Charles Fenster | PlanetTerp

Information	Review
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/25/2014	Unfortunately you have a choice between him and Machado. I took Machado in the spring and fell asleep in his lectures because he was monotone so I withdrew, and then fell even more asleep in Fenster's class in the fall. Fenster= sad pretentious egoist he does not care about his students, he would much rather go back to his research then be in a room with us for an hour every other day. I think he was going through a mid-life crisis at the time considering that he flipped out on us and told this one kid to get out of the class for coming in late. He is also rude and told this girl one time that funding her sport takes away from funding his research, and that he didnt expect her to get a good grade because she was a woman sports player... all together an awkward situation to be part of. If you want to learn an awesome subject, take animal behavior with wilkinson. If you want an easy A, take this course but dont go to lecture, its not worth it.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting an F Anonymous 09/23/2014	Worst professor ever. So boring that half the class is unable to stay awake and he gets mad when this happens. Definitely dislikes masturbation during his lectures, which I have never understood.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/19/2012	Sort of blown away by these reviews. Fenster is great. I had him for Evolution and he was a little boring, but the class was very easy. Follow his strange formatting guidelines for papers, sack up, and do the work. Gloss over the readings before exams and use the terms from the textbook as much as possible. Very straightforward if you put in even middling effort.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Anonymous 12/14/2012	I was expecting to get an A in the class since I got an A the tests, and 40% of the class gets As according to our UMD. But I got a C+ on the final. I was a couple points away from an A and he didn't bump it. He said he only gave out A's to 15 students which is less than 15% of the class. He is fairly nice but REALLY BORING. DON't take this if you want an easy A, because he has made it hard to get an A recently.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting a B Anonymous 01/14/2012	Fenster is, by far, the most boring professor I have ever had. He literally lectures in monotone. His powerpoints are derived COMPLETELY from the book. His explanations are actually worse than the book. I went home and read the chapters and everything made so much more sense. The dryness of the course material doesn't help Fenster's lectures. If you think this class is going to be a fun study of simple Darwinian principles, you're wrong. A majority of the course is mathematical formulas and analysis of specific experiments by evolutionary scientists. Avoid this course (and this professor) if you can!
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/17/2011	It is impossible to pay attention, because (1) he adds nothing to the content in the book, (2) He is the driest old jewish guy in the world. I went to 2 lectures and skimmed the chapters in the book, ended with an 85.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/04/2011	This man is amazing- he is quirky and bizarre. Sometimes he goes on tangents speaking about other doctors in the field but this is the best class i've ever taken. yes, he's monotone, but judging from the weird stuff that comes out of his mouth, i'm sure its because he's bored of us!
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Anonymous 12/15/2010	One of the most boring classes ever. The professor spoke in a very monotonous tone, and I could not get through a single lecture without falling asleep. Tests get progressively harder, especially the final, which was worth 40%. Class and lecture slides are completely worthless, gets material directly from text. NOT a recommended class to take.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/16/2009	Fenster speaks in a monotonic voice during lectures, and you will definitely fall asleep if you don't drink any energy drinks. You will learn mostly nothing from his lectures, and if you just read the book prior to all the exams you will get an A. He grades easy on all the essays and he gives extra credits.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 purplemonkey 12/10/2009	Was pretty engaging during lectures, grades fairly. Be sure to study all of the material for exams, including calculations. Exams are fair but do cover specifics as well as main points. Teaches directly from the book, and often the book is more clear. Still worth going to lectures.
Charles Fenster BSCI370 Expecting a C+ Anonymous 12/27/2008	The first test is easy, the others are somewhat difficult. He gives easy A's on essays and extra credit. Reading the book will give more information than lecture, he mostly teaches from the book.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/25/2014

Unfortunately you have a choice between him and Machado. I took Machado in the spring and fell asleep in his lectures because he was monotone so I withdrew, and then fell even more asleep in Fenster's class in the fall. Fenster= sad pretentious egoist he does not care about his students, he would much rather go back to his research then be in a room with us for an hour every other day. I think he was going through a mid-life crisis at the time considering that he flipped out on us and told this one kid to get out of the class for coming in late. He is also rude and told this girl one time that funding her sport takes away from funding his research, and that he didnt expect her to get a good grade because she was a woman sports player... all together an awkward situation to be part of. If you want to learn an awesome subject, take animal behavior with wilkinson. If you want an easy A, take this course but dont go to lecture, its not worth it.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting an F
Anonymous
09/23/2014

Worst professor ever. So boring that half the class is unable to stay awake and he gets mad when this happens. Definitely dislikes masturbation during his lectures, which I have never understood.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting an A+
Anonymous
12/19/2012

Sort of blown away by these reviews. Fenster is great. I had him for Evolution and he was a little boring, but the class was very easy. Follow his strange formatting guidelines for papers, sack up, and do the work. Gloss over the readings before exams and use the terms from the textbook as much as possible. Very straightforward if you put in even middling effort.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Anonymous
12/14/2012

I was expecting to get an A in the class since I got an A the tests, and 40% of the class gets As according to our UMD. But I got a C+ on the final. I was a couple points away from an A and he didn't bump it. He said he only gave out A's to 15 students which is less than 15% of the class. He is fairly nice but REALLY BORING. DON't take this if you want an easy A, because he has made it hard to get an A recently.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/14/2012

Fenster is, by far, the most boring professor I have ever had. He literally lectures in monotone. His powerpoints are derived COMPLETELY from the book. His explanations are actually worse than the book. I went home and read the chapters and everything made so much more sense. The dryness of the course material doesn't help Fenster's lectures. If you think this class is going to be a fun study of simple Darwinian principles, you're wrong. A majority of the course is mathematical formulas and analysis of specific experiments by evolutionary scientists. Avoid this course (and this professor) if you can!

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2011

It is impossible to pay attention, because (1) he adds nothing to the content in the book, (2) He is the driest old jewish guy in the world. I went to 2 lectures and skimmed the chapters in the book, ended with an 85.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting an A
Anonymous
02/04/2011

This man is amazing- he is quirky and bizarre. Sometimes he goes on tangents speaking about other doctors in the field but this is the best class i've ever taken. yes, he's monotone, but judging from the weird stuff that comes out of his mouth, i'm sure its because he's bored of us!

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Anonymous
12/15/2010

One of the most boring classes ever. The professor spoke in a very monotonous tone, and I could not get through a single lecture without falling asleep. Tests get progressively harder, especially the final, which was worth 40%. Class and lecture slides are completely worthless, gets material directly from text. NOT a recommended class to take.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/16/2009

Fenster speaks in a monotonic voice during lectures, and you will definitely fall asleep if you don't drink any energy drinks. You will learn mostly nothing from his lectures, and if you just read the book prior to all the exams you will get an A. He grades easy on all the essays and he gives extra credits.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

purplemonkey
12/10/2009

Was pretty engaging during lectures, grades fairly. Be sure to study all of the material for exams, including calculations. Exams are fair but do cover specifics as well as main points. Teaches directly from the book, and often the book is more clear. Still worth going to lectures.

Charles Fenster
BSCI370

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/27/2008

The first test is easy, the others are somewhat difficult. He gives easy A's on essays and extra credit. Reading the book will give more information than lecture, he mostly teaches from the book.