Rick Mercer - University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Professor: Rick Mercer

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CSC210
• 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:

Prof. Rick's a published author who knows more about CS than any arrogant undergrads. He offers his textbooks for free whereas other professors make you buy theirs for 50-100 easily. He cares and it shows. He'd answer Piazza posts even if it's nighttime on weekends. Projects are purposeful&good at teaching you what you only need to learn, no fluff

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CSC335
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Rick is an awful lecturer and a bad programer; what he teaches is outdated and poorly put together. Never before have I believed I am more intelligent than a teacher but honestly I , as a second year CS student, believe I am better at programming than he is. Hard to believe this guy has a PHD; overall not that hard of a class; ending project sucks.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CSC335
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Rick is a boring lecturer and most people don't pay attention to what he does in lecture. This class teaches good software development principles, but is best approached as an opportunity to apply some actual software development design strategies, rather than as a class where you will learn lots of new things. 335 itself is a really fun class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS335
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Mercer literally sits down while lectures. OOP concepts are boring enough, but coupled with Mercer's teaching style it makes the class awful. The projects feel outdated, and the final project was way over hyped. Exams were boring as well.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS335
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is like Dark Souls except without the campfires

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I love computer science. I loved programming and java. Thanks to Rick Mercer, I have successfully lost interest in all programming. With bad lectures, complicated projects, and hard tests, Mercer is the bane of my life for the semester. Prayers for any student taking his class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS335
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't care that much about the success of his students. The programming projects are a lot of work. The tests are weighed to heavily considering how much programming you have to do.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Reading expected outside of class to keep up. Accessible professor, TA's, resources, online textbook. Mercer was very difficult to follow in lectures in my opinion, it's easy to get behind on material if you are not on top of it. Homework gets difficult at the end, very time consuming but early submission gives bonus. Tests were difficult

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mercer is a smart guy, but he tends to get off topic a lot in class. This class is hard for a beginner and I had a difficult time keeping up. Study way in advance for the exams. Don't expect that this class will be like 127A and expect much more work. Tutors and section leaders are your best resource for help.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mercer is an excellent teacher and explains everything pretty well. However, programs and exams are challenging. Specially exams. START YOUR PROGRAMS EARLY AND DON'T PROCRASTINATE! There's about 10-12 programs, 3 exams, and a lab assignment every week.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Mercer is definitely smart and knowledgeable in the field, and generally the class is a good experience, but sometimes it falls into rabbit holes and loses focus. I came in fairly experienced in coding, so I was not hurt by it, but if I was a beginner, I could definitely been screwed.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

In all honesty, I studied, worked my BUTT off in this class. It was NOT a breeze and you really need to work a lot for an A. Regardless, lectures were almost useless (I spent most of it in the back doing other homework). But section is VERY IMPORTANT. ATTEND OR FAIL. OR NOT ATTEND AND DIE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

While the class itself isn't bad, Mercer is no help at all. I went to every single lecture and learned more from my section leader than I did from him. If you try to get help outside of class he will likely just assume that you didn't attend lecture because he "clearly explained it in class" instead of realizing that he isn't great at explaining.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSC127B
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Mercer is a great dude. He truly does care about your learning experience. However, he does tend to get off on tangents from time to time, and not all the lectures are necessarily helpful. Section is super important because it helps reinforce what he talked about in class, and it gives you a little closure on the topic.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSC335
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Mercer isn't a great lecturer but all the assignments help you learn the material. The programs he designs are pretty cool and fun to do and the final project is a great idea as well. Section helps a lot in clarifying what Mercer failed to explain properly. Mercer is notoriously bad at clearly explaining things, this extends to specs, but just ask.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSC335
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You can tell he really knows his stuff. That being said he seems to have very little skill at imparting that knowledge to you. Rambles on and sidetracked all the time. Projects tend to be very time consuming. I passed the course, but I want to take it again because I still have very little knowledge about the subject covered.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSC227
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a helpful instructor. He has to make sure everyone understand the stuff before continue to the next topic. If you ask him to compare Java with other programming languages, he will do it. He lets students to discuss the logical part of assignment in class. If you have any family issueshealth issuescourt issues, he is very understanding.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CSC227
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I took Dr. Mercer's class over the summer. I already knew a good bit of Java, so the class was probably easier for me than for most. However, when I did run into issues, Dr. Mercer worked directly with me to solve them. This was the last time that 227 was offered. This is unfortunate, as it's a great class for those with prior experience.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CSC227
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Took 227 during the summer, expect a lot of assignments and homework. Since I had some previous experience with java programming, the class if not too hard for me.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CSC227
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Took csc227 over the summer. It was two semesters worth of material in 5 weeks. Mercer is funny and goes over everything. Be prepared to do the work and study. Its easy to get an A, a B, or a C. the amount of work you put in will determine your grade.