ENEE322 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/16/2024	This was one of the toughest classes that I've taken at this university but I truly believe that I learned more from this class than any single class I've taken before. Going in to this class, you have to be pretty confident in your math background and you really have to want to learn rather than get the grade. Professor Tits makes it so that if you truly know the content, the grade will come naturally as long as you put the work in. Homeworks are pretty long but they cover all of the content and are really good to prepare you for exams. I found myself doing the homework once on my own, checking my answers with my friend (not simply changing my work but thinking "I wonder how they got this, let me check my line of reasoning"), working out the problems again, and then submitting my work. I learned most from my mistakes and the homeworks provided a low stakes, environment to make those mistakes. The best thing was that the homeworks were usually much more difficult than the exams. There are also quizzes in this class but they are always on the homework that was due that week and the lowest quiz is dropped. Homeworks and quizzes made up 10% of the grade. Quizzes are during discussion which were also super useful because the TA teaches a lot of tips and tricks that can be used to solve the homeworks and exams. The two midterms were each worth 25% of the grade each, which is more than I had ever seen before. They were not easy exams but they definitely checked if you knew the content well. The first midterm average was low but that is pretty common in the class. STICK WITH IT. After many people had dropped the class (only 17/30 was left), the exams actually got easier and Professor Tits introduced a "curve" where if you got a B- on the final, no matter what grade you had in the class before then, you will pass. Not to mention, the grading scale was pretty generous where 60% was the C- cutoff and 75% was the B- cutoff (he didn't change the A- cutoff from 90%). The final exam was cumulative and worth 40% of the grade but 2 out of the 4 questions came directly from the homework (not even changed, literally copy/pasted). This class, and Professor Tits, made me want to do a specialization in controls because of how interested I am in the content and because of how well he taught it. I found his lectures to be extremely well paced (some people found it slow because he does stop and think at times but it gives you some good time to think about what he just said). His lecture and class style are also a little old but I found it refreshing since I learn better in this style, rather than flipped classrooms or video lectures to watch before class that other professors are opting to do nowadays. Outside of class, I went to every office hours to ask him questions or just have him help me through problems because it was rare that other people took advantage of his office hours. By the end of the semester, he knew me and the others who went to office hours well and we all did well in the class. The last thing I wanted to mention was extra credit- he put out 3 extra credit problems, each that would add 2% to your final grade in the class for only the first 3 people who got the correct answer. These were incredibly difficult problems but because I attempted them, it helped my grade and my math skills so I'd suggest to always take a stab. Overall with Dr. Tits, you will get out what you put in but you have to put a lot in if you want the A.
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a B- Anonymous 05/14/2024	To preface, Andre did end up failing half the class, and this is pretty common with this professor. BUT ALSO KNOW THAT A 60% is THE C- CUTOFF, which not everyone knew. Exams are tough, and are 90% of your grade. He's also not very generous when it comes to partial credit. He has this mindset of "Students need to meet a certain standard/expectation in order to pass the class", and it's a pretty high expectation. Obviously if you have the opportunity to take it with Papamarcou you should, but if you're stuck with Tits, be ready to grind. A lot of work outside of lecture and discussions, and routinely go to office hours just to practice/learn more. Tits himself isn't the most engaging lecturer, he's a pretty slow speaker and he often messes up his words/not understand questions well, but he is very nice. I recommend going to an office hour so he can get to know you. He also holds exam review sessions where he really shows how much he cares about your learning. Homework's can be pretty lengthy and there are potential pop quizzes in discussion which more or less force you to go every week. He also does optional challenge problems which can add up to a potential 5-6% of your final grade. As long as you don't absolutely bomb your first midterm, you'll be set, the stuff you learn in the 2nd half of the semester is easier compared to the 1st.
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/09/2024	"But the real world has changed over the past 50 years and he has not changed with it." You know what hasn't changed? Signals and Systems baby! That sh** it is the exact same. Yes, this class is hard, yes you could blame the professor for you not going to his office hours when you don't understand something. But Andre himself is pretty great! But Andre will learn your name. (Which says a lot) He will greet you by name with a good morning and a smile every class you attend. He is professional, extremely kind. Yes, it is hard material. But he believes in your success. If you are at school to learn, take Andre! (If you are at school to slack off and do the minimum, do not take Andre. He will require you to understand material!)
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a C- Anonymous 05/08/2024	Before taking this class in Fall of 2023, reviews of Tits were not too bad, therefore, I was expecting to have an okay time for a notoriously difficult class. However, my experience was quite opposite from what I was expecting. As a result, I wanted to create a thorough review of my experience to warn future students. PROS: * Very knowledgeable on signals * Approachable and was genuinely kind * Held review sessions * Gave a caveat that if you got a B on the final, you would pass the class, regardless of your grade overall CONS: * Failed nearly half the class due to inability to effectively teach signals and systems * Exams were very difficult, as averages for the first two midterms were around a 50%. On top of that, grading for the exams were quite harsh * Confused many times by his own work and had to have students answer questions that he was not able to figure out * Chicken scratch handwriting that required a rosetta stone to decode * Homeworks that took an ungodly amount of time due to minimal examples being gone over in class * No other resource other than his lecture-only notes or the lengthy textbook
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a W Anonymous 04/03/2024	Professor Tits is a great person and extremely knowledgeable about signals and systems. His teaching methods however are antiquated, and it is assumed that you enter the class basically knowing all of pre-requisite fringe math, like complex numbers as well as working with calculus and complex numbers at a very low level. As the previous 2024 review has said, the average for midterm 1 was below passing, and the lowest score was about a 2% on the midterm. Keeping in mind that the grading is 25% 25% 40% and 10% for two midterms, a final, and hw/quizzes respectively, it is highly likely that similar to previous semesters about half the people drop the class before the second midterm. Given that he may have "nice teacher" policies like final forgiveness/passing or the rare extra credit, him as a professor is nice, however he does not keep in mind that students at the very least need to pass the class if not understand it. Additionally, since he started using a different professor's slides this semester, he has gone warp speed through the material to the pace he thinks is good, causing 2nd exam material to be possibly included on exam 1, and Final exam material to be included on exam 2. Do not take professor Tits unless you are cracked at math, or like to gamble.
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a C Anonymous 04/02/2024	Easily one of the worst professors at UMD. He can barely understand even the simplest of questions and often gets lost in his own explanations when he is not using his notes. He also doesn't provide any resources other than the textbook and exams are really harshly graded (fails over half the class) with little to no partial credit and with no curve to the course. Avoid at all costs.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting a W Anonymous 02/27/2024	Unorganized, frequent miscommunication with the TA, was always a few minutes late to class. She is undoubtedly a titan in the field of signal, but she only seems to care about the grad student population. I'm sure if you had every academic privilege so far, then you will succeed, but for the majority of undergraduate students taking the course with her, it felt like a game you couldn't win. It was a drinking from the firehose for her lectures, and scrambling to find review material. Her lectures didn't align with the textbook, yet her HW problems were all from the book, and she regularly shifted due dates so it became impossible to find a routine to get help from the TA. This course is proof of how negligent the ECE department is regarding undergraduate education.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/01/2024	Took this in 2023, and it was true that more than half of the class (which was roughly 9-10 people) failed. The exams were quite challenging as other reviews have stated but I always thought they were reasonable if you were reading the book and practicing outside of class. Each problem always had a simple and quick solution realizable from looking at the table sheet and understanding the fundamental transform pairs. There was almost no intense math on any of the exams. Dr. Espy-Wilson is by far the best teacher for signals ive ever had, and really emphasizes a visual approach that makes complex topics like sampling, filtering, and LaPlace really straightforward. That being said, if you do not pay attention in class, fall behind, skip, or simply copy the online solutions for homeworks you will fail. If you show up to class, stay on top of the material, do the homeworks legit, and can solve each practice exam you stand to do very well, and the course will strongly prepare you for 400 levels and real life signal processing.
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a D Anonymous 01/03/2024	As students were challenged to learn, but rather than challenging us to learn the content, professor tits was challenging us to communicate what we learned with him. And while he is a very kind (very old) man, he is a very confused and stubborn professor. Genuinely had to move from our assigned classroom bc he couldn't work the lights. His constant confusion made it so he rarely understood our questions, and other students would answer instead or he'd just make it worse. He doesn't post any resources, you just have to be at lecture or have to read the textbook. Exams make up 90% of your grade and he failed 40% of us... I don't recommend unless 222 wasn't bad for you and you don't mind reading textbooks. I could tell that he genuinely wanted us to succeed. But the real world has changed over the past 50 years and he has not changed with it.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 01/03/2024	Professor Espy-Wilson is a decent professor but I would recommend to avoid if possible. Some of the better aspects include availability outside of class and willingness to slow down/answer questions during lecture. She was accommodating in general so I'd encourage speaking up. Also, there is an emphasis on graphical analysis and she often connects concepts to her active research which helps reduce the abstract nature of the content. It would have been great to see her use Matlab or provide a demo script to students for solving tough homework problems. This course is difficult and everyone knows it. Unfortunately, this professor doesn't provide any lecture materials and doesn't focus enough on the systems level or the problem-solving procedure. Everyone was underprepared for exam day including her; she didn't bring enough exams and then proceeded to hand out some extra exam copies with answers already written in... Be warned - the grading scale is unclear
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a D Anonymous 12/18/2023	HE FAILED OVER 50% OF THE CLASS!! Not what the reviews led me to believe. He does not provide any online resources. Gives fair exams with harsh grading, barely acknowledging any partial credit for work. He also expects to you to only care about his class and show up to his office hours weekly. I had a tutor and still failed. Do yourself a favor and sign up for anyone else, if he is the only professor wait another semester!
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/17/2023	This professor legit will fail half a class. He does put in more effort than most professors to conduct review sessions and open extra office hours. Typically, if half a class is failing, you should reconsider the approach you have in presenting the material. But, it appears, if half the class cannot perform well on the final (i.e. B-range) you will probably be smitten with pain on your transcript. Additionally, the other reviews here are not being completely real with you and are H-students. People either review when they have had an awesome experience and been set apart compared to others (therefore almost like a brag), or if people had a disastrous experience and want to warn others. Here's a review to warn...
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/09/2023	Dr. Tits provides thorough lectures and wants his students to succeed, but his grading is brutal. Exams, which account for 90% of the total grade in his 322, consistently had averages in the 50s. The actual course content is not so hard, especially if you prepare well and read the textbook, but anything less than a complete understanding of the material gets punished harshly. He is very friendly and helpful if you are trying to explore the course material, it's just that he has set the bar very high and refuses to budge it. To make up for this, Dr. Tits provides very generous opportunities for extra credit through the use of challenge problems. It was possible to achieve a flat 6% boost to your final grade this semester if you completed them all successfully. I had fun overall.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting an F Anonymous 08/07/2023	She is terrible. Has no desire to teach. She teaches the class as if the students are phd students. DO NOT TAKE HER. you will not pass. She does not curve and her practice exams are nothing like the exams she gives out. She is by far the worst professor at UMD. Save your mental health and do not take her.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 07/20/2023	She failed the majority of the class. No hyperbole, she failed more than half the students. Take the course with someone else, especially if you are pursing a career in signals.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 05/30/2023	She failed the majority of the class. Do not take her.
Alejandra Mercado ENEE322 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/22/2022	Although this class had me on my nerves for the longest because of my poor performances on midterms, I would definitely say that I recommend you take Prof. Mercado because she is a great professor for the reasons mentioned below. The only thing I would warn you about is that, although her exams are short and simple, they are insanely easy to make stupid mistakes on and lose a large portion of your grade. So be aware about that. Other than that, I appreciate this class, and definitely would recommend it to other students
Alejandra Mercado ENEE322 Anonymous 06/21/2022	She is incredibly nice. The lectures are clear and generally follow Papamarcou's lecture notes, although Prof Mercado likes to emphasize practical applications as well. As others have said the exams are easy and she gives way more than enough time.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 02/25/2022	Professor Espy-Wilson is terrible. DO NOT TAKE HER. A lot of people dropped/did not pass her ENEE322 class. Her tests are almost impossible. The average on the one of the exams was a 30%. If you can, take the class with someone else. Nobody received an A in the entire class for the semester.
Richard La ENEE322 Anonymous 02/02/2022	Professor La is by all means a nice person who knows the subject material quite well. With that said, he was inadequate at teaching the material in a manner that was conducive to learning. 90% of your grade relies on two midterms and a final, the latter of which is worth 40%. As others have stated, the tests are stressful and difficult. For the final exam, we were not provided any study material nor given any supportive direction on the types of questions to expect. In addition, our only review session was cancelled; leaving students substantially unprepared and stressed. I had dedicated a great deal of time to review as much material as possible since my other exam grades were not great, but without a proper focus I wound up doing poorly. Overall, I did not find Professor La’s conduct regarding an exam worth 40% of our grade to be appropriate; the structure of the class, grading methods, and lack of content-accessibility all contributed to an awful learning experience.
Richard La ENEE322 Anonymous 12/24/2021	Instead of seeing how poorly his students do and changing his teaching style to better their education, he fails them and smiles.
Richard La ENEE322 Anonymous 12/24/2021	The majority of his class will get Cs or lower, and there's a clear reason. Though 322 is one of the hardest EE courses, Richard La makes no attempt whatsoever to make the subject matter feasible. Wish I had never taken this professor, he caused the entire class unnecessary stress the entire semester, and the end of semester curve does in no way compensate for the terrible exams.
Richard La ENEE322 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 05/17/2021	He is decent at lecturing and is definitely really good at the stuff that he teaches. His exam averages were pretty low (around 40) so they are kind of difficult, but nothing too bad.
Adrianos Papamarcou ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 02/04/2021	Dr. Papamarcou is definitely one of the best professors at UMD. ENEE322 is a difficult course, but Dr. Papamarcou provides more than enough resources for his students to succeed. For every lecture in the course, he records 2 to 3 videos that go over the content in detail. He's great at explaining difficult concepts, both in lectures and in his videos. He also provides tons of solved example problems. If you put in a decent amount of work into this class, you will almost certainly get a great grade. Also, if you take ENEE322 with Dr. Papamarcou, you will most likely come out of it with an interest in signals.
Alejandra Mercado ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/19/2021	This review is slightly old - I actually took the class with her in Spring 2020. Professor Mercado is fantastic. I cannot emphasize enough that she is now my favorite teacher in the ECE department. She gives very clear lectures with wonderful illustrations and visualizations of concepts - something that is INCREDIBLY important in 322 and any signals class (but often not stressed enough by professors!). I took Papamarcou for 222 and Mercado for 322 and I can definitively say that I learned more effectively from Mercado, though I absolutely have a lot of respect for Papamarcou, who is also a great. Perhaps one issue for some would be the style of Mercado's tests - they are EASY and SHORT. This means that if you miss even one problem in its entirety you will not get an A and probably something more like a B or a C on the test. Mercado is good at emphasizing what needs to be known before these tests, but if you are an anxious test taker this might not be the style for you since everything is worth so much. I didn't have a problem with it but I figured I'd document it in case that would be a concern for anyone else. I would 11/10 recommend taking any class with Mercado
Adrianos Papamarcou ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/12/2021	Recommend taking 322 with Papamarcou if you didn't hate 222 with him. He does a flipped lecture that takes some getting used to if you haven't had him before, but he also has a text version of all the content so you don't actually need to watch the lectures if that's more your thing. 322 is hard. It's a lot of math-y computation, so not a lot of it is actually useful and applicable for stuff outside of school. Exams are pretty straightforward. Some questions may have twists, but they're mostly the same type of questions as in the practice exams. Homeworks are helpful for learning the content for each week/couple of weeks, but by the time each exam comes up there has been so much content covered that you'll probably just need to learn everything again even if you got the homeworks all or mostly right. He also uploads practice problems. Highly recommend just doing all of the problems and exams that he uploads.
Alejandra Mercado ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 05/13/2020	Amazing professor. She explains things very well and her exams are extremely fair. She isn’t trying to trick you and as your best interest. I really learned a lot about signals without having to stress that much. Papamarcou is also a good choice but I think she is better.
Prakash Narayan ENEE322 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/12/2019	Lectures are clear and easy to understand, but he spent too much time at the start of the semester on things that were obvious, so we ended up barely reaching Laplace transforms at the end, and we had to rush through Discrete Fourier Series/Transform and we didn't even do Z transform or the state space approach for LTIs. Also he had the TA post all HW assignments, and he would frequently say in class that the HW would be released on say Tuesday, but then the TA would release it Wednesday night. Since the HW gets turned in during discussion, he can't push the deadline back so we end up losing a day for HW due to bad prof/TA communication. Those are the bad parts, but for exams, Narayan was quite fair. He would cut off the material that we'd be responsible for about 2 weeks before the exam, so there was never any worry about learning something in class and being tested on it in 2 days. He allows accumulating cheat sheets for exams (ie 1 sheet for exam 1, 2 for exam 2, ...). Important Fourier properties were given on the exam, like time/freq shifting so you weren't screwed if you forgot to put it on your sheet. However, he doesn't post old exams, so you can't treat it like a Papamarcou class where you just memorize the old exams.
Gilmer Blankenship ENEE322 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/10/2019	Nice guy, hard to hear. Expect to spend a lot of time reading the material outside of class and not comprehending it. His text is poor and the homeworks and tests are difficult to near impossible. Large curve to make up for this.
Steven Marcus ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/23/2019	Probably the best professor I've ever had at UMD. I had taken ENEE322 in spring 2018, and he definitely still cared about his students. He was the only professor I've had do a survey half way through the class to see how he was doing as a professor. He's also the only professor who provides the homework solutions with the homework so that you can use it as a guide to figure out difficult problems, get full credit on the homework, and use it to study for the exam. There was a curve as well. The exams are very difficult, but very fair (there was only one trick problem on the final exam that was explicitly reviewed in the review session that I couldn't attend).
Gilmer Blankenship ENEE322 Expecting a C Anonymous 05/19/2019	He doesn’t know how to explain. Even the average for the class is really low.
