Michael Hurley - Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Professor: Michael Hurley

Department: Mathematics

College: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hurley is a great teacher of Diff eq. The only thing that can be a challenge is the daily homework due but in reality it doesnt have a direct impact on your grade and ends up making studying much easier. His test reviews are the same difficulty and material as the test, I was never surprised by any of the questions.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH228
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are a little hard to pay attention to, but if you read the book and do the homework it's not too hard. Homework isn't for a grade but if you do it all he'll boost your final grade. There's A LOT of homework (due every class) so be prepared for that.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH228
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

As far as Diff Eq professors go, he seems to be one of the best at Case. He has reasonable grading and exams. The only downside is the class is strictly based off 3 exams, a project, and a final, but honestly, if you do the homework it is not a hard course. His lectures can be kind of dry, but usually, he makes bad jokes that do help.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are dry and the final grade is based entirely on 4 tests, but he is considerate and wants his students to get As. That being said, if you bombed one of the tests, you can still get an A as long as you do well on the final.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dry and inoffensive professor. His lectures, reading the book, and doing the homework should get you by fine. You can get an A pretty easily, that is if you don't absolutely bomb one of the tests like I did (grade is almost all exam based). Even with that, you shouldn't worry about getting anything lower than a B for 223.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are boring and the final grade is based entirely, almost, on tests, which are on the harder side. Homework is assigned daily and has little or any impact on grades. Overall, this is not a class that you can get a easy A.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Hurley is a good teacher. His lectures and examples for math ideas are helpful for learning the material. Sometimes delves into theory a little too much, but is usually good at explaining things. Offers extra sessions and tests are very fair.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH223
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Hurley is an excellent math professor who loves what he is doing. He is great at answering questions if you are able to make it to weird office hour times. Exams aren't too difficult and homework is frequent. The only con of his class is that homework either counts for a full two points or 1 point (aka 50%) even if you miss something small.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH324
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Hurley gives lectures that are clear but rather dry, despite his attempts at humor. Although it's difficult to get his attention since he doesn't really look out at the class, he addresses your questions thoroughly once he realizes you're asking him something. Homework is tedious, but tests are fair.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Prof. Hurley's lectures are dry, but they're very straightforward, and he's clear about what he expects. He has good examples in lecture but is pretty awkward in office hours. He doesn't have a firm schedule, so he sprung a test on us with 5 days' notice. The class isn't too hard as long as you don't fall behind, and overall he's a decent prof.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Good introduction to diff eq. Presents the material in a very straightforward manner. Grade almost all exam based. I think the nightly homework might be taken for extra credit (it is optional). Class seemed to move a bit slowly at times. Professor Hurley has a dry sense of humor and will crack a joke here and there. Not hard to listen to.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

His sense of humor and crazy analogies kept lecture interesting. Exams don't have anything unexpected if you do the homework. Get the textbook solutions manual - it was incredibly helpful!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He told us when the tests are a week in advance which is ok but it would have been nice to know at the beginning of the year. His lectures are quite dull, he spends most of his time lecturing shuffling around and mumbling. He also assigns hw out of 2 points, however if you get the smallest thing wrong you get a 1.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH150
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class really should have been at least a 200 level course. I basically had to teach myself. Hurley just read from the textbook every day. It was terrible

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• 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:

Excellent math teacher. It's a tricky subject but if you pay attention you leave with a very good understanding.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH150
• 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:

Not sure why this is a 100-level class, but Hurley was impossible to understand, and I never knew what to expect on tests. Also not very helpful outside of class.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• 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:

Hurley's pretty tough I guess. His tests aren't too bad, and the homework is optional. But I'm good at math and I still somehow came out of this with a B. I guess it just takes more work than I put in

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's not very easy to listen to during class; explains things in a very general way and only does one bad example of it then assigns the most difficult homework problems. Labs were graded unfairly, and takes points off on tests for the smallest things. But he seems like a nice guy and generally tries to help students if you ask him. He is paranoid.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• 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:

kind of a hard class, homework assigned due every class meeting, 3 lab projects per semester, but the test are reasonable

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH224
• 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:

Hurley comes off as a rather paranoid person. He's known to make crazy, subtle and dry jokes, but he's a bit confusing to listen to. The book is pretty worthless, and the tests are a bit on the harder side, but if you can manage to understand what he's saying in class, then the class shouldn't be that difficult.