Norma Mccoy

Dr. Norma McCoy appears to be a very intelligent woman and she is. Earning a doctorate degree isn't easy. Since I had previously taken Human Sexuality and got an A+ in it I didn't really study for this course. I sort of cruised through it. The quizzes are 5 questions multiple choice. I believe she gives 13 quizzes and takes the best 10 quiz scores. The Exams can be brutal if you don't study. I only went through the chapters briefly and read the chapter summaries. The syllabus is pretty accurate as what is going to be covered day to day. The two papers that are required based on guest speakers are the only ones I had to worry about since you had to be there to listen. Since this course qualifies under the Segment III Human Sexuality cluster, you should take it. The lectures can be hard to stay awake and the blackboard is hard to see especially if you are sitting in the upper rows 50 feet back. Her partner in crime is Mr. Matyas. He's a very personable and cool guy if you ever get the chance to hear him speak or talk to him. Their office hours are excellent if you take the time to show up. If you are polite and treat the teachers with respect I'm sure they'll reciprocate as well. They let me take my missed quizzes which I'm sure most teachers aren't willing to do consistently as it means more work for them. Overall, they make fulfilling one part of the Segment III cluster much more tolerable. I've taken other teachers that just make you dread even coming class even though it's about SEX! I do however want to mention at one point during the semester one student was arguing with Dr. McCoy about her child's sexual upbringing and that was probably the most fun I had watching them go at it. I could hear people all around me commenting about how pointless the argument was but oh well. Ahh, one more interesting tidbit. Be prepared to watch some masturbation films. I strolled into class one day and they had some guy jacking off on the big screen. Luckily, I was late so I didn't have to sit through the whole thing. 8-)

Hope this helps... As always don't go by reviews as the solid truth. I believe you should meet the instructors or drop in on one of their classes before considering who to take. Sometimes reviews can be dead on but I always give people the benefit of the doubt no matter what was said about the person.

God is she a tedious and disjointed lecturer! Her classes are painfully jumbled, and uninformative. Even the psych majors in my section found her expectations of prior knowledge of psych terms and systems annoying. She definitely comes with an agenda, and is pretty unwilling to let anyone disagree with it in class or out. On the plus side, she doesn't seem to dock grades for disagreements, and is actually a really good advisor if you can believe it. She is the last remaining Psych and human sex crossover faculty, and actually has a solid graspe of the wierd requirements of each. I hear that she will sign anything that you can justify, and she's really very nice.

take this class, if only to laugh at what a spastic nutter she is! i love watching her get flustered at not having turned on the mike, or reminisce about her (apparently promiscuous) youth, or forget what she's saying mid-sentence. you'd think she wouldn't forget the name of the cowper's gland, for example. when people say obnoxious or offensive things in class, she just cracks up like it's the funniest thing ever. the text is a fairly good but very basic general human sexuality text. the tests, quizzes, and assignments are fairly easy. but you definitely are not going to learn a great deal about psychology, that's for sure. unless it's from observations of mccoy. i have not taken her other course on the development of maleness and femaleness, but i have heard it is torturous. if you have heard any other human sexuality professors mention one prof on campus who is biological essentialist to an extreme degree, well, guess who it is? that's one class i wouldn't dare take, because when dr. nutter has a strong opinion, she won't let you believe anything else. let's just not forget one thing: "opinions are like assholes. everybody has one, and they all stink."

I took this class as a senior, and had heard some less than stellar reviews on her teaching style. I needed a 4th class, and I had taken other psych. classes, so I tried it out. Big Mistake! Her lectures are all over the place. She is always frazzled, and has an almost militant bias against other aspects of social science. She ranted for like twenty minutes one class, about the word "gender", and how it is worthless term. Being a socioogy major, I was biting my lip. She also assumes that every person in her class is a psychology major. On numerous occasions had to stop her, and ask her to repeat something....because she assume every student knew all the stages of childhood development from memory. Only Psychology majors would have this at the forefront of their memory. Just so you know, I ended up bouncing back from a bad grade on the first test, and I think I got a B. Regardless, she is very intelligent, I will not argue that. She is at times a seriously bad teacher.

Dr. McCoy is incredibly knowledgable, but I feel that sometimes her lectures are a little disorganized. She covers a great deal of material very quickly, and sometimes assumes that her students have a great deal of prior knowledge on the subjects she teaches.

I took both Psy 456 (Psych of Human Sexual Behavior) and Psych 436 (Development of Femaleness and Maleness)with her concurrently.

