Richard La

This professor has taught: EDSP652, ENEE222, ENEE290, ENEE322, ENEE322H, ENEE324, ENEE460, ENEE469O, ENEE620, ENEE621, ENEE662, ENTS669F, MSML604
Information Review
Richard La
ENEE324

Anonymous
12/20/2023
This professor is what they call a “gatekeeper”. He takes simple concepts and explains them in over complicated ways. You’ll have to work hard to even survive in his class… Many like the idea that he’s curves heavy, but this doesn’t mean he makes things easier... I recommend avoiding this professor at all cost.
Richard La
ENEE290

Expecting an A
Anonymous
06/05/2023
This was the first semester of ENEE290 and it went pretty well. It covered basic Differential Equations while also going into Linear Algebra. I will say, La did a lot of derivations in his lectures, just to end up on a formula that you didn't really need the derivation for. La definitely cared about our grades and would always ask to see if we were understanding the material. MATLAB's weren't that hard and the TA was always helpful. Homeworks were fair and not too complicated. The two midterms were very fair and not too challenging. I will say the final had a lot to do and it was hard to get everything done in time, but the class was pre-curved and an 80% was an A. I don't know what future semesters of this class will be like, but he first semester went pretty well and I think it was a bit easier than the MATH246 alternative and we learned all the fundamentals that we needed to.
Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
02/02/2022
Professor La is by all means a nice person who knows the subject material quite well. With that said, he was inadequate at teaching the material in a manner that was conducive to learning. 90% of your grade relies on two midterms and a final, the latter of which is worth 40%. As others have stated, the tests are stressful and difficult. For the final exam, we were not provided any study material nor given any supportive direction on the types of questions to expect. In addition, our only review session was cancelled; leaving students substantially unprepared and stressed. I had dedicated a great deal of time to review as much material as possible since my other exam grades were not great, but without a proper focus I wound up doing poorly. Overall, I did not find Professor La’s conduct regarding an exam worth 40% of our grade to be appropriate; the structure of the class, grading methods, and lack of content-accessibility all contributed to an awful learning experience.
Richard La
ENEE322H

Anonymous
01/03/2022
Let me begin by saying 322 is likely the most difficult EE course, in my opinion. It's a tough class and requires a lot of computational knowledge. That being said, La didn't do a great job of making the material accessible. Lectures made sense and things clicked. However, exams and homework often seemed to be a lot more involved than the examples given in lectures. Very low exam averages (40s or so), but there is a large curve of the overall grade. I have no issue with his teaching style, but his assignments are stressful to do, especially under a time crunch. He also did leave the class in the dark toward the end of the course in regards to the final grade, final exam preparation, etc., which I don't think helps perceptions of him.
Richard La
ENEE222

Anonymous
12/26/2021
Not a very good lecturer. Gives students little in study resources, especially for the final, which is most of the grade. Stressful.
Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/24/2021
Instead of seeing how poorly his students do and changing his teaching style to better their education, he fails them and smiles.
Richard La
ENEE322

Anonymous
12/24/2021
The majority of his class will get Cs or lower, and there's a clear reason. Though 322 is one of the hardest EE courses, Richard La makes no attempt whatsoever to make the subject matter feasible. Wish I had never taken this professor, he caused the entire class unnecessary stress the entire semester, and the end of semester curve does in no way compensate for the terrible exams.
Richard La
MSML604

Expecting an A-
msml_nerd
05/21/2021
He had to handle a difficult topic for a class which was honestly not smart (including me). He tried his best, but it wasnt easy because of the online lectures. Class averages were pretty low throughout, but he curved generously in the end.
Richard La
ENEE322

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/17/2021
He is decent at lecturing and is definitely really good at the stuff that he teaches. His exam averages were pretty low (around 40) so they are kind of difficult, but nothing too bad.
Richard La
ENEE322H

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/07/2015
Dr. La is a pretty good professor. He teaches pretty well and sets a pretty large curve for the class, which he usually ends up lowering. The curve started at an 80% for an A, which was then lowered to a 75%. His tests can be hard, but from what I've heard of other 322 classes, all of the tests are hard. He tells you that he will only assign homework every other week with around 4 problems on them, but he has consistently been giving us homework every week with 6-8 problems on it, which are very time consuming. Also, for the first two midterms he gave us homeworks which covered material that was going to be on the test and set the due date to after the midterm, which meant we didn't have the solutions to study from. Overall I'd say Dr. La is a good backup to Papamarcou if you can't get him.