The concepts of this class are pretty challenging, even after finishing the class with an A- I still don't fully understand some of it. Roberts often had problems finishing the planned lecture material for the day, often resulting in him rushing through material. Lectures were often confusing and he includes pollev questions for your participation grade. The tests were pretty tough, but he does curve them. Additionally, the tests are not a huge portion of your grade. I would not want to take this class again, but it wasn't terrible.

Yes, the class is a reverse method but it’s coding. Easy as long as you don’t procrastinate and actually do the work. People are too dramatic; all exams are open notes and textbook so you’ll be fine.

Strengths: Dr. Roberts is one of the most interesting and personable professors I've had. I liked his enthusiasm and excitement. I enjoyed the podcasts and assigned readings. They were easy to digest and thought-provoking. The problem sets, and essays were a good way to work towards mastery. The grading system was excellent and accounted for the difficulty of the course. I liked the participation polls and felt they made the class more engaging. The problem sets did help prepare us for exams. I appreciate that he took time to hold labs after class.

Weaknesses: This course was very challenging. While the textbook and assigned readings were fine, the lectures failed to clarify complex topics. I think they were too fast, and large topics on exams were glazed over in lectures. Even in the lab, the explanation was a bit too fast-paced when asked to clarify. This class prioritized getting through the bulk of the textbook rather than deeper understanding/learning. The weekly quizzes did little to prepare us for exam questions. I would've liked more clear grading rubrics for participation and essays. The class was too fast and vague for the level of understanding needed to do well.

I had read bad reviews about this professor before taking this course and was a little worried but it all turned out okay. He was a relatively interesting lecturer, my main issue with him was how consistently he would talk past the time that class ended. He once talked for 15 minutes after the scheduled end of lecture and although we were free to leave at any time I knew I’d have to come back and watch the recording to learn the material anyways so I felt like I had to stay. I wish he respected our time more, but the content of the course was decent and I didn’t think that the exams were that hard. One thing I didn't like was the pollev quizzes in class which were graded, meaning that even if you attended you lose participation points for missing questions on in class online response questions. I think these should have been completion based. There were assignments due most weekends so this class kept me busy and was not easy but I didn’t find it hard to get a good grade considering I did all the assignments. Also he says that he has labs but they are really optional office hours. I never went.