James Gimzewski
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
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2.5
Overall Rating
Based on 15 Users
Easiness 1.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 1.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 1.3 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 2.2 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

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Reviews (9)

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June 18, 2012

Gimzewski can't teach period. He uses ppw slides, and expects you to absorb everything he says. I fell asleep almost every lecture and then just stopped going. If you take this class, be prepared to teach yourself the book. Also, i recommend attending extra discussion sections because the TA's are actually able to teach the material, especially when it gets more complicated toward the second half of the course. TA OH are also helpful, his suck. His midterms are 20 question multiple choice which sucks because some lucky guessing can really mess up the distribution making it hard for the people who actually study to really show what they know. The final is 60 mulitple choice and not too bad. I got average on the first midterm, then top 10% on second midterm, and got an A- in the class. I'm happy with it. I took AP Chem btw, and it really only helps for the first midterm, and not really after that.

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Feb. 18, 2012

He's basically the epitome of the nutty professor. He doesn't do a good job at explaining concepts and its obvious teaching really isn't his first priority. This man is a giant in his field and if you ask him about STMs during office hours I'm sure he'll come to like you. On the other hand, all the midterms and finals were multiple choice so it wasn't very hard to get a good grade.

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Dec. 20, 2011

I didn't attend many lectures because his powerpoints were pretty much directly from the book. You're probably better off reading the book if you plan on learning something. I suppose he's a decent professor but I didn't go to many lectures to know anyway. The midterms were fair and his final was ridiculously hard. I walked out wanting to cry. But I ended up with an A- in the class so I suppose the curve was pretty high. If you had to choose between Gimzewski and Baugh, take Gimzewski!

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Feb. 15, 2012

Better than Baugh or Neuhauser. Midterms and finals are multiple choice, while the quizzes are free response. He's okay.

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Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 17, 2011

Okay, first of all, let me just tell you that he is a great professor. Go ahead and read all the other reviews, but in my opinion, he is nice and cares about his students. There were people who took Baugh after comparing the reviews on Bruinwalk, but I saw so many people crying after taking Baugh. Their test were all free response, while our midterms were two multiple choice tests around 20 questions each. The final was around 60 problems multiple choice, but for a 3 hour period, that was more than enough time.

The problem with Gimzewski is that he only teaches first year chemistry once every two years or so (or at least that was what he said), so think of it as a privilege to be taught by this professor if you ever get the chance to enroll in his class.

If you think you aren't learning much in lecture, which I sometimes experienced, by all means go to his office hours and he will be more than happy to answer questions or go into further detail about the subject. While some professors may cancel their lectures if they are not on campus, Gimzewski is different. While he was working in a lab in Japan, he created a video lecture so that his students would not fall behind in lecture materials. I do not know a professor that was this dedicated to teaching his students, and although people may think differently of him, I truly applaud this professor for his knowledge of the subject and kindness towards his students.

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Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Nov. 25, 2011

First off, I didn't learn anything in this class at all and I'm really disappointed because I'm a Chem Engineering and I love chemistry. He copies and pastes everything from the book into the powerpoint...and then read it off the slides. So you seriously are better off reading the book. But if you are looking for an easy class, you have it.
There are two midterms which are based on knowledge from AP Chemistry and physics so if you have a really strong background on those. You will do fine. However, BEWARE: there are only twenty questions on his midterms (which means 1 point = 5 percent of your grade) so stupid mistakes can doom you.
There are three quizzes which count for 10 percent of your grade and those are actually harder than the midterms.
His Lecture is really boring and everyone around me always fall asleep. I personally think he's one of those genius mad scientist who can't explain simple stuff because he's always thinking about higher level chemistry.
He's funny and my friends who went to his office hours say he is really nice but he can't teach so I have to give him a bad grade for teaching.
All in all, my advice to you?
- Review your highschool chemistry notes or if you don't have those, form group study with friends who know their chemistry well and review basic principle with them
- Bring your book to the lecture AND your ipod to prevent you from falling asleep. You can save a lot of time reading the book using that 50 min lectures.

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0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 29, 2011

Okay, I actually took Honors174, a nanotechnology seminar with professor Gimzewski. I can see why he is not a very good teacher because he mumbles and he is not very organized. I don't think he even read all of our assigned blogs.
But he is really passionate about nanotechnology. He worked in the IBM nano-department for goodness' sake. And best of all, you don't get tested on the things he talks about. The whole course is just sitting there for 3 hours (once a week) and writing a 1000 word blog almost every week.
There're also two presentations that were really chill and a final paper, which sounds like a lot (12-15 pages) but it's nothing serious.
This class is a 5-unit, upper-division honors seminar. And the best part is that you get a guaranteed A. Well, I got an A-, but that's because I didn't really put as much effort into my final paper. Take this class!!!!

