Least favorite Professor

[gocubs2118]

What??? You mean Larry Curtis right? That guy was probably one of my most favorite profs! I thought he was really good with in-class discussion and using real-life examples to demonstrate the topics he was covering. I'm more of a hands-on and visual learner not read the book kind of studying so I thought his teaching style was great because you just had to go to class and pay attention. I don't think I even bought a text book for his class.

He didn't really give much motive to go to class. I went all the time since I was already on campus but everything he taught was already in our powerpoints. I don' t know it just may be me :wideeyed:.

 

[IcSyU]

Ya my bad. Meant Larry.

I really like his class so far...easy to understand and not terribly boring.

 

[mj4cy]

+1

LeRoy was fantastic 1-on-1 if you attempted the homework and made an effort to learn the material before you went to ask him questions. He wasn't about to teach you from scratch, but he was great about helping you get over hurdles.

That being said, he did come off as a jerk in lecture, and he was quite boring (I'm not sure I ever stayed awake through one of his lectures). But you learned the material as a result of his class.

People who didn't like him were usually the ones who went up to him with a blank paper and asked him to do everything....that would tick me off too. He was a great help to those that showed effort and said "I got this far and am not sure what to do next."

 

[Ace000087]

worst i've had is mcelroy management 370 without a doubt

I agree with you. I had him for Management 370 also. At the beginning of class I was reading the daily, he called me out in front of everyone (I was in one of the back rows) and wanted me to come in front of class and apologize to everyone. I laughed and just left the room as he was telling me to sit down. Sorry Mcelroy, you are not my boss, I am paying to you teach me, not baby sit. I ended up getting a B-. Chacko for Management 370 was bad I heard also.

 

[UltimateFan33]

Dieter for Econ is dumb

 

[Swanson10]

I agree with you. I had him for Management 370 also. At the beginning of class I was reading the daily, he called me out in front of everyone (I was in one of the back rows) and wanted me to come in front of class and apologize to everyone. I laughed and just left the room as he was telling me to sit down. Sorry Mcelroy, you are not my boss, I am paying to you teach me, not baby sit. I ended up getting a B-. Chacko for Management 370 was bad I heard also.

He is a struggle, very hard to pay attention to. doesnt help that its 9am, but from what i have heard that is like the weeding out class for the bus school. i have/am taken this from both and i can tell you i hope i dont run into either in the future.

 

[mike4cy]

I had Herman Quirmbach for Micro Economics at ISU, by far the worst prof I ever had. And a deuche to boot.:skeptical:

 

[4VR4CY]

Dieter for Econ is dumb

Dieter is one of my favorite professors. Hayes too.

 

[baller1]

has anyone had ben herman i know he is new this year?

 

[jdoggivjc]

Art Gautesen for Math 166 (Calc II)

After a full 2/3 of his class FAIL (yes FAIL) the first exam, he said "you guys are a bunch of idiots, your algebra skills are worse than pathetic, I'm not curving the class"

I went and complained about him to the math department, where I proceeded to learn 2 things.

1) The math department sucks and does not care that their students don't understand math
2) It's nearly impossible to fire a professor with tenure...

And he rarely ever taught, just complained about how much he hated working and wished he could be in FL with his girlfriend.

Is that the guy that taught absolutely nothing but math theory in each and every one of his classes and expected you to learn each lesson through math theory? I had a professor similar to your description for Math 165 in fall 1997, but I can't remember the guy's name.

Basically, it came down to this - if you understood math theory, you were going to shine in his class. If you didn't understand math theory, he had no use for you.

 

[HOTDON]

I'd have to go with Chandra, Professor bolt stretcher himself. Everybody got a B+ but when half the class knew more than the guy teaching you've got problems.

The worst part is that I had a buddy that lived with Chandra's son. I felt bad for Chandra after that. All the time he would have spent mastering engineering was apparently invested in feeding his son paint chips and dropping him on his head. Repeatedly.

 

[HOTDON]

So true! I should have never passed 2 of my 4 math classes, but since 2/3 failed both times, they had to push somebody through.

There use to be a Asian Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering between 2000-2003. Her name escapes me now, but she received her PhD from China and came here to teach. She is no longer at Iowa State.

I'm not sure if it was the language barrier or not, but anytime we asked questions in class she got the "deer in headlights" look and failed to respond approximately 95% of the time. She pretty much read the book and any deviation from that left her in rough shape.

Mid-semester between 2002-2003, the entire mechanical engineering department email list receives an email from a very disgruntled husband calling a lair and a cheat. Essentially, he said her degrees and credentials were a fake. Honestly though, most of us ignore it. It didn't take a questionable email for us arrive at the conclusion that she was not qualified to teach anything in the mechanical engineering department. I ceased going to her class and just showed up for the manufacturing tests.

Rep points to anyone that can actually come up with her name!

Tell me that's not Li Kou (Lee Cow?). I heard a crazy husband story about her.

 

[Gink]

His wife was also a professor. I liked him more than her.

I actually kinda liked both of those professors. The worst one I had at ISU was Ralph Tomlinson, he taught some of the comp sci classes, and I think every single student in the class knew more than he did. I am still unclear as to how he god a job teaching when he never knew the material.

 

[arganbright2]

Patoski for Political Science. Just had him for my 11 o'clock class today and dropped it by noon. What a jerk (no hats in class, "most of you will fail" etc.)

 

[CyGuy33]

Patoski for Political Science. Just had him for my 11 o'clock class today and dropped it by noon. What a jerk (no hats in class, "most of you will fail" etc.)

I hate this. Isn't it a professors job to see their students succeed? If you are failing most of your students doesn't that make you a failure as a professor?

 

[Celeron]

It's probably a good strategy to get people out of the class who are looking for easy credits and will be a drain on any quality class discussion. If I were a professor I would do crap like that every time.

 

[Phaedrus]

I occasionally teach Poli Sci and I love the unmotivated student. They are often the most easily baited into vigorous debate.

It just takes the right mind-set and tools as a teacher.

I can sometimes spend an entire class with only inputting a few sentences. My class on Saturday morning was like that. Mostly just keeping students from becoming too impassioned is what I did.

 

[Bader]

Interesting, I didn't know you guys pay $8,000+ a semester to be part of the debate club :wink:

 

[CyGuy33]

Interesting, I didn't know you guys pay $8,000+ a semester to be part of the debate club :wink:

I paid more then $8,000 a semester with out of state tuition, parking tickets and tips for my favorite bar tenders just for a piece of paper and alot of drinking

 

[CarolinaCy]

Anyone have Hodges for Physics 221 around the mid-90s or so? He gets my vote for worst.

A close second and third would be the previously mentioned Tomlinson duo in the ComSci dept.