David Matthiesen - Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Professor: David Matthiesen

Department: Materials Science

College: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Fair professor. If you pay attention during lecture and work through the homework with a decent understanding, you'll be fine. What you get out of this class is what you put in. Don't expect an easy A or B. I also appreciated his style of lecturing.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The worst professor the halls of Case Western Reserve University. Lost multiple students exams and gave them zeros because "one exam is dropped". Avoid at all costs. Does not teach, and over 70% of the class either dropped it or failed.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• 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:

This was my worst experience with a teacher in 19 years of being alive. He was the most egotistical and self-centered man I have ever encountered, who would publicly call students out for minor errors they had made. Avoid at all costs.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I'm sure he would have been a good guest lecturer, but instead of talking about what we need to know for tests and homeworks he goes on random tangents for half of class. Homework is difficult, go to the ENGR 145 help center to talk to TAs about it. Tests are graded really hard, and sometimes about random stuff that he only tangentially mentioned.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Frankly, his lectures suck. I did appreciate his information, and it was cool to see the applications of what we're learning, but a 300 person lecture is not the time or place for off-topic factoids. Homework is quite difficult and graded harshly, the same for exams. Don't take for 145.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst professors I've had so far. But not as bad as a lot of people are making him seem. This class is a lot of work and a lot of learning on your own. Some people can't handle that too well.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Matthiesen's lectures often diverge away from Chemistry of Materials, but usually in a way that provides a good background about the engineering discipline. He makes you work for your grade, but he does teach everything you need to do well on homeworks and tests. He's an old-school professor and may come across as rude, but he's a great guy.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is by far one of the worst professors on campus. Doesn't have any regard for how his students perform in the class or what they get out of it. Unless you want to hear the musings of a wannabe astronaut who does not know how to teach, do not take this class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst course I've taken here. He is an inefficient teacher and both the homework and exam problems are incredibly difficult and he is not accessible to students.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Spends lecture either talking about himself or telling useless stories. His tests are too long and each question is worth too many points. He cannot teach.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Matthiesen is the most arrogant and unhelpful professor I've had so far. He doesn't care about students whatsoever. There's homework every week where you sit and teach yourself the material since his lectures are spent talking about how he was almost an astronaut. On the last exam the average was a 60% with no curve, lots of people have had to drop

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Matthiesen teaches qualitatively while testing everyone on the quantitative stuff. He also does not care how bad students do on tests, the past averages all being below an 80% and the most recent test almost at a failing grade. But hey he almost was an astronaut (and somehow was voted teacher of the year in his department)

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tests are graded toughly and graders are very nitpicky. Homeworks have little to do with lectures, so help from TAs is necessary. Lectures are boring and contain excess and useless information.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Class is fine, homework a bit intense and exams are heavily weighted. First three tests were not difficult, fourth was more challenging, but I still managed to not take the final because I had an A average. Lectures can sometimes be a waste of time, but sometimes he explains concepts and if you miss it, it isn't always stated on the lecture slides.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures suck. You basically just have to go through his lecture slides on your own. The homework isn't hard if you work with friends or with a TA. The tests are pretty similar to the homework problems, but a little harder. He doesn't give a lot of partial credit. However, he does let you use a cheat sheet on the tests so take advantage of that

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Matthiesen would probably be a better teacher in a smaller setting, but in a class of 400+ students he kinda just keeps talking about lots of irrelevant things during lecture. His lectures and the homework barely line up only due to him mentioning an equation you need to use maybe one time during class. Not he nicest guy really either. 56% on test1

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Matthiesen is a great professor if you would like to hear the tales a the astronaut who didn't do anything. His lectures are irrelevant albeit entertaining if you find enjoyment in having no idea what you will be tested on. To be aggressively blatant, this is nothing more than a philosophy course where you take chemistry exams

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He looks at the slides and talks about the vast amount of irrelevant information rather than talking about the subject matter needed for the test that very same week.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ENGR145
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This man does not explain anything, but instead talks about his wind turbine and beeing an astronaut. This would not be a problem, if the class was easy, but instead you have to know literal quantum physics. He is terrible.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ENGR225
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is boring because he is bored. You can tell that he knows his stuff but the TAs do a better job at explaining the material that he does. When he shows an example in class he doesn't put himself in the shoes of the student. he just rambles about how easy the problem is.