Barbara Michelato

This professor has taught: MATH003, MATH013, MATH113
Information Review
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
Anonymous
03/31/2024
Please do not take this class. I have always been good at math and never have struggled. When I took her class, I made a mistake. She moves very fast through the lectures and doesn't explain anything. Many tests average around 50-60% and have no makeup or curves. Everyone in the class is falling right now, even those who are good at math.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
Anonymous
03/21/2024
The class average was 56%, and she blamed it on us and took no feedback. There is no extra credit, curving, or makeups. Even if your good at math, do not expect to pass
Barbara Michelato

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
03/07/2024
Our classes average for an exam was a 56% and she had the gall to lecture the class on how we just "need to study better," rather than take any of our tips on what would help us be more successful in the class. I am not sure what the point of her even sending out a survey after we all bombed the test was if she was just going to tell us we were not trying hard enough. She assigns around 7 assignments a week, a quiz a week, and you get an automatic 50% on your weekly worksheet assignment if you do even one step wrong per her interpretation, even if you get the right answer. She won't even tell you what you got wrong either. Meanwhile students have to correct her multiple times a lecture for messing up her equations. She also does not seem to enjoy having questions asked, calls out students for asking each other questions quietly in lecture (even though if you ask her half her time the answer is "you should know this already,") She seems to make this class intentionally difficult/hard to pass, and I'm not sure why any professor would rather their students fail rather than giving them a fair chance to succeed. She is the only professor for MA113 and MA115 so you cannot avoid her, and I sincerely wish UMD would reevaluate that decision.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
03/06/2024
Worst professor I have ever had. Moves way too fast in lectures and doesn't explain anything at all. The quizzes and homeworks are missleading as the exams are way harder and test scores reflect that. Average exam scores will be in the low 50s and she will not curve at all. UMD needs to fire her, not really sure how she got a job in the first place. She seems nice but doesn't know how to teach or care about her students at all. AVOID this class at all costs. TRUST ME.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
01/24/2024
If you can avoid to take this class with her, DO IT!!!! She really doesn’t know how to teach and there’s moments where she expects you to already know what to do. She goes fast paced and can even make mistakes as she goes. She does give a huge amount of homework on ALEKS and it’s just a stressful overall. The TA I had taught me more than the professor.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
Anonymous
01/01/2024
She's a good person, but is a bad professor. Her lectures are so pointless. She doesn't know how to explain things correctly, and her TA's are equally as terrible. I stopped wasting my time going to her lectures and began teaching myself instead with the ALEKS program you have to use for the course. Unfortunately, she's the only professor for MATH113, so luckily I got to drop her course in time and retook my math placement and tested into a higher math. If you're taking the course, I sincerely pray for you.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/23/2023
You all are dragging for sure, these reviews are so dramatic lol. I am not at all a math wiz and was genuinely terrified walking into this class after reading her reviews, but this class was easy to succeed in. Professor Michelato was kind and her accent was not difficult to understand in the slightest. I will say that even though lectures are not mandatory, you'll likely be lost if you miss one class because barely anything covered in lecture is posted on Canvas. Try to make a friend in that class in case you miss a day so that you're able to catch up. Her teaching style is not what I'm used to, and she occasionally makes small errors in her work, but as long as you're attentive and take good notes you'll be fine. It's truly up to you if you do well in the class or not. There is a lot of time-consuming homework on ALEKS, but it's doable, although they are graded on accuracy. There are detailed examples on each of the questions, and in total, you have nine chances to get a single problem right. The questions on there are harder than what you'll be tested on, but it's still really easy to get 100% as your homework grade. There were 11 quizzes containing the content we learned the week prior. Most of them were taken during discussion, and we typically reviewed the content right before taking it. The questions were very easy, and your three lowest quiz grades were dropped. There weren't any make-ups for the quizzes, so if you missed one, it'd be a zero. I'd say try to be at all discussions so you have more leniency to mess up on a quiz rather than miss it due to absence. As for her tests, Professor Michelato posts a hefty amount of material to review. There are 3 midterms and one final, which is cumulative. There are around 4 or so former tests per exam for you to practice with. All of them were helpful, but the more recent exams were way more similar to the actual exam as opposed to something that's from 2017. I'd say the best studying you could do for these exams is to continuously do the practice exams. Just don't wait until the night before to cram since the exams do cover a lot of content (4 double-sided pages.) I'm telling you all, you will be fine. Just put in time and effort and you can definitely make the grade!!
