Calculus professor
- Thread starter ScoobaDawg
- Start date
Guy is awesome. He'll make you work some, but you'll learn as well. Always available outside of class. He also didn't have an attendance policy if that's of any matter.
I had Dr. Smith for Linear Alg and he was very theory based, but you didn't really have to go to class except for theday before the test and for the test (which were super easy because he told you exactly what would be on them). Also, if you have an old test, they are pretty much exactly the same. I would say 85% of the class made an A
Had Smith for Cal II in 2001, although not easy, he was one of the better ones at the time (better than Mrs. Scarborough and her hair bun w/ pencil), certainly blew you away sometimes with his theory. His theory and physics professors at state led me to pre-engineering or some may know it as Bachelors of Business- Accounting. I always thought squatting 400 lbs with him in the Sanderson would help me out, but never could get past the intimidation in the one piece body suit and high-tops.
I don't know anything about Dobson. As for Smith I haven't had him, but I've heard nothing bad about him and exactly what everyone above has said. Then again I don't know how either approaches Business Cal but I would expect it to be the same as they do for the other math courses. I walked into Robert Smith's class on accident one day. He is a big guy and is always at the Sando. If you ever see Scarborough, Okyuhesen(I don't know how its spelled), or Shaw pop up as your teacher do yourself a favor and drop and find someone else. I had to take Cal I-IV and I have never seen so many awful math teachers as I have here at state.
Frankly I'm surprised to hear Dr. Smithis still at MSU, talk about a blast from the past. He taught my Cal I class in the fall of 1988. I think it was very early in his teaching career and you could certainly tell. I made a 48 on the first test andwas in the top 20% of the class. I got a tutor and studied like a madman for the 2nd test and made a 28,4th highest grade in the now ~15 student class b/c2/3 dropped it after the 1st test. I made a 69 on the 3rd and final test and thought I had died and gone to heaven.
His testswere all theory based and thankfully graded on a curve. He would always walk in on the day he returned the tests and write all the grades of the class down on the board from best score to worst scoreright afterhe handed out the tests.I guess this was to comfort us that everyone had donehorribly.
Because Cal I had a departmental final at the time, those of us remainingin Dr. Smith's class did extremely well on the final due to how hard we had worked throughout the semesterto survive. I think I made in the high 90'sand netted a B for the course due to the curve.I had all A's that semester except for his class. He may have improved since then and having access to old tests couldcertainly help. To add some perspective, I can't remember my scores on tests from any other class I ever took at MSU except for his. Cal II - Cal IV were a breeze compared to my experience with him in Cal I. It has been 22 years so I'll give him some benefit of the doubt that he has improved, but I can't possibly recommend him if there are some other solid teachers available. </p>
His testswere all theory based and thankfully graded on a curve. He would always walk in on the day he returned the tests and write all the grades of the class down on the board from best score to worst scoreright afterhe handed out the tests.I guess this was to comfort us that everyone had donehorribly.
Because Cal I had a departmental final at the time, those of us remainingin Dr. Smith's class did extremely well on the final due to how hard we had worked throughout the semesterto survive. I think I made in the high 90'sand netted a B for the course due to the curve.I had all A's that semester except for his class. He may have improved since then and having access to old tests couldcertainly help. To add some perspective, I can't remember my scores on tests from any other class I ever took at MSU except for his. Cal II - Cal IV were a breeze compared to my experience with him in Cal I. It has been 22 years so I'll give him some benefit of the doubt that he has improved, but I can't possibly recommend him if there are some other solid teachers available. </p>
Okyuhesen is still there? I dropped her the first day and ended up taking it in summer school at Northwest with the easiest teacher ever. Best decision I ever made.
He's a good teacher. Goes through things step by step and is always open for questions.
Never had the other guy though so I can't compare.
Never had the other guy though so I can't compare.
I had her for Cal 3 and our test were multiple choice as well, but we had to do all of our work in blue or black ink.
If you are taking Calculus I and didn't take AP Calculus in high school, I would not choose Dobson. He is a really nice guy and very accessible but he was not good at teaching me the basics (he worked wayyy too fast for me). I worked my *** off for a D in his class my first semester of college. I got a 98 percent when I retook it from Patricia Shaw my second semester. I don't know if she is still teaching, but I would definitely recommend her for Cal 1.
