Bruce Zenner - Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA

Professor: Bruce Zenner

Department: Chemistry

College: Sacramento City College, Sacramento, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM420
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This man clearly doesn't understand different learning processes practiced by students. The best way I could describe his teaching method is "brute force" teaching. He throws a lot of information at you and expects everyone to decipher on their own what's important. This makes tests difficult since you have no idea what to focus on when studying.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If you really get the subject, and want lots of discussion, you'll be fine. But if you are looking for structured lectures that offer solid support and useful handouts/ppts, you probably won't enjoy the course. He is very passionate about chemistry, but he doesn't make it easy.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM420421
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Had him for chem 420/421 A bit of an ego and rough class to learn from.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM420
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prepare to read and realize that you'll need to teach yourself a lot. Great guy but he is all over the place and he is not going to spoon feed you any information. No answer keys for most practice exams, so good luck with that. I aced General Chem, but O-chem is a whole different story. This is a hard class. Do all the extra credit you can.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM300
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Z is a great guy, but not such a great teacher. He has lots of office hours and lots of extra credit. But his lectures are all over the place and he explains chemistry like the students know everything already. All of your work is put into a very disorganized box that you have to dig through to find. Overall, just not a good experience for me

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM300
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Z was an awesome lecturer! Though, honestly, he said exams were based off of homework and lecture, sometimes they werent. Kind of a bummer, but, I personally think he gave lots of opportunities for extra credit and office hours--very good at explaining and very helpful. Would take a class from him again if I could!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM300
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Professor Zenner is very fair when it comes to grading! He allows plenty of extra credit to help your grade! He only gives exams based on what "he" covers, not the book! Open to questions and concerns, very approachable. Wish he taught CHEM 400. Do the homework, labs, extra credit and take time to study and easy A! But you must put in the time.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: 420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Week 5:First exam is coming up. Learn little to nothing during lectures. Everything is basically you teaching yourself. His lecture notes are everywhere. When he posts his notes online, it's not the original slides he uses to teach; he just gives you a long list as his "notes," so you can't go back to any visuals on his sideshow. I dunno anymore...

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM421
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Zenner is absolutely amazing! I would definitely take him. Very passionate about chemistry and he is really interested in student success. He is approachable and is good about answering questions. Good lectures & fair exams. :)

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM306
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Don't expect much from this guy. Veers off subject to often. most of lecture is spent telling war stories. E-mails are never answered. course and syllabus are not in sync because he talks to much about nonsense. homework is via Pearson's Chem lab. no quizzes. exams are generated via Pearson's Test Gen.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: C306
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

online HW is REDIC. when i stopped doing it, I started getting A's on exams. lots of E.C. offered. doesn't give clear info on what to study, power point slides in lectures are numbered wrong. he never responds to emails. always has tons of students in office hours that its hard to get one on one time for questions.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

So if you are not really good at CHEM do not take him. Prof. Zenner is a great teacher, but he explains things in ways that ppl with advance knowledge of the subject would understand. The homework barely has anything to do with the exams. It was really hard for me. Everyone at the beginning was fighting to get in; it went from 40+ to maybe -20.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305
• 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:

he was a very nice and funny guy but he was not very clear on what to study for on the tests and he would go off on random rants about his life that had nothing to do with chemistry, which wastes our time since we were there to learn chemistry not hear your life story.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM400
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

After transferring to UC Davis, I now truly appreciate the quality of my instructors at City. Dr. Zenner is one of the best. No, he is not an easy instructor but the caliber of his lectures and enthusiasm have been unparalleled at Davis. Don't take him if you want an easy A, take him if you truly want to be prepared for transfer.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305
• 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 is fair! If 3/4 of the class misses a question then he counts it as extra credit. He offers SO much extra credit. READ THE TEXTBOOK, attend lecture, and you'll be fine.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305AND306
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If I could take Zenner for all my chemistry classes I would want to take it with him. He is not the only good chemistry teacher @ SCC but he is one of the best! Very encouraging, helpful, understanding, and cares about you getting chemistry. I definately recommend him.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305
• 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:

Dr. Z was entertaining in class and very helpful. He gives loads of resource options-beacon tutoring, chem 317, and office hours. I went to office hours several times-he was always helpful and willing to take time to clear things up. He offers lots of extra credit and wants his students to succeed. He's very knowledgable and passionate about chem.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM306
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I could not learn from him. Several other people I worked with were having trouble as well, though some were succeeding. His lectures were not relevant to the tests, and what was worse was that he doesn't lecture from the book so you can't just read to understand what is going on. Would not recommend unless you had his 305 and could it clicked.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM305
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He was so hard to follow. And the first day he pretty much talks to you like you know chemistry. Every time you ask him to explain things, he doesn't do it well. I had to drop the class because i fell so far behind because of the way he teaches. He is a nice and funny guy, but horrible professor...

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM306
• 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:

This class is so hard! Zenner is a nice & funny guy, but he expects you to know everything. He will always ask the question, "Why?" on an exam. His lectures are extremely hard to follow. Learn from classmates & reading. He's nice, but being nice will not help you pass this class. Many people who are passing this class already took it w/ him before.