Jim McGowan

HIST120 · HISTORY120 · HIST121 · HIS120121 · 120AND121 · HIST120AND121 · 44 lifetime ratings

AI rating: 88/100
RMP rating: 4.3/5
Take again: 80%
Difficulty: 2.1

The decision

if you will attend lectures; show up, study key terms, and you are likely to enjoy the class and do well.

Best fit · Beginner FriendlyAmazing lecturesHilariousPassionate storytellerKey terms focusShow up and succeed

Students rave about energetic, story-like lectures that make US history fun and memorable.
Course is manageable if , and learn key terms; .
A , but most find workload light and grades fair.

Key questions

Four answers before you build your schedule.

Is this an easy A?

EasyA

80/100

Many call it an easy A with light work if you attend and master key terms from lectures and study guides.

In-person evidence is strongest for easy As; online also passable via key terms but with .

Is the course easy?

Beginner

72/100

; difficulty stays low when you show up and review terms.

; online needs more independent chapter study.

Is attendance flexible?

Mandatory

30/100

; missing class means missing lecture material that drives tests.

In-person strongly expects presence; but weekly work is.

Is this professor recommended?

MustTake

86/100

Vast majority call him one of the and clear.

In-person recommendations dominate; limited online reviews are also positive.

Course guide

See how this professor fits your week.

Grading

Lenient

74/100

Most students say and attainable grades; a small cluster labels him a .

Format shift

; in-person mostly lenient if you study lectures.

Workload

Light

76/100

, and a few tests rather than heavy busywork.

Format shift

Online has weekly key-term style work; .

Teaching experience

Excellent

88/100

Passionate, funny, knowledgeable lectures are the dominant praise across years.

Format shift

; online still praised for Canvas lectures.

Assessment method

Balanced

55/100

Mix of quizzes, essays, midterm/final, and .

Format shift

Online emphasizes key-term quizzes and discussions; , and exams.

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

42 reviews

High confidence · Best fit for Beginner Friendly

In-person lectures feel like passionate story time; and , and most students strongly recommend him.

Main concern

A few students found tests mismatched with notes or lectures and .

What students said

“His lectures were engaging and were easy to understand. Come to class and briefly read the chapter and you'll do perfectly fine.”
HIST120

“His class should be called "Story-time with McGowan" instead of History 120/121.”
HIST120AND121

“ , and read the textbook, and you will have yourself an easy A people.”
HIST120

Remote format

Online

2 reviews

Low confidence · Best fit for Effort For Reward

Online HIST120 works if you study chapter key terms and ; .

Main concern

full chapter detail.

What students said

“The class , as long as you familiarize yourself with the key terms at the end of each chapter.”
HIST120

“ , But I would just know the entire chapter because they are not just on the key terms”
HIST120

Exam style

Know what to expect from exams and major assignments.

Tests lean on key terms and lectures with short essays; not described as webcam-proctored or Lockdown Browser exams.

Key terms quizzesLecture-based testsShort essaysStudy guides

Assessment risk

Standard

68/100

Low score means less forgiving assessment conditions.

In person

and quizzes track lectures and key terms, with short primary-source essays and a .

Lecture and key-term testsPrimary source essaysMidterm and finalStudy guides

“ and lecture.”
HIST120

“There are 4 primary source essays which are 1-2 pages each... 2 quizzes, 1 midterm, 1 final, one 3-4 ”
HIST120

Online

Online assessment centers on key-term quizzes and discussions with textbook support; proctoring not clearly described.

Key terms quizzesDiscussionsTextbook support

“study the key terms and you'll be fine as that is what the whole class is about.”
HIST120

“A little of a .”
HIST120

Student evidence

See what students actually said.

Top student voice
“His class should be called Story-time with McGowan instead of History 120/121. If you show up and know the terms for the .”
Voice snapshots generated from 44 reviews, highlighting lecture energy, easiness, and a . Credibility rating: High.

🎯 Teaching Quality

88/100

“He makes history come alive. He is passionate about history and it shows.”

😂 Lecture Energy

90/100

“It was like adult story time... He really made history fun and easy to learn.”

👍 Recommendation Rate

86/100

“Professor McGowan is by far one of the .”

⚠️

40/100

“ , book or any of the study materials.”

Theme 1

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

McGowan's lectures are full of passion. He is very knowledgeable about American history.
Class is all lecture but he's passionate and funny, so it's not your typical boring history lecture.
He lectures everyday, but they are actually good lectures.

Theme 2

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

Class not hard at all and he always keeps it interesting.
.
The .

Theme 3

❤️ About Character

, and welcomes office hours.
nice teacher, he's funny and genuinely seems to care
!

Data context

See exactly what the AI read.

Analysis sample

Recent reviews read by the AI

Lifetime ratings

84/100

Evidence confidence

44 reviews over many years with highly consistent lecture praise; a small noisy negative cluster exists but overall themes are stable.

Inside 44 stored ratings

Quality ratings

5 out of 533

4 out of 54

3 out of 51

2 out of 52

1 out of 54

Course coverage

HIST12021 reviews

HIST12112 reviews

HIS1201213 reviews

HIST120AND1213 reviews

HISTORY1203 reviews

Show 1 more courses

120AND1212 reviews

Reported outcomes

A range results lead the reported letter grades.

27 reported outcomes

A range

A+ 1 · A 10 · A- 1

B range

B+ 1 · B 6

C range

C 1 · C- 1

D range

D 1

F

No reported values

No letter grade reported

Not sure yet 4 · Not_Sure_Yet 1

Jim McGowan

x x x x x if you will attend lectures; show up, study key terms, and you are likely to enjoy the class and do well.

Four answers before you build your schedule.

EasyA

Beginner

Mandatory

MustTake

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 Quality

😂 Lecture Energy

👍 Recommendation Rate

⚠️ x x x

👨‍🏫 About Teaching Style

📈 About Difficulty & Grades

❤️ About Character

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 will attend lectures; show up, study key terms, and you are likely to enjoy the class and do well.

⚠️