Emilio Laca - University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Professor: Emilio Laca

Department: Agriculture

College: University of California Davis, Davis, CA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Laca created his own textbook, which is nice because its free.I felt we had little to no practice problems.I had absolutely no idea what was going on in lecture or the class the entire quarter. R labs are extremely time consuming. He is very available outside of class, but I find that he is not very helpful. Test questions are repeats.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

His book is incredibly helpful. he has 2 midterms and a final, all multiple choice and he lets you have a cheat sheet for exams (front and back). Labs are a difficult if you're not familiar with R studios. Utilize office hours as much as you can and do not skip lecture, he is using tophat so go to class

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Laca's lectures are unclear and not focused. He overcomplicates all the content and he doesn't emphasize anything, even though there is definitely stats content that should be emphasized. Coding with R is confusing, just learn how to do it on your calculator. tests are MC and homework isn't too bad, but you have to teach yourself.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Willing to adjust lecture style based on feedback. Do homework, go to office hours, ask questions. He's incredibly helpful. Book is cheap but necessary. Make it a point to put in your hours. He doesn't go easy on you. R in lab is useful for research. Gives study guides that are helpful and good feedback. Nice guy to boot. Would take again.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Laca was great. Yes lectures can be boring, but it's statistics, yes the homework can seem long and boring, but it's statistics, yes the exams are hard, but it's statistics, what do you expect? He never once failed to respond to emails and always made time to meet with me outside of class if I needed help. Put in the time and you will do well.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Although Laca cares about his students, his lectures leaves many of them confused & OH are not very helpful. Get a GRAPHING CALCULATOR & learn how to do the stats calculations on there, it will save you a lot of time on exams. Labs and hw were confusing, form study groups and go to TA OH for help. Exams/quizzes are multiple choice.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PLS120
• 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:

Do yourself a favor, don't take his class. He is terrible. His lectures are monotone and he rambles and rarely looks for questions. He gives pop quizzes when students aren't prepared and doesn't care if they get a bad grade. He never answers his emails, or anything on the course website. He just doesn't give a crap. Worst professor I've ever had.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• 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:

The only part of this class that was useful were the labs. The lectures were incredibly boring, however, random extra credit was given for attending due to low attendance. Gave 200+ sample test questions and pulled from those on the actual midterm.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PLS021
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I thought this class was incredibly boring. Granted I am not a computer-savvy kid, but I would say the lectures were very unclear. The only time I learned anything was during the lab sessions. I would not recommend this class to anyone who does not absolutely have to take it.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PLS021
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Not bad. The lab sections are much more valuable than the lecture. You get actual skill with computers there, which is useful. Lectures are less useful and kinda boring, but you still need to go because of the random info questions that are on the tests.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Laca's discussions are boring and unnecessary. The lab section, on the other hand, is very interesting and applicable. Study the practice exams because they are the exact same questions he pulls for the exam. The lab section is an incredibly easy A and its fun, so overall I would recommend this class if you want to learn comps. Laca is meh

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor Laca is a bit soft spoken but overall,an organized, knowledgeable lecturer. He posts up his lectures online along with other lecture notes. Even so, lectures were extremely boring. Lab assignments were straightforward, but required some time to complete. If you know computers, this class shouldn't be too bad.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Yes, the lectures arent that fun. However, he does try to make the midterms fairly easy. The lab is the more important part of this class, focus on that and you will be good.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Really nice guy, knows his stuff. Lectures were REALLY boring, but he does his best to make sure people understand and tries to be funny sometimes. Lab is easy if you show up and pay attention. Exams are easy if you memorize info from lectures. Make sure to show up in lectures before exams, he usually creates questions in class

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

His lectures were very boring. Weekly hw and quizzes were a pain sometimes. Not a hard class tho. Multiple choice midterms and a lab final. Very helpful class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

a complete bore. slept in the 1st or 2nd row all the time. If you manage to fall asleep that close to the professor in the front, it must be a bore. lecture and labs didn't have anything to do with each other. TA's were unhelpful.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is really a good guy, I didn't mind his lectures. He knows his stuff, tries to be funny and gets a laugh. We even made half the questions for the final in class. He is nice and will try to help you. But I thought the TA's weren't as great and there was a lot of homework assigned and graded tough. It is a useful class, so take it.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PLSPLS2
• 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:

The lecture for this class is REALLY BORING. Luckily if you miss class he will record the lecture and put it online so you can watch it later. The lab is kind of fun because it's really hands on. The first midterm was really hard and his study guide did NOT help! Quizzes are easy..

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• 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:

Laca thinks the world of himself. It's kind of annoying to be around

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PLS21
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Great teacher. The lecture and lab are worlds apart. Go to class and you can get points from extra credit quizzes.