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/18/2023
Barb's class is an interesting one. Her format of teaching is not bad, however, most of the issues develop because of her grading scale. You have three midterms and a final. Each of the 3 midterms are 15%, making up 45% of your grade. The final is worth 25% of your grade as well. If you pass those, you will pass the class. There are 8 counted quizzes as well that will total 15% of your grade and for me were easy grades. If you pay attention and take good notes you should be fine. I am not the best test taker and because of my text anxiety screwed up my first midterm giving me a bad start, but its definitely possible to get an A or high B. She's getting a 3 because of her grading scale along with the fact that she can be careless at times. I had a student vomit during class, the fire alarm go off three different times, and tech issues frequently throughout the semester and she does whatever it takes to continue to teach class.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2023
NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK!!! I promise I will tell you everything you need to know to pass this class, coming from a freshman student that is awful at math and low-key cheated in math all through highschool. First couple weeks are a slap in the face. 1-3 aleks assignments given per class (I had class tuesday and thursday), quiz every discussion although you can miss three, lectures are NOT posted and instruction is on a chalk board. I really really hated the chalk board, do not come to class late or you will surely be lost. Aleks does a great job at concreting what you learn in class and is typically more helpful than how we learn things in class sometimes. Barbara does go very fast but it really isn't her fault she has so many units to cover. GO.TO.OFFICE.HOURS. I went every week and it helped so so much. No one really goes and I would almost get an hour to myself to go over the practice quizzes, aleks, etc. She does not give study guides, however she makes files with units you should cover, practice exams, and practice worksheets. I could have gotten As on all my exams but i just ended up making dumb mistakes which led to my B in the class. I was scared shitless reading these reviews but yall she is really not as bad as you think. You will be doing a lot of independant studying, make flashcards your friend and ask questions. You will survive!
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/16/2023
UMD needs to fire her. She's not even qualified to teach, just reads her answers off of a paper and makes mistakes FREQUENTLY.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
sch1ar
12/14/2023
I actually dropped her class when I was able to since personally, I felt like the class wasn't worth it in the long run. I decided I'd study on my own for the math placement test and I did better. MATH113 does not give you any credit so taking it is basically a waste of time. she does have an accent, and it's ok to understand, she can be a little condescending when answering questions and when teaching she does it as if someone's rushing her. she'd always say "easy, right?" which got annoying. Overall, everyone is different she's a good professor, very smart, but not for me
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/14/2023
Absolutely awful. I cannot even begin to explain to you how useless Michelato is at her job. She assigns outrageous amounts of homework on aleks and separate worksheets that are tedious and not helpful at all, she gives you a 5 question quiz every week that is the easiest thing in the world, but all that does is lure you into a false sense of security as the exams are very very difficult and are never curved. She will also make mistakes on her work that the students actually have to correct her on. She also ignores questions often and doesn't respond to any emails. I learned better from my TA in my weekly discussion that was 50 minutes long than I did from Michelato's twice a week lecture that lasts an hour and fifteen minutes. She goes way too fast and teaches off of a piece of paper. Retake the math placement test if you can because for me there was no other way to avoid her as she was the only one teaching this class this semester. Absolutely AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A
Anonymous
12/13/2023
Professor Michelato was really nice and helpful to my learning all semester. For every topic, she provided a ton of material to practice with. She does teach kind of fast, but if you ask questions or ask her to slow down a little, she will. All of her assignments and lectures are organized and easy to follow for the most part. Every exam is proceeded by a helpful review and many practice materials. You know exactly what will be on the tests, because she tells you. My only gripe is that for discussion quizzes, you are unable to make it up if you miss one, but she drops the worst 3. They are super easy fr and if you pay attention during discussion right before, then you will be fine. Be prepared for a heavy Italian accent, however she is very easy to understand. I have no idea how she has such bad reviews, but I knew I would like her since syllabus week.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/13/2023
Class was extremely fast paced, and work load was ridiculous for the level and content of the class. Little sympathy for failing students or those that are struggling. Poor communication with TA's. Little opportunity to raise your grade if you did poorly on a test (despite averages in the D range). Weekly quizzes are easy, but not a good reflection of the tests or other major grades. Just redo the placement exam or take the class at a community college.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/11/2023
Taking Professor Michelato was just a terrible decision I made. If you can take literally any other professor do it. Although her lectures are completely terrible to follow, her course process is just awful. I learned everything by teaching myself and through ALEKS assignments. During her lectures it lowkey feels like she thinks you already know the material and she just talks to herself. It gets extremely confusing at times. She does not record lectures or upload lecture notes. So if you missed lectured you're fukkd. If you're not good at math please do not take her and suffer. Theres a quiz every week, which aren't terrible but they do have an effect on your grade. IF YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO TAKE HER, go to office hours or get tutoring, I have only barely survived because all my friends are in like extremely advanced classes. SAVE YOURSELF AND DONT TAKE HER. SHE HAS ZERO MERCY FOR HER STDUDENTS. She literally has no curves, extra credit, retakes, or make ups. If i don't get a C+ in her final i have to re take the flipping class. SAVE YOURSELF.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/08/2023
While I do not think she deserves all the hate she gets, she isn't that great of a professor. She moves way too fast and doesn't review anything. I found myself needing to reteach myself the material a lot of the time. But she does a good job of preparing students for exams, such as providing old tests to review.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/07/2023
Seriously one of the most confusing professors ever. She continually makes mistakes on the board and its often a student that has to point it out for her. She offers little to no help for her students, the TAs basically are the teachers in the discussion sessions. I started to improve when I stopped showing up for class. Do not take if you don't want to teach yourself literally every single topic. I loved pre-calc in high school and she ruined it for me because of how confusing she made it. She doesn't curve exams, the homeworks take forever and sometimes there are like six due on the same day. If you have another option, take that. Seriously do not take this class everyone I know in it hates it also. She is a nice person but also sometimes calls students out for weird things in class, like a girl coughed once and she made a comment for literally no reason. Seriously can't stress this enough, don't take this class.
