Donald Perlis

This professor has taught: CMSC250, CMSC421, CMSC798, CMSC828D, CMSC828Y

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Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A+ Anonymous 04/10/2020	Lectures can be pretty boring/dry, but the content is gone over well both in lecture and discussion. There is more than enough practice for the exams from the discussion sections even though he does not provide practice exams. Exams are pretty straight-forwards.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/18/2019	Prof. Perlis was a great choice for CMSC250! Take his section if you can. The good: Lecture notes and discussion practice are thorough and updated frequently on ELMS - textbook not even required! Exams were fair in both difficulty and length, with averages around the department norm of 80. Of the homeworks (~2 per week), one easy ("A") and one hard ("B") version are dropped, and one midterm as well, if it benefits your final grade. Feedback is prompt, and Prof. Perlis is always willing to help you understand topics! The bad: Lectures can sometimes be a bit dry or repetitive - staying attentive can be difficult. "B" homeworks are quite a bit more challenging than the exams, and often require you to think outside the box to get full points. My advice: GO TO CLASS. Ask TAs for help in discussion! Start your homeworks (especially "B") homeworks early. Also, ignore the older reviews for this class - Prof. Perlis no longer assigns quizzes in discussion.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Anonymous 12/18/2019	This class made me enjoy mathematical reasoning. Perlis is not very strict on notation and is more concerned with the overall mathematical concepts, which is nice. I bought a textbook but never had to use it because his lecture notes are very detailed. His exams are almost entirely based off the homeworks, which makes studying for them easier. He's a nice guy too and gives a lot of info on what to expect on the exams.
Donald Perlis CMSC421 Expecting an A Anonymous 05/25/2019	I took this class in spring 2019 and learned a lot about AI. Perlis' lecture style was a bit hard to follow at first (slowly going through examples handwritten on the projector) but I always understood concepts by the end of class (more than I can say for other professors). Simple quizzes on Mondays to refresh on the material, two midterms were pretty standard (mix of short answer and multiple choice). We had 5 HW and 3 projects, all of which took me about average time to finish. I heard from classmates that they had trouble getting extra help in office hours, but I never had a problem. I liked how responsive Perlis was about posting notes/answers and responding on Piazza; I would recommend this class as a good mid-difficulty CS upper-level.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/11/2018	I couldn't really understand what he was saying in lectures because he goes on so many tangents. I attended Jason Filippou's lectures instead, and quickly understood concepts better. Barely scraped by with a B-, though because 250 was tough for me as I was new to that style of math. Tough class, but interesting and insightful. I learned a lot, but I would recommend taking Filippou instead if given the chance.
Donald Perlis CMSC421 Expecting an A Anonymous 03/30/2016	Perlis has a straight forward lecture style (notes available on course website). Unfortunately, his pace is extremely slow. What could be completed in 30min will take him an hour. This is partly because he is careful to explain all details, which does help with understanding. The homeworks are easy and very helpful for reviewing the material. We've only had one project so far (3/5 through the semester) and it took roughly 1 hour. Quizzes every week based solely on lecture material. Pretty easy if you pay attention in class. PLEASE NOTE: this is an INTRO class to AI. Most of the semester is spent building the fundamentals and not actually exploring AI techniques. It starts with blind searches, smart searches, propositional and first-order logic. These are not difficult topics, but they take up HALF the course.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/20/2012	Honestly, going to class is optional and so is reading the book. However, I hear the book is excellent in clearing up most of the topics covered. Also, find someone that has taken the class before because at some point they find out the textbook is available online... His exams are based on the homeworks and almost identical to the practice exams he puts online. I can't comment much on his teaching style because I never paid attention in class. But he posts notes up online if you need, I never used them. I never studied for this class. Understand the homeworks and you'll do well. I loved Perlis because the way he grades helps out everyone and does it in such a way that is beneficial for everyone. He has no need to curve but he might. I definitely recommend him. I will say that some of his classes are extremely boring and I learned nothing from them.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 02/15/2011	Easy class. Weekly quizzes and homeworks given, but mostly re-iterate simple topics. Grading in the class is set up to help immensely. Honestly, the material is not too difficult, so there isn't really much to say. Perlis' lectures are okay, but attending them is not actually necessary to understand the topics.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Kristian Sooklal 12/23/2010	Perlis is a great professor to take CMSC250 with. Coming into this semester, I read ourumd.com's reviews and I was pessimistic about this course because of the low reviews and comparatively low GPA that Perlis had, but after taking this class I can assure you that Perlis is fair, if not even easy to take. His tests are fairly easy with a major recurring focus on induction, and his homeworks are pretty fair as long as you pay attention to details. The quizzes are extremely easy and are just attendance points. The curve is significant and he dropped the lowest 2 homeworks and 2 quizzes. Combined with the curve, this allows you to pretty much have an 85% and get an A. I'd definitely take 351 or whatever other classes he teaches in the future, because I enjoyed this class, learning about new mathematical concepts, and getting the A at the end.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/28/2009	Perlis is a pretty good professor. He is extremely fair on every assignment, quiz, and exam in terms of what he asks and how he has the TA's grade it. He tries very hard to make the material interesting with his own little twists in how he presents the topics. However, the topics were fairly easy in general, especially if you come from a strong math background, so class can seem like a waste of time. Also, he mostly just presents stuff from the book, so you technically don't really need to go to class at all if you can just learn it from the book. Though this class, while being easy, will introduce you to some very interesting areas of math which I'm assuming will be covered in more detail in later classes. Overall, you've got a few very interesting topics, a pretty good professor who is at least very fair in grading, and not much hw (just one short assignment due each week), making this a decent class to take.