Lancelot KAO

He's extremely hard to understand. Loves to use the powerpoint. His moods seem to change from eventempered to annoyed fairly easily. The topic could be interesting but since he's hard to understand and just uses power point you can get lost in daydreaming. He puts to many demands for one class. The tests, midterm, and final are mostly short answer and essay, but her makes you write two papers and go to events on your own time but that are only offered at specific days and times. So if you have a job and are looking for an easier class - don't take him. But he does offer lots of extra credit and grades are 75% and higher for a B? oh and I'm talking about his astro4 class not the lab.

Kao was a hard teacher, and since it was my first semester at CCSF I was at first caught off guard, but everyone who complains about his English is simply trying to rationalize why they failed. He does have an accent but much like most of the people in San Francisco it is easy to understand once you get used to it, not to mention his lectures are all review and clarifications. He is not an easy teacher but his class is fun and if you do the reading and arent lazy about coming to class and asking the questions that you need answered you'll do fine. I got an A with some effort but not at all the "torturing" amount that some of the other reviews complain about. Kao is fair, his tests are straight forward, unlike some teachers at CCSF he doesnt want his students to fail, he wants them to understand astronomy and like the subject as much as he does. He is very open to responding to e-mail and is always available to help during office hours and at other times. I highly recommend diving in head first and taking Astro. 1 and 16 (the lab) at the same semester because the knowledge will go hand in hand and will help you do better in both, also if you have the time and drive the service learning program with the astr dept is GREAT! Have fun and dont pass up a great learning opportunity because those who didnt care enough to study want to blame their failures on Lancelot's accent.

I thought he was cool. Sure, his English is kinda messed up.. but unless youre some total backwoods, ignorant bible belt hick that thinks all asians are orientals, or chinese, and all hispancs are mexicans, you wont have a problem. I had to ask him to repeat himself a couple times, and he had no problems. Even by email, it was real easy to get in touch with him. he responded right away.. and theres no problems with his writing skills. He graded fairly, and was willing to work with me.

Ignore the other bad reviews.. If you notice, there only complaint was his English.. but if you grew up in a big city with a population of more people than cows- you shouldnt have a problem.. and youll actually enjoy his class.

First off, he absolutely does not deserve an F or a D grade. These reviews should be based on academic merrit as an instructor, and the personality and willingness to teach.. To review someone negatively based on their national heritage or because english is not their first language is just IGNORANT and somewhat racist. (and for the record- I am caucasian)

Yes, some of his english is at times difficult to understand.. but any time I asked him to clarify or repeat something, he was more than happy to do so. He is kind, and has infinite patience. If there was any dispute with an assignement, he promptly answered my emails and clarified it to me. If he did discover something on the test that we did not cover, he discounted it, or graded accordingly.. He is a fair teacher, and he gives ample time to complete assignments.

You can tell teaching is more than a job to him- He has a true passion for it. He was enthusiastic, humorous, and really cares about what he does. So what if his english isnt the best. Just ask him to repeat or explain it, and he will, happily. Imagine if teachers had little patience for the stupid question we students ask all the time? We should be so lucky to have more teacers like him.

You cannot understand Prof. Kao- it is nearly impossible for one to do. The homework was quite easy but as for the tests and lectures, it was torture. He seems very intelligent but only concerned with presenting himself in this manner. He is disorganized and overall terrible to learn from.

If you can't understand heavy accents, he is not the teacher for you. His accent is very strong and it ruins the course because it is impossible to understand. I hate to say something like that because I like to find the positives in each teacher, but this teacher loves to torture us with lots of math, tests on stuff we haven't covered, and show pictures of graphs that make no sense.

If you are going to take his class, don't even think about it. Try to find other astronomy classes because he is not a good teacher. You can not understand what he was saying as if he just came from China or somewhere (no offense to Chinese students!). And his exams, they are unpredictable and very hard too! And don't get me started with the homeworks because they extremely beat math assignments for their complexity. A word of advice - don't take his class!

Lancelot Kao is a great teacher and person. If you are a slacker and hope to get by just by showing up to his class this is not a course for you. It takes a lot of work and concentration. At times it may even seem impossible. But if you are willing to open your mind up to new concepts and really put in some effort you will come away with a whole new view of the universe, and some good friends!

This guy is a horrible speaker, he can't talk if his life depended on it, tell him to try pronouncing Ancient Greek, he will go off and say Asian Greek. For someone who is so deep into his own profession he needs to go home and take some time off to learn pro-noun-ci-a-tion. I don't care about words he won't come across, but words that he will be needing to teach the class he needs to definitely get a better hang of saying, try listening to his boring hard to follow speeches and all of a sudden wonder why he is talking about Asia. But if all you want is a good passing grade, say a B? shit better take his class because his homework was so easy whether or not you pay attention to him or not the homework is definitely do able. The quizzes are a snap but he doesn't provide much help to learn. Even if you were interested in his office hours would you want to listen to his annoying voice?

Lancelot Kao has the best intentions, but does not posess the teaching skills to pass on his obvious wisdom. His lectures were hard to follow and understand(he has a thick accent and astronomy is a new language by itself to a novice). He grades very generously, so you don't have to worry about getting a bad grade due to the lack of information passed from teacher to student. He is a nice enough guy, but his personality overall is mediocre.