Alejandra Mercado ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 04/17/2019	When I originally registered for this class, I was apprehensive that I had not been able to get into the section taught by Papamarcou. Now that I know both professors and their styles of teaching, I'm glad to say that I'm much more satisfied with Dr. Mercado, and would elect to take the class with her over Papa if I was somehow given the option. Professor Mercado teaches very thoroughly, and always answers questions in an easy-to-understand manner that demonstrates why certain equations or mathematical concepts work as they do. Further, Mercado always relates the concepts we have in class to actual practical (employment) applications. In my experience, this helps me to remain much more interested in the topic at hand. Exams are fair and test you on your understanding of concepts and properties, rather than your ability to perform complex calculations and algebra. She always provided ample study material, and it never felt as if we were tested on something we hadn't already covered in-depth. I definitely recommend Mercado over any other professor for ENEE322.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/29/2019	Prof. Espy-Wilson is an amazing teacher, as in she is very good at teaching the material in a way that makes sense. Unfortunately, she gets a bad reputation because her exams are challenging. However, if you study the old exams, which she will provide and go over, you stand to do very well on her exams. Additionally, make sure you clarify any doubts or questions as soon as they arise; concepts in this course build on each other and poor understanding of earlier material will most definitely become a problem down the road.
Mark Shayman ENEE322 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/20/2018	Shayman is pretty decent. Lectures are followable and neatly written if a bit dry (like his throat). Homework was doable and kept you paced. Exams were fair/a bit tough but if you knew the material well you could do well. His pop quizzes were annoying, but they basically counted for nothing so it was no big deal. Plus his curve was pretty good. There might be better choices for 322 like Marcus, but I think Shayman is a pretty good option.
Jonathan Simon ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 11/26/2018	Simon was an excellent professor for 322. He gave dense and difficult homework, however, if you understood the concepts in the homework you were well prepared for the exams. His lectures were dense but they were very organized. His homework solutions as others have pointed out aren't the best, but he was more than willing to clarify anything during office hours.
Steven Marcus ENEE322 Anonymous 05/24/2018	The old reviews were far from his most recent teaching performance. This professor does not teach well and does not care about his students. His exams are extremely hard and he does not curve.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 03/14/2018	Professor Espy-Wilson is very nice and I feel like she gets a bad rap, though these other reviews are certainly accurate. In office hours, she was very helpful and accomodating. She teaches fast, but it's all in the book, and she's more than willing to help if you're stuck or confused. Make no mistake though, this is a very difficult course, and her tests make things very frustrating. That being said, the whole class was curved (pretty heavily actually), so the end grade is pretty much just a representation of how well you did compared to your classmates. From my experience, here's how the workload was: Studying like any other class will earn you a C; Studying very hard (or in my case, harder than you ever have) will get you a B, and selling your soul to the Signals Gods gets you an A. The tests are impossible, so much so that even those people who usually get 99% on an average of 50% were also doing poorly. All that being said, if you just care about a grade, Espy-Wilson is not for you, it might be better to put this class off rather than try to suffer. But if you want to master signals, than she is for you. IMO someone who got a B with her likely knows more than someone with an A in Papamarcou. I consider it a high risk, high reward class, so take it ONLY if you are willing to 'do the gauntlet'.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 12/16/2017	Extremely nice, very knowledgeable, and actually pretty accommodating, though she does not like to give points back so don't even try. The tests are worth 90% of your grade, so you should probably do well on them right? Too bad! The tests are nothing like the practice ones and the hw was given by our TA, so it wasn't really that helpful to learn what to expect for any exams. The practice midterms she gave left me pretty confident of doing well, only to get absolutely blindsided by something i've never seen before. If you're thinking that it's just me, consider this: The average for midterm #2 was a 39%, with a low of 2.5% and a HIGH of 59.5%. Not even one person was able to get >60%. To make it worse, she said this was an IMPROVEMENT from the last semester! Though she says she curves heavily, so hopefully that can rescue literally all of us. Based on what she said in class and office hours, it sounds like she really wants students to come to her office hours, though they seemed to me to be of marginal benefit. When it comes to 222 or 322, take Papamarcou. Period.
Mark Shayman ENEE322 Anonymous 11/21/2017	Found his lectures difficult to follow and he's a little condescending when you ask questions. I heard this from a lot of people I talked to in my class as well. He doesn't seem to know how to explain things to students who don't immediately get it.
Sennur Ulukus ENEE322 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2015	This class was difficult because the workload was higher than my other classes. There are weekly quizzes that are graded out of 20 points, but you get 10 points for just showing up to take them. There are also weekly homeworks that can be time consuming and can be more in depth than the textbook or her lectures go into. The homework and quizzes make up 20% of your final grade, and the other 80% are three exams and the final. The finals are most represented by the quizzes, so make sure to at least understand those. This class can seem intimidating because the content is difficult, but her teaching style is very straightforward and her exams were not surprising.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 06/29/2015	She moves very quickly through the material and does not care if you have questions. Also, the exams are nothing like the past exams, so study everything. If you miss class, she basically recites the book word-for-word, so you will be fine if you just read the book. I would definitely recommend avoiding her.
Steven Marcus ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/06/2015	Marcus was a great professor. He genuinely tries to cater to the needs of his students. He even gave us a survey mid-semester to gauge how he could improve the class for the remainder of the semester. He also provides a lot of material to study from. For most exams, he has 4+ previous exams with solutions written out. His exams are difficult, but not impossible given the resources that are available. Homework is given with solutions, so it is up to you to decide whether you need the practice.
Gilmer Blankenship ENEE322 Expecting an A- smhmd0521 12/24/2014	As you progress through the EE program, you will realize that this guy is good. He grades primarily on setting up and approaching the problem as opposed to memorizing formulas and carrying out long derivations. However he does expect a proficiency in MATLAB that the class itself does not quite warrant, and rushed through 322 material to incorporate 463 material into the class so the syllabus isn't great.
Adrianos Papamarcou ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/16/2014	Papamarcou is a great professor. I won't lie to you, this class is extremely difficult, but that is the content, not the teacher. He does a really good job of explaining everything, and posted all of his lectures on elms in case you need to hear something again. Homeworks were difficult and assigned once a week, but only a subset of problems got graded, and if your exam average was better than your overall grade with homeworks, then (if I read the syllabus correctly) homework grades get dropped. Exams were fair. There are two midterms and a final, each covering material from their respective unit. The exams have similar problems to the homework, but are made slightly easier to compensate for the time constraints. Honestly, this is just a really hard course with a lot of material to get a hold of. If you can get Papamarcou, he will help you through it and you should get by okay. This professor is a good idea.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/14/2014	Professor Espy-Wilson is a really nice person but like all the other reviews the test are nothing like the homework's or quizzes, if you need help understanding the material i would definitely go to the TA's. The test averages are very low and there is a curve at the end of the semester so if you wanna know how well you're doing you have to go to her in person. She teaches the lectures pretty well since the book is old and some of it is hard to understand. I would avoid her if possible mainly because of her tests, but if you know the material very well you should do well with her
Gilmer Blankenship ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2014	First off, I'd like to point out that I did not have Blankenship for 222, and that I survived the course. Blankenship is an extremely nice guy, and I found him to be rather hilarious. My only complaints about his personality is that his voice is soothing and it makes me fall asleep in a warm room. It is true that he teaches every semester slightly different, that his homeworks are very difficult and his exams fall somewhere between fair and impossible. However, I do believe that he keeps the material interesting, and cares more about whether or not you understand the concepts than if you can apply it or not. He spends a lot of time reviewing things that he talked about last class, which is EXTREMELY nice (albeit boring), because it really emphasizes what he thinks is important (and what will be on the exam). I found his lectures to be extremely well put-together, and mostly engaging. Keep in mind he tells you the exam questions before the exam. I must say that even though I found this class to be stressful, I learned significantly more than in a lot of my other classes, and I really enjoyed it overall (which I found strange). My advice to someone who is considering taking him: sit in the front, attend every lecture and discussion, pay attention, and abuse your TA. Attending lecture is crucial because otherwise it's impossible to know what he talked about, and he often gives out test questions. Your TA is your friend and will help you with the homework. Don't try to do it completely by yourself because you will die. Remember that it is your TA's JOB to help you. Also keep in mind that if you're struggling with something, chances are everyone else is, too. Overall, Blankenship is an awesome professor and his class is completely doable, even if you're taking 18 credits, if you approach it the right way.
Steven Tretter ENEE322 Expecting a B bcarsten 01/04/2014	I do not think people give Prof. Tretter enough credit. Sure, he may be older and somewhat monotone, but he knows his stuff and wants his students to do well. Be warned though, the grading can be pretty harsh sometimes, just know your stuff and practice the homework over and over. Tests usually consist of HW or variations thereof. They are usually pretty fair. Make sure to go to class too (he covers stuff that you wouldn't know otherwise)...He also let's you skip the final if you are alright with your grade in the class!
Steven Tretter ENEE322 Expecting a D Anonymous 11/26/2013	This is the unfortunate case of an individual who was clearly not loved enough as a child thus restricting him from loving anyone else or for that matter feeling any sort of emotion period. This man is a robot covered in artificial skin. He speaks acts and lectures in the same monotone voice and never shows any interest in the material. He is definitely the worst professor I've had throughout my college career and have lost respect for the entire ece department for keeping this broken down machine. If you didn't get the hint do not take this professor no matter what. Wait a semester and take the class when a different professor teaches.
Eyad Abed ENEE322 Expecting a C Anonymous 10/20/2013	Dr. Abed knows ENEE322 inside out and lectures clearly. He made himself available to students, putting as much time as needed to help outside class. He made the difficult material of ENEE322 interesting and connected it with the real world. He prepared detailed typed solutions to all assignments and exams. I enjoyed taking his class and I still go see him for advice. A negative was using slides more than the board but this helped him cover a lot of material. All the slides were available to the class (sometimes they were from MIT open courseware and once or twice from the book). Take ENEE322 with this professor if you can.
Eyad Abed ENEE322 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 06/05/2013	Dr. Abed is quite disappointing actually. He was a funny guy and made the occasional joke. It was obvious he cared about being liked. However, he always came to class unprepared and would literally read off the book. When he didn't read off the book, he would just read off slides from MIT. The way to summarize his attitude towards the class is: He wanted to be cool and liked, but he didn't want to put any effort in order to achieve it. He would give homework in a disorganized manner and at one point gave an extremely long assignment because he was too lazy to make one for weeks. He would regularly let class out early due to lack of preparation. I was truly disappointed with the low amount of effort Dr. Abed put into the course. That being said, he made exams towards the easy side of things. People still did pretty terribly with averages in 65-70 range, and he curved generously at the end. You'll learn an average amount of material taking ENEE322 with him, but the time won't be utilized in an efficient manner.
Eyad Abed ENEE322 Expecting an A- ashivkum 05/17/2013	Highly recommended. This guy is amazing! He's hilarious, and teaches quite well. Tons of problems, and makes sure you are prepared for the exam. For some reason, averages were low on all exams, but he's a great professor. He also talks a lot about people from his days at MIT, which tend to be interesting, and also cracks jokes at some impossible system configurations. If you are a nerd like me, you appreciate the humour. Take this guy for whatever he teaches. I'm taking him for 460 next semester.
Andre Tits ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/21/2012	He is a great professor who really cares about his students. As others have said, he will make you work; he assigns homework every week, and the tests aren't easy. But he tries to give everyone a chance - in our class, when a lot of people did badly on the first two tests, he changed the grading scheme so that the lowest letter grade you could get was one grade lower than the final. In other words, he gave a lot of students another chance to shape up. Also, if you do well in the class and talk to him in office hours, he'll gladly offer recommendations and suggestions for other courses to take. He is extremely friendly if you ask him questions that aren't directly related to the course, too.
Alexander Barg ENEE322 Expecting an A whynot 04/14/2012	Took 322 with him in Spring 2011. Wasn't a bad class and the tests weren't too insane. Could've used a better TA, but what can you do. He gives a substantial amount of homework, but he assigns it several days in advance. Don't put the homework off until the last minute or it'll bite you in the ass. Make sure you understand the fundamentals of the new functions you learn like signal energy, power, delta and step - he's known to throw goofy test problems that you'll need to pick apart using definitions you learn in the first week of class. I'd say he's above median in terms of teacher quality for this course. Better than Espy and Ephrimedes, at least. Also, he allows (or at least allowed when I took him) use of a sheet of notes for exams, but no calculator. This way you don't have to worry about mis-remembering a minus sign in a fourier table. You can also write down integral results that show up frequently.
Anthony Ephremides ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/27/2011	He's a pretty awful lecturer, and it can be quite painful sitting through the class, but he makes up for it with his very simple and straightforward exams. Homework from the book was optional, but highly recommended, as he considers your homework completion in factoring your final grade. He's not the best (read: clearest) 322 teacher, but he may just be the easiest. The first exam had a tricky convolution, but the second and final were simple. It's easy to get discouraged due to his teaching style, but as long as you look over the provided homework solutions and remember the basic transform properties, you should be fine.
Alexander Barg ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/27/2011	Pro: -Teaching style is plausible -A good amount of homework to prep us for exams/help us with learning -Somewhat helpful in office hours Cons: -Too much homework...basically takes an entire day to complete each of the 10 assignments -Exams are too focused onto a single topic (eg he tells us the exam is cumulative on 5-6 chapters but 2/3 of the exam will be based on a single topic of one chapter) -Very rude. Let me emphasize: Ridiculously rude!!!
Alexander Barg ENEE322 Expecting a D logical-zero 04/20/2011	Well, We haven't got our final grades for the semester so I can't speak about his curve but I will tell you that his exams are much more difficult than Tretter who is also teaching 322 this semester. He assigns a great deal of homework that has, on occasions taken me 15 hours per week to complete. Our largest homework assignment which was nearly 30 pages long when completed was due the Monday after Spring break. So much for my tickets to Vegas. He actively encourages students to drop the class but is very helpful at office hours. He sends out sample exams which look nothing like the actual tests, or the homework for that matter. Barg likes to focus on one small concept from the homework and then make the entire test about that so if you don't know absolutely everything there is to know about the material, you don't stand a chance on an exam. Also, he likes to structure his exams in such a way that if you can't answer question 1a, you can't answer anymore parts of question 1 so you lose 25 points right there. All in all, I'm not too happy that I chose this professor over Tretter.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 01/28/2011	Pros: Good lecturer, although she goes a little too fast most of the time and seems stressed out sometimes I really liked the idea she had of how the course should be taught. She emphasized visual understanding of the actual concepts and practicality of problems, rather than just doing math without context She does curve the final grades Cons: She does not put enough time into other aspects of the class outside of lectures. For example, she has the TA make the quizzes and HW's, which ends up meaning that it's very hard to be prepared for her tests, which she makes. This is the first EE class I've had for which the TA assigns the hw rather than the professor, and it is definitely a bad system She has a tendency to put people on the spot during lecture, which can be very uncomfortable Her grading of exams is shoddy at best, and she is reluctant to give more points on regrades. Often her grading mistakes or poor exam questions are based on mistakes or confusions that are present in her lectures Overall I think that the way she teaches the material is very true to the engineering spirit and makes up for most of her bad points, but you must be prepared to be frustrated at your grades sometimes. It is possible to do well in her class though with lot's of studying and hard work. Make sure you can do problems quickly too since the exams are too long for the given time sometimes
Anthony Ephremides ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/18/2010	He is certainly not the best professor. He do makes mistakes in the class. His exams are straight forward but his homeworks are time consuming. Overall he is not a great teacher and if you have a choice to pick up another professor I would highly recommend that you take this course with some other professor.
Anthony Ephremides ENEE322 Anonymous 12/13/2010	It was unpleasant having this professor for ENEE322. I questioned his grasp on the subject frequently as he made so many mistakes during lecture that I was afraid to write down anything he wrote on the board. Half the time some student in the class would have to correct his mistake. Also, this did little to motivate me to come to class, and I believe it had the same effect on my peers because often times people would just get up and leave during lecture out of frustration. Furthermore, if a professor shows little interest in a subject, his apathy is generally reflected upon the students. Specifically, the professor had unannounced absences at least five times during the semester. All these shortcomings may have been mitigated by a likable personality, but sadly Ephrimedes fell short in this department as well. He has a short temper, which manifests itself occasionally through his exasperation when students ask inane questions, to outright anger when people start to get up and leave during his lecture. To try and stay at least a little impartial, I will enumerate the positive aspects of the course. I found his exams to be pretty straightforward and a good sample of the material covered in class. Nonetheless, the class average on exams tended to be pretty low, perhaps a result of his teaching style. Also, the homework was assigned judiciously and graded on completion rather than correction. As a bonus, he has a pretty cool accent.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Anonymous 12/03/2010	Although she is a very nice person she does not care much about student concerns. Lectures help the homework but they have almost nothing to do with the tests. Sample exams are nothing like the actual tests either. Exam questions are hard to understand since they pop out of nowhere. Overall, she is a nice person but she makes the class way too hard and towards the end of the semester you feel no motivation to take more signals classes.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/29/2009	+ She is a nice person. + She is very clear during lecture. - Her exams are nothing like previous exams, homework, or anything that she does in class, which makes this class very difficult.
Carol Espy-Wilson ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/05/2009	Overall, this professor is very clear in teaching the basics in signals and systems. Her tests are difficult(not that the subject isn't) and long so your going to have to do more difficult problems for practice. Otherwise, I have no complaints.
Gilmer Blankenship ENEE322 Expecting an A Anonymous 11/09/2008	Nice guy, very approachable. However, lectures can at times seem to have nothing to do with the homework. Pretty decent prof, but I would say I learned the majority of the course material from the TA and not from him.
Steven Tretter ENEE322 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/12/2007	INCREDIBLY boring! I really didn't enjoy this class, and his teaching didn't help. He often went on tangents that were only vaguely related to course material. Homework was collected often, sometimes every class, and it was graded. His tests were pretty hard, too. You definitely need to go to class, and the homework helps.
Jonathan Simon ENEE322 Expecting an A swatson 10/29/2007	Dr. Simon is an excellent professor for ENEE322. He gives weekly homework assignments (of his own creation, not from the book) without fail and although they start out reviewing many old concepts they get harder and more time consuming as the semester goes on. The good news is that if you actually do the homeworks you are prepared to get an A on the tests. I strongly believe that the only reason not to get an A in this class is if you didn't finish a significant portion of the homework. This class relies heavily on math and math requires practice. His lecture style is also consistently thorough. If you can maintain focus for the entire class period than you should be able to understand everything. I left the class with a feeling that I saw some of the deep math, but really understood the meaning and application of signals and systems math. There won't be too many proofs or long calculations that don't seem relevant.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/16/2024

