Mary Jane Irwin - Pennsylvania State University

Professor: Mary Jane Irwin

Department: TBD

College: Pennsylvania State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CMPEN431
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Is very smart, but she never felt like a great professor to me. Tests and homework feel fair since for the most part the material is covered in class. However, she provides no practice outside of homework and the textbook is garbage so make it a point to go to every class and take good notes. Overall, one of the more competent CMPEN professors.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CMPEN331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class was pretty bad. Lectures were very tedious. She would just put up a powerpoint (likely the same one she's been using for years now) and read through it. Assignments are VERY hard, especially because most of the topics are not covered during lecture. She's better than Xioxia Wu though.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CMPSC002
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Badly worded and incomprehensible quiz and test questions, students in my class have complained about this. Avoid taking any class with this teacher.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CMPEN331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr Irwin's a great professor! I admire how well she's able to teach the complicated material in the course. You will owe her for learning so much in this class as it forms the basis for any computer engineer. Her HW's are quite hard but I found the exams reasonable if you actually understood the material.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• 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:

Professor is very clear with course material. Hands out excellent notes. I learned a lot of useful knowledge in her class. Her exams, however, can be rather difficult.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• 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:

Mary Jane is a good professor. Her notes are really good and she does a great job of keeping the class interesting. I enjoyed this class and learned a lot, but not without putting in countless hours in the lab. The homeworks are crazy hard and take forever (~15 hours!). Exams are WAY too long, and hard as hell. You should definitely go to class...

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• 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: N/A

Comment:

shes a lousy professor. period. her test have specific info from her lectures. so know them from top to bottom with every detail. hw is insane (time consuming). make sure you have a reliable partner to work with or you screwed. once you fall behind in class your done for

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class isn't easy and the people that don't take the time to work for their grade are the ones that cry about it. If you go to lecture you should pass even if you don't study for tests, because the material comes from everything she covers. Overall she is a great teacher, and expects the greatness of her students.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Difficult class, but Dr. Irwin is very helpful and willing to answer e-mails and talk to the students during office hours. She travels a bit, so there are times when she's out of town for a week. Overall, though, she's very knowledgable in her field and the test material comes straight from the lecture.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• 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:

Awful, the exams were ridiculously hard, she forgot to tell us to bring a calculator to the final, so everyone had to share the 2 at the front of the room.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She was in the process of redoing the class when we were taking it. Exams and hws are very difficult, but there is a curve in the end. Overall, Irwin is one of the best professors in the CSE department. She is very knowledgeable with the material.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Very helpful and generally clear, she might be busy with other things sometimes, but that's to be expected, she's far and away the most decorated and prestigious faculty member in computer science at Penn State, rather than moan about that, take advantage of learning from a master of the field.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSE431
• 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:

She was in the process of redoing this class for us. Lectures can be boring, but she tries. Exams and hws are difficult. Like previous comments state, she is more involved with her personal life than the class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

She is to concerned with other school dealings to remember about the students she is currently teaching. She also got booood while speeking at graduation, nuf said.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSE331477
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Irwin knows her stuff, but the other guy is right. She's out of town a LOT. She'll give good lectures if you can keep up. If you can't, you'll hate her. Read the notes ahead of time, it'll help.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSE331
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

All she does is talk about herself. She is always out of the country and misses lots of lectures and office hours. When she is around, she is a decent prof.