Kwok-Wai Tam - Portland State University, Portland, OR

Professor: Kwok-Wai Tam

Department: Mathematics

College: Portland State University, Portland, OR

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: STAT243
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst Professor I've ever had. AVOID HIM AT ALL COST! He is knowledgeable in the subject, but has no idea how to teach and you can't even meet with him after class. You will teach yourself in this class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is very difficult to understand. There is a language barrier, yes, but also he speaks very quietly, even with a mic. Its calculus, and he does NOT give many examples, nor does he really explain what he is doing. I'm terrible at math, so it was very hard to follow him. Pick a different professor, its not worth your money.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MTH251
• 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:

Very unskilled educator. You are less likely to learn calculus in his classroom than you are by yourself with the textbook. Poor english, poor testwriting, doesn't allow calculators, doesn't use online coursework package which you are required to buy. Waste of time and money. TRUST THE PAST 8 YEARS OF BAD REVIEWS AND AVOID PROF TAM LIKE THE PLAGUE.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MTH251
• 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:

Soft spoken / hard to hear - even with his microphone, poor explanations and examples, very unclear on expectations, harsh grader, and very passionless. If you take a class with him you will end up teaching yourself....

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: STAT244
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

clarified,easy tests and homework,nice person

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: STAT244
• 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:

Worst teacher I have ever had and I have a B.S. degree. AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS. I HAVE TO RETAKE COURSE!!! Impossible to understand, English is poor, very soft spoken, finally learned how to use microphone. Does not explain what he is doing. Unapproachable. Distracted. You will teach yourself and not understand the test as they are poorly written.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: STAT244
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

HORRIBLE! The homework did not prepare me for the test. I came in all excited and ready for the midterm, and boom! I had no idea what it was about. I understood the homework questions, the test questions were not similar. The mean score in the class for the midterm was 56%

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MTH253
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Seemed like a good professor to me. Easy tests and homework assignments. Learned a lot.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MTH251
• 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:

Hard to understand and he doesn't explains what he is doing. I had to learn everything from textbook. Please at all cost avoid this professor. If he is your only choice, YouTube is your best friend.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MTH254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Doesn't explain what he's doing in lecture, just launches into it. Lots of mistakes. You will teach yourself all the material. No notes or calcs on tests. Useless at explaining - when asked for a real life example so we could understand, told us, "Well, there isn't one..." Useless! I'm so tired of PSU's terrible Math teachers - which is nearly all!

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MTH254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The worst teacher on the planet. Doesn't let you use any notes or a calculator on the tests and gives you none of the equations so you spend all your time memorizing equations. I have gotten all A's and B+'s in every math class an engineer has to take and barley passed with a C. DO NOT TAKE HIM. You would be better off just challenging the class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH254
• 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:

also had him once for 253, terrible teacher, harsh grader, no calculators on tests, didn't let us use notecards for equations, nor did he give us any, even with sections of book dense with equations. PLEASE NOTE THIS: EVEN IF HIS SYLLABUS SAYS 2 MIDTERMS, HE WILL ADD ONE MORE, HAPPENED BOTH TIMES I HAD TO TAKE HIM, just took again cuz was behind.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MTH254
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Didn't understand a word he said and I was in the FRONT ROW. Very harsh grader. He allowed no calculator or notes on any exams. Many walked out on day #1, I should have. Homework problems did not prepare me for the exam. Ended up ditching class and teaching myself with the textbook. Please PSU, someone must do something about this guy!!!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MTH256
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The worst math teacher I ever had in my entire life. Due dates for homeworks are extremely unclear, always makes mistakes in grading exams, hard to know what he's trying to say. I would rather kill my self than take any other class with him ever again.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH254
• 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:

I have taken a few classes with him. While I don't find him to be very understandable or helpful, he has a really great grading scale. 80%+ is typically an A in his class. I would suggest doing lots of stuff from the book and chances are you'll pass his class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MTH256
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Everything you read here is true. I took a chance, and I'll be repeating it. No review for tests, just notionally based on homework problems. Assigns homework for future sections before the test. No class evaluations at the end of the term, HUH? I wish I had videotaped his class so I could send it to his bosses. One look and they'd fire him.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MTH258
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

this was seriously the worst teacher i've ever had. i came into this class being a math major, and now i have lost almost all interest in the subject. he is really hard to understand--mumbling constantly, has an accent, talks really low, etc. i can't understand what he teaches because he doesn't explain anything and he goes really fast. so boring!

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MTH252
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Won't answer emails, assignments unclear, no online resources, talks with a hand over his mouth... is this guy for real? Seems less than thrilled about teaching. Picture Eeyore trying to teach calculus. I read all these reviews and I still risked it. It's worth putting off the class for another term to steer clear of this guy.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MTH251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

To many he can seem incomprehensible, but if you pay attention to the math he does on the board and read the book before-hand you'll understand what he teaches. His tests in my opinion are OK, if you do the homework and do the practice prob from the book. Overall I think he's a good math teacher, people just need to study on their own time more.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: STAT243
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He was a very hard professor to understand. The class had about 40 people in it, and it seemed as if he was talking to one person in front of him. So if you were two rows back you could not hear him. I did not understand his grading, nor did the rest of the class. I believe his open book final helped me a ton.