This was one of the toughest classes that I've taken at this university but I truly believe that I learned more from this class than any single class I've taken before. Going in to this class, you have to be pretty confident in your math background and you really have to want to learn rather than get the grade. Professor Tits makes it so that if you truly know the content, the grade will come naturally as long as you put the work in. Homeworks are pretty long but they cover all of the content and are really good to prepare you for exams. I found myself doing the homework once on my own, checking my answers with my friend (not simply changing my work but thinking "I wonder how they got this, let me check my line of reasoning"), working out the problems again, and then submitting my work. I learned most from my mistakes and the homeworks provided a low stakes, environment to make those mistakes. The best thing was that the homeworks were usually much more difficult than the exams. There are also quizzes in this class but they are always on the homework that was due that week and the lowest quiz is dropped. Homeworks and quizzes made up 10% of the grade. Quizzes are during discussion which were also super useful because the TA teaches a lot of tips and tricks that can be used to solve the homeworks and exams. The two midterms were each worth 25% of the grade each, which is more than I had ever seen before. They were not easy exams but they definitely checked if you knew the content well. The first midterm average was low but that is pretty common in the class. STICK WITH IT. After many people had dropped the class (only 17/30 was left), the exams actually got easier and Professor Tits introduced a "curve" where if you got a B- on the final, no matter what grade you had in the class before then, you will pass. Not to mention, the grading scale was pretty generous where 60% was the C- cutoff and 75% was the B- cutoff (he didn't change the A- cutoff from 90%). The final exam was cumulative and worth 40% of the grade but 2 out of the 4 questions came directly from the homework (not even changed, literally copy/pasted). This class, and Professor Tits, made me want to do a specialization in controls because of how interested I am in the content and because of how well he taught it. I found his lectures to be extremely well paced (some people found it slow because he does stop and think at times but it gives you some good time to think about what he just said). His lecture and class style are also a little old but I found it refreshing since I learn better in this style, rather than flipped classrooms or video lectures to watch before class that other professors are opting to do nowadays. Outside of class, I went to every office hours to ask him questions or just have him help me through problems because it was rare that other people took advantage of his office hours. By the end of the semester, he knew me and the others who went to office hours well and we all did well in the class. The last thing I wanted to mention was extra credit- he put out 3 extra credit problems, each that would add 2% to your final grade in the class for only the first 3 people who got the correct answer. These were incredibly difficult problems but because I attempted them, it helped my grade and my math skills so I'd suggest to always take a stab. Overall with Dr. Tits, you will get out what you put in but you have to put a lot in if you want the A.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
05/14/2024

