IMDM101 | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Stevens Miller IMDM101 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/19/2024	Thought I would leave a review since I had a very pleasant experience with Stevens and most other reviews seem outdated/inaccurate. I found the lectures entertaining and Stevens is clearly very knowledgable about not just the content of the course but also many other fields, and I especially appreciated his input about presentation and public speaking. This class has a big amount of group work, which I think you'll need to be comfortable with if you're going into the IMD major, but if that's not your thing and you're planning on taking it as an elective then you might want to find another option. The grading policies in this class seem to be massively improved compared to the review of this class from last year. While the mid-term and final exam did both feel more difficult than necessary, he gave heavy curves (averaging your actual score with a perfect score on both), and the median for both was a B. He also specifically stated that he recognized this was a 100-level course and was reasonably lenient because of that when it came to grading and late policies. The biggest problem was that there was no written homework in this class and no study guides/practice problems for either test, and so actually sitting down and taking a test on paper felt alien and you wouldn't really know what to expect. I really think this course would benefit from practice exams (maybe some short quizzes on ELMS?) or at least practice problems before the tests. With that said, all of the questions were definitely covered by the content posted on ELMS as he promised, and he allowed you to bring handwritten notes to use during the test. My biggest gripe was that no calculator was allowed, forcing you to do arithmetic (including long division) by hand. The vast majority of questions didn't involve math anyways, but this restriction felt very arbitrary, especially in the context of a major/field that encourages the use of tech to solve problems. Overall I get the impression that Stevens has taken the feedback he received previously into consideration and made an effort to improve those aspects of his teaching, which to me is the most important indicator of a good professor and why I'm even bothering to leave a review.
Stevens Miller IMDM101 Expecting an A chadvader29 05/10/2024	Stevens is honestly a good professor. I found his lectures genuinely interesting and he's clearly extremely knowledgeable about pretty much anything in the realm of coding or immersive media design. He made his material interesting, the workload was always fair (tbf it is a 101 class...) and he can help you with your code very quickly and explain the problem quite well. Only reason I can't give the 5th star is just because during his lectures he comes off as a bit smug, always reminding his students that not only is he an accomplished computer scientist, but he also has a degree in physics and he's a lawyer. This wasn't entirely insufferable, but for me, at least, it made him less approachable when I did have a problem I needed help on.
Stevens Miller IMDM101 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/15/2023	If you're going to take this course and not do the major, do NOT take it with Stevens. While very VERY knowledgeable, he is really harsh and critical for a 101 level course. He grades really harshly and if you're new to programming you might struggle with class content. It is literally his goal to keep you from getting an A at all costs. While that's funny and all for upper level classes, in my opinion it is brutal considering its literally an an intro course. You have been warned.
Mollye Bendell IMDM101 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/01/2023	Professor Bendell is a good teacher. Sometimes her lectures were hard to follow but she records some of her lectures so students can refer back to them. But, she is always willing to explain to you if you need more clarity.
Mollye Bendell IMDM101 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/10/2022	A very chill and flexible professor. For such a new major I wasn't expecting such a well-running class as this. Very easy to ask questions, especially about Unity. No background in coding or anything and Unity had its challenges but it was easier with her lectures being recorded and easily able to go back and watch.
Mollye Bendell IMDM101 Expecting an A+ mmpc1919 12/05/2022	Bendell is a super chill teacher and is pretty flexible with due dates and assignments. This class and major (IMDM) is very new so I didn't expect everything to go super smooth, but it did for the most part. This class is pretty interesting, but once you get into Unity it is more fun but you may find it a little challenging. I had no background in coding or unity and I found this class pretty simple.
Mollye Bendell IMDM101 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/04/2022	She is a nice professor! Communicates well with students and accommodates them if needed. Do the work and show her that you've actually put in the effort and I'd say you're guaranteed an A. She provides constructive feedback (which I very much like) and gives you the right amount of help when you ask. Overall, recommend.