Barbara Michelato

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/05/2023
She does not explain things well at all. If you HAVE to take her class look up my chemistry tutor or professor leonard on youtube. I give her a one star for a few jokes she made. The TA's are terrible and no help (my TA she was nice but idk what she was explaining half of the time). She also says "Make sense" a lot when nothing make sense. Good luck if you have to take her!!! Btw towards the end I just gave up and stopped listening to her in class she just stated drawing circles and talking too fast my grade will prob be a C after this final but I am going to pray and manifest for a B.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
TerpyWerpy
12/04/2023
Damnnnn these reviews are low LMAO. I mean I think shes an okay teacher, I learn better here than HS. I like her TA Shuhan Kou, she's really good TA who made learning concepts easier. Sometimes there's a lot of homework on ALEKS. The midterms are alright. Everything is just decent. She does make mistakes which students correct like once every 2 classes and her accent really isn't that hard to understand. These past reviews are lowkey mad dramatic lol. Like she's really just an alright teacher, not super good but not super bad. You just gotta put in work to study and understand better but that's like all classes.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
12/03/2023
If I could give 0 stars I would. Just don't take her if you can. She doesn't explain things well, offers no mercy and make mistakes in class all the time.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/01/2023
nice but terrible class. Confusing lectures, and does ot help when you are struggling in class. Homework assignments take forever and do not help at all. Tests are never curved. Only ood thing is quizzes are easy, but you have a quiz EVERY week.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/01/2023
Avoid if you can. Nice lady but not a good teacher. Homework assignments are long and tedious. No curves on exams.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
11/30/2023
I took the equivalent to this class in high school, and all Michelato did was confuse me. I genuinely started doing better in the class when I stopped showing up. This may seem harsh but her teaching method is not good. She continually makes mistakes on problems, and only realizes when a student asks a question to clarify or question how she got an answer. Speaking of questions she does not answer them, she will intentionally avoid the multitude of hands raised each class and does not answer emails. Furthermore she seems to have a genuine disregard for the safety of the students, twice this semester the fire alarm has gone off, and once a student puked in the lecture hall, each time she kept lecturing and refused to allow us to leave. To finish this review off I will leave a direct quote from her in regards to her attendance policy, "I do not care if you get hit by a car on the way here, you must show up to class." Do not take this course from her, I would recommend re-taking the placement test.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A
Anonymous
11/29/2023
I was a transfer student coming into UMD and MATH113 is almost identical to the one I took at my other institution in the Spring semester. The comparison between my other professor and Michelato is insane. If I didn't already have an understanding of the coursework I think I'd struggle very hard in her class. I found myself going back to my notes from my previous professor because I think her explanations and ways of doing the problems are complicated and hard to understand so I went off on my own a lot. Lectures and course is extremely fast paced, heavy workload but I guess that's the same with any class at UMD. Overall, she was kind of nice and you could tell that she means well, but I would take this class with somebody else if algebra and trig is not a strong suit of yours.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Anonymous
11/15/2023
Try and stay away from her. She teaches very fast and her accent makes it kinda hard to understand. She literally teaches off a piece of paper and sometimes she makes mistakes and the students end up correcting her. She doesn't really care about your grade and if you don't have a good understanding of algebra coming into this class it's hard to do well. She teaches so fast to the point where she covers like 3 topics that are really confusing and you don't really know what's going on. If you can take the placement test again and try to get into 120 or take this class at a community college. She's not the worst teacher I've ever had but she's definitely not a teacher you want. Don't recommend
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an XF
Anonymous
11/07/2023
Absolute joke of a class. Way too much material is covered (2-3 topics per lecture) and the homework will take you forever. Both of the first two exams had low averages and weren't curved. You're much better skipping this class entirely and taking Calc 1 at a community college. Michelato doesn't care about the success of her students and you should NOT take this class.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
Anonymous
11/01/2023
You know what? I came into this class even while knowing all the negative reviews surrounding this professor with an open mind. I decided to not let the reviews decided wether I should or should not pay attention to them so I wanted to see for myself how this class actually is. 1. She teaches the topics as if someone is telling her there'll be no tommorow. after teaching, her saying is "Easy, right?!". I was doing halfway but I decided to drop it because it is easier to drop your grade then boost it and I would rather not have an XF. 2. Everyone understands math differently, even though I personally never felt like I sucked at math this class made me lose all my motivation. She gives no partial points which I think is stupid, no extra credit, and what's worst is she is the only professor who teaches this class. If you want to take her and prove everyone else wrong, Good luck! But i would save myself the headache this class gives ;):
