Jeffrey Adams

This professor has taught: CMSC456, CMSC475, ENEE456, MATH141, MATH246, MATH310, MATH401, MATH405, MATH406, MATH456, MATH461, MATH475, MATH600, MATH601, MATH636, MATH744
Information Review
Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting a W
Anonymous
12/30/2021
While I dropped this course halfway through the semester Adams is a great professor. MATH405 is extremely difficult and I quickly learned I was in over my head. In class Adams does a good job explaining the theorems/definitions as well as providing examples. My only complaint is that sometimes he uses different variables compared to what's in the book when explaining concepts. The homework is extremely difficult compared to in-class examples and time consuming. The midterms however are much easier and straightforward the averages are still low but he has an insane curve, post curve the average for our first midterm was a 90. Honestly to do well in this course memorize the theorems/definitions and go to office hours to get help whenever you feel you need it.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2021
Great prof, very good instruction, reasonable homeworks and exams. A high-quality course where you'll learn a lot about advanced linear algebra.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH456

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/13/2021
Nice guy, real smart too. Super accommodating. He would push back deadlines if the class complained about the hw being too long. In lectures, he writes on a tablet, records and shares lecture notes. He is effective in communicating the ideas without having to make things too rigorous. Questions from students were taken seriously and Adams would spend a considerable amount of lecture time explaining/investigating the ideas (you may or may not like this). Office hours were helpful, and he tries hard to help clear any confusion the class had. Tests were takehomes and easy (a little long though, still reasonable), so the averages were around 90/100. Like the person below said, final was optional. In the end, I think the vast majority of the class got A's. He decided to not give +/- grades because of the pandemic. Overall, zero stress and a lot of fun. Definitely recommend his classes.
Jeffrey Adams
CMSC456

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2020
Adams has been super supportive and understanding this semester due to the online format. He made all midterms open note and take home with at least 24 hours to complete each one. For this semester, the final is optional if you're already satisfied with your grade. Adams is also good at stopping for student questions.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH310

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/14/2019
i would give him more stars but sometimes when he writes proofs he doesn't completely organize the steps that well. otherwise, he is very fair with grading on tests. if you have a general idea of what you're doing on a test problem you'll get at least 50-75% credit for that problem. he's nice and respectful and understands situations where you have to turn in homework late. 3 stars seems low but if you put the effort in this class with him you should do fine.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH401

Expecting a B
Anonymous
04/13/2015
I don't like this professor because he is very unorganized and relaxed. He would change problems sets days after he assigned then. So I would do problems that weren't require. He post videos that you have to look at before lecture too. He always post them the day before or maybe the afternoon before. God forbid you want to get ahead in this class and do you work ahead of time because he either won't post assignments until later or he will change them. He also does problems out of the book then gets to lazy and doesn't finish them. If you can't finish one problem for us in class, how do you expect students to do 20 for their HW. He is pretty chill so he lectures are easy to understand and kind of dumb down for the average joe, but maybe to chill for students that want to get head.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH405

Expecting an A-
alexf
12/12/2013
Adams is a fantastic professor. He always comes prepared to class and does a great job helping his students through difficult problems. I would recommend him highly if you get a chance to take one of his courses.
Jeffrey Adams
MATH475

Expecting an A
zaqu413
05/26/2012
Lecture: Adams was always willing to experiment and investigate students ideas that we come up with during lecture. I actually learned a lot during these little diversions. We did a lot more combinatorics than graph theory, but Adams said he might start with Graph theory next time to ensure that he covers it in more detail next time. Homework/Book: We used Brualdi's textbook and it was alright. Many of the questions were vague which made it hard to figure out what the questions were asking. Look over the homework the class period before it's due so you can ask Adams about it during lecture. Overall homework wasn't too difficult, it was assigned once a week and took 4-8 hours depending on what you are covering. Homework was usually about 70% application and 30% proof (but this was dependent on the topic, partial orders, recurrence relations, and graph theory were a little heavier on proofs) Tests: Two midterms and a final. All of Adams test follow a similar set-up. Some medium difficulty problems, then one problem that is rather easy followed by a problem that is really hard. The easy one is "free points" so you don't feel bad about not getting the hard one. No quizzes or anything like that. Grading was 100 exam 1 100 exam 2 150 final 100 homework (2 dropped) and he curved a little to make the median a 75 on both exams (and probably did the same for the final). I really enjoyed this class, Adams made it fun and the material isn't terribly rigorous. It would be good to take this class with the rigorous courses like MATH410/411/403/etc.
Jeffrey Adams
CMSC456

Expecting a B
Anonymous
07/23/2009
Adams was an all around wonderful professor and this class was my favorite of the semester. It's a tough course, with an estimate 5-10 hours needed per week to master the homework problems and material. Thankfully, Adams did very well explaining concepts and helping the students through problems. He's a really nice guy (with a relaxed teaching style) who was very helpful during office hours. He was also lenient when it came to a late homework once in a while or toward emergencies. Frankly, he's just a nice guy that loves teaching Cryptology. There are weekly homework assignments with reasonable due dates and two midterms and a final (no quizzes). I found the exams tough, but struggled with the material throughout the course. For some reason, the course material clicked toward the end and I started to see the "big picture." Adams does a nice curve and does everything he can to make sure everyone passes (i.e. possibly dropping a poor exam grade if you do good on the other one). Taking number theory (Math 406) is not mandatory for this class as Adams covers the topics from number theory that are needed. It will obviously put you ahead of the curve if you've taken such a class, but you won't be behind if you didn't. This review covers Cmsc 456 and Math 456 as they are the same course.