To preface, Andre did end up failing half the class, and this is pretty common with this professor. BUT ALSO KNOW THAT A 60% is THE C- CUTOFF, which not everyone knew. Exams are tough, and are 90% of your grade. He's also not very generous when it comes to partial credit. He has this mindset of "Students need to meet a certain standard/expectation in order to pass the class", and it's a pretty high expectation. Obviously if you have the opportunity to take it with Papamarcou you should, but if you're stuck with Tits, be ready to grind. A lot of work outside of lecture and discussions, and routinely go to office hours just to practice/learn more. Tits himself isn't the most engaging lecturer, he's a pretty slow speaker and he often messes up his words/not understand questions well, but he is very nice. I recommend going to an office hour so he can get to know you. He also holds exam review sessions where he really shows how much he cares about your learning. Homework's can be pretty lengthy and there are potential pop quizzes in discussion which more or less force you to go every week. He also does optional challenge problems which can add up to a potential 5-6% of your final grade. As long as you don't absolutely bomb your first midterm, you'll be set, the stuff you learn in the 2nd half of the semester is easier compared to the 1st.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/09/2024

"But the real world has changed over the past 50 years and he has not changed with it." You know what hasn't changed? Signals and Systems baby! That sh** it is the exact same. Yes, this class is hard, yes you could blame the professor for you not going to his office hours when you don't understand something. But Andre himself is pretty great! But Andre will learn your name. (Which says a lot) He will greet you by name with a good morning and a smile every class you attend. He is professional, extremely kind. Yes, it is hard material. But he believes in your success. If you are at school to learn, take Andre! (If you are at school to slack off and do the minimum, do not take Andre. He will require you to understand material!)