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
Anonymous
10/06/2023
DO NOT TAKE HER. Not sure why UMD hasn't fired her yet. She will blame students for not doing well when she teaches by copying a piece of paper. I doubt she can even do the math. She makes so many mistakes even with the cheat sheet she uses. Students constantly have to correct her. Sometimes she will just write a problem and the answer on the board, not explain or show work, and say "Easy, right?" and move on without a care in the world.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
mnew
10/05/2023
Please do not take her. You will not pass this class. Unless you are already 100% sufficient in advanced algebra, you will fall behind. She makes mistakes in lectures that students have to correct even though she is reading straight from a paper that tells her all the answers. Sometimes she will go over 3-4 topics in the 75-minute class period and she will never review anything. If you ask a question in class, she will not assist you or will simply just repeat herself. Sometimes she will just write an answer on the board, not show any work, and expect students to know how she got there. She includes untaught topics on the quizzes and tests. She is unhelpful outside of class and does not communicate with TAs. Methods taught in lecture vs discussion are completely different due to lack of communication. Please take another professor
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
pierogi
09/25/2023
I’ve had bad teachers, I’ve had good teachers, but I’ve never had one that struck a nerve quite like Barbara Michelato. The woman is extremely condescending, and ridicules students for not knowing the material. She moves through topics far too quickly, sometimes covering 2 or 3 in the 75 minute lecture. She then expects students to spend EXTENSIVE time reviewing concepts independently. It is entirely lost on her that this class leads to MATH120, which by its very nature is a calculus class for people who will never use calculus in their professional or academic lives. There are 3 midterms and a cumulative final that make up a total of 60% of your grade. There are multiple sections due on ALEKS every week (more than my 300-level classes). Personally I plan to attempt the CLEP calculus test before the semester is over and just withdraw from the class. I highly recommend anyone who gets placed in to this class to retake the MPT and get into MATH120 instead of dealing with this nonsense.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
Anonymous
09/06/2023
Not a great teacher, genuinely did not help or care if one was struggling; do yourself a service and take 120 or take this class at a community college
Barbara Michelato
MATH013

Expecting a D-
Anonymous
09/06/2023
The worst, read the rest of the reviews.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
09/06/2023
Please, please, no like PLEASE do not take this professor. Giving her a zero wasn't possible, so i gave her a one. I was never great at math but in high school took honors and could always study my way to an A. This professor literally singlehandedly made me hate my semester. No, i'm not great at math. But, I did put in an honest effort, went to office hours every week, and took notes and participated during class. She is quite literally incapable of teaching and should be fired. I had a study group of about ten people and besides one girl we all never got over an 80 even after spending countless hours studying, and the girl that got an a took this class at a community college and UMD wouldn't accept her credits. So the only person I personally know who was able to get over an 80 had already taken this class and still struggled. Her assignments are all over the place, she doesn't coordinate with TA's, she makes mistakes during lectures and refuses to go over her mistake, and half the time she just writes answers on the board without explaining how one should/could get there. She doesn't allow for makeups even with a doctor's note, etc. She literally said on the first day of class "if you get in a car accident don't complain to me, you have a week to do each assignment." She sucks, no other way to say it. Like I simply could not say enough bad about this professor. I swear on my life, I had a 3.9 before this class and had all A's in all of my other classes. I really did try. Read all the other reviews and decide if you want to struggle for an entire semester. Please take this seriously, she's awful.****IF IT IS STILL THE ADD/DROP PERIOD GET OUT OF THIS CLASS!!!!!!! I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH****
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a W
Anonymous
05/22/2023
To the person that gave her a 5, I would like to say her teaching style might work for you but it does not work for most students. Over 70 people dropped by the 12-week mark. She once blamed the classes and belittled everyone for having an average of 42 on the first midterm. People stopped attending her class after she made such comments and just thought it would be better to teach themselves the concepts. She did not help motivate her students but instead brought them down. Please don't take her class, I wish someone could have warned me about how bad she was. To the people who are taking her, I wish you luck and hope you are able to get through it. You will waste your money if you take her. If you want to know a different course of action, either take the class at community college or retake the math placement exam and place higher. If you fail this class and worry abt your GPA, you can ask for freshman forgiveness, anyone under 25 completed credits can ask for this, but you do have to retake the class to get rid of the fail, and if you do that, you can retake it during the summer at umd online, the professor is different and way better. You are also able to take the math placement as many times as you want, that's the route that I took, and now I'm taking Math120, the class that I actually need. Good luck people!!!
