http://www.CourseReviews.comCourseReviews.com - University of Nevada - Renoen-usCopyright 1997-2008 CourseReviews.comFri, 26 Sep 2008 03:48 ESThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssdylan.feed@coursereviews.com (CourseReviews.com)dylan.webmaster@dylangreene.com (Dylan Greene) hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17413/A-difficult-teacherIt will probably take me 10 yrs to graduate cause I'll never seat in another of harris classes. I don't have a problem with hard teachers as long as they are constructive and their overall mission is to make each student learn the topic. That is not Harris, he is there to weed them out and that is what he does best. He is known for that and if there were more than one section of his classe per semester, his would be the last one to get full and the least desirable. Thank all mighty god that Dr. Lauterret will be teaching it on fall 2002 cause that is what I call a teachers teacher. The guy teaches the class like a review. If you are not familiar with the topic, I hope that his class is the only one you are taking for the semester or you are in for a run. I do like his testing methods but I feel he gives to many quizes in the class and in the lab sections. Because of the excesive amount of work, right after the third week most of the students are in surviver mode. Forget about learnig, from that moment on is all about getting the grade in any way you can. You can see this in the lab section and the test. He just have to much to teach in to litter time. He has a rule that your overall grade can't be higher than your final project grade or you lab's average. Wow, that is pure bull and the fact that he gets away with that make no sense at all. Labs would be ok, if the lab TA would know how to teach it or help the student but this guys are students and most of them specially Reuss, wich I had, don't know how to teach or help the student. So here is an integral part of the grade and the leader is handing it out to a non teacher. For the majority of the students it comes down to memorizing code. The problem is that the labs get to long and there is only so much one can memorize. harris just goes to fast in the class and tries to cover to much material. What he should be doing is teaching the topic more and not trying to just cover the schedule. I don't know why being a hard ass is so important with this teacher but I wittnes a lot of good students dropping the class and not because they didn't have potential but because harris methods are very decriminatory. Harris teaches for the above average student and helping the average student become a 'B' student seams not to be in his agenda. What I see here is a teacher that knows his topic and be asure, he knows what he is teaching. The guy is very intelligent and a true professional but the ability to teach is more than that. harris needs to work on his teaching methods and his personality. Is difficult to learn from somebody that don't care if the students like him. His personality as a teacher sucks and he should know that being on a sarcastic mode doesn't make for a good teaching enviroment. harris doen't care if the student like him or not and he sure reflects that attitude in the class room. It is a damn shame because a lot of students should be learning a lot from him insted of a small few. This guy really has the potential to be the best teacher in the department if he only stop flying so high.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17413/A-difficult-teacher#comments2002-06-25T02:49:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17413/A-difficult-teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17382/The-man-has-a-giftScott has a gift of taking an extremely hard subject, and breaking it into simple steps. The book we used was John F. Wakerly's "Digital Design", which is very heavy into electrical engineering concepts, and, thus, difficult for a cs major with little ee background to understand. However, Scott is able to explain the concepts in plain English, providing the Students with a set of simple steps guaranteed to solve the toughest of problems. The lab portion of this class was taught by a Grad Student, Kim Martin, who painlessly arranges the lab exercises to match Scott's lectures. Whatmore, Kim supplemented Scott's lectures on anything that the students were unsure of. Kim made this into a lab that I looked forward to each week. The projects were all challenging, but possible, giving the students a feeling of confidence. Any prospective students of Scott and Kim are in for a fun class!noemail@coursereviews.com (Stark)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17382/The-man-has-a-gift#comments2002-06-23T13:25:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17382/The-man-has-a-gifthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17377/Needs-a-SyllabusDr. Bagchi is a brilliant man, rarely having to refer to a textbook for a formula; however, he falls behind in his lectures, and then overwhelms the students trying to catch up. This problem could easily be alleviated if Dr. Bagchi would design a syllabus which includes weekly lectures/assignments, and stick to it. In the class I was in, we spent 11 weeks on Probabilities, chapters 1 - 4, and 4 weeks on Statistics, chapters 7 - 9 & 12. As a result, I know probabilities quite well, but fall short when it comes to statistics. I could apply Geometric Distribution to most Casino games, but I could not explain the central limit theorem. Ironically, the reason that Dr. Bagchi fell so far behind is that he is genuinely concerned that the students learn and understand the material to the point that many of the earlier class periods were spent with Dr. Bagchi working out homework problems on the board, which is fine, as long as he moves along