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/08/2024

Before taking this class in Fall of 2023, reviews of Tits were not too bad, therefore, I was expecting to have an okay time for a notoriously difficult class. However, my experience was quite opposite from what I was expecting. As a result, I wanted to create a thorough review of my experience to warn future students. PROS: * Very knowledgeable on signals * Approachable and was genuinely kind * Held review sessions * Gave a caveat that if you got a B on the final, you would pass the class, regardless of your grade overall CONS: * Failed nearly half the class due to inability to effectively teach signals and systems * Exams were very difficult, as averages for the first two midterms were around a 50%. On top of that, grading for the exams were quite harsh * Confused many times by his own work and had to have students answer questions that he was not able to figure out * Chicken scratch handwriting that required a rosetta stone to decode * Homeworks that took an ungodly amount of time due to minimal examples being gone over in class * No other resource other than his lecture-only notes or the lengthy textbook

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a W
Anonymous
04/03/2024

Professor Tits is a great person and extremely knowledgeable about signals and systems. His teaching methods however are antiquated, and it is assumed that you enter the class basically knowing all of pre-requisite fringe math, like complex numbers as well as working with calculus and complex numbers at a very low level. As the previous 2024 review has said, the average for midterm 1 was below passing, and the lowest score was about a 2% on the midterm. Keeping in mind that the grading is 25% 25% 40% and 10% for two midterms, a final, and hw/quizzes respectively, it is highly likely that similar to previous semesters about half the people drop the class before the second midterm. Given that he may have "nice teacher" policies like final forgiveness/passing or the rare extra credit, him as a professor is nice, however he does not keep in mind that students at the very least need to pass the class if not understand it. Additionally, since he started using a different professor's slides this semester, he has gone warp speed through the material to the pace he thinks is good, causing 2nd exam material to be possibly included on exam 1, and Final exam material to be included on exam 2. Do not take professor Tits unless you are cracked at math, or like to gamble.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/02/2024

Easily one of the worst professors at UMD. He can barely understand even the simplest of questions and often gets lost in his own explanations when he is not using his notes. He also doesn't provide any resources other than the textbook and exams are really harshly graded (fails over half the class) with little to no partial credit and with no curve to the course. Avoid at all costs.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting a W
Anonymous
02/27/2024

Unorganized, frequent miscommunication with the TA, was always a few minutes late to class. She is undoubtedly a titan in the field of signal, but she only seems to care about the grad student population. I'm sure if you had every academic privilege so far, then you will succeed, but for the majority of undergraduate students taking the course with her, it felt like a game you couldn't win. It was a drinking from the firehose for her lectures, and scrambling to find review material. Her lectures didn't align with the textbook, yet her HW problems were all from the book, and she regularly shifted due dates so it became impossible to find a routine to get help from the TA. This course is proof of how negligent the ECE department is regarding undergraduate education.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/01/2024

Took this in 2023, and it was true that more than half of the class (which was roughly 9-10 people) failed. The exams were quite challenging as other reviews have stated but I always thought they were reasonable if you were reading the book and practicing outside of class. Each problem always had a simple and quick solution realizable from looking at the table sheet and understanding the fundamental transform pairs. There was almost no intense math on any of the exams. Dr. Espy-Wilson is by far the best teacher for signals ive ever had, and really emphasizes a visual approach that makes complex topics like sampling, filtering, and LaPlace really straightforward. That being said, if you do not pay attention in class, fall behind, skip, or simply copy the online solutions for homeworks you will fail. If you show up to class, stay on top of the material, do the homeworks legit, and can solve each practice exam you stand to do very well, and the course will strongly prepare you for 400 levels and real life signal processing.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a D
Anonymous
01/03/2024

As students were challenged to learn, but rather than challenging us to learn the content, professor tits was challenging us to communicate what we learned with him. And while he is a very kind (very old) man, he is a very confused and stubborn professor. Genuinely had to move from our assigned classroom bc he couldn't work the lights. His constant confusion made it so he rarely understood our questions, and other students would answer instead or he'd just make it worse. He doesn't post any resources, you just have to be at lecture or have to read the textbook. Exams make up 90% of your grade and he failed 40% of us... I don't recommend unless 222 wasn't bad for you and you don't mind reading textbooks. I could tell that he genuinely wanted us to succeed. But the real world has changed over the past 50 years and he has not changed with it.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
01/03/2024

Professor Espy-Wilson is a decent professor but I would recommend to avoid if possible. Some of the better aspects include availability outside of class and willingness to slow down/answer questions during lecture. She was accommodating in general so I'd encourage speaking up. Also, there is an emphasis on graphical analysis and she often connects concepts to her active research which helps reduce the abstract nature of the content. It would have been great to see her use Matlab or provide a demo script to students for solving tough homework problems. This course is difficult and everyone knows it. Unfortunately, this professor doesn't provide any lecture materials and doesn't focus enough on the systems level or the problem-solving procedure. Everyone was underprepared for exam day including her; she didn't bring enough exams and then proceeded to hand out some extra exam copies with answers already written in... Be warned - the grading scale is unclear

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a D
Anonymous
12/18/2023

HE FAILED OVER 50% OF THE CLASS!! Not what the reviews led me to believe. He does not provide any online resources. Gives fair exams with harsh grading, barely acknowledging any partial credit for work. He also expects to you to only care about his class and show up to his office hours weekly. I had a tutor and still failed. Do yourself a favor and sign up for anyone else, if he is the only professor wait another semester!

