Joseph Szurek - University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

Professor: Joseph Szurek

Department: Computer Science

College: University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: INFSCI0017
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

a lot of people say he doesn't answer questions and doesn't care, but it isn't true. if you actually pay attention to what he says after you ask a question, he answers it pretty well. he also helped me a lot personally both in the class and outside of it. he did a better job with my schedule than my adviser did!

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: JAVA2
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Good professor, if you don't do your own work you will fail. Overall Liked him. Most usefull professor at UPG

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH0120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He was pretty awful as a teacher. Did not explain concepts clearly, and only grades were 4 tests. Did not reinforce concepts, at all. Nice guy, though and I really liked his sense of humor. I would avoid him for class, however.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CS422
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not an easy professor or class by any means. There was a good amount of work to be done to get a decent grade in this class. However, he was completely thorough with his expectations, and available for help if one needed. By far the best CS and IS professor on campus. Difficult, but do-able. Lots of work, but I learned a lot in this class.

Rating # 5

Overview:

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

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

Comment:

I have had Szurek for 3 classes, and no not regret any one. At first he seems extremely hard and boring; but after these classes his teaching style has made me learn a lot of material-very beneficial to my major. Like one other reviewer said, gives you the basics, you have to do programming on your own to get the rest.Take him though; great PROF

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: JAVA101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you struggle in his class be prepared to be left behind. This class requires you to think outside the box. He gives you the nuts and bolts, you need to figures out how things go together! He does this because you need to think a certain way to program effectively. I personally recommend him. If you want an easy grade take the other teacher.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CS422
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The class is not easy, but it is fun if you like Java. I learned a more from Szurek than any other programming class. Tests are moderately difficult, half theory and half code.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CS0004
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not bad unless you have a question. Question's are responded with ignorant smart remarks and not helpful at all. Avoid completely if possible.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CALC0120
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

hes a nice dude, pretty solid teacher. gives you study guides that are very similar to the tests. my only issue is i received an 89 and i only got a B. not a b+ or an A. just a B, so make sure you aren't in that position if you have him. because he doesnt do bonus and believes that the grade you get is the one you deserve

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CS0422
• 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:

Szurek is a very difficult professor. Go to every class and take a TON of notes, since his exams are very tough and often encompass a lot of material. I suggest pairing up with someone in class to work on homework problems with, and sign up with a tutor to stay ahead. He grades fairly, but isn't the most lenient teacher when it comes to assignments.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH0031
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's really nice but he doesn't know how to teach. He is really distant from his students. I'm sure he'd help you if you came to him, but he doesn't care about your grade really. He's a harsh grader and probably only knows your name from either you coming to class or seeing your name on tests. Other than that, don't expect him to care who you are

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CS402
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He knows the program and is decent at teaching 'a boring course' but slow pace and puts too much emphasis on written exams instead of the actual programming. Recommendation: Buy/Borrow a programming book and read it instead of going to this class.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: JAVA101
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is a nice guy and he knows the material, but his teaching method was hard to understand. He would write examples on the board, but never explain exactly what it did.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CS401
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Once you learn his teaching style it is kind of easy. tests are sometimes very hard

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CS0085
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Professor Szurek is a nice guy but his class (PC Software for Biz) is rather boring (not all his fault). The syllabus says all assignments will be posted on-line but only two have been. He always seems to think things are going to be really hard to understand. (Maybe some people really do have trouble with it?)

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CS0004
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Joe is a super nice guy. His class is boring, but it's programming which is always boring. He presented the material very well, and had a psuedo sense of humour. I messed up one program, he featured it in the class and laughed about it, but did give me the chance to correct it. I would say he's the best at UPG for comp classes.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CS0085
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

It's not a hard class but the tests are horribly long. You struggle to finish in the time allocated. Lectures are incredibly boring but labs aren't that bad. Every other professor who teaches it is easier but he doesn't require a textbook. Not a difficult class but I'd take someone else if given the opportunity.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CS0402
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Knows what he is teaching, but doesnt know how to teach it. Hard tests, nothing but code, and paper tests. Don't recommend taking his class unless you have a LOT of prior knowledge with programming.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: BUSCALC
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Calc in 6 weeks in the summer is a lot of material to cover, but he did a great job of clearly explaining the material and he is a fair grader. Any time I approached him with questions he was very helpful.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CS402
• 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:

dont recommend. doesnt give good examples in class then expects you to understand really hard examples. homework assignments are difficult. he seems to get annoyed when you dont understand a concept. dont take c++ if you dont have to.