| Information | Review |
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Neil Blough
CHEM277 Expecting a B ariespink 12/08/2023 |
Tbh, I said I hated this class so many times this semester but honestly I loved it. I enjoyed labs and just goofing around with my TA and professor Blough. He is pretty funny and cares to engage with students when he comes into the lab. The TAs are super helpful with lab reports and overall want you to succeed. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM277 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 01/03/2023 |
Dr. Blough is a great professor and I would recommend him! His lectures are clean and concise, and he always comes to class in a cheerful mood. He doesn't seem like much help during the semester which is typical for a lab course (277 is going to depend on your TA a LOT) and you'll feel like you have absolutely no idea what you're doing writing lab reports because you're just dropped into assignments once it starts. By the end, you will feel like you have learned a lot. The exams are very reasonable and similar to past exams, and most students did very well on his exams without curve. However, the lab reports were not so great since there was absolutely no guidance. There is no rubric published to students, but you are certainly graded on one. Ultimately, there was an insane curve (almost 10 points from where I was), but this lab took at least 20-25 hours a week between lab and the reports. 277 may be a 3 credit course but treat it like a 5 credit course. If you can take the class with Blough, I would recommend doing so. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM425 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/23/2013 |
Dr. Blough is an excellent professor, and potentially the best one I have had at Maryland as a biochem & neurophys double degree. His lecturing style is the clearest of any professor I've had thus far (in 7 semesters), he's enthusiastic, and I could readily and easily recall all of the material he lectured about during exams, even if I hadn't studied a particular topic intensely. Your TAs are usually sympathetic towards you (you're taking 6 hours of lab a week for this one class, after all) - just make sure you keep up with the lab reports (which are VERY time intensive), attend lecture, and the lecture will basically do the work for you. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM425 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/18/2013 |
Amazing professor. You dont need the textbook. Just attend lecture and take notes. exams are super straight forward. There's a curve. Our year an 84% was an A. Lab reports are the killer just make sure you see a Ta before submission. Start strong, thats the trick. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM131 Expecting a B Anonymous 04/13/2011 |
I did not find this class to be that hard. My basic chemistry knowledge from high school helped me out for the first couple of months and then we started going in depth. Blough just reads straight off the powerpoint slides. He is not really helpful as a professor. However, my TA (Chris Simms) was by far the best TA I ever had. Discussion sections are vital! GO TO THEM! It is very hard to depend on Blough when he rehearses the textbook verbatim. Overall, easy class, take good notes, and everything will go well. I even though CHEM 132(lab) was harder than CHEM 131, but thats a different story... |
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Neil Blough
CHEM131 Expecting an A+ cmoore16 12/15/2010 |
This class was pretty simple and you don't need to do too much to do well. He's a good guy and cares about his students, but he isn't very engaging when it comes to lectures. However, going to lecture is worth it since he gives out extra credit through clicker questions. All of his powerpoints are straight from the book, and his tests are fairly easy if you just study and practice. Easy class! |
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Neil Blough
CHEM131 Anonymous 12/13/2010 |
Dr. Blough is alright. Nothing special. His tests aren't too bad if you know the material. The first test is mostly conceptual, and the 2nd and 3rd are all solving equations. He gives 20 extra credit points through clickers at the end of class. Make sure you go to class and do them. Overall, if you work you can get whatever grade you want. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM131 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/10/2010 |
Prof. Blough uses Powerpoint slides with examples (directly from the book). He went through the slides incredibly fast...you'd be lucky if you could jot down one or two things on the slide. So he wasn't all that helpful in learning the material but basically if you can read the book, you're good to go. Honestly, I thought he was awful at teaching, but his exams were fairly easy and he gave "extra points" through clicker questions. |
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Neil Blough
CHEM131 Anonymous 12/05/2010 |
There is nothing particularly good or bad about this professor. His lectures are not very engaging but informative and I found myself getting distracted. However, he posts all his presentations online so the only reason you would want to go to lecture is to get extra credit with the clicker questions which are abundant. The exams are not overly difficult. Just know your stuff and you're good. Just doing the homework is enough to get you through the exams. I'm not crazy about this class but I don't mind it at all and recommend it because it is easy with this professor. I cannot say much about his explanatory power becaue I never really listened to his lectures but I am getting an A which says a lot about the amount of effort you need to put into his class! :) Hope this helps! |