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/17/2023

This professor legit will fail half a class. He does put in more effort than most professors to conduct review sessions and open extra office hours. Typically, if half a class is failing, you should reconsider the approach you have in presenting the material. But, it appears, if half the class cannot perform well on the final (i.e. B-range) you will probably be smitten with pain on your transcript. Additionally, the other reviews here are not being completely real with you and are H-students. People either review when they have had an awesome experience and been set apart compared to others (therefore almost like a brag), or if people had a disastrous experience and want to warn others. Here's a review to warn...

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/09/2023

Dr. Tits provides thorough lectures and wants his students to succeed, but his grading is brutal. Exams, which account for 90% of the total grade in his 322, consistently had averages in the 50s. The actual course content is not so hard, especially if you prepare well and read the textbook, but anything less than a complete understanding of the material gets punished harshly. He is very friendly and helpful if you are trying to explore the course material, it's just that he has set the bar very high and refuses to budge it. To make up for this, Dr. Tits provides very generous opportunities for extra credit through the use of challenge problems. It was possible to achieve a flat 6% boost to your final grade this semester if you completed them all successfully. I had fun overall.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting an F
Anonymous
08/07/2023

She is terrible. Has no desire to teach. She teaches the class as if the students are phd students. DO NOT TAKE HER. you will not pass. She does not curve and her practice exams are nothing like the exams she gives out. She is by far the worst professor at UMD. Save your mental health and do not take her.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
07/20/2023

She failed the majority of the class. No hyperbole, she failed more than half the students. Take the course with someone else, especially if you are pursing a career in signals.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
05/30/2023

She failed the majority of the class. Do not take her.

Alejandra Mercado
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/22/2022

Although this class had me on my nerves for the longest because of my poor performances on midterms, I would definitely say that I recommend you take Prof. Mercado because she is a great professor for the reasons mentioned below. The only thing I would warn you about is that, although her exams are short and simple, they are insanely easy to make stupid mistakes on and lose a large portion of your grade. So be aware about that. Other than that, I appreciate this class, and definitely would recommend it to other students

Alejandra Mercado
ENEE322

Anonymous
06/21/2022

She is incredibly nice. The lectures are clear and generally follow Papamarcou's lecture notes, although Prof Mercado likes to emphasize practical applications as well. As others have said the exams are easy and she gives way more than enough time.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
02/25/2022

Professor Espy-Wilson is terrible. DO NOT TAKE HER. A lot of people dropped/did not pass her ENEE322 class. Her tests are almost impossible. The average on the one of the exams was a 30%. If you can, take the class with someone else. Nobody received an A in the entire class for the semester.

Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
02/02/2022

Professor La is by all means a nice person who knows the subject material quite well. With that said, he was inadequate at teaching the material in a manner that was conducive to learning. 90% of your grade relies on two midterms and a final, the latter of which is worth 40%. As others have stated, the tests are stressful and difficult. For the final exam, we were not provided any study material nor given any supportive direction on the types of questions to expect. In addition, our only review session was cancelled; leaving students substantially unprepared and stressed. I had dedicated a great deal of time to review as much material as possible since my other exam grades were not great, but without a proper focus I wound up doing poorly. Overall, I did not find Professor La’s conduct regarding an exam worth 40% of our grade to be appropriate; the structure of the class, grading methods, and lack of content-accessibility all contributed to an awful learning experience.

Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/24/2021

Instead of seeing how poorly his students do and changing his teaching style to better their education, he fails them and smiles.

Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/24/2021

The majority of his class will get Cs or lower, and there's a clear reason. Though 322 is one of the hardest EE courses, Richard La makes no attempt whatsoever to make the subject matter feasible. Wish I had never taken this professor, he caused the entire class unnecessary stress the entire semester, and the end of semester curve does in no way compensate for the terrible exams.

Richard La
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2021

He is decent at lecturing and is definitely really good at the stuff that he teaches. His exam averages were pretty low (around 40) so they are kind of difficult, but nothing too bad.

Adrianos Papamarcou
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
02/04/2021

Dr. Papamarcou is definitely one of the best professors at UMD. ENEE322 is a difficult course, but Dr. Papamarcou provides more than enough resources for his students to succeed. For every lecture in the course, he records 2 to 3 videos that go over the content in detail. He's great at explaining difficult concepts, both in lectures and in his videos. He also provides tons of solved example problems. If you put in a decent amount of work into this class, you will almost certainly get a great grade. Also, if you take ENEE322 with Dr. Papamarcou, you will most likely come out of it with an interest in signals.

Alejandra Mercado
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
01/19/2021

This review is slightly old - I actually took the class with her in Spring 2020. Professor Mercado is fantastic. I cannot emphasize enough that she is now my favorite teacher in the ECE department. She gives very clear lectures with wonderful illustrations and visualizations of concepts - something that is INCREDIBLY important in 322 and any signals class (but often not stressed enough by professors!). I took Papamarcou for 222 and Mercado for 322 and I can definitively say that I learned more effectively from Mercado, though I absolutely have a lot of respect for Papamarcou, who is also a great. Perhaps one issue for some would be the style of Mercado's tests - they are EASY and SHORT. This means that if you miss even one problem in its entirety you will not get an A and probably something more like a B or a C on the test. Mercado is good at emphasizing what needs to be known before these tests, but if you are an anxious test taker this might not be the style for you since everything is worth so much. I didn't have a problem with it but I figured I'd document it in case that would be a concern for anyone else. I would 11/10 recommend taking any class with Mercado

Adrianos Papamarcou
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/12/2021

Recommend taking 322 with Papamarcou if you didn't hate 222 with him. He does a flipped lecture that takes some getting used to if you haven't had him before, but he also has a text version of all the content so you don't actually need to watch the lectures if that's more your thing. 322 is hard. It's a lot of math-y computation, so not a lot of it is actually useful and applicable for stuff outside of school. Exams are pretty straightforward. Some questions may have twists, but they're mostly the same type of questions as in the practice exams. Homeworks are helpful for learning the content for each week/couple of weeks, but by the time each exam comes up there has been so much content covered that you'll probably just need to learn everything again even if you got the homeworks all or mostly right. He also uploads practice problems. Highly recommend just doing all of the problems and exams that he uploads.

Alejandra Mercado
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
05/13/2020

Amazing professor. She explains things very well and her exams are extremely fair. She isn’t trying to trick you and as your best interest. I really learned a lot about signals without having to stress that much. Papamarcou is also a good choice but I think she is better.

Prakash Narayan
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/12/2019

Lectures are clear and easy to understand, but he spent too much time at the start of the semester on things that were obvious, so we ended up barely reaching Laplace transforms at the end, and we had to rush through Discrete Fourier Series/Transform and we didn't even do Z transform or the state space approach for LTIs. Also he had the TA post all HW assignments, and he would frequently say in class that the HW would be released on say Tuesday, but then the TA would release it Wednesday night. Since the HW gets turned in during discussion, he can't push the deadline back so we end up losing a day for HW due to bad prof/TA communication. Those are the bad parts, but for exams, Narayan was quite fair. He would cut off the material that we'd be responsible for about 2 weeks before the exam, so there was never any worry about learning something in class and being tested on it in 2 days. He allows accumulating cheat sheets for exams (ie 1 sheet for exam 1, 2 for exam 2, ...). Important Fourier properties were given on the exam, like time/freq shifting so you weren't screwed if you forgot to put it on your sheet. However, he doesn't post old exams, so you can't treat it like a Papamarcou class where you just memorize the old exams.

Gilmer Blankenship
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/10/2019

Nice guy, hard to hear. Expect to spend a lot of time reading the material outside of class and not comprehending it. His text is poor and the homeworks and tests are difficult to near impossible. Large curve to make up for this.

Steven Marcus
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/23/2019

Probably the best professor I've ever had at UMD. I had taken ENEE322 in spring 2018, and he definitely still cared about his students. He was the only professor I've had do a survey half way through the class to see how he was doing as a professor. He's also the only professor who provides the homework solutions with the homework so that you can use it as a guide to figure out difficult problems, get full credit on the homework, and use it to study for the exam. There was a curve as well. The exams are very difficult, but very fair (there was only one trick problem on the final exam that was explicitly reviewed in the review session that I couldn't attend).

Gilmer Blankenship
ENEE322

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/19/2019

He doesn’t know how to explain. Even the average for the class is really low.

