Martin Ester - Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Professor: Martin Ester

Department: Computer Science

College: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CMPT459
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a very knowledgeable professor from the School of Computing Science and he is always willing to help students to get thru the toughest part of the course. CMPT 459 (Data Mining) is a hot topic in the tech. industry right now and Dr. Ester is one of the best prof. you should take this course with.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CMPT741
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

VERY CARING AND NICE. SUPER INTELLIGENT. He even taught us some Algorithms he developed 21 years ago.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CMPT454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The textbook and his lecture notes sometimes dont match. He makes many mistakes. His exam/assn questions are ambiguous and marking is sometimes done on a strict basis even though there could be multiple right answers. He is very boring. On the plus side he's not too hard and exams are open book.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CMPT454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

I find his classes boring. I rarely attended class. He is one of the easiest instructors that I have had at SFU. Exams are open book and questions were similar to the assignments.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• 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:

Good prof. Very willing to help and takes student feedback into account. Posts very detailed notes online. Assignments (weekly) range from easy to fair. Exams are open book. Tough midterm (too long!), okay final. Classes always go overtime. Contrary to what others have said, I *would* take another class with him.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

If you learn well from the textbook, you will do OK. His assignments and exams are fair, but his teaching is quite bad. It's unfortunate too because he's a nice guy and wants everyone to do well. And yes, he goes over time every lecture so don't take a class right after his class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• 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:

Exams are extremely long. Don't expect to finish in time. Beware of keeners in the class. They tend to get him off track for a very long time. Our review class, which was suppose to REVIEW the semester.. ended up only covering 3 questions in 1 section.. IN TWO DAYS. Thanks WM, black coat, squeaky kid, durrr kid. You know who you are.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Horrible prof ever. I am ready to quit his lecture and wait another year for someone else. Lectures extremely boring, midterm & final - never enough time to complete, assignments easy but not enough percentage on total marks. Marking schemes never fair!! Please take my advise and avoid him.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Nice guy, lectures are boring, exams open-book, assignment grades nice, but midterm fatal. listening to him is like trying to understand ****. It shouldnt be too hard to get a good grade in his class though.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Smart guy BUT, useless when it comes to teaching. Fortunatly the material is easy and the assignments aren't too bad. However, DON'T expect to learn ANYTHING from him. His notes are often incorrect so don't follow them. Oh yeah, test, can't judge the amount of time you need to write a test so you are often trying to write a 2 hour midterm in 1 hour

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Knows what he is talking about, but have trouble (at certain times) in teaching it. Hands out alot of assign. but are relatively easy to do. Midterm and final exam are reasonable, but really has a tough time judging amount of time required to finish it. Overall, a decent prof that knows his stuff.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CMPT459454
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CMPT459
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Most boring prof EVER, he also has attitude problem. But his assns and exams are pretty easy

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He sucks, can't teach

Rating # 16

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

he knows his stuff, but I found it to be a hard class even though I thought I understood everything

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Unreasonably long midterm for 50 min. Reasonable final with open book, expect a lots of writing though. WILL definitely take him for 454.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

No so good at explaining. Lectures are boring. Open book exam. I wouldn't take another class with him.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Easy assignment and exam, but he can't teach

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CMPT354
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

very bad/////////////