The reason that I mention this is that Psy. 456 is an easy class, consisting of a minimal amount of reading, two scan-tron multiple choice exams, weekly (easy)quizzes, and a 2 page reaction paper about an outside speaker. The lectures are interesting, the speakers are fantastic, and the tests require a minimal amount of preparation, provided you have attended class regularly.

Psy 436, on the other hand, is a very challenging 4 unit class. It requires you to acquire a great deal of biology knowledge very quickly ( it helps if you have a good base of bio. knowledge going into it, which I did not) and the reading load is heavy and difficult.

Your grade consists of: 30% midterm exam (essay, some t/f, and fill in the blank)-it requires a great deal of studying to prepare for this test, but a study guide and review session are provided.

30% combined weekly-quiz grades - based on readings and lecture. This requires that you stay abreast of the reading and attend class regularly. These quizzes are fairly tough - the class mean was usually around 3 (out of 5) on any given quiz.

40% Written Assignment - this one is the big challenge. It requires you to pick a novel from a list provided, and then analyze one of the characters in terms of the class material, translating the traits and experiences of the character into biological factors and social factors. This requires a deep understanding of Social Learning Theory and Behaviorism in general (which can be acquired through the class, provided you attend all the lectures and do all the reading.) It also requires an analytical mind, and the ability to write clearly. Above all, it requires that you start the paper early, and work on it throughout the semester. This paper should not be left until the last minute. Getting an A on this paper is quite an accomplishment... only 2 people managed it in my class.

I enjoyed this class a great deal. If you are willing to put in the time and effort to do well, it is very rewarding. I found the subject matter very interesting, and Dr. McCoy and her T/A were both available to answer questions during office hours.

But when Dr. McCoy says that she is a hard grader in this course...believe her. Unlike Psy 456, this class is NOT AN EASY A. It requires committment and diligence.

With that caveat, I recommend this course to individuals who are genuinely interested in approaching gender roles and sex differences from a combined Biological/Social perspective.

Dr. McCoy certainly has a vast amount of knowledge on the subject, however, I often had trouble absorbing the amount of information thrown at me. The class seems to drag on at times, with little to grab a student's interest (in a class about human sex!?!) More interaction between the Doctor and the students would be helpful....

McCoy is a good instructor. The class was about sex not about the human brain. Mid-term and final are scan-tron. One required two page paper. You have to show up and sign the roll sheet. What could be more beautiful than that. I'm taking another class from her next semester.

McCoy is not only knowledgable in her field but she is one of the only profs in the Psychology department that is publishing anything lately. I find her lectures interesting, entertaining, and well presented. She managed to dig up the funkiest old sex info flicks too. She is always available during her office hours and she has given me considerable chunks of time to discuss whatever question I had and gave me very good feed-back on my papers. I find her witty and sarcatic style refreshing and enjoyed her class very much. To those who wanted less biology and more psychology, take the Psychology of Love class or a physiological psychology class.

Norma McCoy seems to have forgotten what this class is supposed to be about. Psychology. But we've spent the entire semester on biology - I wanted to learn about the human brain - if I wanted to learn about the clinical terms for parts of the penis, I would have taken a diffeent class! I also REALLY can't stand how she refuses to allow any discussion of what she has to say - according to her, everyone on birth control pills must have been pressured into it by the medical establishment or their selfish, over-bearing boyfriends! But she refused to listen to any opposition!

Dr. Norma McCoy, is one of the most lazy, least intelligent professor I have ever had the displeasure of having. She does not know what she is teaching and even admits she doesn't know the subject very well. I don't understand why she is teaching Psychology of maleness and femaleness when she hasn't even gotten to teaching us anything but Biology. Another thing I want to mention is her basic disregard for the students. She constantly sighs when asked a question that she doesn't like and when approached during an office hour, she gets impatient and stressed out.

The class I am taking from Norma Mc Coy is supposed to be, The Psychology of Human Sexual Behavior. I am so disappointed with this class, because only once did she bring up the subject of Psychology. She really doesn't do too much teaching at all; she wastes a lot of time going over old test score performances, and laughing at her own anecdotes. The rest of the time, we are left wondering why this class actually has a prerequisite, when all we ever go over is basic Human Sexuality- a class many of us have already taken. The only time I feel that I have really learned in this class is when we have guest speakers come and talk to us. Norma Mc Coy needs to update her knowledge too. There were many times when a simple question was asked in class that she hadn't the slightest idea about because the information was about something that had occurred in this decade. She has poor public speaking skills and needs to work on this also.