Douglas Bowman - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Professor: Douglas Bowman

Department: Mathematics

College: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH229
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He often went on tangents

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH420
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Excellent teacher, the best math professor I've had. He can be scatterbrained at times, but is very enthusiastic about the class. He has tons of knowledge which makes the class interesting. Homework was completion grade and was worth 40% of the class so easy A.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH229
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is kind of all over the place. I had taken Calc I before so I was fine, but a lot of my classmates were lost. He doesn't show up sometimes, and he goes on unrelated tangents. Often brings up higher-level math concepts that we don't understand and it confuses us more. Our TA saved us. He's not the worst, not the best. Kind of condescending.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH456
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Interesting subject. The HW is too easy and the exams are taken directly from HW, so... the class is really easy-- easier than calculus. I kind of wish we'd gone more in-depth into the topics; the treatment of each was very superficial, and the exercises do not get you to think about anything other than flipping to an example and following it.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

IMO, we spent too much time on material covered in 420. Class was conducted at a slow pace, but overall, I enjoyed working on the homework problems, and I thought that the exams were very easy. He is *very* generous with partial credit-- homework is graded on effort and it seemed that you'd get at least 50% of the points on exam problems.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Excellent Teacher. He knows what he's talking about. He's also pretty entertaining. If I had the ability to take another class with him, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'm finding that a lot of the material he taught is being used in my more advanced classes and life. If you have the opportunity to take a class with him, don't pass it up!

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH229
• 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:

Great Teacher, knows his stuff. challenges the students to help the study.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

For credibility, I was a computer science major and needed 206. I'm half way through a CS masters now. From a student prospective, I'd take as many classes with him as possible. He had a hard time getting to class on time... if making it at all. If you pay attention and do the homework, you'll be fine.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I thought Dr. Bowman's teaching was OK, but not great. He took way too long to get graded material back for a class of 15. He was also unclear about his expectations for tests - often giving topics to review and testing on something completely different.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH302
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He often yells boisterously when he gets excited about something in his lecture. He missed his calling as a "math superhero." I found him abstractly amusing.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Bowman was consistently either late or absent from class. Reading your book will be as useful or more so than attending lecture. He has a very narrow grade scale and does not curve the class. His office hours are very limited. He takes no responsibility for his instruction in class or mistakes he may make while teaching.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH420
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not clear at all to students, never let's students know what is on exams or quizes.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH480
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is more interested in Research than teaching.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He's pretty funny, sometimes a little strange, but he made everything easy to understand and was easy to ask questions.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH206
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Havent enjoyed math since 4th grade...Bowman best Math teacher at NIU.