Richard Allen - St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Professor: Richard Allen

Department: Mathematics

College: St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CS251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do not take his class. I was thinking take CS as my major before his class, and then he kind of destroyed my interest. He didn't teach anything in the class. All the hm or lab depend on yourselves and usually it takes hours to figure out. Unless you have extreme interest on CS, otherwise don't take his class.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Do not take a class from him unless you have to. He makes a ton of mistakes and thinks it's not a big deal, and every time a student asks a question his answer makes everyone more confused. Not at all connected with his students and their needs. If you want to learn anything in one of his classes you do it on your own.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH117
• 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've had so far. He doesn't know much of the subject material (even in his gateways of math class) and is very disorganized. He doesn't use a textbook or provide any resources for the students, not even a syllabus. He is also very unapproachable. I'd recommend taking a class with a different prof.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS121A
• 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:

Awful. Homework is extraordinarily easy at first and then all of a sudden becomes impossible due to poor teaching and an awfully written textbook. I wish we all had time to spend 3 hours of homework on a level 121 class for every period!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CS121
• 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:

Homeworks take way too long because he gives assignments that you aren't capable of doing based on what has been taught. I came in with experience and the homeworks are still extremely frustrating as the questions are horribly written and he does nothing to help. If you are looking for a level 100 class with less than 2hrs hw a night look elsewhere

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSCI231
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

definitely not able to answer questions in class or after class. he is lack of humor, one of the most boring class/prof at St. Olaf. not personable.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

It's been a few years since I graduated, but Richard Allen was one of the best professors I had at St. Olaf. I learned a lot from him and he's the reason I pursued a career with computers.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS276
• 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:

He is definitly not as bad as depainted, he does have a lot to teach you and is pretty sharp in programming languages. The fact that he isn't always capable of answering question forces you to move your but and to go look in the book which is not such a bad thing. I've had a good experience in his class and learned a lot .

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSCI212A
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

He's definitely not good at teaching. I don't think he's as bad as a lot of these comments paint him, but classes are definitely boring, and he has absolutely no ability to think on his feet, so asking questions during class is useless. He can be helpful during office hours. He knows Python pretty well, but he doesn't know how to use computers

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS121
• 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:

I knew he's bad but had no other choice and stupidly thought I might be able to make it through. I WAS TERRIBLY WRONG!He is the WORST prof I've ever had at Olaf and I'm a senior. When giving lectures, he has to stop frequently to think about the next word to say.One thing he taught me in this class is how bad a prof could be.I learned the CS myself

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS121A
• 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:

Not very clear. Must do readings.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS204
• 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:

Clueless, just really not relevant

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CS336
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I agree with a few comments here: Allen's teaching technique is dated. That being said, he still has a lot to teach you if you're willing to converse in class and learn. He has a lot of experience in many sub-fields of computer science, and he has some great life lessons for you if you want to break into the field. I'd recommend 336 from him.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH126
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

GREAT. I recommend to everyone

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH126
• 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:

Ditto to everyone else. Allen is the worst professor I've ever had or will have. He's very dis-organized, boring, and makes the material even harder to understand. You pretty much have to teach the material to yourself because his methods may make sense to him, but not to everyone else.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH118
• 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:

Actually, I thought some of the content of Islamic geometry was very interesting. However, I couldn't stand Allen's teaching style. He doesn't understand anything he teaches, and is an incredibly bad speaker. Also, I NEVER knew what he assigned for homework. Never. The only way I received a decent grade was through the student presentions.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: GATEWMATH
• 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:

Basically the same thing everyone is saying. Allen is a terrible professor (probably the worst teacher I've ever had, and I've had some bad ones) and as far as math goes, he has no idea. He messes up thins like the area of a cube and then expects us to have all the material learned. Through student presentations (about 1/2 the course) I got by.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH118
• 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:

Assumes that his inability to use a computer means that students are clueless as well. We know how to find the "File" menu, thanks! Wastes a lot of time in class; expects students to remember obscure facts that were mentioned once. The last test I took only had one difficult question, but the point value was low so I skipped it.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MA118GEOISLAM
• 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:

Please take gateways. I mean really, you just want your MAR right? Then save your self and AVIOD ALLEN AT ALL COSTS. This is easily the worst class I have ever taken at Olaf. Avoid the suffering of watching your "prof" foul up over and over, then blame the class for his incompetence. I would say it was easy if it didn't ruin my mornings every MWF.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH118
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

The course gets 2 GE's out of the way, and there is no real nightly homework, just 5 projects so thats nice. But the class is very dull. It is redundant and presents no real useful information. If you just care about passing don't go to class, you'll do well enough. But if you don't mind being bored and want an easy A this is the class for you.