David Folk - Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Professor: David Folk

Department: Mathematics

College: Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Best professor at Eastern, hands down. Super passionate, hilarious, and honestly a true genius. If you have any questions about math, science, etc. HE KNOWS THE ANSWER. Always up for interesting conversation and answers questions thoroughly. Tough? Definitely, but you will remember material. Put in the work and you'll thrive and he'll love you.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Eastern is lucky to have Dr Folk. He shows a real enthusiasm for math, and he inspires you to be that passionate. There is tons of homework, and you must explain HOW and WHY you did everything. But, you learn everything you need to to do what he expects of you. With Dr F, you get a much more in-depth understanding of math. Dr F is the GREATEST!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Folk is the best Calc teacher at Eastern. He puts effort into understanding how to teach so students pass. He's friendly and available to talk to if you have questions. He gives lots of opportunities for extra credit, and he's one of the only Profs that will actually look at your homework and give feedback on it. He's passionate, engaged, and cares

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH121
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Folk is amazing. I read reviews and was very nervous coming into his class but he has become my favorite math teacher ever. He is quite comical and amazing at breaking things down. I really recommend him.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH121
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

One of the most intelligent people I have every met. His lectures are really fascinating and he is funny. I walked out of this class feeling ready for the rest of my math education! My recommendation is if you need Calc 1-3, take them ALL with him. Downside is there's lots of homework... but lots of extra credit and curved exams.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do homework every day. Do not rely on your group for HW. Try to be friends with group members. Do the practice exams twice before exams. This is an excellent class that will help your problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Dr. Folk is a phenomenal instructor. This is arguably the most time-demanding class you will ever have to take.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Folk was a great teacher. He went a little fast at times, but if you pay attention, do the homework, and study, you should have no problem doing well in this class. You have homework every night and you have to come everyday to class. he does everything in groups so you will turn in your homework as a group.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CALC2
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a funny teacher. He is very knowledgeable on the subjects he teaches. However, he is an awful teacher who cannot convey the lessons well. He does problems in class and then assigns 3 hours of way harder problems every night, and proceeds to grade it unfairly. If you have the option to take an 8 AM class and David Folk's class. Take the 8 AM!

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH122
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I've always thought of myself as a pretty good math student. I easily got A's in pre-calc and Calc 1. But this Calc 2 class was super hard. He's an extremely tough grader. He gives you extra credit opportunities for maybe the first month and that stops too. more than half the class dropped out by the final because of how hard this class was

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I took him Fall 2015 as an ECA student and ended up having a college acceptance revoked because I failed his course. His grading didn't make sense and neither did his lessons. Do not take him unless you absolutely have to; and if you have to, do yourself a favor and get a calc tutor.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

A gen ed Calculus I class should not be this hard. Put in the work and barely scraped by. We skipped the first chapter which put me behind all semester. Seemed like everyone but me took AP Calc in high school. I have never had a professor that grades this harshly. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS unless you are a genius or want to be ahead for a math major.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This professor lectures horribly and he expects you to know trigonometry and algebra like a mathematician. His tests are very challenging, hours spent on homework is useless, tutors can't help much, and extra credit doesn't help. A handful of people do well, but there are a lot of people in his class struggling or redoing his course. Evade, please.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Not polite, not helpful, and very unnecessarily difficult. Repeatedly takes points off exams and assignments for small errors, and in many cases took points off incorrectly. Highly advise against taking a class with Folk, you'll regret it.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Folk is a good professor if you want to major in math or engineering, but not good for any other major. I asked him if I could go to him during his office hours and he said he was too busy and directed me towards the math lab. His notes are sporadic and unclear. He expects too much of his students and yelled us for not understanding the info.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH120AND121
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Folk is the best prof. I've had. He really makes you work hard and understand what you're learning and more importantly why you need to learn it. After you have taken a class with him, you feel like any other math class is too easy. I didn't mind the group work that much. If you have to take a math class, do yourself a favor and take Dr. Folk!

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Hard Class--but you will learn WHY, HOW, and WHEN the principles of calculus are used as opposed to simply becoming a humanoid formula machine

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH122
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a really tough teacher, but he makes you learn the stuff so that when you have to use it later you can. Makes you do everything in groups, but keep in mind that at this point, everybody's pretty much in the same boat as you math-wise and he takes your input when assigning permanant groups. He's also really helpful if you ask.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH120
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst experience I had taking his class. Struggled all the way through it just to get a C. All homework is group work so work load isn't even. He seems to teach a different way than most and doesn't do well at explaining things. The tests are hard but he let's you do corrections for 14 the points.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CALC1
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Calculus should not be this tough unless you're a math major. I took it in high school and passed it no problem, but with this professor, it was a very tough class. You have it 4 days a week and every single day you get hours worth of homework. Also, he does not prepare you for exams. You pretty much have to rely on your group for most of it.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH121
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I wasn't learning anything because of the groups. I prefer to do my work on my own. Unfortunately the assignments are designed for groups. Students who have had calculus once in high school were hard to work with and had attitudes of superiority. Folk himself was a choppy lecturer and seemed to eager to impress instead of teach.