Matt Farrens - University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Professor: Matt Farrens

Department: Computer Science

College: University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: ECS154B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's a great professor who really knows his stuff. Any question you throw at him is usually answered, and his explanations are very thorough. This class covers a huge range of concepts and your knowledge must reflect that. He hates giving full credit on questions and chisels away at your grade like its a fine marble statue.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: ECS154B
• 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:

Expects you to have understanding of material he barely covers. Horrible grader, if you don't word the answer exactly as he has you lose credit. Tested on material that he doesn't cover and expects you to already know the material and figures it is your fault for not understanding the material.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: ECS201A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Shouldn't be teaching a grad class. He's not caught up with modern advances and writes tests and quizes that makes no sense; cant write questions in proper English. Grading criteria is very vague, and depends highly on his perception of the top (not whats actually true nowadays)!

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Just go to class and pay attention. The material shouldn't be too hard because he tries to let you sink in the material. He gives weekly quizzes but they're curved (tries to see what you know) midterms & exams are like the quizzes. He doesn't post any solutions up because he expects you to try & learn the material. Overall good class

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ECS154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He was a good guy.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: ECS201A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Good teacher. Knows the subject. But lazy. Not so productive in research: shows he is not up to date in field. He uses course material that is very old, even for advanced course like ECS 203. Exams are simply cut-copy-paste from previous years tests. Read them if you want to do well in this course. Hard-hearted: well its part of western culture..

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ECS201A
• 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:

He is a personification of UC Davis; highly capable, awesome educator and quite competent in his field. The trouble is, you can easily fall through the cracks, as following up doesn't make up part of his lexicon. Either way, you should have enough of a springboard to do really well in any of his classes if you work hard enough.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ECS154
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Was 20 minutes late to our final exam, and late every day in class. Homework useless; was assigned after the quiz to which it was relevant. Exams are purely memorization and table tracing, and don't make a mistake - you may not get partial credit. Critical thinking not at all a component of the course. Laziest professor ever. Lectured well, though.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ECS201A
• 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:

Took this guy for 154A and 201A. This prof is the rare example of a guy who can really teach the material, but is still bad as a teacher. He doesn't seem to really know what he's doing for tests, quizzes, and assignments. For 154A, he's fairly easy. For 201A, prepare to work really hard.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: ECS201A
• 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:

Very good lecturer: clear, and he makes sure your questions get answered. Really funny. He does show up late to class. Exams and quizzes can be hard, but study the ones from past years and you'll be OK. START EARLY on the final project!!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

textbooks were useless, and he's the laziest man alive. however, he is one of the funniest comedians that ever existed in the cs department at davis -- besides gusfield. when he retires, he can probably start his own talk show and make jokes all the time.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Excellent lecturer. Gives clear examples and good information. Textbook moderately helpful to useless. Exams are similar to previous exams. Expects a lot but class is very do-able if you attend lecture and take good notes.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: ECS50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Farrens is a brilliant professor who really makes sure you understand how computers work. His lectures are interactive, and he even adds in little historical tidbits which make the class more interesting. If you're going to take CS 50, take it with him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

learned alot in his lectures but he rushes through alot of material. books used=not very helpful & gives more bg info & basics rather than examples/how-to steps. labs were hard & though related to the material, it won't help on exams. exams are regurgitations of old exams. you'll do well if you pay attention in class,take notes, & study old exams.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• 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:

Fun guy, tries to be helpful, knows the material very well. However, he tends to go through most of the material really fast and the rest he focuses on. So you learn some stuff well and the other stuff not well at all. Most of the homework was based off lectures, as well as the tests. The labs were fun and challenging and I learned a lot.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: ECS50
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

As everyone says, he's extremely lazy.He is very robotic and boring. Doesn't make the topic interesting at all, and he doesn't seem to have any passion in what he is teaching. half the class is asleep.during lecture, he gives us the bare bones, and assigns the hardest assignments ever.He doesn't do many examples, and rushes through them quickly.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He gives excellent examples and goes over the problems you need to know how to do repeatedly. Homeworks and tests are very straightforward and based on class and textbook examples. You have plenty of past midterms and finals to practice with. He is a little disorganized and perhaps a little too casual at times, but overall a good teacher.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

has anybody mention LAZY? His laziness can work both ways. He's really good at teaching this course. He is helpful during office hours. He doesn't give you the answer, just clues. Exams are repeats from the past. He's somewhat knowledgable about the area. I wish he taught my 154B class for next quarter >_>

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

LAZY AS CAN BE. It didn't help that the TA was as lazy as he was. First grade in the class we got back in the 9th week of class and it was the midterm. He knwos the material but is bored by it. His laziness makes you go insane as before. He is too busy with committees and office hours are a joke.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: ECS154A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Prof. was very busy w/ comittees and such. Had only one OH a week, showed up late to class, etc. But he really knows his stuff and teaches it very effectively. Tests are ridiculously easy -- just amalgams of past exams, which are provided. There's no excuse not to get an A in this class if you stay on top of the lab assignments.