on a schedule. Consequently, The last four weeks of the semester were spent speed reading chapters, for the University requires their Professors to get the students from point A to point B. Furthermore, the Final was based on this material, and to add salt onto the wound, the week before Finals we were given the guideline for a sizeable project in statistical analysis that were due one week after the final exam. While we were able to work in teams of four, it was very hard with the knowledge that the rest of the University was already on Summer vacation. Finally, any prospective student needs to be warned about Dr. Bagchi's exams, for he likes 'trick' questions. An actual exam question read: "A die is rolled and the outcome is observed. If it is a '3', the die is rolled again and the second number is observed also. If it is known that the die was rolled twice, what is the probability that X is 6?" Instinct tells us to add the two numbers, which is wrong, for the questions says nothing about adding, multiplying, or finding the log. The correct answer is 1/6th. noemail@coursereviews.com (Stark)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17377/Needs-a-Syllabus#comments2002-06-22T16:00:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review17377/Needs-a-Syllabushttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review13895/Dr-Harris-is-HARDThe first day of class Dr. Harris said, "I am hard, I am very hard," and as those who made it through his class could testify, he is not kidding. With twenty quizes, three exams, a two-hour final, ten lab projects, and a final project that would challenge a NASA programer, only the most dedicated survived. In matter of fact, in the class that I was in, fewer than half of my classmates made it to the final, but, for those of us who made it, we are confident in our abilities to program at this level. Dr. Harris is not a passive instructor, but one who demands class participation. His unique style entails asking the class how to code a particular program, and then have every student, in turn, code a single line. One could easily imagine the embarrassment of those who did not pay attention and have to say 'pass'. Additionally, Dr. Harris gives alot of quizes, and many of them seem to come out of right field. Many times they woke me up to the fact that I did not understand the material as well as I thought I did. Future students need not worry if they do poorly on some of these quizes, for they are a wake up call, and not worth alot of points; however, exams and labs are worth a majority of the points. Unlike the quizes, the exams are straight forward, with many questions coming from the labs. While the quizes will break one down, the exams are a confidence builder. In the class I was in, alot of my classmates scored in the 80's and 90's on the exams. For the questions missed, Dr. Harris will require the student to look up the correct answer, and hand it in as a homework assignment. Many of these questions were revisited on the Final. For the student pursuing a degree in Computer Science, I strongly recommand Dr. Harris. He cares about the student and he cares about the field. But be warned, he will not let one merely skate through. At the end of the semester, one will know the material. noemail@coursereviews.com (Stark)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review13895/Dr-Harris-is-HARD#comments2002-01-07T16:34:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review13895/Dr-Harris-is-HARDhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10946/The-most-challenging-class-that-I-have-takenWithout a doubt, the most challenging class that I have ever taken. The difficulty arises from the material itself, at which Dr. Ali does an admirable job at explaining, both verbally and through various demonstrations. He is a magnificient lecturer, making the material appear much simplier than it really is, similar to the way an athlete would make his sport look simple; however, future students should be forewarned that Engineering Physics is probably one of the most complicated subjects taught, and will require triple the time of most classes. The one aspect that I did not like about the class is that the lectures did not run concurrently with the labs; moreover, the lab was generally performed a week before the lecture was given, thus, requiring the student to read ahead. This resulted in studying for the exams and writing the lab reports competing with one another for the students time, in lieu of complimenting one another, which would have aided the student in mastering the material necessary for upcoming exams. The diversity and difficultness involved with the material resulted in ridiculously low quiz(11) and exam(3) scores. Dr Ali compensated by grading on a curve, adding up to 30 precent points on many tests. Ironically, many of the questions Dr. Ali asked came directly from the homework assignments, in which he provided the answers, or problems that he worked out in class. A bit of advice for future students of this class is to work out no less than five physic problems a day. Furthermore, attend every class, for one never knows when the next exam question will be worked out on the board. noemail@coursereviews.com (Stark)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10946/The-most-challenging-class-that-I-have-taken#comments2001-05-24T19:36:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10946/The-most-challenging-class-that-I-have-takenhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10838/A-Real-World-ProfessorIf you are a CS major, I strongly recommend Marcel for CS 201. Besides teaching, Marcel works in the industry, and will incorporate the real world of programming into his lectures; thus, not only does he enhance the text, but he leaves the student with a sense