Stevens Miller
IMDM101

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/19/2024

Thought I would leave a review since I had a very pleasant experience with Stevens and most other reviews seem outdated/inaccurate. I found the lectures entertaining and Stevens is clearly very knowledgable about not just the content of the course but also many other fields, and I especially appreciated his input about presentation and public speaking. This class has a big amount of group work, which I think you'll need to be comfortable with if you're going into the IMD major, but if that's not your thing and you're planning on taking it as an elective then you might want to find another option. The grading policies in this class seem to be massively improved compared to the review of this class from last year. While the mid-term and final exam did both feel more difficult than necessary, he gave heavy curves (averaging your actual score with a perfect score on both), and the median for both was a B. He also specifically stated that he recognized this was a 100-level course and was reasonably lenient because of that when it came to grading and late policies. The biggest problem was that there was no written homework in this class and no study guides/practice problems for either test, and so actually sitting down and taking a test on paper felt alien and you wouldn't really know what to expect. I really think this course would benefit from practice exams (maybe some short quizzes on ELMS?) or at least practice problems before the tests. With that said, all of the questions were definitely covered by the content posted on ELMS as he promised, and he allowed you to bring handwritten notes to use during the test. My biggest gripe was that no calculator was allowed, forcing you to do arithmetic (including long division) by hand. The vast majority of questions didn't involve math anyways, but this restriction felt very arbitrary, especially in the context of a major/field that encourages the use of tech to solve problems. Overall I get the impression that Stevens has taken the feedback he received previously into consideration and made an effort to improve those aspects of his teaching, which to me is the most important indicator of a good professor and why I'm even bothering to leave a review.

Stevens Miller
IMDM101

Expecting an A
chadvader29
05/10/2024

Stevens is honestly a good professor. I found his lectures genuinely interesting and he's clearly extremely knowledgeable about pretty much anything in the realm of coding or immersive media design. He made his material interesting, the workload was always fair (tbf it is a 101 class...) and he can help you with your code very quickly and explain the problem quite well. Only reason I can't give the 5th star is just because during his lectures he comes off as a bit smug, always reminding his students that not only is he an accomplished computer scientist, but he also has a degree in physics and he's a lawyer. This wasn't entirely insufferable, but for me, at least, it made him less approachable when I did have a problem I needed help on.

Stevens Miller
IMDM101

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/15/2023

If you're going to take this course and not do the major, do NOT take it with Stevens. While very VERY knowledgeable, he is really harsh and critical for a 101 level course. He grades really harshly and if you're new to programming you might struggle with class content. It is literally his goal to keep you from getting an A at all costs. While that's funny and all for upper level classes, in my opinion it is brutal considering its literally an an intro course. You have been warned.

Mollye Bendell
IMDM101

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/01/2023

Professor Bendell is a good teacher. Sometimes her lectures were hard to follow but she records some of her lectures so students can refer back to them. But, she is always willing to explain to you if you need more clarity.

Mollye Bendell
IMDM101

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/10/2022

A very chill and flexible professor. For such a new major I wasn't expecting such a well-running class as this. Very easy to ask questions, especially about Unity. No background in coding or anything and Unity had its challenges but it was easier with her lectures being recorded and easily able to go back and watch.

Mollye Bendell
IMDM101

Expecting an A+
mmpc1919
12/05/2022

Bendell is a super chill teacher and is pretty flexible with due dates and assignments. This class and major (IMDM) is very new so I didn't expect everything to go super smooth, but it did for the most part. This class is pretty interesting, but once you get into Unity it is more fun but you may find it a little challenging. I had no background in coding or unity and I found this class pretty simple.

Mollye Bendell
IMDM101

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/04/2022

She is a nice professor! Communicates well with students and accommodates them if needed. Do the work and show her that you've actually put in the effort and I'd say you're guaranteed an A. She provides constructive feedback (which I very much like) and gives you the right amount of help when you ask. Overall, recommend.

Reviews for IMDM101