Xinfu Chen - University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Professor: Xinfu Chen

Department: Mathematics

College: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Chen is a good teacher. Although he assigns much more homework than other teachers, the homework is really helpful. He covered everything clearly in his class. As long as you do the practice before the test, you can get an A. Even if you got D in your midterm, you still have chance to get an A as long as you do well in the final.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH0290
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Save yourself the trouble, don't take this guy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I don't recommend him over other teachers such as Inna Sysoeva, although he still is able to be understood enough to make his lectures fairly productive. His teaching style is also very consistent. I did not like the way he yelled out what he was saying most of the time. It is hard at times to not notice how irritating his yelling is.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I've ever had at Pitt. Very tough grader. I've had grad students say I should have gotten more credit on problems he graded. He yelled at one girl in class because she got the right answer, but he marked the whole problem wrong for not labeling it correctly. 30-50 written problms/week. Grades policy makes no sense. DO NOT TAKE HIM!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Xinfu was interesting, to say the least. My man showed up to class every day looking fresh, but his teaching left a lot to be desired. He shouts half of the lecture and whispers the other half, assigns an excessive amount of homework for the material, and generally doesn't prepare his students. I want to like him but he just makes it so hard.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH0290
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Xinfu never seemed like he had any idea what he was doing. Instead of explaining the concepts, he would just yell at you. He also assumed we knew a lot more math than we did and stuff he said just went over our heads. He also assigned massive amounts of homework. Fortunately, his exams were easy, so if you are able to teach yourself you'll do okay.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Class is a borderline joke. Do the homework and go to class and you'll be fine. Just watch because he isn't the best at preparation for the final but his tests are easy

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Chen is one of the worst professors I have taken at Pitt. He is completely unaccessible and unorganized, do not bother emailing him with any questions. Your grade is based solely on exams so come prepared. I do not recommend.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH0280
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are boring and hard to follow. He's a funny and nice guy but I barely learned anything in lecture and had to teach myself most of the material in the textbook. However if you do the homework and follow along in the textbook you should be fine.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH280
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Chen is the worst Math teacher at Pitt. He makes mistakes way to often when problems are already in final stages of solving. No answer keys for review exams. The class is fairly easy but his bad teaching makes it harder.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: 1270
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Homework assignments are from the book but if you use the book's technique will not get a good grade on the homework which are 8-9 pages long. 2 midterms that are take home are very difficult. thought he was teaching a graduate level class. don't bother asking for help. you will get "why do you not understand?"

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: 1270
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Worst Teacher I Have ever had at pitt. Screamed at us for an entire class. No organization, makes tons of mistakes, and if you ask a question be prepared to be told "how can you not understand this". Not recommended at all

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 1270
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you expect an organized professor who states what section of the book you're working on, Chen is not for you. He constantly makes mistakes during lecture and does not teach to the prerequisites for the class. He talks about analysis when the only requirement is the engineering linear algebra. I would never recommend him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CALCULUS
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Chen is a very nice and funny guy. He's obviously extremely smart but is an awful teacher. If you have never had prior experience to calc don't take him. Goes very fast and expects you to know a lot. Only two tests and they are pretty hard. He curves a lot. The final is extremely difficult.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: 0220
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I was amused in class, but not when it came time for the test. Xinfu is clearly smart but also clearly doesn't care about his students. He makes a lot of errors during class and has to go back and fix them, and while it's funny to watch, I didn't feel like I learned anything or was prepared for the test.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: 0220
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Okay so basically, most people in Chen's class didn't realize how easy he was compared to other professors. 2 exams, exactly like the review sheets, sometimes even the same problems. no quizzes and homework barely counts. yeah, the final was difficult but he curves a lot. he's also super funny and very smart. i would recommend him.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: 0220
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

he is funny guy, but he is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. He does not prepare you for the final and his class is boring and it not even worth it to attend.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 0220
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Chen is a good calculus teacher who is from China but his accent takes all of five minutes to get use to. Like any calc class much of the work and learning must be done on your own though practice and not through lecture. He does not require any homework or give any quizzes which is unlike any other calc professor at the university.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH0290
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Xinfu is one of the most top mathematician. His lecture is the best class I have ever took.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH0290
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Chen is really something. Don't sit too close (wore the same ratty shirt sneakers and corduroys for the first 5 classes) EASY tests. Pretty funny to listen to (integral = "indigo"). That being said most learning is due to clear handwriting and textbook problems (find the solutions PDF online somewhere). Take him for laughs and easy tests