of the usefulness of the material. A bit of advice to future students of Marcel's is that the class starts out ridiculously easy, but challenges even the best students at the end. I found that battling through the labs are the best way to prepare for his tests, which resulted in many of my classmates withdrawing from the class.noemail@coursereviews.com (Stark)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10838/A-Real-World-Professor#comments2001-05-19T19:24:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10838/A-Real-World-Professorhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10661/Kickass-TeacherI thought Marcel was a great teacher. He definitely made the class fun. I would recommend him to anyone taking CS.noemail@coursereviews.com (RoN R)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10661/Kickass-Teacher#comments2001-05-08T17:07:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review10661/Kickass-Teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review8819/OK-teacher-but-needs-to-give-harder-examples-in-lectureMarcel teaches the material okay, and the examples he gives are extremely simple and easy to understand, but when is comes to tests he choses the hardest possible way to ask the questions. It would be better to include difficult examples in his lectures.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review8819/OK-teacher-but-needs-to-give-harder-examples-in-lecture#comments2000-12-13T20:49:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review8819/OK-teacher-but-needs-to-give-harder-examples-in-lecturehttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7534/An-awesome-teacherDr. LeMay is one of the best professors I have ever encountered. He has a great personality and makes learning the material easy. His lectures are easy to follow and take notes from. He wrote the book used in the class, so the lectures and the book follow eachother. If you have to take this class, take LeMay!noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7534/An-awesome-teacher#comments2000-08-02T16:44:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7534/An-awesome-teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7533/Not-the-bestDr. Egbert gets off subject easily. He also does not write enough on the board, so it is difficult to distinguish between what he is merely taking about, and what we are going to tested on.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7533/Not-the-best#comments2000-08-02T16:33:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7533/Not-the-besthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7532/An-awesome-teacherNancy has a great sense of humor, and has a great time teaching. She is very easy to talk to and willing to help. She made a subject tolerable that would have otherwise been a nightmare for me. I would recommend taking her classes.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7532/An-awesome-teacher#comments2000-08-02T16:23:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7532/An-awesome-teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7528/Light-SpeedBeware of the exams, they are hard, especially the final. Everything moves at light speed. But he is of good character and you are welcome to visit him at his office.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7528/Light-Speed#comments2000-08-02T00:39:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7528/Light-Speedhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7525/A-dedicated-teacherRoger Lewis is an exceptional teacher. He is very dedicated to teaching and very concerned about his students. He has a great sense of humor and class is never boring. He is fair on his exams and goes over each question in class and is open to students' comments. Absolutely the best teacher at University of Nevada Reno.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7525/A-dedicated-teacher#comments2000-08-01T21:05:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review7525/A-dedicated-teacherhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4745/Experienced-and-friendlyThis is a required course packed to the gills, so it's obviously quite a challenge to teach. Dr. Egbert does a good job of explaining the subject. The only problem -- and this is with the course itself -- is the lack of assembly language coursework. This was primarily a course in digital circuits and logic.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4745/Experienced-and-friendly#comments2000-03-27T19:31:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4745/Experienced-and-friendlyhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4742/Thorough-and-on-trackDr. Bebis is a crisp, efficient but thorough lecturer. He moves quickly enough that it's important to stay focused in order to get everything out of the lecture. The topic itself can get tedious at times, but Dr. Bebis does a great job of relating the theory to practice, and points out the tradeoffs involved in various design decisions. The assignments are the best part of the class, because you end up learning some rudimentary image processing techniques.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4742/Thorough-and-on-track#comments2000-03-27T19:21:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4742/Thorough-and-on-trackhttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4736/Energetic-and-enthusiasticNancy is able to make a required math class a lot of fun. She's very motivated and organized, and her enthusiasm for the subject is infectious. But she covers the topics in great detail, and this is not an easy class.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4736/Energetic-and-enthusiastic#comments2000-03-27T18:27:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u1364/review4736/Energetic-and-enthusiastic