Ken Vollmar - Missouri State University, Springfield, MO

Professor: Ken Vollmar

Department: Computer Science

College: Missouri State University, Springfield, MO

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CSC388
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Extremely disorganized. Shows up late. Doesn't give the test on the day he said, because he failed to create it on time. Doesn't grade a single homework at all during the semester.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CSC388
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr Vollmar is a smart guy and has deep knowledge of computer science, but hes not a good teacher. His courses are disorganized and showing up felt like a waste of time. I got an A in the class (not hard to do...) but I walked away realizing I didnt actually learn anything.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CSC388
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Goofy, super friendly, really smart, but not good at running a class. Often unprepared for class and wastes class time doing stuff on the fly. Doesn't grade stuff until the end of the semester. Assignments are easy but kinda off-the-wall, so you spend 40 minutes wrapping your head around it and 5 minutes doing it. Easy A, but you won't learn.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CSC344
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Vollmar is a smart man, and quite knowledgeable. However, he is not organized AT ALL! Here we are in finals week, and I have yet to have a single assignment in either of my classes with him, (CSC 344 & 388). So I am going to walk into this final not knowing how I am doing in this class or anything. He needs to retire!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CSC325
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The class had almost no structure, due dates almost always get pushed back if people complain about them. He is really smart but I think he tries too hard to dumb things down for people (since this is a 300 level class). Some assignments take less than half an hour to complete while others took me 6+ hours.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSC325
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He doesn't grade anything besides the exams, not even the quizzes he gives. Gets off subject a lot. Doesn't follow the course subjects at all. We only covered about 4-5 of the 20 chapters in the book. I was not thrilled by anything he taught in this class. Someone with more knowledge and can teach better needs to teach this course.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Vollmar is a nice guy, but a horrible teacher. His lectures are boring and focus on really simple things. Plus, he never grades any homework or labs, so you have no idea what your grade is. If Dr. Vollmar had been the instructor for CSC 130 or 131, I might not have continued at Missouri State.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Vollmar is very nice and can even be quite hillarious. However, he tends to overexplain simple concepts, and either completely avoid or rush through more complicated ideas. His test questions and assignments are not always clear either. So while Dr. Vollmar is a great guy, he is a terrible instructor.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Vollmar is a great guy, and very easy to work with. Some of his lecture examples don't always make sense and the pace of his class is so slow you'll feel like snoozing at times. He's very smart, but not always the best at communicating his ideas. Over all a good professor, though. I'd recommend him.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Very easy class, thanks entirely to this guy's terrible organization. He grades at best 2 of the dozen or more things he assigns and the exams are open book/note. He's easy to get along with, but has no clue how to get information across. The only way to actually learn anything here is to sit him down and ask lots of questions to get him talking

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• 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:

Very easy class. Sort of a vague teacher. Never really cuts to the core of a problem. He tends to explain a simple problem way longer than it needs to be. He's very easy as far as cirriculum go, but it's really hard to learn from his teaching style unless you do a lot of work on the side at home.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSC450
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good fundamental teaching for professional training. Written work is a little heavy for a 3 hour class with a programming assignment. Professor has a good attitude and promotes discussions on subject matter during class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSC232
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Vollmar, Vollmar, Vollmar... Imagine a quiet guy who is shy and afraid of any confrontation. Add a stupid smile and you have Vollmar. Extremely unorganized guy in class, he can talk about a topic for 5 minutes, then change his mind, erase everything from the board and try all over. Big time procrastinator - keeps grading to the end of the semester.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Decent teacher. Easy A if you go to class. His lectures are pretty interesting but sometimes he never talks or talks super quietly and mutters to himself. Just go to class, do homework, and honestly you'll get an A if you do that.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSC131
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very nice man, but a horrible teacher. Very unorganized and does not keep you updated on grades. Didn't even find out grades by the final day. Assignments are impossible for a 100 level class.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSC232
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was very frustrated with this professor. He could not keep his assignments organized.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

great class, really odd guy.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

manages to go for hours lecturing without saying anything.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CSC101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Very nice and smart. Does a good job. Could probably be an English teacher if he wanted.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CSC285
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Easy tests, but that doesn't mean you won't learn anything. Very easy going and soft spoken, but can still be understood. Asset to the department.