David Strait
2 courses · 39 reviews
Courses
All Reviews
2 or less hrs/week
I thought the material was very interesting, and Strait is an amazing professor. The content isn’t difficult to understand, the biggest challenge is memorization.
12/18/2024
Rants during lectures. Moves too quickly. Assigns additional lectures to watch before exams since he doesn't plan well enough to get through the necessary material before an exam.
9/16/2024
2 or less hrs/week
The class is a huge lecture and the exams are all multiple choice and based on random facts from the lecture.
5/21/2024
2 or less hrs/week
Pretty nifty class. A lot of memorization for sure but David strait is a cool guy and makes the class fun(he looooves his wife)
5/19/2024
Lectures are relatively enjoyable, but they can also be found online from when it was still online class. Professor Strait is a very knowledgeable and qualified lecturer, and can make lectures funny and interesting. Graded mostly by just 3 tests. The final unit is the most difficult and is weighted the most, but little time is spent on it.
8/8/2023
Strait is a true gem. He's a sweetheart and clearly loves his job. Always comes into class with a smile on his face ready to blast his favorite delta blues songs at deafening volumes. Lectures are straightforward and he does post the slides on canvas which is helpful.
5/6/2023
Dr Strait is incredible; his class was by far my favourite this year and potentially of my time at WashU. His lectures were engaging and his ability to work humour and sincerity into his lectures made coming to lecture the highlight of my day. The only downside was that we were graded mainly on three exams, two of which were difficult to study for.
1/15/2023
I absolutely love Dr. Strait. He is really funny and interesting. The class is fascinating.
12/27/2022
Dr. Strait is a great lecturer who clearly cares about his students. He tries to keep his lectures entertaining by infusing them with humor and is very inspiring to listen to. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it to make a big impact on his students; his lectures on climate change were very moving. Take a class with him if you can.
12/26/2022
An absolute gem!! One of the best professors at WashU. He plays music at the beginning of every class and tells stories and cracks jokes throughout his lectures to keep people engaged. Professor Strait is a really entertaining and sweet professor who cares about his students and the topics he teaches a lot.
12/25/2022
I thought Anatomy was quite difficult this semester, as exams were moved back in person and closed note (exams are 90% of your grade). Prof. Strait is an ANGEL though, as he made our final online, open-note, and unlimited time at the last minute (literally in the exam room before the final). He's a great prof, just be prepared to memorize a TON.
12/22/2022
Dr. Strait is an incredibly thoughtful, engaging professor whose love for what he teaches is contagious. Human ev is SO interesting (made me want to switch majors). He says it's not memorization heavy but sometimes you just have to sit down and grind flashcards. It becomes a lot easier if you find trends and understand the logic behind them.
12/21/2022
Very funny and engaging lectures. Only had 3 labs and 3 tests that made up the grade. If you memorize the lectures, the tests are easy (also didn't need the textbook but he said to get it).
12/13/2022
Human evolution was the only biology/anthropology class I've taken at WashU. Even in my senior year, Dr. Strait had me interested in the material and the class. He is a phenomenal person, accomplished but humble and kind. He is an excellent, patient professor, and goes out of his way to try and make class interesting and fun. 10/10
12/7/2022
Great professor and a super loveable guy that makes anthropology very interesting with his use of videos but he can be a bit fast when explaining things and powerpoints are more so visual than summarizers of content. Grades in this class consist of 3 chunkey tests and 3 labs, if you suck at tests (me) make sure you study and take really good notes.
12/5/2022
Professor Strait's lectures on Human Evolution are entertaining. He is occasionally humorous and tells personal stories. He conveys passion for the material.nnThere is no homework in the class; there are a few multiple choice exams.
11/30/2022
I love Dr.Strait, he is a fantastic professor and he clearly is very passionate about both teaching and the subject he teaches. One of my favorite profs at WashU and I certainly won't forget him and my experience in his class for a long time.
11/2/2022
was unclear on directions to print skeleton diagram. had to manually draw the diagram.
9/28/2022
Dr. Strait is the best professor I've had at WashU so far! Not only are his lectures interesting and funny, but he truly cares about his students and it shows. He is an incredible man and I am so sad that I'm done taking HumEv. If you show up to class and take good notes, you're golden.
12/26/2021
One of the most engaging lectures I've ever had! I also loved how he plays music before every lecture to help set the mood, and also just for the sake of it. He genuinely wants his students to succeed and even said at the beginning of the semester that he doesn't care if all of his students get A's.
12/25/2021
Best professor. Very engaging lectures that were recorded if you had to miss them. Offered extra credit with 10-minute "labs" where you examined actual human skulls and other fossils brought from the Med School campus. Exams all multiple choice 40 questions with 50 minute time limit. Easy clear questions, no surprises. Saw many fun videos in class.
12/10/2021
Prof. Strait is a hilarious and caring professor who has electric and dynamic lectures. The best class I've ever taken - and it's very easy as well.
12/10/2021
I took Prof. Strait's class just as a science credit for an engineering major, but it was one of my most interesting classes. The classes were all video lectures given the time we were in, but they were unique and easy to watch/complete. He made jokes often and offered music just because. Grades were also easy MC quizzes. Textbook use was optional
4/23/2021
My favorite professor at WashU so far! He's very engaging and really cares about what he teaches. It really shows in class (or on video for my case).
1/7/2021
He is one of the most caring professor I have encountered at WashU. The content of this class is very fun if you enjoy anatomy and I can feel that he cares about his student even though this is a fully asynchronous and online class.
12/16/2020
The literal best professor at Washington U. Very engaging, very clear guidelines for assessments.
12/5/2020
Pros: a fantastic introduction course to paleoanthropology, because the professor breaks down concepts so that even those without prior knowledge of paleoanthropology can easily understand course content lecture content balances information with fun facts, keeping you interested very empathetic professor
11/25/2020
he is probably the most engaging and fair professor i have had at wash u so far and i am a senior. would highly recommend.
11/4/2020
he's actually incredible. happy, genuine professor. very knowledgable. love his course so far.
10/21/2020
His anatomy and development class is hard, absolutely. BUT he's probably my favorite prof that I've had at Wash U. He's funny, engaging, and clearly passionate about what he does. Material and tests are hard, but he makes class fun and worth it. Also, if you're pre-med, it's helpful content for the MCAT.
8/23/2020
Very nice professor who is willing to help. Your ability to succeed in human evolution is dependent on how well you memorize. This class is almost entirely memorization, so get ready for this
1/10/2020
Dr. Strait is by far one of the best professors I've had at WashU. I never found myself counting the minutes until the end of his lectures but was instead immersed completely in what he was telling us. It's obvious that he really cares about what he teaches and about his students as well
12/15/2019
Dr. Strait is so sweet and understanding and if you are having trouble with anything, he is very accessible and will work with you to make sure you succeed in his classes
2/19/2019
an amazing guy and an amazing professor. very passionate about what he is interested in and that is clear in his lectures. although the content is difficult and not very interesting, he keeps the class energized with his jokes. if you want a good grade, do not skip class because certain slides are not uploaded. he plays fun music before class too!
4/26/2018
Great professor, actually cares about you, willing to accomodate, super chill. The tests aren't easy unless you know the material well, so get ready to memorize. But, this has been my favorite class at WashU so far, both because of the material and the professor.
3/29/2018
Dr. Strait is so great! He's so funny and such a great teacher. His work is very straightforward and if you study, you will likely do well (in this class there was quite a bit of memorization). My friends and I all found his class really engaging and interesting. Ten out of ten!
3/13/2018