He definitely knows what he is talking about. His lectures can be boring, but he puts the notes online. I find his exams difficult to study for since he vaguely goes over what will be on it compared to the vast amount of info that could potentially be on it. Luckily, he has easy homework and quizzes which can help boost your grade. You can reach him by e-mail, but at times he doesn't respond. Overall he's a good and funny teacher, but not a great teacher.

Pros: Really easy bioscience req, down to earth professor.

Walter is a great guy. I'm pretty sure this is his first year back teaching and I think he did a fabulous job. My situation in this class was a little odd: I'm a science major (so why I'm taking an ISB at all is beyond me) but it was a good opportunity to see how science was taught to a largely non-scientific community.



In my opinion, Walter performed very admirably. He used PowerPoints to cover the material we learned. Some of the slides did repeat, though, and not everything we covered in class was on the tests (hence the 3.5), but he did say that the book was supposed to be read in conjunction with the slides, so perhaps that would've covered everything. Some of the reading assignments, I thought, were a little overkill and I didn't like the book itself (slightly biased, I noticed...more reasoning for the 3.5.)



He used good anecdotes to get his point across, brought in specimens, and even let a bee sting him in class just to show us the mechanism of the sting. Now if that's not dedication, I don't know what is.

Great guy, good professor. Once he gets into it a little more, there's no doubt in my mind that he'll just get better and better.

If you appreciate honesty then find another professor. He absolutely, most definitely lied about his grading. His tests were a joke and nearly everyone did poorly on the first one according to him. I really wanted to learn about apiculture (bees and beekeeping) and was therefore very disappointed in his lack of performance. I would have done better to read the book and do research on my own without going to class. I agree with a previous post that stated that he even bored himself. We had to do a final presentation OR paper and instead all but one student did a presentation because those of us who wished to write a paper were "strongly" encouraged to do a presentation instead. IF YOU DON'T WISH FOR US TO HAVE A CHOICE THEN DON'T GIVE US ONE! I think that if a professor would rather do research then they should be allowed to do just that, for the sake of the students don't force them to teach!!!!

Walter is a great guy, you'd love him to be your eccentric uncle ( he stings himself with a bee in class because he says the venom helps the circulation in his arthritic fingers)



However,



He isnt the most effective teacher. I had a lot of friends and my sister take the same class with a different prof and they had a much easier time. Walter cycles through his power points really quickly, makes them overly wordy and then a lot of the information isnt on the exam. The exam questions are often very specific and quiz you on a seemingly unimportant part of the reading that was never even mentioned in class.



Luckily you can get some extra credit, but if you're like me, mediocre exam scores are still frustrating no matter what your overall grade

Walter is a good guy. He genuinely cares if his students do well in his class. He curves tests, and offers extra credit when he notices that students are doing poorly or if you ask him. Although this is true I still don't think he is a good professor. I think that his lectures were EXTREMELY boring, I fell asleep on a regular basis, and it was usually within like the first 10 minutes. Also, the tests are pretty difficult, the wording and the answer choices are usually confusing. Overall, he isn't too bad, but if you can switch into the class with another Professor I would. But, if not....you will do okay...if you study for the exams and read the book!

This class was extremely boring, but I do not care for science in the least and had it at 8 am. His lectures include a powerpoint and that is about it. It is hard to stay focused and I found myself falling asleep within 20 minutes of the class starting. Tests were kind of challenging and it was hard to know exactly what to study. His study guides were basically just words. Walter as a person though was a great guy. He wants his students to do well. He often would curve tests and offer extra credit when people were doing poorly. The class was not easy but its a general ed so just get through it.

His class is extremely boring, but he usually ends lecture early. Make sure you attend class because he will occasionally have everyone turn in some BS in-class assignment for points. The books are really expensive and, for the most part, useless. Everything you need to know is on the powerpoints that he posts on angel, but it's a shitload of information...most of which you won't be tested on. Overall, a nice guy that keeps you guessing on how difficult the exam is going to be (sometimes easy as shit, sometimes hard as hell)...a good bioscience requirement if you're willing to do some work.