Alejandra Mercado
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
04/17/2019

When I originally registered for this class, I was apprehensive that I had not been able to get into the section taught by Papamarcou. Now that I know both professors and their styles of teaching, I'm glad to say that I'm much more satisfied with Dr. Mercado, and would elect to take the class with her over Papa if I was somehow given the option. Professor Mercado teaches very thoroughly, and always answers questions in an easy-to-understand manner that demonstrates why certain equations or mathematical concepts work as they do. Further, Mercado always relates the concepts we have in class to actual practical (employment) applications. In my experience, this helps me to remain much more interested in the topic at hand. Exams are fair and test you on your understanding of concepts and properties, rather than your ability to perform complex calculations and algebra. She always provided ample study material, and it never felt as if we were tested on something we hadn't already covered in-depth. I definitely recommend Mercado over any other professor for ENEE322.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
03/29/2019

Prof. Espy-Wilson is an amazing teacher, as in she is very good at teaching the material in a way that makes sense. Unfortunately, she gets a bad reputation because her exams are challenging. However, if you study the old exams, which she will provide and go over, you stand to do very well on her exams. Additionally, make sure you clarify any doubts or questions as soon as they arise; concepts in this course build on each other and poor understanding of earlier material will most definitely become a problem down the road.

Mark Shayman
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
12/20/2018

Shayman is pretty decent. Lectures are followable and neatly written if a bit dry (like his throat). Homework was doable and kept you paced. Exams were fair/a bit tough but if you knew the material well you could do well. His pop quizzes were annoying, but they basically counted for nothing so it was no big deal. Plus his curve was pretty good. There might be better choices for 322 like Marcus, but I think Shayman is a pretty good option.

Jonathan Simon
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/26/2018

Simon was an excellent professor for 322. He gave dense and difficult homework, however, if you understood the concepts in the homework you were well prepared for the exams. His lectures were dense but they were very organized. His homework solutions as others have pointed out aren't the best, but he was more than willing to clarify anything during office hours.

Steven Marcus
ENEE322

Anonymous
05/24/2018

The old reviews were far from his most recent teaching performance. This professor does not teach well and does not care about his students. His exams are extremely hard and he does not curve.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
03/14/2018

Professor Espy-Wilson is very nice and I feel like she gets a bad rap, though these other reviews are certainly accurate. In office hours, she was very helpful and accomodating. She teaches fast, but it's all in the book, and she's more than willing to help if you're stuck or confused. Make no mistake though, this is a very difficult course, and her tests make things very frustrating. That being said, the whole class was curved (pretty heavily actually), so the end grade is pretty much just a representation of how well you did compared to your classmates. From my experience, here's how the workload was: Studying like any other class will earn you a C; Studying very hard (or in my case, harder than you ever have) will get you a B, and selling your soul to the Signals Gods gets you an A. The tests are impossible, so much so that even those people who usually get 99% on an average of 50% were also doing poorly. All that being said, if you just care about a grade, Espy-Wilson is not for you, it might be better to put this class off rather than try to suffer. But if you want to master signals, than she is for you. IMO someone who got a B with her likely knows more than someone with an A in Papamarcou. I consider it a high risk, high reward class, so take it ONLY if you are willing to 'do the gauntlet'.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/16/2017

Extremely nice, very knowledgeable, and actually pretty accommodating, though she does not like to give points back so don't even try. The tests are worth 90% of your grade, so you should probably do well on them right? Too bad! The tests are nothing like the practice ones and the hw was given by our TA, so it wasn't really that helpful to learn what to expect for any exams. The practice midterms she gave left me pretty confident of doing well, only to get absolutely blindsided by something i've never seen before. If you're thinking that it's just me, consider this: The average for midterm #2 was a 39%, with a low of 2.5% and a HIGH of 59.5%. Not even one person was able to get >60%. To make it worse, she said this was an IMPROVEMENT from the last semester! Though she says she curves heavily, so hopefully that can rescue literally all of us. Based on what she said in class and office hours, it sounds like she really wants students to come to her office hours, though they seemed to me to be of marginal benefit. When it comes to 222 or 322, take Papamarcou. Period.

Mark Shayman
ENEE322

Anonymous
11/21/2017

Found his lectures difficult to follow and he's a little condescending when you ask questions. I heard this from a lot of people I talked to in my class as well. He doesn't seem to know how to explain things to students who don't immediately get it.

Sennur Ulukus
ENEE322

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
12/23/2015

This class was difficult because the workload was higher than my other classes. There are weekly quizzes that are graded out of 20 points, but you get 10 points for just showing up to take them. There are also weekly homeworks that can be time consuming and can be more in depth than the textbook or her lectures go into. The homework and quizzes make up 20% of your final grade, and the other 80% are three exams and the final. The finals are most represented by the quizzes, so make sure to at least understand those. This class can seem intimidating because the content is difficult, but her teaching style is very straightforward and her exams were not surprising.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
06/29/2015

She moves very quickly through the material and does not care if you have questions. Also, the exams are nothing like the past exams, so study everything. If you miss class, she basically recites the book word-for-word, so you will be fine if you just read the book. I would definitely recommend avoiding her.

Steven Marcus
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
02/06/2015

Marcus was a great professor. He genuinely tries to cater to the needs of his students. He even gave us a survey mid-semester to gauge how he could improve the class for the remainder of the semester. He also provides a lot of material to study from. For most exams, he has 4+ previous exams with solutions written out. His exams are difficult, but not impossible given the resources that are available. Homework is given with solutions, so it is up to you to decide whether you need the practice.

Gilmer Blankenship
ENEE322

Expecting an A-
smhmd0521
12/24/2014

As you progress through the EE program, you will realize that this guy is good. He grades primarily on setting up and approaching the problem as opposed to memorizing formulas and carrying out long derivations. However he does expect a proficiency in MATLAB that the class itself does not quite warrant, and rushed through 322 material to incorporate 463 material into the class so the syllabus isn't great.

Adrianos Papamarcou
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/16/2014

Papamarcou is a great professor. I won't lie to you, this class is extremely difficult, but that is the content, not the teacher. He does a really good job of explaining everything, and posted all of his lectures on elms in case you need to hear something again. Homeworks were difficult and assigned once a week, but only a subset of problems got graded, and if your exam average was better than your overall grade with homeworks, then (if I read the syllabus correctly) homework grades get dropped. Exams were fair. There are two midterms and a final, each covering material from their respective unit. The exams have similar problems to the homework, but are made slightly easier to compensate for the time constraints. Honestly, this is just a really hard course with a lot of material to get a hold of. If you can get Papamarcou, he will help you through it and you should get by okay. This professor is a good idea.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/14/2014

Professor Espy-Wilson is a really nice person but like all the other reviews the test are nothing like the homework's or quizzes, if you need help understanding the material i would definitely go to the TA's. The test averages are very low and there is a curve at the end of the semester so if you wanna know how well you're doing you have to go to her in person. She teaches the lectures pretty well since the book is old and some of it is hard to understand. I would avoid her if possible mainly because of her tests, but if you know the material very well you should do well with her

Gilmer Blankenship
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2014

First off, I'd like to point out that I did not have Blankenship for 222, and that I survived the course. Blankenship is an extremely nice guy, and I found him to be rather hilarious. My only complaints about his personality is that his voice is soothing and it makes me fall asleep in a warm room. It is true that he teaches every semester slightly different, that his homeworks are very difficult and his exams fall somewhere between fair and impossible. However, I do believe that he keeps the material interesting, and cares more about whether or not you understand the concepts than if you can apply it or not. He spends a lot of time reviewing things that he talked about last class, which is EXTREMELY nice (albeit boring), because it really emphasizes what he thinks is important (and what will be on the exam). I found his lectures to be extremely well put-together, and mostly engaging. Keep in mind he tells you the exam questions before the exam. I must say that even though I found this class to be stressful, I learned significantly more than in a lot of my other classes, and I really enjoyed it overall (which I found strange). My advice to someone who is considering taking him: sit in the front, attend every lecture and discussion, pay attention, and abuse your TA. Attending lecture is crucial because otherwise it's impossible to know what he talked about, and he often gives out test questions. Your TA is your friend and will help you with the homework. Don't try to do it completely by yourself because you will die. Remember that it is your TA's JOB to help you. Also keep in mind that if you're struggling with something, chances are everyone else is, too. Overall, Blankenship is an awesome professor and his class is completely doable, even if you're taking 18 credits, if you approach it the right way.

Steven Tretter
ENEE322

Expecting a B
bcarsten
01/04/2014

I do not think people give Prof. Tretter enough credit. Sure, he may be older and somewhat monotone, but he knows his stuff and wants his students to do well. Be warned though, the grading can be pretty harsh sometimes, just know your stuff and practice the homework over and over. Tests usually consist of HW or variations thereof. They are usually pretty fair. Make sure to go to class too (he covers stuff that you wouldn't know otherwise)...He also let's you skip the final if you are alright with your grade in the class!

Steven Tretter
ENEE322

Expecting a D
Anonymous
11/26/2013

This is the unfortunate case of an individual who was clearly not loved enough as a child thus restricting him from loving anyone else or for that matter feeling any sort of emotion period. This man is a robot covered in artificial skin. He speaks acts and lectures in the same monotone voice and never shows any interest in the material. He is definitely the worst professor I've had throughout my college career and have lost respect for the entire ece department for keeping this broken down machine. If you didn't get the hint do not take this professor no matter what. Wait a semester and take the class when a different professor teaches.