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2009	Coming from MATH, I can say 250 is an unique course. It takes elements from different math categories that you have either seen (As a math major) or will see (as a CS major). Some overlaps include elementary number theory (seen it if you took MATH406), counting (seen it if you took STAT400), and logical equivalences (CE majors probably have already seen truth tables and logical curcuits. Although, I was very familiar this class is not a walk in the park. Hence the overall GPA of the course. If you want to get a 4-credit A or B, take this class with no one other than Perlis. He has two methods: Method one: 15% quizzes, 15% homework, 20% midterm 1, 20% midterm 2, 30% final Method two: 15% quizzes, 15% homework, 30% best of two midterms, 40% final Your grade is determined based on the highest of the two methods and the curve. This class with Perlis is really convenient, especially if you are taking 212 or 313. I suggest taking this with Perlis if you are taking them, or take 250 and 212 or 313 separately.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting a B Anonymous 05/26/2009	This professor consistently confuses himself to the point where he wants to bang his own head on the wall and waste 25 minutes of our 80 minutes lecture time. His examples in class are completely irrelevant to the stuff on the quizzes and the final. The homeworks are challenging but if you memorize the examples solved in the book you will do fine. Final verdict: Because Perlis is incompetent at understanding the material himself, he is not the best professor to take this course with. It's like paying good tuition for someone who doesn't even know what he's talking about. Pick another professor.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 01/12/2009	Perlis is an interesting guy, very frail. His lectures aren't difficult to follow, and his tests are ridiculously easy. I went to about 50% of lectures up until the first exam and got a 100 on it. I then did not attend one lecture for the rest of the semester, and still got a B+ on the final (left a lot blank, and did not review or study at all) and an A in the course. Sometimes he seems to get a little confused in class, but always answers any questions via email (which gets really annoying after a while, since he replies to the whole class). My recommendation is to attend all of the discussion sections, as this is where you will see what you really need to know.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting an A Anonymous 12/24/2008	Personally, I agree with some of the earlier complaints about Perlis confusing himself on some of his examples and problems, but he always corrects himself when he figures it out, by email if he can't in person. He also sends answers to any homework questions students ask him to the entire class listserv, which can be very helpful in figuring out the problems. The homeworks are hard, but considering that you have a week to do them and can ask questions about the assignments to the TAs (I personally had Peter Fontana, who I have to say made everything SO much easier) or Perlis in class or via email, they're not so bad. Quizzes are also hard, sometimes extremely so, but to compensate, he drops two of them at the end of the semester. He also drops two homeworks. As for exams, as long as you have a reasonable understanding of the material, they're quite easy. None of them are terribly long; a few large questions, a few short answers, a couple fill-in-the-blanks, and you're done. To make things even better, if you screw up terribly on one of the midterms, it gets dropped (though the other midterm and the final are made to count for more to compensate). All told, I found Perlis to be a very fair and nice teacher, which is a lot more than I can say for some others.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/23/2008	Dr. Perlis would post huge reviews online that were normally problems taken right out of the book and then changed a tiny bit... with a couple tricks. The range of grades in the class is very large. As any math major that is in the class will maintain an easy A, while pure CS students will struggle. The curve for our class was as follows: For each student grades were calculated as follows: Method 1: HWK 15%; QUIZZES 15%; TWO MIDTERMS 20% each; FINAL 30% Method 2: HWK 15%; QUIZZES 15%; MIDTERM (best of two) 30%; FINAL 40% The curve is as follows: A >= 85.6 B >= 76.0 C >= 58.5 D >= 47.7
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting a c Anonymous 12/21/2008	this guy is the worst lecturer ever. he is all over the place, and has terrible handwriting. he insists on using markers that are half out on the dry erase board. you can tell that he knows what he is doing somewhere in his crazy little head, but he just cannot translate it into something other people will understand. the course itself is also rather dumb. most of it is spent formally proving intuitive things. ex. on the final, he gave a hint that 1+1=2.... okay this is all good and fun, but when it is graded off because you stopped your proof when things got that intuitive, someone needs to get shot.
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Anonymous 12/18/2008	THE worst professor ive ever had. unorganized during class, VERY sloppy notes, quizzes are often not relevant to anything gone over in class. his explanations are terrible because he gets confused with his own problems a lot. halfway through a problem he will realize he made a mistake and go back through the entire problem. homeworks are mostly hard. in my opinion he might know what hes doing, hes just terrible at explaining it. also, he'll spend an entire lecture on the same topic doing the same 2 or 3 problems. a lot of the class is based on learning things from the book or online. BUT, there is a HUGE curve!!! A >= 85.6 B >= 76.0 C >= 58.5 D >= 47.7 it saved me from taking the class again!!!
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Anonymous 10/16/2008	terrible, terrible professor!! is very unorganized, gives examples that make no sense, quizzes cover stuff not covered in lecture
Donald Perlis CMSC250 Expecting a B Anonymous 02/28/2008	I've never seen a professor baffled by his own sample problem until I took this class. Literally, he would give us a practice problem over the listserv and then be unable to solve it the next day. He was disorganized and invariably gave an inaccurate description of his exam material. For example, his "cumulative final" had a small section at the beginning pertaining to early course work and the remainder of the exam was based solely in the material of the last two lectures. The average on that exam was... distressing.