Michael Starkey

CS5032 · CS7011A · VIDEO2942 · CS74 · CIS17331A · CS21AB · CIS6981 · CS5031 · CS7011 · CS7411 · CS7421 · CIS161 · COMP151 · 27 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 56/100
RMP rating: 3.5/5
Take again: 50%
Difficulty: 2.4

The decision

if you are brand new to Adobe tools and want a slow intro; experienced students should look elsewhere.

Best fit · Beginner FriendlyLecture heavySlow paceBeginner Adobe introPolarizingRecorded lectures

absolute beginners often appreciate patience, while experienced creatives call lectures dull and shallow.
Classes move slowly through Adobe tools with lots of lecture and basic menu-level demos.
Grades and workload are usually manageable, but recommendation rate sits near 50 percent.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

78/100

Many students report easy or high grades even when they dislike the class, so the A is attainable with basic assignment completion.

Both online and praise.

Is the course easy?

Beginner

72/100

Content is introductory Adobe and media tools paced slowly, with low average difficulty.

Experienced students online and in person find it too basic; true beginners find the pace helpful.

Is attendance flexible?

Varies

62/100

while , and lectures are often recorded.

Online ; in-person is mixed.

Is this professor recommended?

Depends

50/100

because praise for patience collides with widespread boredom complaints.

Polarization appears in both formats, with slightly more beginner praise in person.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

72/100

Several students earn As while calling the class easy, though .

Format shift

; overall outcomes still look lenient.

Workload

Light

76/100

; the heavier burden is sitting through long lectures.

Format shift

Both formats emphasize light skills work with heavy lecture time.

Teaching experience

Average

55/100

He is patient and helpful for novices, but many students find lectures slow, shallow, off-topic, or outdated.

Format shift

Online quality swings harder; in-person shares the same split.

Assessment method

FocusOnAssignments

30/100

, and participation more than traditional high-stakes exams.

Format shift

Luni fit check

Weigh these signals against your actual schedule.

Get help balancing workload, grading, and timing when no option is an obvious fit.

Course format

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Classroom format

In person

20 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Beginner Friendly

In person, beginners like his methodical pace and availability, while many others say four-hour lectures drag and teach only basic functions.

Main concern

Long slow lectures that feel outdated or shallow for students past absolute beginner level.

What students said

“When hes not wasting hours discussing printers, he "crams" a four minute editing tutorial into a FOUR hour lecture”
CS7421

“Being entirely new to photoshop, I love this class. He goes at a manageable pace”
CS7011A

“Exceptionally dull. Seemingly has a talent for focusing on things that don't matter in class and glossing over things that do.”
CS7421

Remote format

Online

7 reviews

Medium confidence · Best fit for Beginner Friendly

some praise Adobe suite overviews and help via Zoom, others call lectures boring prerecorded tutorials with weak support.

Main concern

Slow shallow lectures and delayed or .

What students said

“Starkey's class is like watching REALLY bad tutorials of Adobe programs on YouTube”
CS7411

“if you're brand new, he will help get you up to speed via Zoom.”
CS7421

“I would've gotten more out of watching tutorials on youtube for adobe programs.”
CS74

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Assessment is mostly project and .

Project basedWeekly assignmentsRecorded lecturesLimited formal exams

Assessment risk

StudentFriendly

74/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and long lectures; reviews do not clearly prove strict proctored exams.

Weekly project editsFinal project videoRecorded lectures

“Weekly assignments usually consisted of editing an on-going project and adding whatever technique was taught in the prior class.”
CS7421

“you get to make a boring 1:30 final project video”
CS7421

Online

Online sections emphasize Adobe assignments and prerecorded .

Assignment submissionsPrerecorded lectures

“the , but it's a chore to sit through slow lectures”
CS74

“ and ”
CS7011

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“I see why this would be tedious for someone who is comfortable with adobe already, but it is a wonderful intro class.”
Voice snapshots generated from 27 reviews, highlighting polarizing lecture quality and beginner-friendly ease. Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Split

55/100

“Starkey's class is like watching REALLY bad tutorials of Adobe programs on YouTube”

🟢 Beginner Friendly Pace

72/100

“Being entirely new to photoshop, I love this class. He goes at a manageable pace”

👎 Recommendation Caution

50/100

“ .”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

He records them so you can review the lectures time and time again.
REALLY Slow, but probably for some in the class who needed him to be so.
Exceptionally dull.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty And Grades

His classes are super easy because he takes what should be a week or two of work and stretches it across the semester.
the
Just DON'T buy the kindle version of the textbook, it's awful

Theme 3

🧭

if you're brand new, he will help get you up to speed via Zoom.
If another .
What a waste of time

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

84/100

Evidence confidence

Twenty-seven reviews over many years show a stable split between beginner praise and experienced-student boredom, giving solid confidence.

Inside 27 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 514

4 out of 53

3 out of 51

2 out of 54

1 out of 55

Course coverage

CS74218 reviews

CS7011A4 reviews

CS74113 reviews

CS742 reviews

04671 review

Show 9 more courses

CIS1611 review

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VIDEO29421 review

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

17 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 2 · A 8

B range

B+ 1 · B 1

C range

No reported values

D range

No reported values

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Not sure yet 2 · Not_Sure_Yet 1 · Rather not say 2

Michael Starkey

x x x if you are brand new to Adobe tools and want a slow intro; experienced students should look elsewhere.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

EasyA

Beginner

Varies

Depends

See how this professor fits your week.

Compare the in-person and online experience.

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

In person

Online

See what students actually said.

🎯 Teaching Split

🟢 Beginner Friendly Pace

👎 Recommendation Caution

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty And Grades

🧭 x x x x

See exactly what the AI read.

Quality ratings

Course coverage

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

A range

B range

C range

D range

F

No letter grade reported

if you are brand new to Adobe tools and want a slow intro; experienced students should look elsewhere.

🧭