David Briggs - University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME

Professor: David Briggs

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: COS160
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you're a beginner to programming stay clear of Briggs. Warmhearted down to earth guy but he is not a great teacher. Slow on grading, gets off track, unclear on his instructions, and overwhelms you with information if you're not familiar with computer science. I hear taking Booth classes will be much easier for beginners. Wish I checked this sit

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

"Computer Science isn't for everyone." Said the guy that assigned the most difficult project during finals week. He uses lots of unnecessary advanced math. The hardest part of any assignment is trying to understand what he wants you to do. If Briggs is your only option, skip it until anyone else teaches it.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Briggs likes to say that you don't need to know anything about math to program but it doesn't hurt! The projects were based off logic, statistics, mathematical induction, and just general understanding of how to use formulas which threw off the kids in my class who could hardly do algebra. Briggs is a great guy with little patience for immaturity.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: COS360
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Nice person, awful teacher. He's disorganized, and nothing he teaches is clear to the students. Gives lots of handouts which don't really help because they're written by him. Takes him forever to grade the assignments.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Why is this man teaching a 100 level class? There are people here that are very overwhelmed. Expect him to change all of the content for projects/labs the day before it's due. He seems like a nice enough guy, but you'll forget that when you're reading his notes. You can transfer this class from CMCC, UMA, or SMCC. I'll be doing just that.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have taken this class before, from what I can tell he is not capable of teaching regular students. I am a CS major and even I can't follow his teaching style. Smart guy but not the best of teachers for intro classes I wish they had another professor for this class but he is the only one who teaches 161.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Briggs is a good teacher, his lecture is 50/50 for me. I prefer to see more code and watching the debugger step through to learn. He could do some more of this, especially recursion. His assignments are kind of big for the time given. But overall he is a good COS teacher. Very understanding about passing in large assignments late.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: COS360
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If he could he'd abandon English completely and just speak in set notation. He adds unnecessary math and complication to even the simplest of topics. The harder part of the projects will be understanding what he wants you to do.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I think David is a great guy, and very intelligent. I also think that it took me longer to decipher what he wanted on his bloody assignments than it took to actually code them, and am furious with the absolutely abysmal wait time for grades + mediocre feedback. I didn't bother attending any lectures and just read the rest of the COS160 book.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is a really nice guy and will help you if you need it. The coursework is extremely tough for you if your not a natural born programmer. He didn't use a textbook and he's not the best lecturer so understanding the material is really tough. He is very unlike the other CS professors at USM, so I would recommend him.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: COS280
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Easily my favorite CS teacher. He replies to email during weekends and even breaks with really in depth answers to your questions. If you didn't do well in this class, it's because you didn't ask for help. It's a hard course with difficult material, but considering what he has to cover, Briggs does a great job.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: COS280
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Extremely time consuming class. Go to his office for one on one help, he's ALWAYS willing to talk about a problem. Doesn't grade too harshly. Not an organized class. There is a sea of material presented that the student has to find a way to understand. Understands the students struggle and will help them pass if they always show up and work hard.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: COS280
• 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:

Has a complete and open disdain for programming. Doesn't know squat about ANY language. Only teaches discrete math regardless of class. A very good argument against tenure. If you bought his class, he stole from you.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

As a person, he is intelligent, kind, and seems to genuinely care about students' learning. As a lecturer, he is disorganized, wanders from the topic, and injects random tangents that serve to confuse the struggling student. See him in office hours to get him at his best.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: COS161
• 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:

hmm ... it's a challenge. if you hate math DO NOT GO IN THERE!!! sometimes hard to follow his thoughts. hard to keep up with. but if you manage to do it you will get a lot from his class. fair grader.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: COS280
• 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:

Briggs is a nice guy but a horrible teacher. He is always willing to meet with you and help you out, which is fortunate, because his clarity is absolutely terrifying. I wish there was something lower than one to select. Something negative. He's clearly brilliant, but somewhere along the line lost his ability to communicate with normal human beings.

Rating # 17

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

i like the briggster myself. not the best, but better than others. pretty cool outside of class if you got see him.

Rating # 18

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

Briggs is only disliked by the "uber geek" crowd who just want to "code". Briggs knows, and teaches, so much theory that you learn immense amounts of CS and how things are related. He does give too much theory in class at times, but his exams are entirely fair, managable and grading is easy going. Really helpful during office hours as well.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: COS285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I don't see the problem with him. Extremely helpful, and very in depth on subjects. Not the clearest of teachers, but the knowledge you gain is top notch. Encyclopedic knowledge of CS topics. Was always willing to explain things again inside or outside of class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: COS570
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I like this guy. No BS. Exceptionally fair grader. If you are weak in math and/or logic, stay clear. For database stuff, he is the jedi-master. This class was pretty good, COS457 is his tour-de-force. Briggs suffers from an obsession to be absolutely unambiguous which can confuse the lesser minded.