Carl Eckberg - San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

Professor: Carl Eckberg

Department: Computer Science

College: San Diego State University, San Diego, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I had in undergrad or grad school--taught outdated concepts, got things wrong, test unfairly, went on long tangents about baseball, and was unclear. Useless class. Only saving grace was that he was nice during office hours. The textbook (that he wrote and makes you buy) is literally useless.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

do yourself a favor and take cs 503

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Eckberg is an extremely passionate lecturer and is very knowledgeable about database design. Eckberg is a gem to sdsu as he invited us to office hours held at his house, where he provided us with free cola and personalized lectures. While I was not looking forward to having a 4 hr lecture during the summer eckberg makes it work. Best professor ever

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

wow, he is really bad and eveything is outdated.. we spend so much time just looking at him typing the same thing ( he keeps making mistakes )

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The class was useless as a non CS major wanting to learn more about CS. Tests are based on hearing random stuff he mentions in class, and he gives you outdated--sometimes even wrong--material. I regretted taking this.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Per the previous reviewer, he's a very nice/caring guy, but a horrible professor. Databases are one of the most important concepts that you must take out of the CS program and its a shame they left it up to him. Outdated practices, outdated SQL versions, and is no way shape or form applicable to the real world. Its all about the memorization game.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Eckberg isn't a bad guy, he's kind of like a funny, awkward grandpa. His class was difficult only because of the tests, the projects were very simple and I got 100% on them all. The tests involve memorization of random syntax or small details said in class. He doesn't give many resources outside of lecture. What I learned isn't real-life applicable

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Pros: not too much work once you get past the bs (but theres a lot of it).Cons: what everyone else said; tests are completely arbritrary based on heavy independent exploration of course materials and specific things he says. Gives outdated and even false information at times. Class text is mostly useless. Information learned is inapplicable.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

You learn about basic GIS concepts for the first one or two weeks. After that, it's all MOJO (a Java package from the late 1990s that's long been unsupported by the developers) and Java GUI. You might learn some concepts that will help in developing GIS applications (like shapefiles), but odds are most of them are no longer relevant.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Never stays on topic. Struggles to lecture or even type. His lectures consist of just showing source code and then running the program. Tests are difficult and he gives no study guide or review. Projects are given basically no guidance. Have literally never had a single email response. Horrible at communication.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS537
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Eckberg will make you dislike GIS. He comes to class unprepared, Shows java code on black and white text editor, goes on tangents every 5 min, makes weird sounds, hardly writes anything on the board, tests are rote memory, and uses stone-aged material. Plus, you will not learn GIS, you will learn basic GUI in Java. Better just stay home.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

A perfect example for the argument against giving professors tenure. Still using slide materials and lectures from maybe 20 years ago. You will probably pass, but not before you've sat through too many late night lectures where you will learn more about baseball then database administration. Wish I didn't have to endure this but glad its over.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS520
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do not take this professor for any CS courses. His concepts are extremely outdated and makes himself very unapproachable. We finished the course material 2 weeks early and instead of going back over SR which doesnt exist anymore, we just started covering 2 more languages that arent on the syllabus. It will be a huge waste of your time.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you run and study the queries discussed in the class and follow his practice mid term papers definitely you will get A. Very easy course

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I have taken in CS. Lectures are boring & uses all 3.5 hours. Taken in the summer. 5 quizzes, 3 sql labs, 1 assignment on pen and paper. No extra credit. Easy grader and gives partial credit. Exams are old and reused so if you find some, ur in luck. Take if u just want an easy A

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Took DB with him, do not recommend if you want to learn, he uses old Oracle practices which even Oracle does not encourage. Take elsewhere if possible.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• 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:

This was a fun class to take. It's a very lenient grader and is very easy going. His exams are fair. Go to class, pay attention, and run the code in the emails he sends out. He's a very kind professor, loves baseball and pepsi, and doesn't like sushi. I highly recommend taking CS514 because knowing about databases is important!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CS520
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof Eckberg has a different teaching style than most, which is okay, but something you have to be prepared for. Take lots of notes on everything he says. Get the books and make an effort to at least open them up. Pretty standard stuff. Pay attention and go to office hours, and you'll do well!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS520
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I have experienced thus far in CS. SDSU needs somebody new and fresh. He has recycled his same stone age examples, which have little to no relevance to anything in the real world, for at least a decade or more. Passable class but a complete waste of time to be honest.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CS514
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Took this course during summer school. He knows what he wants to teach in lecture does not go off of notes. He pretty much wings it and refers to his notes. Show up to class and do the homework and the tests are easy. There were 6 quizzes and 6 home works. His examples in class pretty much are the homework with a few changes.