John Quah

This professor has taught: MATH120, MATH141

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John Quah MATH120 Expecting a B+ Anonymous 02/27/2022	Had this professor for Freshman Connection and I'll warn others to only choose him as a last resort. This class was not easy. Quah is a nice professor but his overall format to the class does not help students at all. He began the class by only assigning worksheets in class where you'd work in groups and only gave 5 minutes at the end of class to answer any questions. We had to ask him mid way through the semester to actually give us lessons on the material which he actually did and that helped. The homework's are very easy but don't rely on them to learn. The midterms are pretty tough but if you study the textbook heavily than you can manage to get an A as that's where most of his questions come from. Don't be shocked if the class avg. for the midterms are in the mid 60's that's just how it goes. Take advantage of the quizzes to boost your grades, at the end of the semester he ended up dropping the lowest midterm, 2 lowest quizzes and 4 lowest HW's. This saved my grade from a C+ to B+. Quah is nice guy and he does want his students to succeed. His class was tough and expect hours 2-3 hours of work a week at minimum. Just use the textbook and study for the midterms and you'll be fine.
John Quah MATH141 Anonymous 12/18/2021	He seems like a genuine professor, but his teaching style is very hard to follow. He talks in very technical terms and I found myself having to self-study this course because I could not understand what was being said in class.
John Quah MATH141 Expecting a C- Anonymous 12/16/2021	I think Quah definitely wants his class to like him and he seems generally nice. but is pretty awkward in teaching. He often goes on tangents about more complex math(which would be welcomed if there was more time in the year) which just confuses everyone. The exam averages are very low. The exam average started around 80 for the first exam, but slowly dropped. The next three exams had averages in the low to mid 60s after the curve. Most of the exams seems to pair up with the UMD test bank questions in style, however there are some questions that are more complicated than what was taught. For two of the exams, Quah mentioned how he made the exam the day before which was concerning. For one exam, he changed parts of three of the problems halfway through the allotted exam time. The quizzes are not too bad and are doable if you study. It seems like he assumes most students already covered a lot of this material in their Calculus I courses, which isn't true and thus he tends to move pretty fast. One thing that I did not like was how after the low (62%) exam score after the curve, instead of offering advice or giving more points, he instead gave us 'extra credit'. This was in the form of a quiz that he told us not to tell the absent students thus helping us more for the curve. This seemed a bit rude to me. The lectures are not very engaging and the general consensus from the rest of my class is that he is a poor teacher. I don't think anyone in the class has a 90 after asking around, most have averages in the 70s or low 80s even though a lot have already taken Calculus II at their high schools. I would not recommend this professor if you want a good Calculus II grade. Even if you are confident about your calculus II skills, I think other professors would be more engaging.
John Quah MATH120 Anonymous 12/09/2021	Horrible teacher. The exams are really not like his notes at all and his notes are just extremely confusing. He explains things in ways that are just way too complicated and so much longer than they need to be. He never directly answers a question and instead just makes me more confused. He doesn't really care if you understand the concepts and goes waaay to fast for me. A lot of my classmates feel the same way. People in my class tell me they took Calc 1 before but some had to even drop because this guy makes no sense. From just taking Pre Calc in high school to this was extremely difficult. Avoid at all costs
John Quah MATH141 Anonymous 09/02/2021	If possible, do not take him. Today was my second day with him, and I'm already kind of lost. He never really explains anything well, and if he does try to explain it won't make sense. It also doesn't seem like he takes the effort to teach anything, just talks and shows examples. The textbook he tells us to use barely makes sense, which doesn't help the fact that he can't teach. We also need to pay for WebAssign for homework, which forces you to write answers in a specific way for points. I took Calc BC and honestly didn't hate it (except for things like polar and taylor polynomials and whatnot), but unfortunately, I didn't get the credit for the class. I expected this class to be a review, but nothing he says makes sense, and his way of teaching feels so cold. His voice is so mundane and he hasn't smiled once. I hate being in that class, it's so unwelcoming and silent. I was like 3 min late for my first class (bc im a freshman) and he didn't even try to fill me in. I'll be happy if I can even pull a B from this class. I'll post again at the end of the semester.
John Quah MATH120 Expecting a C Anonymous 01/19/2021	Do not take a class with this professor. I took AP calc AB in hige school and expected this class to be easy. This class was very confusing and difficult. His lectures are very boring and he does not teach content, he just does some problems or goes off on tangents that make no sense. I often never payed attention to lectures because what he was saying did not apply to the homework or exams. I did very well in MyMathLab, homework was very easy and did not prepare you for his exams. His exams are extremely difficult!! He gives problems containing calculus he never taught us. He has a theory that the best, smartest students should get 65% on his tests because “the best” basketball players shoot 2/3 of their baskets. Do not take this class. It will fuck you over. I would give him zero stars
John Quah MATH120 Expecting a B- Anonymous 12/10/2020	He's a really really nice guy, but super confusing with his lectures. I had never taken calc before this class and he expected everyone in an elementary calc class to know what he was teaching before he taught it. His lectures often made you more confused and he did examples without even teaching the content. His exams are very different from the study guides and he doesn't curve anything. He put us in breakout rooms pretty often and no one ever knew what was going on. I ended up teaching myself the content through MyMathLab. Overall, would not recommend taking the class with this professor.
John Quah MATH120 Expecting an A- Anonymous 12/04/2020	He's a really nice guy, but an extremely confusing and BORING professor. I'd taken calc in high school and expected this class to be a review, but I found myself more confused than ever. He goes over things too fast and doesn't explain clearly at all. He can also be passive aggressive.
John Quah MATH120 Expecting a C Anonymous 12/03/2020	Professor Quah was terrible. I've talked to many people in my class and basically everyone had no idea what was going on. Any break out room I joined NO ONE had any clue what was going on. On the first exam the average was a 75 and the second exam's average was a 65 and he didn't curve either which led me to drop the class. It was insanely difficult to pay attention in his class. If you see John Quah on your schedule I advise you to drop that class IMMEDIATELY! Literally, take any other professor. He seems like a nice guy but a really bad professor.