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/18/2023
Where do I even begin? Michelato covers way too much content for a normal person to digest in lectures and if you ever zone out for more than 30 seconds you will be totally lost. The averages for the exams have all been well below failing. After the first exam, the average was ridiculously below failing and someone asked her if there would be any curve and her response was "Well, one person was able to get a 100% so there will be no curve," meanwhile the average was around half of that. I was only able to pass this class due to hours and hours of studying on the nights before the exams. This is the most I've worked for a class for a poor grade... Do not take this class at UMD if Michelato is teaching, I would strongly suggest taking it at a community college.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/17/2023
The three stars I am giving her are for the experiences I had when I went to her office hours for questions. She is pretty nice and can explain things in a one on one setting. Other than that, this class is a hot mess. I am not the best at math but certainly did not expect to get a C in college algebra. I didn't realize how much could improved in this course and professor until I took my math 120 course and got an A. For one, she makes mistakes while doing the problems, which often aren't legible because she does everything on the chalk board. Second, I HATE the twice a week lecture style. My class was roughly an hour and a half, and we'd usually cover three units per lecture. It was impossible to learn and the homework wasn't great at reinforcing. Her files section of canvas, while it did provide a lot of practice, was also disorganized. She would upload exam review materials and practice like a week in advance. She was just overall disorganized. The math113 here in general sucks and it is way too much trig. I recommend retaking the placement test and getting into math 120 if you are business major like me.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A-
Anonymous
05/17/2023
As someone who has struggled in math my whole life, this class was relatively easy to follow and was just as demanding as any college course. Since it is the math course that proceeds many major requirements for math (like math120 and 140), the course basically has to prepare you for the demands of higher-level math courses. To succeed in the course, go to lectures, take notes, and do a bunch of practice exams to prepare for the tests. The homework is seriously not bad if you go to the lecture because you can use your notes for the assignments. I don't understand how people "taught themselves" the class because if I didn't go to lecture I'd be failing also. Personally, I felt that Professor Michelato's teaching style is completely appropriate to what is expected from a course like this, and I genuinely believe that the awful reviews reflect the individual problems of the students. After week three of the semester, only about 40 people out of 200 students attended lectures, and the professor does not post or record her lectures so going is CRUCIAL. If you do not go, you will fall behind. Additionally, if you approach the course with a victim mindset claiming the professor is out to get you instead of putting in the work necessary, you will fall behind also. Many of these negative reviews come from students who were complaining about the professor not curving the exams. For a course that is meant to catch us up to everyone else, it might be best to reconsider your major choice if you are failing a 100-level math class. Professor Michelato was met with incredible amounts of disrespect and judgment throughout the semester, yet still was patient during lectures when people interrupted to ask questions. For a college professor, she is incredibly easygoing and empathetic, and I genuinely admire her patience with the students attending her class. For the first time in a VERY long time, I'm expecting an A in a math course, and this is thanks to her teaching style. Please, please, please don't take the negative reviews as the general attitude of the class.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B+
Anonymous
05/13/2023
Honestly, people are pretty dramatic. I’ve never considered myself great at math, but I feel this class is manageable. From the start, people have complained about this professor/class, so people go into it with a bad attitude, ultimately finding every excuse as to why they didn’t pass. I’ve managed to get B’s on all exams. I barely show up to class because the homework’s are really helpful. There’s a lot of them, but they’re due all on one day so you have the whole week to do them. Michelato posts past exams and worksheets in organized folders for each exam. There really isn’t an excuse to fail the exams unless you’re just not applying yourself. Study, do the practice problems, watch YouTube videos and you’ll be fine. Lots of this class is just basic concepts that I learned in middle school that build off of eachother. Just don’t be dramatic and actually pay attention and you’ll be fine
Barbara Michelato
MATH013

Expecting a B
Anonymous
05/09/2023
