Alexander Shibakov - Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN

Professor: Alexander Shibakov

Department: Mathematics

College: Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: DIFE2120
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

THE worst math professor I have ever had. I have never had to work so hard to make a passing grade before. He gives you the most basic explanation and goes straight into the most difficult example and does whole steps in head. Even though I could do the homework, the exam questions were nowhere close to them. 4 exams and a final are only grades.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very kind professor, seems scary at first but he's fun and will make class interesting. Do all the homework even though he doesn't take it up.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Shibakov is a great professor. He has a tendency to go off subject during class, but his stories are usually pretty entertaining and often related to the subject. Tons of homework, but it isn't taken up. But you should still do it if you want to pass the tests. 5 tests including the final and one is dropped. Lots of partial credit.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do not take him. He doesn't teach and is rude. This was the first class that made me cry and I was a straight A student before. You could teach yourself calc 3 but his test are so ridiculous. I wish I could find something nice to say about him but he honestly doesn't care about student's learning. Highly recommend taking someone else.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He's an interesting choice for a math professor, he does more derivations than examples more often than not. He does explain things clearly and isn't too hard on grading with the tests.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Alexander Shibakov is a unique professor, he is simultaneously intimidating (quite intimidating) and encouraging. I made all A's during the semester with him and I know that I owe a great deal of it to the hard work he encouraged me to do. I did more homework for him than any other teacher that semester. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Shibakov.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH2010
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He spends half the class going over homework questions students have. Goes over problems in the tests (there are 5; no quizzes) & answers questions. I think I struggled because the book was confusing for the homework (for Matrix Algebra), & didn't have answers for most of the questions. I hear the books have been bad for a couple years.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Shibakov teaches a great Calc III class. You *must* ask questions in lecture to get the material. However, he is hilarious, and breaks up the teaching with a relevant story to keep it interesting. Tests aren't too bad, but they are short (usually 3 free response and 5 multiple choice). He gives partial credit. Great, great professor.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Shibakov is a very interesting professor. Very smart and does pretty complex calculations in his head. Make your life easier and ask questions about the home work. Test are tough but manageable if you study. His lectures are interesting and so are his stories, he tries to relate things to physical applications to help you understand more.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH2010
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is really a good professor, but you will have to learn stuff by yourself.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATCH2110
• Grade Received: D
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are confusing. He skips a lot of steps when working through examples, so for people who write down what's on the board will have a hard time following. Tests are hard but he gives good partial credit. Ask a question and a lot of times he won't understand. Can be funny or mean. Hard to understand sometimes. 0 quizzes. Drops one test.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He expects you to know the material before coming to a test, and so he does his best to answer any questions you have in his class. Really entertaining professor. Willing to help you out if you have questions, sticks to the motto: "There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers." Text book is really only needed for doing homework problems.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CALC1910
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Do NOT take his class if you want to learn something. Try to avoid at all cost.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH1910
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a very smart man, but he cannot teach the subject effectively. He purposely assigns homework that we do not know how to do so we can learn before he teaches. The whole grade is four test and a final. If you know the material you'll do fine but if you want to learn, find someone else.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH1910
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE HIM! I took his class last spring and barely made out with a D. Over the summer, I made an A. The material isn't hard but his tests are impossible. He seems to find joy in failing his students. If you ask a question and don't already have a pretty clear idea of what you're doing then he will make fun of you and laugh. Avoid.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH2120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Avoid if possible! Not helpful when you ask questions and makes fun of students when you do. Overall grade is from 4 tests and a final and he drops the lowest test grade. Assigns HW every class but doesn’t collect it. He is a very knowledgeable, but he can’t teach effectively. If you have a choice, do NOT take him!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Horrible professor. Any time I asked a question, he wouldn't answer it because "I didn't ask it correctly." Pretty sure he took pleasure in making me look like an idiot. I made an A in Cal 1 and 2 at Tech; would've maybe scraped by with a B in his cal 3. I dropped. Tests are hard. Always do hw. If you're a math person, you'll be ok. If not, run...

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH2110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Shibakov is a fantastic teacher and a fascinating man. Warning, though, his class is not at all easy. Face it, though. You're in college. Dr. Shibakov really doesn't like Stewart (textbook author) and he WILL let you know. It's okay, though, because the main point of using the book is for practice problems.

Rating # 19

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Very smart, keeps your attention during class. Always makes funny jokes to keep you awake. Most of the test questions are straight from the homework. Do the 3 or 4 easy questions (takes 10-20 mins) he assigns each class and you'll make an A. He absolutely loves when you ask questions too!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He didn't really seem to know what he was talking about. He made too many mistakes for my liking.He spent time in class talking about how the book isn't good and things not pertaining to the lesson. He didn't do example problems either. The tests only covered about 10% of the topics covered in class, and they were much harder than the homework.