. Although Elzinga doesn't put notes online and the textbook isn't as readable as Macro, the class as a whole was still worthwhile. I would DEFINITELY recommend taking it with Elzinga rather than a TA, especially if you're pre-comm or econ!

Take the opportunity to go to his office hours! I didn't have any questions, I just went in and introduced myself, and he gave me some good career/class advice. Not to mention the cookies & brownies for all the students waiting. Despite teaching over 1000 students a semester, Elzinga makes an effort to get to know his students on a personal level, and he really cares about your success and well-being. He even invites his students who will be on grounds over Thanksgiving break to have dinner at his home.

ECON 2010 with Elzinga is something every UVA student should experience! Some people say it's easier with a TA, but that is not always the case, but if you take it with Elzinga you'll be prepared for further comm/econ coursework. It's easier if you take Macro first, but the class has no homework (unless your TA gives you some), 2 short answer midterms and one dutch-knockout final (If you get a higher grade on the final than your grade in the class, the final exam grade become your grade). If you read/study the chapters each week, go to every lecture, and take good notes, you should get an A-/A!