Eyad Abed
ENEE322

Expecting a C
Anonymous
10/20/2013

Dr. Abed knows ENEE322 inside out and lectures clearly. He made himself available to students, putting as much time as needed to help outside class. He made the difficult material of ENEE322 interesting and connected it with the real world. He prepared detailed typed solutions to all assignments and exams. I enjoyed taking his class and I still go see him for advice. A negative was using slides more than the board but this helped him cover a lot of material. All the slides were available to the class (sometimes they were from MIT open courseware and once or twice from the book). Take ENEE322 with this professor if you can.

Eyad Abed
ENEE322

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
06/05/2013

Dr. Abed is quite disappointing actually. He was a funny guy and made the occasional joke. It was obvious he cared about being liked. However, he always came to class unprepared and would literally read off the book. When he didn't read off the book, he would just read off slides from MIT. The way to summarize his attitude towards the class is: He wanted to be cool and liked, but he didn't want to put any effort in order to achieve it. He would give homework in a disorganized manner and at one point gave an extremely long assignment because he was too lazy to make one for weeks. He would regularly let class out early due to lack of preparation. I was truly disappointed with the low amount of effort Dr. Abed put into the course. That being said, he made exams towards the easy side of things. People still did pretty terribly with averages in 65-70 range, and he curved generously at the end. You'll learn an average amount of material taking ENEE322 with him, but the time won't be utilized in an efficient manner.

Eyad Abed
ENEE322

Expecting an A-
ashivkum
05/17/2013

Highly recommended. This guy is amazing! He's hilarious, and teaches quite well. Tons of problems, and makes sure you are prepared for the exam. For some reason, averages were low on all exams, but he's a great professor. He also talks a lot about people from his days at MIT, which tend to be interesting, and also cracks jokes at some impossible system configurations. If you are a nerd like me, you appreciate the humour. Take this guy for whatever he teaches. I'm taking him for 460 next semester.

Andre Tits
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/21/2012

He is a great professor who really cares about his students. As others have said, he will make you work; he assigns homework every week, and the tests aren't easy. But he tries to give everyone a chance - in our class, when a lot of people did badly on the first two tests, he changed the grading scheme so that the lowest letter grade you could get was one grade lower than the final. In other words, he gave a lot of students another chance to shape up. Also, if you do well in the class and talk to him in office hours, he'll gladly offer recommendations and suggestions for other courses to take. He is extremely friendly if you ask him questions that aren't directly related to the course, too.

Alexander Barg
ENEE322

Expecting an A
whynot
04/14/2012

Took 322 with him in Spring 2011. Wasn't a bad class and the tests weren't too insane. Could've used a better TA, but what can you do. He gives a substantial amount of homework, but he assigns it several days in advance. Don't put the homework off until the last minute or it'll bite you in the ass. Make sure you understand the fundamentals of the new functions you learn like signal energy, power, delta and step - he's known to throw goofy test problems that you'll need to pick apart using definitions you learn in the first week of class. I'd say he's above median in terms of teacher quality for this course. Better than Espy and Ephrimedes, at least. Also, he allows (or at least allowed when I took him) use of a sheet of notes for exams, but no calculator. This way you don't have to worry about mis-remembering a minus sign in a fourier table. You can also write down integral results that show up frequently.

Anthony Ephremides
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/27/2011

He's a pretty awful lecturer, and it can be quite painful sitting through the class, but he makes up for it with his very simple and straightforward exams. Homework from the book was optional, but highly recommended, as he considers your homework completion in factoring your final grade. He's not the best (read: clearest) 322 teacher, but he may just be the easiest. The first exam had a tricky convolution, but the second and final were simple. It's easy to get discouraged due to his teaching style, but as long as you look over the provided homework solutions and remember the basic transform properties, you should be fine.

Alexander Barg
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/27/2011

Pro: -Teaching style is plausible -A good amount of homework to prep us for exams/help us with learning -Somewhat helpful in office hours Cons: -Too much homework...basically takes an entire day to complete each of the 10 assignments -Exams are too focused onto a single topic (eg he tells us the exam is cumulative on 5-6 chapters but 2/3 of the exam will be based on a single topic of one chapter) -Very rude. Let me emphasize: Ridiculously rude!!!

Alexander Barg
ENEE322

Expecting a D
logical-zero
04/20/2011

Well, We haven't got our final grades for the semester so I can't speak about his curve but I will tell you that his exams are much more difficult than Tretter who is also teaching 322 this semester. He assigns a great deal of homework that has, on occasions taken me 15 hours per week to complete. Our largest homework assignment which was nearly 30 pages long when completed was due the Monday after Spring break. So much for my tickets to Vegas. He actively encourages students to drop the class but is very helpful at office hours. He sends out sample exams which look nothing like the actual tests, or the homework for that matter. Barg likes to focus on one small concept from the homework and then make the entire test about that so if you don't know absolutely everything there is to know about the material, you don't stand a chance on an exam. Also, he likes to structure his exams in such a way that if you can't answer question 1a, you can't answer anymore parts of question 1 so you lose 25 points right there. All in all, I'm not too happy that I chose this professor over Tretter.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
01/28/2011

Pros: Good lecturer, although she goes a little too fast most of the time and seems stressed out sometimes I really liked the idea she had of how the course should be taught. She emphasized visual understanding of the actual concepts and practicality of problems, rather than just doing math without context She does curve the final grades Cons: She does not put enough time into other aspects of the class outside of lectures. For example, she has the TA make the quizzes and HW's, which ends up meaning that it's very hard to be prepared for her tests, which she makes. This is the first EE class I've had for which the TA assigns the hw rather than the professor, and it is definitely a bad system She has a tendency to put people on the spot during lecture, which can be very uncomfortable Her grading of exams is shoddy at best, and she is reluctant to give more points on regrades. Often her grading mistakes or poor exam questions are based on mistakes or confusions that are present in her lectures Overall I think that the way she teaches the material is very true to the engineering spirit and makes up for most of her bad points, but you must be prepared to be frustrated at your grades sometimes. It is possible to do well in her class though with lot's of studying and hard work. Make sure you can do problems quickly too since the exams are too long for the given time sometimes

Anthony Ephremides
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2010

He is certainly not the best professor. He do makes mistakes in the class. His exams are straight forward but his homeworks are time consuming. Overall he is not a great teacher and if you have a choice to pick up another professor I would highly recommend that you take this course with some other professor.

Anthony Ephremides
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/13/2010

It was unpleasant having this professor for ENEE322. I questioned his grasp on the subject frequently as he made so many mistakes during lecture that I was afraid to write down anything he wrote on the board. Half the time some student in the class would have to correct his mistake. Also, this did little to motivate me to come to class, and I believe it had the same effect on my peers because often times people would just get up and leave during lecture out of frustration. Furthermore, if a professor shows little interest in a subject, his apathy is generally reflected upon the students. Specifically, the professor had unannounced absences at least five times during the semester. All these shortcomings may have been mitigated by a likable personality, but sadly Ephrimedes fell short in this department as well. He has a short temper, which manifests itself occasionally through his exasperation when students ask inane questions, to outright anger when people start to get up and leave during his lecture. To try and stay at least a little impartial, I will enumerate the positive aspects of the course. I found his exams to be pretty straightforward and a good sample of the material covered in class. Nonetheless, the class average on exams tended to be pretty low, perhaps a result of his teaching style. Also, the homework was assigned judiciously and graded on completion rather than correction. As a bonus, he has a pretty cool accent.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/03/2010

Although she is a very nice person she does not care much about student concerns. Lectures help the homework but they have almost nothing to do with the tests. Sample exams are nothing like the actual tests either. Exam questions are hard to understand since they pop out of nowhere. Overall, she is a nice person but she makes the class way too hard and towards the end of the semester you feel no motivation to take more signals classes.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/29/2009

+ She is a nice person. + She is very clear during lecture. - Her exams are nothing like previous exams, homework, or anything that she does in class, which makes this class very difficult.

Carol Espy-Wilson
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/05/2009

Overall, this professor is very clear in teaching the basics in signals and systems. Her tests are difficult(not that the subject isn't) and long so your going to have to do more difficult problems for practice. Otherwise, I have no complaints.

Gilmer Blankenship
ENEE322

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/09/2008

Nice guy, very approachable. However, lectures can at times seem to have nothing to do with the homework. Pretty decent prof, but I would say I learned the majority of the course material from the TA and not from him.

Steven Tretter
ENEE322

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/12/2007

INCREDIBLY boring! I really didn't enjoy this class, and his teaching didn't help. He often went on tangents that were only vaguely related to course material. Homework was collected often, sometimes every class, and it was graded. His tests were pretty hard, too. You definitely need to go to class, and the homework helps.

Jonathan Simon
ENEE322

Expecting an A
swatson
10/29/2007

Dr. Simon is an excellent professor for ENEE322. He gives weekly homework assignments (of his own creation, not from the book) without fail and although they start out reviewing many old concepts they get harder and more time consuming as the semester goes on. The good news is that if you actually do the homeworks you are prepared to get an A on the tests. I strongly believe that the only reason not to get an A in this class is if you didn't finish a significant portion of the homework. This class relies heavily on math and math requires practice. His lecture style is also consistently thorough. If you can maintain focus for the entire class period than you should be able to understand everything. I left the class with a feeling that I saw some of the deep math, but really understood the meaning and application of signals and systems math. There won't be too many proofs or long calculations that don't seem relevant.

Reviews for ENEE322