PUBPOL-838
THE INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredFall
Typical enrollment14–14
Semesters of data1
9
Responses
14
Enrollment
64%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.6
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.6
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.9
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
3.1
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysislow
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 35 comments across 1 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent. The sample is still thin, so treat this as directional rather than definitive.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
Watch out for
• Most of the signal comes from a limited sample, so be careful about over-generalizing.
• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.
Student Responses
Improved information ecosystem and media history fluency.
Fall 2025 · Napoli, Philip
This course greatly enhanced my understanding of the interplay between government policies and the information environment, the algorithmic foundations of digital platforms, and the evolving role of media in contemporary culture.
Fall 2025 · Napoli, Philip
I developed skills useful for dissecting news.
Fall 2025 · Napoli, Philip
I came with an open mind in learning about the information system. I had little to no experience of the topics discussed prior to the semester. Dr. Napoli is awesome.
Fall 2025 · Napoli, Philip
We learned the policy behind who is responsible- either users of platforms- for spreading and hosting false information or criminal content. We also reviewed an organization of our choice digital privacy policies to poke gaps and to recommend how to improve it. Lastly, we forecasted the role artificial intelligence will play in the next 5 years across the digital environment.
Fall 2025 · Napoli, Philip
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Napoli, Philip 4.6Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.6Difficulty2.0Would retake100%Based on 9 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.6 | 3.1 | — | 14 |
Instructor
Also teaches
JAM-390S SP TOPICS JOURNALISM & MEDIA4.0PJMS-390 SPECIAL TOPICS3.7PUBPOL-301 POL ANALY PUB POL MAKING3.8PUBPOL-814 POLITICS POLICY PROCESS4.5