John Lawrence - University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Professor: John Lawrence

Department: Mathematics

College: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Average prof. Nothing spectacular. I only attended 30% of his classes.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Voice is very drawly and might put you to sleep, but he is very knowledgable like a wizard. Could keep lectures a bit more interesting/engaging, but he teaches the course fairly well.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH136
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very old prof. His voice is monotone. It might makes you want to sleep but MATH 136 is pretty interesting. He teaches slowly and skips 1 or 2 sections. He shouldn't repeat what he said a few minutes ago. He should go faster on some easy topics.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PMATH442
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Easily the best prof in the history of the planet. Doesn't write down everything little detail, which leaves a lot of room for you to fill in to check your own understanding. That way, you learn a lot better and no lecture time is wasted. Also, his idiosyncrasies are hilarious.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PMATH346
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He really enjoys teaching, and it shows in his lectures. Assignments are hard as for any algebra class. Exams are quite fair.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PMATH346
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His explanations are crystal clear, but the problem is he doesn't write everything he says down, so when you review, it looks like there are gaps in the proofs. He posts lots of prep material, so exams should be no problem.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PMATH444
• 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:

He started off the course clearly, interestingly, and at a good pace. However, in the second half of the course, he was less comfortable with the proofs he was doing and also wrote much less on the board. A lot of justifications in proofs were only given orally, which makes for more difficult transcription. His 1-on-1 explanations were very good.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PMATH444
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His class is very theoretical as is his group theory class so its good to take at least one of his classes to get comfortable with using deeper results.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Good prof, Definitely knows what he's talking about, but sometimes his voice just hypnotizes you into a nice afternoon nap..

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

I can't even count how many times I fell asleep, but I love the topic, to I still did alright.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Has a voice that's just impossible to stay awake to.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH137
• 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:

likes to say intuitive and obviously

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH135
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class is extremly boring. It's really hard to manage to stay awake, I'm attending another prof's lectures cause I didn't learn anything from this guy.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH136
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Classes are a little dull, but if you can keep yourself awake he covers all the material in an easily understandable manner.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH136
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His teaching was not good at all for me. Half way through the semester, I started attending another teacher's class because I didn't learn anything from Prof Lawrence.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PMATH346
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very very very good professor. His style is to not write down every little useless detail on the board and instead explain things clearly. He is the ONLY puremath prof where I actually "learn" during the class. His style takes about a month or two to get used to, but once you do it's the best (because you actually don't waste your lecture time)

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PMATH444
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Had him 3 times in my university career. My advice is to stay on top of EVERYTHING (from first year on) when it comes to algebra. Do NOT fall behind - even one day can be costly. Assignments very tricky though usually have relatively short solutions. Write down a lot of what he says and not so much of whats on the board.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PMATH345
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't write down everything he says, so it's easy to get lost in the lectures. If you come prepared however, everything will be crystal clear. I think he bases his lectures on the assumption that everyone does come prepared. Brilliant, but definitely an acquired taste and takes some getting used to.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PMATH346
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's smart and knows what he's talking about. He writes amazing final exams that are actually FUN to write, and he's just great in general. And he knows most of his students by name at the end, even though he never calls anyone by name. I loved being in his class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PMATH346
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

His logic is a little difficult to follow for the average student, but bells marks in the end; he needs to make better notes; his notes are incomprehensible unless you go to class AND figure everything out on the spot.