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Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
May 4, 2008

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Be prepared to teach yourself. Goodluck! The tests weren't too bad but they did contained several errors. Just memorize the millions of formulas and concepts and you should be ok. Final grade:B-

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 5, 2006

Professor Gimzewiski is such a strange teacher. He frequently mubbles stuff that makes no sense at all and is constantly asking the TA to make sure he is doing a problem correctly. His course is really math heavy in the begining and can be best described as physics. His teaching isn't effective since he is often confused about the material hiself. If you take his class you will pretty much have no idea what your grade is untill the end since your total grade is set on a curve. If you must take his class my advise to you is to READ THE BOOK! you will understand the material much better this way, also encourage people who are doing badly to stay in the class, trust me its them or you.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 18, 2012

Gimzewski can't teach period. He uses ppw slides, and expects you to absorb everything he says. I fell asleep almost every lecture and then just stopped going. If you take this class, be prepared to teach yourself the book. Also, i recommend attending extra discussion sections because the TA's are actually able to teach the material, especially when it gets more complicated toward the second half of the course. TA OH are also helpful, his suck. His midterms are 20 question multiple choice which sucks because some lucky guessing can really mess up the distribution making it hard for the people who actually study to really show what they know. The final is 60 mulitple choice and not too bad. I got average on the first midterm, then top 10% on second midterm, and got an A- in the class. I'm happy with it. I took AP Chem btw, and it really only helps for the first midterm, and not really after that.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Feb. 18, 2012

He's basically the epitome of the nutty professor. He doesn't do a good job at explaining concepts and its obvious teaching really isn't his first priority. This man is a giant in his field and if you ask him about STMs during office hours I'm sure he'll come to like you. On the other hand, all the midterms and finals were multiple choice so it wasn't very hard to get a good grade.

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 20, 2011

I didn't attend many lectures because his powerpoints were pretty much directly from the book. You're probably better off reading the book if you plan on learning something. I suppose he's a decent professor but I didn't go to many lectures to know anyway. The midterms were fair and his final was ridiculously hard. I walked out wanting to cry. But I ended up with an A- in the class so I suppose the curve was pretty high. If you had to choose between Gimzewski and Baugh, take Gimzewski!

Helpful?

1 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Feb. 15, 2012

Better than Baugh or Neuhauser. Midterms and finals are multiple choice, while the quizzes are free response. He's okay.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Dec. 17, 2011

Okay, first of all, let me just tell you that he is a great professor. Go ahead and read all the other reviews, but in my opinion, he is nice and cares about his students. There were people who took Baugh after comparing the reviews on Bruinwalk, but I saw so many people crying after taking Baugh. Their test were all free response, while our midterms were two multiple choice tests around 20 questions each. The final was around 60 problems multiple choice, but for a 3 hour period, that was more than enough time.

The problem with Gimzewski is that he only teaches first year chemistry once every two years or so (or at least that was what he said), so think of it as a privilege to be taught by this professor if you ever get the chance to enroll in his class.

If you think you aren't learning much in lecture, which I sometimes experienced, by all means go to his office hours and he will be more than happy to answer questions or go into further detail about the subject. While some professors may cancel their lectures if they are not on campus, Gimzewski is different. While he was working in a lab in Japan, he created a video lecture so that his students would not fall behind in lecture materials. I do not know a professor that was this dedicated to teaching his students, and although people may think differently of him, I truly applaud this professor for his knowledge of the subject and kindness towards his students.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
Nov. 25, 2011

First off, I didn't learn anything in this class at all and I'm really disappointed because I'm a Chem Engineering and I love chemistry. He copies and pastes everything from the book into the powerpoint...and then read it off the slides. So you seriously are better off reading the book. But if you are looking for an easy class, you have it.
There are two midterms which are based on knowledge from AP Chemistry and physics so if you have a really strong background on those. You will do fine. However, BEWARE: there are only twenty questions on his midterms (which means 1 point = 5 percent of your grade) so stupid mistakes can doom you.
There are three quizzes which count for 10 percent of your grade and those are actually harder than the midterms.
His Lecture is really boring and everyone around me always fall asleep. I personally think he's one of those genius mad scientist who can't explain simple stuff because he's always thinking about higher level chemistry.
He's funny and my friends who went to his office hours say he is really nice but he can't teach so I have to give him a bad grade for teaching.
All in all, my advice to you?
- Review your highschool chemistry notes or if you don't have those, form group study with friends who know their chemistry well and review basic principle with them
- Bring your book to the lecture AND your ipod to prevent you from falling asleep. You can save a lot of time reading the book using that 50 min lectures.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 29, 2011

Okay, I actually took Honors174, a nanotechnology seminar with professor Gimzewski. I can see why he is not a very good teacher because he mumbles and he is not very organized. I don't think he even read all of our assigned blogs.
But he is really passionate about nanotechnology. He worked in the IBM nano-department for goodness' sake. And best of all, you don't get tested on the things he talks about. The whole course is just sitting there for 3 hours (once a week) and writing a 1000 word blog almost every week.
There're also two presentations that were really chill and a final paper, which sounds like a lot (12-15 pages) but it's nothing serious.
This class is a 5-unit, upper-division honors seminar. And the best part is that you get a guaranteed A. Well, I got an A-, but that's because I didn't really put as much effort into my final paper. Take this class!!!!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
May 4, 2008

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. Be prepared to teach yourself. Goodluck! The tests weren't too bad but they did contained several errors. Just memorize the millions of formulas and concepts and you should be ok. Final grade:B-

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 5, 2006

Professor Gimzewiski is such a strange teacher. He frequently mubbles stuff that makes no sense at all and is constantly asking the TA to make sure he is doing a problem correctly. His course is really math heavy in the begining and can be best described as physics. His teaching isn't effective since he is often confused about the material hiself. If you take his class you will pretty much have no idea what your grade is untill the end since your total grade is set on a curve. If you must take his class my advise to you is to READ THE BOOK! you will understand the material much better this way, also encourage people who are doing badly to stay in the class, trust me its them or you.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
1 of 1
2.5
Overall Rating
Based on 15 Users
Easiness 1.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 1.7 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 1.3 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 2.2 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

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There are no relevant tags for this professor yet.

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