uh okay this one may be a controversial take but this class was not that bad? The workload was about as much as you would expect for an introductory college math course. We had on average 4-7 ALEKS homework assignments a week. Each assignment could range from 5-20 questions and we had a week to do them all. Every question would give you an example of a similar question being solved step by step, and you wouldn't get points off from the original question if you looked at the example. I honestly usually did them all at once and it took me a total of like 2 ish hours. I will say I gave her 4 stars and not 5 because the lectures were confusing a lot of the time-- she made a few mistakes and went pretty quickly, but she would leave her work up on the board for a long time so we could copy it down. But I gave her 4 stars because she really did want you to succeed. She drops your four lowest quiz grades and gives you a lottt of material to work with before tests. I'm also disabled with ADHD and am not a math prodigy to clear things up on that end. She was so accommodating for me, and I never had to be afraid to ask for an extension or anything. I went in once to make up a quiz and she said that I had the option since I was there to make up all of the quizzes I missed since I had migraines and I agreed. I did okay on some and bad on others, but after she finished grading each of them (each was 5 questions) she would come back over and explain to me what I did wrong and made sure that I understood it. She has a bit of an accent, I was able to understand everything she said like 95% of the time, it really wasn't that bad in my opinion. Discussions really depended on your TA. I liked mine but it really does depend on how they do things. The worksheets she gave (I think there was about one worksheet every two weeks) did go in as a zero if you got one wrong, but that was because she literally gave you the answer key. I never really liked the policy but I understood where she was coming from. Basically if you have her, you will have to do some outside work to understand the material fully, but she gives you plenty of outside material to work through and the ALEKS examples had my back every time. She also holds office hours and responds quickly to emails. Also if you're disabled, she's really nice and good about accommodating you. I'm expecting to finish with a B in the class, which I'm pretty happy with. Figured it'd be good to give another perspective. If you are good at self studying and using extra resources you should be fine, but that's just from my own experience.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/09/2023
IF I COULD DO A ZERO, I WOULD. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS- MICHEALTO WANTS YOU TO FAIL. When the average has been below a 60 for ALL Students, she says it is "our" fault, and that she designed the test easily. She sets you up to fail and does not care if you are not doing well.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a D-
Anonymous
05/09/2023
I have never in my life failed a course. I put in over 15 hours of studying every week but exam scores are worth 70% of our grade. I am a bad test taker and I feel like I had minimal opportunity to improve after a bad test score. Content discussed in classes were very fast paced and I would get ignored while raising my hand for a question. The study guides did not reflect all the content learned over the sections so during the exam information that we spent 1 day on would pop up and you will have forgotten about it while trying to learn the newest content. When confronted about this, she says that we "should know it". If you take this course, please utilize the tutoring in the math department. Office hours are not helpful. The TAs (In my experience: Duc) do not communicate with the professors and are completely unaware of what content we are learning and how we were taught it during class. I have put more effort into this class than any class (including sciences) I've ever taken and am failing horribly. Failing this class sets me back a semester at school which is hard because it is the only class left for my major prerequisites. Please choose another professor if you can or take this class at a community college.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
05/09/2023
Easily the worst professor I have ever had. Horrible teacher and the amount of work is borderline ridiculous, not to mention you have a quiz every single week. Do yourself a favor and do not take Michelato under any circumstance.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A
Anonymous
05/08/2023
It's really on you if you're going to do well or not. She gives you all the materials you need to get an A in this class. Lectures are so fast paced and if you don't show up to every single one and pay attention start to finish, you will get lost. ALEKS homework is an absolute must - it was almost always harder than the exams and prepared me better than my notes. Quizzes every week - you can and will get a 100% if you simply do the 10 question practice quizzes. Exams are MUCH HARDER than the quizzes - be prepared. She treats you like adults in this class and you are expected to be 100% fluent in all math leading up to this class. She was kind and always allowed questions and offered help. But you will need to do your part - study hard and do the homework in order to do well.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C-
Anonymous
05/04/2023
Horrible teacher. Terrible lecturer, difficult to understand. WS/Quiz nothing similar to any of the tests. I tend to be someone pretty good at math but did not succeed in this course. Expects you to know everything when she is a horrible teacher. Avoid at all costs.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
05/02/2023
This is a nightmare professor every bad trope of a professor you could think of she fulfills her class is extremely difficult and she does not properly prepare you for exams and quizzes. This is on top of copious amounts of homework. For your sake if possible do not take her if possible. If I could give 0/5 I would.
