Fred Bloom - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Professor: Fred Bloom

Department: Mathematics

College: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH336
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Comes across as harsh at first, but he will do everything in his power to help you pass. Been teaching this course for a long time, he really knows his stuff. He deviates from the book alot, but it's for your own good. He will give you points back on any exam if you just ask him about a question. Has interesting stories. Show up to class, get an A.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: 336
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Bloom is fantastic. He comes off at first as sort of harsh, but he really does everything he can to make sure you pass the course. He prints off hand written notes for every section. Quizzes are pulled directly from the homework for easy points. Has a lot of interesting stories. He has taught this class for a long time, knows his stuff.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH336
• 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:

Best teacher to teach this course. He shows you examples that are pretty close to the exams. Highly recommend, very helpful.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

one of the best teacher at NIU!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Professor Bloom as a person is not bad at all. He will teach either off a handout that you will receive or just problems straight from the book. He drops your lowest Exam grade, and drops a couple of quizzes and homeworks as well. All you need to do to succeed is to attend his lectures, do the homework and get help if you need it.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Possibly the best math teacher I have ever had. Very funny, and has a great curve for the class.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

BEST MATH TEACHER HERE! definitely take his class. he is extremely knowledgeable and explains things very thoroughly! he doesn't just tell you equations, he explains why things are the way they are. he also doesn't assume you know all the algebra background so he goes over that briefly. he is also very funny so class isn't boring at all.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

BEST TEACHER FOR THIS CLASS! He goes over a lot of the pre-calc and algabra that you should know for the class bc he doesn't assume you know it. He's funny and uses good ways to explain the sections. As long as you do your homework and actually know how to do it, you'll do fine on tests and quizzes. Quizzes are problems straight from the homework.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH442
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class was taught to undergrads and doctoral grads at the same time! It was ridiculous. The textbooks were no help on the homework and he didn't care if you put effort into the class or not. I put a lot of time and interest into this course, but only barely managed a D. I cannot recommend him as a professor.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH442
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Absolutely worst experience at NIU. I'm getting an A and I don't understand anything. Books are useless, and he never gives examples. Tests were supposed to be straight from HW, but he renegged on that for the second exam. Avoid him if you want to understand what's going on.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

He's very hard to understand at times and moves rapidly through the material. I would recommend this class for those who are calculator-dependent because the department does not allow calculators on exams. Attendance is not mandatory, but there are homework/quizzes every Friday.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CALC211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Nice teacher, nice accent too. haha He's a good guy, and does not try to screw you over. It is a tough class, but try and study and you can get a B in the class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH000
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The best teacher at the department. Extremly dedicated to teaching, very clear explanations, interesting HW's

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH360
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This guy explains things how they should be explained. Take his class and hold on tight! He only has one speed!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• 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:

Dr. Bloom is great. He has the art of teaching that makes stuff that would be hard much easier to understand. I like his accent and sense of humor, too.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH442
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

His lectures were so over my head they sounded like a bunch of BlahBlah. He would allways say stuff like "I could explain this, but it is way over your head." The tests were very straight forward, but the material was hard. The only prereq is 336 and 231 and he would allways say that was inadequate

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH442
• 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:

Bloom is the best math professor at NIU. He keeps the class interesting with his cynical slant and interesting detail. He is very good at explaining things. I don't understand anything in the book but I can do all the problems from what I learned in class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH211
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Sarcastic and loud in class, he keeps students' attentions, makes Calc simple (and obvious), and can be quite humorous. Easily the BEST math teacher at Northern when it comes to explaining concepts clearly. He seems to be fighting the math department for reform to educate undergrads better.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

This professor reminds me of Dave Attell. I'd like to buy him a drink after i'm done with my homework, but that "done with homework" thing hasn't happened yet. Weekly quizzes and homework due too. The tests are do-able so long as you study. Overall a great teacher to have.