Alan Hu - University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Professor: Alan Hu

Department: Computer Science

College: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CPSC420
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Alan is a really nice and funny guy, but DON'T BE FOOLED, THIS IS NOT AN EASY COURSE. This is considered a grad course, it is proof and theory heavy and Alan expects mastery to pass the quizzes (90% perfect answer). Alan writes really creative(sometimes convoluted) quizzes that are hard to prepare for. Read everything and don't skip!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CPSC420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

The more cpsc courses I take, the I more math department suck. Most of the profs from cpsc department at UBC care about their students, and Alan is definitely one of them. Really smart and knowledgeable as well!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He always hung out after the lecture as long as necessary to answer all the questions. He is very ADHD: He keeps responding to every stimuli in his environment, which makes lectures a bit distracting. midterm was insanely long. used 3 questions from the midterm in the final to make up for it. Dont read textbook. Do as much practice Qs as you can.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Hu always encouraged students to ask questions and was an engaging lecturer, he didn't just drone on for 50 mins. He would surprise the class with actually funny jokes once in a while. Note on this class' exams in general (since it's shared between all the sections) the midterm was ridiculously hard but it was scaled. Final was okay.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Very tough grading. If your solution doesn't match the answer key but you feel like you should've gotten part marks, you're SOL. Hu is a great guy but its tough to get a good mark.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Alan's passion for algorithms comes across clearly in lectures- but his lectures delve into theory and the philosophy behind the course rather than the math/proofs required to pass tests. Other 221 profs go more into detail about how to solve problems. If you're willing to spend a lot of time working outside of class, take Alan for his character.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Pretty scattered. Learning objectives weren't really clear, it was tough to know what was anecdotal and what was essential to the lecture. Alot of time spent on ranting about totally unrelated topics, while difficult essential topics are flown through in less than a full lecture

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: Yes
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Alan is hands down one of the best comp sci profs at ubc. Lectures are really easy to understand since he makes them engaging and fun. Never a boring moment. Would take a class with him again in a heart beat.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Alan is a fantastic computer scientist. I personally like his way of teaching. He usually gives a lot of daily life examples illustrating algorithms. I can feel his passion about cs. He also encourages students to ask questions a lot. Juts don't write any thing after the exam time is up, lol, you will see disasters.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

If your a weaker student don't take this class with him. He goes too fast and does not make any sense. Had to go to other profs lecture and read other profs notes

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: Yes
• Textbook Used: No
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Great guy but though prof. Especially the midterms and exams, those were brutal. I walked into the final expecting an A and walked out thinking I failed the exam. (I probably got 57% on exam) Just work on your practice midterms and ride that curve!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Alan's exams were brutal, and assignments can drive you up a wall, but I loved his lectures. He taught the content really well and is really funny. If you do all the work seriously, you'll get a solid foundation for 320 even if you don't get a good grade in this class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Difficult course - this midterm (and apparently, the midterms in the past) had a failing grade as the average. Ours in particular was 41%. They scaled it up, but not by much. Midterm and final were open book. Alan was alright, but the exams were really tough and so were the assignments. You'd need to put in a lot of effort.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Really wish I took this class with another prof.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I like Alan. He's a really funny guy and he's really helpful if you talk to him during office hours. His lectures are kind of all over the place, but they weren't terrible.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CPSC221
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I like this guy but he sucks at teaching. I stopped attending after 3 classes.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CPSC111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Don't know if he's still teaching, but he is definitely one of the best profs I have had. I took this course 2 years ago and until now it has still been my favorite course. Alan Hu is such a great guy, he had so much energy during lectures! Java was so much fun with him! Sometimes I wish I majored in comp sci instead.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CPSC111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Always enthusiastic to teach the class, good sense of humor, and uses funny examples/metaphors. He encourages people to speak up! It was a difficult course though, so keeping up with the textbook is important. Midterms and assignments were a little brutal, but the final was a lot easier :) good course.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Great prof. Fun, energetic, passionate and makes the material much clearer than the textbook. The course is extremely hard, at least for me.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CPSC111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

• For Credit: N/A
• Textbook Used: Yes
• Would Take Again: N/A
• Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very fun and interesting guy. He tries to get to know everyone in class, and encourages you to speak up and ask questions. Extremely helpful during and after lecture and he makes the course a lot of fun! It's difficult stuff, but enjoyable if you devote enough time to it.