Barbara Michelato

Expecting a C
Anonymous
04/27/2023
As someone who has never failed a class and is able to catch on pretty easily to any math course, this was by far one of the largest fails of my life. The professor runs through lectures, and the TAs expect you to already know everything that is being taught-pretty much like this entire course is just review. The exams are nothing like the practice questions she gives you, and there are even some questions that were never reviewed in class. Aleks is required for this course and up until I dropped the course I was entirely self-taught. Nothing she says during lecture ever connects to the content being taught, and there is a quiz during every discussion on the content learned the previous day. If this is a requirement for anyone listen to the advice of other reviewers and take it at literally any other school that offers it. If I could rate this professor s 0/5 I would.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
Anonymous
03/30/2023
for your own sake don't take her, even if she is the only option, just take it at a community college, I've cried 3 times over this class and it is not worth it, I going to drop it for my own sake and just take freshman forgiveness if I could I would give a 0/5
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an F
Anonymous
02/07/2023
goated professor
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a D+
Anonymous
01/31/2023
You've seen the other comments, what else is there to say.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting an A
Anonymous
01/23/2023
Professor Michelato is a very sweet person but was not great at teaching this class. First off she is very hard to understand, and also does a terrible job of understanding others. She would blatantly ignore people who were raising their hands to ask questions, and when she did respond to a question it took her way too long to understand what they were asking. She also made so many mistakes most of which we caught her for. I was fortunate enough to come from a very strong math background in high school so I found this class pretty easy, but I saw how other really struggled and I was able to help. Each week we had at least 1 quiz, textbook work, and sometimes a worksheet. The homework was relatively easy but sometimes there was content that she didn't teach us and most of the time it never appeared on any of the quizzes so the 2 hours I spent doing one section of graph transformations, for example, was useless. The worksheets were genuinely helpful, however, she only put one topic on the worksheet which was pointless because usually, that was the easier one of the week. She also has an extremely ridiculous grading policy. If you get a singular question wrong, don't show your work, or don't make an answer obvious you get a 50 or a 0 in some cases. Her quizzes were super easy and usually way better than expected besides the way they were graded (no partial credit for anything) All the exams were pretty easy, but the grading was very harsh and inconsistent between TAs. My TA was very hard to understand and had no concept of how the professor taught things. They both taught very quickly which didn't bother me since I understood everything but for other people could be really hard. She also didn't help me at all when I was home with covid. She told me to look at the textbook in which the wrong page numbers were listed so I was so confused about the HW and she still refused to help me. My advice to anyone taking this class would be to do all the extra worksheets she puts in the folders, those legitimately helped me a ton in addition to forming study groups.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
01/18/2023
I've had a lot of poor math teachers in my life, but Michelato was 100% THE WORST. She was rude and condescending to students who asked questions during lecture and rarely actually provided a beneficial response. Quizzes were supposed to be during weekly discussion, however certain weeks she would decide to hold them during the last 10 minutes of lecture (lectures were useless too). She never opened the tests with enough time to let us finish them and not be late for our next class. Midterm and final exam grades were 60's to low 70's and NO CURVE! I did 10 old practice exams and still didn't do well. Awful professor, awful woman, and awful class. Avoid at all costs if you care about your grades or your sanity.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
01/07/2023
I would not take this class. It got to a point where she would either make mistakes on accident or purpose to see if we would notice. She doesn't understand students questions and therefore can't answer them. For example, one student asked if the professor could rewrite the answer since they couldn't read it clearly and Michelato didn't understand. There were a total of 68 homework and worksheet assignments which the homework's took very long and weren't useful for the quizzes or tests. They also wouldn't help your grade. Quizzes every week which weren't bad, 5 questions with no partial credit but she did end up dropping the 4 lowest ones and gave weekly practice quizzes. 3 tests which were hard, averages were in the 60's despite given old exams. I tried going to the professor's office hours, wasn't very helpful but luckily I had a very good TA. I did hours and hours of homework and studying to struggle maintaining a B-.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/27/2022
Ngl if i studied much better for my third midterm i couldve gotten an A.... but thats beside the point!!!!! she's a sweet lady, but a terrible teacher. i basically taught myself the entire semester. she is also kinda evil tho since she gave an in person quiz (with a password) the day before thankgiving break.... like everyone had to go home. anyways, study for everything! you can pass, but with some extra effort (booo).
