Tanner, Ray
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Ray Tanner, while very particular in his grading, gave students plenty of time to complete assignments, and the opportunity to revise assignments for partial additional credit. Most of the work for the class is fairly basic, especially in the first 2/3 of the term as the focus is on the basics of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. While the assignments can be somewhat tedious, they are all fairly simple if you read the instructions carefully and do the assignment as Professor Tanner wants it to be done. The midterm is fairly time-constrained, as many students are unable to finish it completely in the 50 minutes given. The final provides a longer amount of time, and it does not seem nearly as rushed as the midterm. The key to an "A" in BA 131 is to read the assignment instructions carefully, do exactly what the instructions say, and attend the Wednesday practice session if you do not fully understand the current week's assignment.
Another key to Tanner's class is correcting your assignment. You receive 70% of what you got wrong on the assignment if you correct the mistakes within a week. Doing the practice exams is also a huge help. The tests are just like them, so if you take the time to do them you won't have any trouble.
A very good teacher. Understands his material very well and is able to transfer his knowledge to his students. Attend all classes and take notes if you can. Don't wait until the last minute to do your assignments, and watch those file names because I wrote a name wrong (like pracitce instead of practice) and since the computer couldn't find it I got a 0% on the assignment. Definitely take the Microsoft Exams at the end of the term. Tanner says that they are as good as gold and they are!!!
Ray Tanner – BA 131
Ray Tanner teaches 131 as if you were a three year old. One thing that I like about his class is that it was not difficult. What I didn’t like is that it was time consuming, his instructions for completing an assignment within Microsoft word, would be pages long. If you know anything about Microsoft office, you won’t really need to go to his lectures. Overall, if you are uncomfortable with Microsoft office this would be a good class, otherwise this class is overly time consuming.
Class Rankings (10 being preferable)
Easiness 9, Teacher Help 3, Time Consumption 3, Overall 3
Prof. Tanner's class is not that fun, but it's very informational. He gets right to the point of what he expects from you. His lessons are right to the point. Everything is very organized and well lay out. Overall, his class is great. I would like to have him as one of my professor again.
Opinions
Professor Tanner's class isn't hard, but it is very tedious. For those of you familiar with Word and Excel, most of this class will be a cakewalk. I guess the College of Business requires it because they can't have computer illiterate people graduate, but for those of you familiar with these programs it won't be a challenge.
That being said, prepare to work. Every week I normally sat down in the Bexell lab and spent a good two hours plugging away at assignments. You must do them exactly as the instructions say or you will lose points. Just get used to it, on one hand it's nice because you know exactly what you need to do to get an A... on the other, lose your concentration and prepare to be penalized. He's lenient with re-grading though, you can sumbit changes for a good portion of the original points.
There is a midterm and the final. The midterm lasts one hour and is pretty intense. I worked as fast as I could and finished in 57 miutes, by then only a handful of people had left. Many didn't finish in time but were able to do the make-up to gain points back. The final was less intense, it lasted two hours and I finished in about 90 minutes. Overall a large majority of students get an "A" in this class... those who don't aren't paying attention or putting the effort into their work.
I enjoyed Tanner's class because he taught what he needed to know very well and there was no grey area on what we needed to do to get the grade. I didn't think that the midterms or final was very hard and I finished with time to spare each time.
