James Tam - University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Professor: James Tam

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CPSC231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

James is my first computer science teacher who really made me understand what programming is and how to code in Python for sure. I did what he had asked students to do - STUDY THE PPT BEFORE CLASS and achieved an A. I have 0 programming experience before and now I have the ability to self-learn. Really want to thank James )

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CPSC231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a decent prof. He is very knowledgable and shares his experiences/mistakes he made as a undergrad to explain why he wants use to code a specific way. I think his teaching skills could improve. He should spend more time explaining the fundamental concepts in a basic way and them move on to more complex examples. Overall he is not that bad.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CPSC231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He has 5 major assignments... the last two are the hardest ones and have the least amount time. Inaccessible outside the class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Tam is rude to students in class, unhelpful in lecture, and unclear on his expectations. Jokes aren't funny and textbook is a printed version of the slides he shows in class. I self-taught myself from lecture materials online, and still ended up with a decent grade. Considering this was an elective, I do not recommend James Tam as a CompSci prof.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

James Tam is a terrible prof. I tried so hard not to sleep in his class but couldn't help it, his lectures are dry and dull af. He is rude to students. He has so many errors in his assignments. Overall terrible! (And his jokes are not funny.) Do NOT take his class! I ended up not going to class and self-teaching myself, which worked for me.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

he is so boring it will actually make you want to cry. if you manage to pay attention in lecture you will ace this course because it is pretty easy,but paying attention is hard when its this guy doing the lecture. he just reads off of his endless and boring slides. this class will make you a better student because the prof is certainly no help.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• 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:

If you understand the content then the class is easy. I only went to half the lectures and bombed the final but still ended up with a good grade. His lectures are boring and dull and not necessary unless you don't understand the material and the tutorials are pointless.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• 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:

Tam is one of the worst profs. The course content itself would've been easy if Tam actually taught anything. Instead, he was condescending and rude to students, refused to answer questions and did not explain things at all. The TA's were practically as useless as Tam. If you have a background in programming, this will be an easy A, otherwise avoid.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I'm not a fan of this class or of Tam. Don't take this class unless you already have a pretty good understanding of programming computers. It started pretty easy then it escalated so quickly into stuff that I had zero understanding of. Tam is a nice enough guy, but his classes are really difficult to follow, especially when hes trying to be funny.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CPSC219
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I found the workload to be heavy. If you have previous programming experience this class should be pretty easy; otherwise prepare to put in a lot of effort. Learning (and understanding) these fundamental concepts for programming is challenging for most. I can see why some don't like his teaching style, but I think he truly wants you to do well.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Hes definitely the most caring prof in the cpsc department. You have to go to all the lectures - and hell definitely end up remembering your name after the semester is over. Work hard and put in the effort and hell notice.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Suuuuper boring. Makes no sense. Unclear. Every question on tests/assignments is worded badly, so you get most of the questions wrong because you dont understand what the hell he is trying to say. Every person in my class was confused (even the comp sci majors). Don't take this class, if you do, avoid this awful prof

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Suuuuper boring. Makes no sense. Unclear. Every question on tests/assignments is worded badly, so you get most of the questions wrong because you dont understand what the hell he is trying to say. Every person in my class was confused (even the comp sci majors). Don't take this class, if you do, avoid this awful prof.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst prof ever. He told us the final would only have 5 multiple choice questions, but there were like 5 PAGES worth of multiple choice and written response... Didnt want to help students, didnt explain things well, and doesnt type proper english...

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• 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:

James Tam. Worst prof ever. If u don't know what "foo" means u will fail. Creepy jokes (mainly about his foot fetish). Can't understand anything he says. TAs were the WORST. Told us he was "not allowed to help us" when we asked for help. Said final would be 5 questions and was actually 60 questions... wtf 0/10 would take again. Boring af.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CPSC231
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Took this in the spring, excellent Prof and TA for this course. This class is easy mode for anyone with programming experience. Over a third of the class got A's on the midterm. For beginners with zero programming experience, taking this course will place you in remaining two-thirds of the class. i.e. you'll receive a solid GPA beat down.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CPSC219
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Inaccessible outside of class, poor grading schemes, and hands out little to no practice for exams (without the answers either)

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CPSC203
• 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:

James Tam is by far the worst prof I've had in 4 years... If you like boring lectures, broken english, bad jokes, condescending feedback, using a website from 1995 instead of D2L, lecture decks with cringe worthy photos of said prof, and grammar errors on ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, then this is the class for you. If not, AVOID at all costs.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CS219
• 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:

I have mixed feelings about Prof Tam. By the end of the semester there weren't ever more than 30 people in class, considering at the start every seat was taken with 100+. This class has LOTS of work and the grading is very tough. Will be your hardest 1st year course. Prof Tam has the potential and enthusiasm to be an amazing prof...

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CPSC219
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I've been a university student for 7 years and he is by far the worst prof i ever had. He is very dedicated and may potentially be the best prof to ever teach this course but his ridiculous course load (5 assignments, 1 mini-assignment, 6 quizzes, 2 midterms and a final exam), zero people skills and an 'Im always right mentality' make him the worst