Multiple choice, pen only. No red ink. If I recall we would have a 100 point test but she would give us 140 points worth of questions and if you made a 100 or higher you had a perfect score and some extra credit allotted to the next test. I'm almost certain that was a damn lie because otherwise I should have had an easy A in her cal III course.
she was crippled and had to walk using a rolling chair like a wheelchair. Problem was she couldn't use the blackboard to work problems, so she would sit at the desk and ramble about theoretical theory. Fortunately, she liked me and I passed the class.
which is the hardest out of the four? ThoughtI'd ask while cal was the subject.I'm at Meridian C.C. going into cal III this fall. I hear it is supposed to be the hardest out of the four. I came out with an A in I and II. But everyone tells me III is a lot harder. Would be nice to get some opinions from those who took them all.
When I got to State to do 3 and 4, it was much harder and 5 times more intense. I thought two was the hardest, simply because of having to remember the trig identites to intergrate natural logs and such
thanks for the help. Maybe it won't be as bad as I hear. I figured it would probably be easier here being a c.c. I'm going into civil engineering myself. Guess I'll find out how tough the transition is when I get to state next year. Honestly, I can't wait. I'd go this fall if I could afford it.
I'd say easiest to hardest is 4,1,3,2. But 3 has the single hardest concept in series and sequences. Luckily, it's only a small portion of the class. You may have to do some Mathematica work in 3 and 4 though, which sucks. However, 4 is a breeze.
...I made on one of Dr. Smith's tests (Cal II)...17...if only I had known at the time the significance that # would attain. Lowest score I ever made. Managed to scratch out a C for the class.
From hardest to easiest for me it went
Cal II
Cal III
Cal I
Cal IV.
Cal II still gives me nightmares. And like you said the series and sequences was awful but thankfully we only briefed over it and had a few simplified problems of it on the final. And somoene else was saying don't take DE at state but I would have to disagree. I thought Differential Equations I was one of my favorite math classes I have had. It is a lot of work, but if you understand all the classes you have had up to it then it shouldn't be anything to worry about. As for DE II that is a different story. I haven't heard one good thing about it and I want to take it either next Spring or next Fall but I am have my doubts on doing that.
Cal II
Cal III
Cal I
Cal IV.
Cal II still gives me nightmares. And like you said the series and sequences was awful but thankfully we only briefed over it and had a few simplified problems of it on the final. And somoene else was saying don't take DE at state but I would have to disagree. I thought Differential Equations I was one of my favorite math classes I have had. It is a lot of work, but if you understand all the classes you have had up to it then it shouldn't be anything to worry about. As for DE II that is a different story. I haven't heard one good thing about it and I want to take it either next Spring or next Fall but I am have my doubts on doing that.
That's what we called Scarborough. Her husband did suck (not even taking into consideration that he was a lunatic), but I always thought she was a good teacher (hard though). Had her for Cal III and Linear Algebra. Also had Okyushen (or whatever it is) for Cal I. She was ok but damn hard to look at. Had Reed, Finley, Pearson, Heller, and some big Texican that I can't remember for the rest. Reed was the best, but he normally only taught the Honors class (had him in the summer). Pearson was good, too (but a smart ***). Heller was a nut job that did well until somebody distracted him. Pretty much everyone liked Finley (used to see him playing pool out at the Landing).</p>
I never had Scarborough or Shaw. I just heard enough feedback to not ever want to venture that route. I saw enough with Okyuhesne to despise the math department. My first teacher here at MSU in the math department was a guy from India that I thought was hell on earth sitting in there trying to learn the concepts of Cal I. Surprisingly though he was the only teacher from Asia I didn't like. I've had three since and thought they were all much better at teaching and were very helpful if you scheduled a meeting with them. It was difficult to understand them because they still hadn't fully broken the language barrier, but after a couple of weeks of adjustment the rest of the course went great.
I'm trying to get my Math minor and I would take any of the three Chinese professors I've had before or I would try my best to get Vivien Miller or Paul Fabel. I will continue to avoid Shaw, Scarborough, Okyuhesen, and anyone else that I forgot to list off that I've heard enough about to know to avoid
I'm trying to get my Math minor and I would take any of the three Chinese professors I've had before or I would try my best to get Vivien Miller or Paul Fabel. I will continue to avoid Shaw, Scarborough, Okyuhesen, and anyone else that I forgot to list off that I've heard enough about to know to avoid