Michael Knapp - University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Professor: Michael Knapp

Department: Chemistry

College: University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

if u r gonna take honors chem, hes ur best chance at getting an A. his exams are based off OWLs and txt book homework, he rarely says anything useful in class. This is NOT an easy class, make sure u conceptually understand EVERY OWL assignment . HE has a CRAZZZYYYY curve, as long as u fall above average for ur test scores u will get an A.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Knapp doesn't know chemistry very well. He is often wrong and won't admit it even after we prove to him he is. If you ask a question he'll say: "well... I don't know" and just keep going. You have to do well learning on your own. He bases the class off of reading on your own and then goes over some topics in class. Tests are SUPER weighted though.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are a little confusing but as long as you read the chapter and look at past exams, you should be fine for tests. He gets sidetracked easily and you don't really need to go to class to get a decent grade.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Michael Knapp meant well, he did his best to teach. The homework is not much and he posts pdf's of answers to the book homework which is helpful. Test are difficult.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A lot of what's on the tests goes beyond what he taught in class, or what was in the book; he expects you to be able to take the concept and think two or three more steps ahead to get the answer. He's almost too laid back; we got sidetracked nearly every class by students wanting to talk about physics. He's fun, but his lectures are unorganized.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is an awesome professor, but I don't think he is a good general chemistry lecturer. His lectures are quite complicated and confusing. I liked him overall though; his tests are not that hard unlike lectures.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM342
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very unorganized. Little structure to his course. Not a bad teacher though. You almost never use Tophat.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I didn't do well in this class bc I hate chem and didn't try as hard as I should have. Lectures are good, but even when I tried to take notes and looked back on those, they didn't help at all for exams. Pay attention to OWLs. Don't take honors unless you have a strong chem background. He's nice though, but save yourself if you suck at chem.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• 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:

Honors chem was meant to be difficult, but he took it into consideration and graded accordingly. He really cared for the students, offering office and review session hours that worked for everyone. Attendance was crucial since exams had lecture based questions. Overall he was great, but don't take this class if you aren't passionate for chem.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM111
• 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:

Not great in lecture but very helpful in smaller groups. Come prepared and youll be fine

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are extremely boring. Prof Knapp puts the Knapp in nap time. Having taken chemistry in high school, this class wasn't too difficult, but he doesn't explain well. He comes off as arrogant in review sessions when you're in a smaller setting. This class was average.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: NATIV104
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

1-credit Native American seminar. Very chill class, we took a trip to Boston to see an exhibit which had closed down, so then we went to Harvard's Peabody museum lol. Very cool professor, very kind too. hmm we also made clay pots, and I learned some interesting stuff about the chemistry behind Native American Weapons and Paintings. GREAT CLASS!!!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Knapp puts everything online including his lectures but uses PRS. He is very nice and enjoys what he does but you really should attend the SI sessions and the extra review sessions not with him. He's one of those teachers that are too smart to teach, so if you have never taken chemistry before, I don't recommend taking his class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

honestly, not a good teacher at all. Definitely doesn't belong teaching students, should probably be in a lab. He is not clear at all when speaking in class. I got better grades once i stopped goign to class. Just awful, take chemistry with Botch instead.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM111
• 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:

Class can get kind of dull but plenty of Prs so there is always some points to be had. Also, seems to have trouble directly answering questions about material. Exams are easy enough if you just study.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM121H
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

he is a good teacher...

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM241
• 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:

He is pretty smart, despite what others may say. I think he is more at home in the lab than the classroom though. He does his best are cares about his students.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Let me be blunt. He is not the brightest kid on the block. He tries very hard and always answers questions. But the homeworks and tests are related a lot to very difficult to understand book and not so much to his lecture.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Aaaaaaaaaawful

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM241
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Knapp is trying to show off by giving a real hard class, but since Knapp himself is no Einstein, what this comes down to is a test 2X as long as most classes with plenty of questions on random factoids from the text. The questions are not that hard though. As horrible as this sounds, the best way to do well is just memorize everything.