I took this course online over the summer. The class consists of four exams and an insect e-collection, in which you go around and take 25 pictures of various insects and then compile and identify them in a powerpoint. You can do the work whenever you choose. I waited until the day before the course closed. I glanced over all the lecture slides, kept them open, and took the exams in a period of a few hours, then proceeded to take the pictures of insects, which takes very little time if you have a garden nearby. I got a 4.0 in this 3 credit class by doing about six hours of work.

He teaches everything by the powerpoint,so its an extremely boring lecture. He puts all the powerpoints on angel, but he give random, in class assignments that are really easy. He told us in the beginning on the semester that he wasn't going to curve or give extra credit. But his tests were pretty difficult he started to curve and give extra credit. I somehow pulled off a 3.5 even though I got 70-80% on the tests. It's not impossible to do well, just read and go over the powerpoints and you'll be fine. The subject itself is easy. But it is one boring class!!!!!

Pros: He's a great teacher and makes things more interesting for you. He genuinely likes entomology, especially honey bees. All lecture slides are online

Cons: Lectures seem kind of long and its hard to motivate yourself to go to class on the other side of campus on a cold morning when he puts all the slides online

Awesome prof, I took this course for my bioscience requirement and Im glad I did, easy 4.0 if you spend between 8 - 10 hours out of the entire semester on this class, 3 tests and a final exam multiple choice with short answer on all of them

Power Points are useless. Everything is out of the book, and have to read every chapter. His classes are useless since he just goes over the powerpoints, which make no sense if u want to go over them for a test. His tests are extremely hard, although there are huge curves. There curves will not help. Advice is to go to class everyday and read the text. He is a boring guy personally, and i think if you go to class you should be fine, and he also gives out extra credit at random timings during the course so watch out..

First year returning to teach, he lectures from powerpoints that are entirely out of the book. Exams are highly curved... e.g. i got at least a 11pt curve and i was top 5 every single exam. I 3.5'ed the class but slept through every class period. Read the book, show up to class and be woken up during the in class assignments, other than that it is an isb.... very much a blow off class. The final is not written by PETT, so it was extremely hard in retrosepect to an other exams. FYI I'm a business major.

I took Pett's online version of this course. I have zero regrets--even given how online courses can be notorious for being inane and just awful. The grading/tests/insect collection were VERY fair and, truthfully, surprisingly easy. He allowed us to take the exams when we wanted, as long as we finished them all before the 2nd to last Friday of the course. I was behind initially, but was able to catch up without it killing my grade. Definitely recommended if you need a science credit/ISS substitute!

Walter is a pretty cool guy who is returning to his first year of teaching. Although the class was extremely boring, it was very easy to 4.0 since he curves the test if everyone does bad. I did decent on all of the tests and easily 4.0 the clas. The only reason I gave him a 3.0 was because the information was boring as hell. Also make sure you go to his office hours if you have any questions, makes the biggest difference.

Passionate about the material, however boring. Seemed like he even bored himself. 1% curve which allowed me to get a 4. when i did awful on first 2 exams with 68% and 72%. turned it around with 2 90% on 3rd and final.

Easy because all material is on powerpoint. ask questions and go to class. random in class hw. i gave him 2.0 because he is boring and came unprepared often. unorganized and sloppy

If your an engineer looking to fulfill your micro-bio credit take this course. Pett is a good guy he's funny and tries to make the material interesting. The exam questions sometimes get technical but not too bad. He post lecture notes online idk if that's a good or bad thing because I found myself not attending lecture often. A 3.5 should be easily attainable.

Walter is a cool guy, and his class wasn't that bad. Every class he goes over a powerpoint, but he puts them up on angel after class.. so you honestly don't have to go to class if you don't want. The exams are kind of tough, but if you read the chapters and look over the exams you'll be fine. Plus he curves the tests and gives extra credit.

Great online summer class. Pett is really easy going and is willing to work with you. Like the prev post said there's 4 exams and an insect e-collection. The insect collection is pretty easy, you just have to take pics of 25 bugs and put it in a powerpoint. If you need a science course, I would highly recommend this class...really easy!

Walt is a cool dude. This was an extremely easy class; take it if you need a natural science elective. There are 4 exams worth 80 percent, and 20 percent are BS in class assignments that you just have to be there for. The problem is that the class is really really boring, and most people skip. Bring a laptop if you go.