| Information | Review |
|---|---|
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Larry Davis
CMSC420 Anonymous 05/11/2016 |
This class was the worst class I have taken at the University of Maryland. The teaching style is horrible. Larry Davis simply reads off the slides and rarely has an example of what the data structure looks like and how it should behave. And if there is an example, it's just pictures in the slides that are missing all the steps. I put in a significant amount of work into this class and the grades I received were too low. You receive no sympathy whatsoever. If you have been having trouble in another class and been overwhelmed with work you will not receive any consideration. I spent hours and hours every week teaching myself the material so I have put significant effort in this class. In addition, the projects have a 30% late penalty, meaning that the highest you can get is a 70%, it is a pointless late deadline, you would actually do worse if you kept trying. This was a horrible experience and I do not wish to go through this again. This has confirmed to me that professors are not meant to teach. It's reflected in their attitude towards the class. It's only a few that do actually enjoy teaching but from my experience here at the CS department most profesor like Larry Davis should not teach. I taught myself everything this semester. I should not be paying so much money to teach myself everything. I highly recommend the department to consider hiring Lecturers instead. When I was taught by a lecturer there was a significant difference, they actually enjoy their job and better convey the material. Professors like Larry Davis should remain focused on their research instead of making students suffer through this. Just because you have a higher degree or a tenure does not allow you to treat students the way you treat them. I am extremely upset about this class, I was really excited about this class but Larry Davis turned it into a nightmare. If you can avoid taking this class with him please do. |
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Larry Davis
AAST233 Expecting a B+ stormborn 12/12/2013 |
I'm a science major and I only took this class because I had to fulfill my gened requirement, but I ended up enjoying it. It wasn't boring and Professor Davis is really engaging and makes you comfortable about participating in discussions. Even if you don't like to talk in class, he also gives you a chance to save your participation grade by participating in discussions on ELMS. He's also very approachable and has office hours before each class. Exams are reasonable, and he even gave us the questions beforehand for the final to give us all a break. He is kind of a hard grader, but gives good feedback on how you can improve on your next paper. He does assign a lot of reading, but it's doable. Very cool professor. Plus he has an awesome sense of style. |