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/19/2022
This class is not impossible for you to get an A in but it sure is difficult. Most of the people around me studied and attended every lecture and still got a B in the class. My advice if you do have her is to do practice problems every day until you can do any variation of what she will throw at you on the exam. Not the worst teacher but you definitely have to have good background knowledge to succeed. I have A's in all of my other classes but barely passed this one. She is a good person but not the best teacher.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/17/2022
If you are not familiar with the course material then do NOT take this class with Michelato; the homework assignments take a terribly long time and do not anything for your grade. The quizzes that are every week don't have any partial credit - so if you get 90 percent of the question right but mess something up you are getting docked 20 percent. Michelato as a teacher is terrible at explaining concepts and ends up making a lot of things more complicated than they have to be.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/17/2022
I don't even know where to start with this class. I came from Calc A AP in high school and placing into this (because I hated algebra) and this was the hardest math course I have taken. Barbara Michelato is a really nice person, but just the worst teacher. Rushes through material, hardly explains; half the class I was just trying to figure out what she was writing on the board and doing. Your final grade is practically determined by 4 tests, the 3 midterm exams being 45 percent of your grade and the final being 25 percent. Not only are they lengthy and confusing with the material, but there are no curves. Not. A. Single. Curve. The test averages were 63 or below and she did not curve anything or give any extra credit. The class is absurd and I have never heard of a math class not having a curve in all my years. Just stay away from this class, its not like the material is hard but the way it is taught just confuses the whole class.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Anonymous
12/15/2022
I recommend taking this class at community college. If you did not already take this class in HS it will be difficult to pass. Barbara Michelato is not a good professor, in fact she is quite bad. Midterm exams are way harder than the weekly quizzes. It was an awful experience in this class, youtube videos explain the math concepts better than she did. Also, there is a midterm like a little less than 2 weeks before the final exam so you have to cram study A LOT. I wish I could give 0/5 stars. Good luck if you need this class.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B
Anonymous
12/12/2022
The only way you will pass this class is if you have already learned the material in high school. Barbara Michelato is an awful teacher. She is probably the least accommodating professor I have ever had. She refuses to curve grades or give extra credit. Your final grade is determined by the weekly quizzes, 3 midterm exams, and the final exam (all of which you have no opportunity to get points back for). Her exams are literally designed to make you fail, no matter how much you study the homework or her lectures there is no way you can expect what types of problems will be on the exams. The material isn't even that hard but the way she teaches it makes even more confused then when you started. She is rude and makes it hard to build any sort of connection with her.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Anonymous
12/07/2022
Do not take this class if you do not have to.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Anonymous
12/07/2022
A decent woman, horrible teacher. Do not take this class with her. She has a terrible grading system. If you get any part of the problem wrong, you get no credit at all. For example, if you solve and show all of the steps correctly but fail to specify the exact term you are solving for (even if it is SO obvious), expect a zero on the entire assignment. If you get a 44/45, your grade is a zero. There are quizzes every week in discussion which you must put lots of time into preparing for. She assigns hours of online homework as well. The midterms are designed to make students fail and do not reflect class work at all. Everything is taught on a black board which is illegible because she scribbles all over it without giving context. It does not help that she has a very thick accent and does not understand questions either. She refuses to curve grades. 0/5. I have watched people cry in this class, it should never be this hard.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a B-
Anonymous
12/07/2022
Barbara is a nightmare come true. I cannot urge you enough if you can, please avoid having her as your professor. I will be honest, the only way to get a passing grade in this class is if you dedicate extensive amounts of time to this course alone. That is quite impossible since we have other classes in conjunction with hers. There are weekly quizzes, and there were about 12 quizzes this semester. The quizzes are relatively straightforward and not comparable to the midterm content. She does provide practice quizzes weekly to "prepare" for the quizzes, so if you do those and get used to the procedures, the quizzes are OK. The quizzes are all or none, and no partial credit is offered. There are three exams during the semester, and they make up 45% of your total grade, which is absolutely absurd within itself. Conversely, the midterm content is entirely different from the quiz material, and she deliberately makes it way harder. I have had friends that have bombed one midterm, and they are stuck, stressing, trying to climb themselves back up to a passing grade. In lectures, she goes way too quickly and does not slow down, even when she is asked to by other students. There is weekly homework on a platform called Aleks, and it takes me hours at a time weekly to complete just one assignment, and there are multiple at one time, often more than 4. Btw, the final is CUMULATIVE... If you do need to take this class and want to pass, invest your time in math tutoring multiple times throughout the week, make friends and watch YouTube videos when you do not understand.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/07/2022
Don't take this class. Good person, but a bad teacher. I ace all my other classes but struggle to maintain a passing grade in this one.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C+
Anonymous
12/07/2022
She is a decent person, but a terrible teacher. If you have the option, avoid having her as a professor. I can not stress it enough. I am normally a straight-A student, even in math. But right now I am barely maintaining a B-. Even when dedicating a lot of time to this class, bombing one of her tests is still very likely. If I could rate this class a 0/5 I would.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Expecting a C
Anonymous
12/06/2022
I'm not particularly good at math, but her class is extremely hard to follow. She stands in front of her writing and her lectures go very fast. She has quizzes every week which are 5 points and there are about 14 of them. There are three midterms and one final. The last midterm was only a week before the final giving you no time to study for the final exam. The homework is an online workbook that takes a good amount of your time and does not raise your grade at all. I have an 83% currently but I am not confident that it will maintain.
Barbara Michelato
MATH113

Anonymous
12/06/2021
Amazing person, awful teacher. She has a very thick accent which makes her difficult to understand sometimes and she didn't always understand student's questions. It's very clear she only understands how to teach the math one way so when students didn't understand that way, they were on their own. This course has 3 major exams, each worth 15% of the final grade and they weren't covered. There are also about 10 quizzes throughout the entire course, which you HAVE to study for otherwise you won't do well. Also, the content of the quizzes was often much harder than what we learned in class. During the last week of classes before finals, we had a quiz one day and the last huge exam the day after, which was also 6 days before the final. Grades aren't done yet but I'm not confident.