| Information | Review |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC456 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/17/2022 |
Dr. Katz is pretty good. He is world renowned in cybersecurity and he literally wrote the book (one of them at least). That being said while he does a good job explaining, he does move a bit fast and covers more material than many of the other professors. Whether that is a pro or a con is for you to decide. His exams are a bit on the tough side also. Much of our class did pretty poor on the midterm and final, although only about 1/4 of the class actually came to lecture, so maybe that factored into it as well. The only real gripe I have is that he comes off as a bit rude via email and piazaza. Though in person and in office hours he isn't like this. Overall I'd say Dr Katz is a solid choice if you're willing to put in the effort and study the material. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 12/24/2021 |
Overall a decent class. I'd actually give 3.5 stars out of 5 but I'd figure I round up if I have to decide between a 3 and a 4. Pros: - Great lectures - Comprehensive slides - Responsive on Piazza. Some people were saying that he's too blunt or rude, but I didn't really feel that way. I appreciate that his responses were to the point. - Helpful during office hours - Exams and homeworks were mostly fair - Useful content for technical interviews and fundamental CS understanding Cons: - Grading took way too long, particularly for the homeworks. However, the final was graded the same day, which is great on them. - Cutoffs could be more clear - Lecturing could be a bit slower so that people who are writing notes can copy points from the slides. This is likely because Katz covers more material than other professors. Katz may not be as good as Childs for this class, but he is miles better than Kruskal. My main suggestions for him are to try and enforce faster grading and to cover less material to let students have more time to grasp it. Other than that, you should be fine having him as your professor. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/23/2021 |
Katz is one of the best Professors at UMD. He is as good as one can get. It’s not only about understanding the concepts, but also thinking fast + critically. This is a skill to be built. After this class, I realized this, and it is probably the best realization in terms of academics I ever had, and something I neglected for so long - I need to learn to think critically + problem solve! Thanks to Katz I know now. Also, when he says anyone can get an A, he is 100% correct, it is all about experience and your ability to think critically (again, a skill that needs to be built from pushing yourself/practicing!). |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Anonymous 12/17/2021 |
The course materials are good and the assignments are very fair. However, I never knew what my grade was in the class since the homework assignments took forever to grade. Idk if it's the fault of the TAs or Katz, but it's an anxiety-inducing issue that Katz cares very little about. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Expecting a B Anonymous 12/19/2020 |
He has good lectures but this person genuinely does not care about any of his students. He does not want to spend any second on logistics and his replies to piazza posts are very irritating to say the least. I would not take him again. And grades? He says everybody should get an A and does not curve. Grading is not clear at all! We never know what the cutoffs were, we never knew what grades we had until we saw them on Testudo. A complete failure of a professor in my opinion. He also asked if us so many times not to email him. He even said he will not respond to any emails. He genuinely does not want to teach in my opinion. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/18/2020 |
I would not take him again because he seems to genuinely not care about any of his students. He has good and interesting lectures but it seems like he doesn't want to spend a second of his time outside of class for the class. Maybe this impression is unique to me but I felt like he didn't care about the students and didn't want to be bothered. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC451 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 12/18/2020 |
Textbook definition of a good professor. - Answers Piazza posts quickly - Lecture is clear, provides lots of examples - Handled the transition to COVID online learning very well - HW's were relevant - Exams were reflective of HW's and class material 10/10 would take again. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC456 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/26/2012 |
I give Dr. Katz a 4 out of 5 because, all things considered, he was a pretty good professor in a lot of ways. First of all, his lectures and the content of the course follow his textbook almost to the letter so you have something concrete that you can use to follow along with the course. That being said, I found the book to be a bit dry and ambiguous at certain points (especially the 3rd chapter) and it definitely took a lot of getting used to. Still, it's a pretty solid book (especially considering that it's the first proof based undergrad crypto textbook on the market) and Katz does a good job of following the content well. Another of Katz's strengths is that he's VERY open to taking questions and will elegantly field even the dumbest possible questions you could ever imagine. In all seriousness though, he's always willing to take questions and clarify points. Given that crypto is a pretty comprehensive and complex subject this is very important and very helpful. Now for (what I thought were) the not-so-good aspects of Katz's teaching style. For one thing, I personally found that the way he communicated just wasn't very easy to learn from. It wasn't just that the course was hard either -- I found that even when Katz lectured on stuff that I already knew that the message he was trying to get across was vague and difficult to wrap one's head around. It's hard to explain -- that's just how I felt about his teaching style. Also, I felt that his homeworks were a huge pain and didn't really help very much to get across the content of the course. Most of the questions were taken from the exercises in the book and they took FOREVER and were graded pretty (to be frank, VERY) harshly by the TA. Overall, I recommend Katz for CMSC/MATH 456. I personally don't think he's the best lecturer out there but I learned a ton in his class and I know for a fact that you're going to learn a LOT more from him than you are from Fitzgerald or the other math crypto professor. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC456 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/23/2012 |
Professor: Seems like a great guy. He does his lectures on a whiteboard and doesn't post any notes online. As a whole his lectures are good and worth going too. He likes answering questions and will schedule a meeting with you if you need extra help (and ask for it). Coursework: We only had homework, the midterm, and the final. The homework's are challenging, are graded hard, and are a big part of your grade. I would recommend trying to team up with another person in class to work on them or to stop by the TA's office hours (I did neither). The midterm and the final were medium difficulty. He doesn't give any practice tests to study, so study the book and the book problems...hard. Grades: He does some kinda of curve with the homework's, not sure what. The midterm and the final cut offs might be changed depending on how the class did overall. No extra work or credit will be given, so study hard for the midterm and the final. If you do badly on either, you have a good chance of failing the class. Bottom Line? Don't underestimate the homework's or the tests and you can do well in this class. My C grade was due to a poor midterm grade and some of my poor homework grades. This is a great senior class because of the low workload (homework's are spaced around with one to two weeks breaks in between, and you only have two tests). But don't take this class if your the type that does badly on tests. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC414 Expecting an A rockinbassman 06/22/2012 |
Prof. Katz is a pretty good CS teacher. He teaches on the board and does not just read off of a powerpoint. The midterm was moderately difficult, but the final was in-class, online, all multiple choice and was easy. Projects and homeworks were cool, but honestly there could have been more (assuming you actually liked the topics) Biggest issue with this class is that 50% of the people come in with not a clue about any of the topics and with no security background and the other 50% has experience and knows a bit already. This makes the class either too easy/boring OR too hard/too fast. Can't make everyone happy, but this gap can make the class less enjoyable. |
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Jonathan Katz
CMSC414 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/19/2009 |
He's on OK professor. I didn't really go to class because it was boring (not the prof's fault). But he put up the slides online. Exams are actually pretty easy but everyone does badly on them (trust me, I'm no genius). The projects/homeworks are awesome and entertaining (best part of the class). The course gives you a good overview of things, although a good 25% of the course seems common sense. |