Marcelo Laca - University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Professor: Marcelo Laca

Department: Mathematics

College: University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is very confusing and isn't prepared for classes. I would never take him again.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH204
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

So, here's the thing: Marcelo is a very bright man who knows a l o t of math. BUT, he's not a wonderful lecturer. He rarely does examples and is often quite confusing/confused in lecture. That being said, he tests very fairly and is hugely helpful in office hours or just generally if you see him around, he's generous with his time.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Don't usually use rate my prof, but had to leave a review this time. I found lectures to be unclear, confusing, and unprepared. Dr. Laca seems like a professor who understands the material very well, but does not do a good job explaining it. Textbook is your friend, very few examples done in class. Office hours were helpful.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Marcelo is the laziest professor I've met. He had zero examples prepared for lecture & on-the-spot examples were done wrong. Don't come to class, teach yourself from the book+youtube. He never answered questions directly, always talked in a circle and ended up confusing me for MT questions (I got them wrong because of what he taught me). AVOID HIM

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Funny guy, though somewhat confusing. Ended up reading the textbook to learn 90% of the material. If you do go to his lectures, take it with a grain of salt and read the textbook later. He makes somewhat simple concepts sound more complicated then they actually are. Lectures got pretty dead near the end, which was kind of hilarious.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good: Funny, makes jokes, teaching style is... different? Lots of classmates didnt like his teaching style so they attended a different lecture at the same time. Class was down to about 30 students at the end so it was a lot more comfy in the ability to ask questions Bad: didnt seem to prepare for lectures, writing hard to read, assumed knowledge.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I learned the whole course from the textbook and would only show up to class in hopes of reaffirming my learning. He is heavy on theory and does not believe in showing examples, which is helpful once you've had some practice with basic concept questions. As a person, he is very funny.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I only had prof Laca for a week as a sub, and he was bad enough to leave this review of him. Completely confusing and often tangential examples, all theory and no application. Had him for the second last week of class, and it was enough to mess up my studying for finals.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH204
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Took him for math 204. I didn't find him great at explaining things sometimes, but his humor often got me laughing. Assignments were quite tough, but midterms were fair. I'd recommend reading the text to learn your material and before doing assignments. It will make the class a lot easier. Loved him as a person, but struggled with him as a prof.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Marcelo sucks. His class have no structure and he easily get confused. Subject is pretty good just make sure you make use of your textbook.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH204
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst profs i have ever had! Had not taught the course in 15 years and was useless for examples essentially just read out of the textbook to us. Assignment questions were not even applicable to the course material. The only reason i made it as far as i did was teaching myself from the textbook. If you see him as your prof just drop it!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH236
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Long assignments. If assignment Q is tough & you haven't learned it, chances are everyone gets 5/5 on it. Everything on the tests was taught the lecture before the test. Motto: "For every 1 thing I teach you, you can teach yourself 10 things". Worst class/grade ever. Made me consider changing degree from Math Honours to regular Math degree.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Though he is not really good at explain the concepts clearly, he is still a great pro that helps us solve the questions.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

oh my goodness, its really confusing to take his class, and the midterms are really hard cuz I never understand what he said. I improve my mark by watching vedioes.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH335
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Marcelo can come across as intimidating at first, but it is just his sense of humour. He is a very good instructor if you can keep up with the material. He is always willing to give help (and hints) in person or by email. His assignments are massively long and often challenging, but the final was fair. Probably best for upper level courses.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Laca, while very funny, is not the best professor. Everything he does is taken out of the textbook. I learned the majority of the material from the textbook. The assignments were tough. I didn't find the midterms hard, but a lot of people did. He will answer questions if asked.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great prof, provided you can understand the concepts he brings up, otherwise he's a bit confusing. The man has a great understanding of mathematics and an awesome personality that makes for an entertaining class. >> Make sure you read the book, not a course you can just float through

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Extremely confusing! Even with reading the text before class, he can manage to undo any learning you gained before class. Walked out of class several days going "What the Hell just happened ?" Muddy, awkward way of teaching. Concepts are explained very poorly. Learned from YouTube and MIT, thank you to both.. no thanks to Marcelo!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Awesome teacher! Great personality! If you do read the book before classes, it's gonna be really good time.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH100
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Overlooked the fact that he didn't teach derivatives to an intro calc class before giving questions on them. VERY nice guy, and can explain a lot when he does, in fact, explain. Taking a class with him will require more work than another prof, with the same outcome.