Kazunori Koide - University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Professor: Kazunori Koide

Department: Chemistry

College: University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• 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:

Extremely organized professor. Lecture notes are clear, and indicate pretty clearly what will be on each exam. The final was hard, but that should be expected. He DOES curve the course, but the class averages on exams were higher than expected, which minimized the curve. Solid choice overall.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• 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:

You entire grade is tests. 3 midterms and a final with the final worth 42% of your grade. No curve or any way to save your grade if you don't do well on an exam. Only take if you're willing to spend hours a day teaching yourself.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The first 2 tests were fine. After that Koide kept talking about how averages were too high and even when they hit the 60's he didn't think they were low enough. The final exam is 42% of the grade and even though the average was a 50, he said it was still high. The curve was non-existent or minuscule. Get ready to teach yourself since he can't.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• 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:

ONLY take Koide if you know FOR SURE that you are a very independently motivated learner. Grade is 100% based on exams. His style (thorough notes, but almost verbatim from the book) is not my jam. Lecture-sized, grad student-led recitation was useless. Final exam is 42% of your grade, and was much harder than other exams and practice problems.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Koide is a great choice for anyone taking ochem at Pitt. He is clear, organized, and gives you all of the exam problems at some point or another on recitation packets or practice exams. Literally all you need to do to get an A is learn the packets and practice exams and you're good. Also he's a generally great guy and very approachable.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There's too much content to learn in Ochem for any professor to teach it all in class. Koide is very organized and posts lecture/textbook outlines so even though you can't learn it all in lecture, you know exactly what you need to teach yourself. In ochem 2 now(with a different prof) and missing Koide's structure and organization. Would recommend.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He's alright, I guess. Class can get confusing at points and it can be really hard to follow along with where he is; even though he has pre-planned notes he seems to jump around a lot on them. My grades started improving when I skipped class to read the book and teach myself. I'd definitely try to take a different instructor if possible.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Gives recitation worksheets with problems from past exams and also suggests book problems to do so if you study the book problems and recitations sheets along with the last years exams which he provides the exams are predictable and even though there is a lot of material I found it clear what I needed to know

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Koide is a good professor and is very straight forward. You're graded on three exams and a final which aren't impossible but you definitely need to know the material. Notes are straight from the book. Recitation packets are wonderful and comprised of past exam questions.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Koide really wants his students to succeed. He provides a lot of practice problems from old exams. However, exams are the only thing graded. There is a curve and he is awesome about answering questions posted on the facebook page.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: OCHEM310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Fantastic o chem professor. Highly recommend. He is not the best lecturer ever, but they are good enough and he tells you exactly what will be on the test!!!! If you couldn't manage to pass you must've refused to try. Gives practice problem packets and that's exactly what's on the test.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Koide is a fine choice for O Chem. He really does care about improving as a professor and is working on making changes to the course based on our feedback. His accent is nothing to worry about. O Chem is hard no matter which professor you take. Do all of his practice problems and practice exams before taking the actual exam. He has a nice curve.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do the practice problems a few times before the exams and getting a good grade isn't hard. I barely passed gen chem and did really well in this class. He doesn't make any trick questions and the notes are extremely thorough. Getting outside explanations from TAs/tutors will help a lot because a lot of the material isn't taught too in depth.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Kaz was an amazing professor. He puts so much effort into his lectures, and genuinely wants everyone to do well. Anyone who says his accent is tough isn't sitting close enough to the front. If you do the recitation sheets, read the book,you will do well. extremely accessible and organized. Made me want to be a chem major.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Koide was honestly a great teacher. The accent is pretty easy to get used to & he grades really fairly. You can tell he wants everyone to do well & he gives recitation homework sets that are extremely similar to the types of test questions. Only real downside is that your grade is based solely on test scores, so you have to really know your stuff.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM310
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

As difficult as you would expect an organic chemistry class to be. Tests are extremely fair and sometimes even include exact problems from the chapter problem sets he provides. Study those and practice exams and you'll be fine. He's a really funny guy and gives A LOT of resources to use for studying.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The only grades you get are three exams and the final. if you fail the first, its almost impossible to get yourself back up to a passing grade. its not that he's a bad professor, its that he can be hard to understand, and he claims that if you do the recitation worksheets, you can pass the exams which just is not true.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Coming in as a student who averaged B/B+ in gen chem, I can certainly say that Koide is an excellent professor. If you like amazing organization, transparency, and a decent bit of humor, Koide if your man. His recitations sheets and practice exams mimic what you can expect to get. I really wish I could have taken him for OChem2!

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE HIM. Horrible professor. He's not good at explaining things and can be rude when answering a question. If possible take someone else. This course is hard enough, if possible take someone else who actually wants to teach.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0310
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He gives higher average curve than other professors. However, he thinks that the average of standard deviation of different tests makes the final standard deviation, which is statistically invalid. As a result, the standard deviation appears much larger than the truth, which poll every one to the middle, B-. Avoid if you expect an A.