Nick Fiala - St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN

Professor: Nick Fiala

Department: Mathematics

College: St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, MN

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

DO NOT TAKE!! I dropped this class the first week & this is why. He doesn't explain AT ALL what he is doing on the board, he just mumbles to himself and writes down the answer. He is crabby all the time and yells at anyone who asks a question. ABSOLUTELY NO CALCULATORS ALLOWED. TONS of homework, it will take you hours. He was always late to class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Quite possible the most frustrating professor I have ever come across. He acts like the class is a big pain and is late frequently. He mumbles through classes, doesn't interact with students and he just expects you to already know everything so doesn't even try to help. YouTube videos were a bigger help in understanding concepts than him. TERRIBLE

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Mumbles/faces board when teaching. Barely interacts w/ students. Gets confused/easily frustrated when people dont understand problems. Expects you to already know concepts. Doesnt answer the question your asking. Seems like he didnt write his nor understand his own syllabus. HW all online due at end of semester. Had to teach myself everything.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Prof Fiala is a true mathematician and this is a high-level, technical class that requires a lot of work dealing with difficult concepts. He is very clear about what is expected. Focus on the problems he works on in class and make sure you understand them! He provides you with everything you need to be successful on exams.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH196
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst professors that I have ever had. Comes into class and basically reads from the book and does problems from the book for the entire class. Mumbles and talks to himself. He does not care about his class and acts like it is a huge annoyance to him. Don't ask questions because he will look at you weird and give you a complicated answer

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very bad teacher. Sits in front of the board, writes down content related to what he's teaching, and mumbles to himself. Doesn't email saying he'll be absent either. Avoid at all costs

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He is easily summed up. He doesn't care. He comes in, does a couple problems on the board, lets class out early. He doesn't teach the course like the book does. So looking at the textbook after a lecture may only make you more confused. He doesn't collect homework. So if you misunderstand something, you won't find out till you take the test.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Very bad professor. Mumbles to the chalkboard the whole time during lectures and is very hard to understand. Does not do any teaching just mumbling and writing on the board often times not making any eye contact with the class. Very hard to follow and he also tends to not show up on class and many times wont e-mail that he will be absent.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class is entirely based on I believe 9 non curved exams. There is, however, an optional final exam which is nice. Anyways, the material on the exams are entirely on the questions he works on the board and in the textbook. Essentially just memorizing those. Lastly, he talks very quietly and writes small on the board. No D2L utilization.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH273
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

DO THE HOMEWORK. It's not required but his tests are usually word for word the problems he does in class or ones assigned in the book. i got a 60% on the tests, studied what i got wrong on them for 3 days basically memorizing them and it paid off because his final was word for word all the tests slapped together, ended with a C.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Take all his notes and finish all the homework, then you may get a B.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH112
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

By far one of the worst professors I've ever had. He is not helpful at all and will not answer your questions in class. You can not hear him when he talks, and all he does is write on the board and expect you to know the material already.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Literally the worst professor I've ever had. Walks into class and just begins lecturing. Talks to the board so sit up front if you want to try to be able to hear him. Doesn't explain anything, just expects you to understand. Assigns a lot of homework that he NEVER checks or goes over. NEVER checks his email so don't try to get ahold of him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I have had some horrible professors, and Fiala takes the cake. If you can read a math textbook, you'll be golden and get an A+. On the other hand, if you struggle with the homework I suggest dropping the class asap because he doesn't even know where to send you for help (meaning he has no idea there's a tutoring service for math 271 in ISELF).

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH271
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst class i've ever taken and worst professor i've ever had. He talks to the board and I extremely rude. He doesn't teach, he just expects you to know it. No review at all for tests and they are impossible. On test you need the right answer and a lot of work backing the answer otherwise you get a zero. No partial credit, no curving, no anything.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH327
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Easy class. He is really nice in person. Sometimes can be difficult to understand. Practice problems from the book exercise and you will be fine.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: 327
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Nice person if you get to know him. Verry tough grader, exams are very very long and hard.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH327
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Easiest math class I've ever taken. Took in summer he does homework problems in class exams were problems directly from the text. Wasn't always sure if he could do it himself but then he wouldn't make you do it. I got an A on every test from doing as much of the homework as possible before test. Final was optional not sure if I learned much though.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH196
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Horrible teacher! Do not take him. He teaches to the board and his classes consisted of him doing problems on the board. The entire time I was questioning how he became a professor. He rambles on about irrelevant topics. Horrible teacher! AVOID!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH196
• 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: Not Mandatory

Comment:

He's a nice guy, but way too academic for most people in his class. If you like make I'm sure you'd like him but he couldn't relate it to real life. I'd try to find a different instructor if I could.