Stephen Saperstone - George Mason University

Professor: Stephen Saperstone

Department: Mathematics

College: George Mason University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• 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:

Worst professor ever. His exams are super hard and he does not explain well.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He teaches the class as 216 instead of 214. His exams are extremely difficult despite him giving out previous exams to study from. He rarely covers everything he intends to in a class period and tells us to find it in the lectures online. Be prepared to teach yourself and spend all of your time in the tutoring center.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Worst professor I have ever taken. He is very poor at explaining and loves to go through theories and not actual examples. He has his own textbook that is the online with tons of problems and is not informative and doesnt really show steps on solving problems. He assumes you know a lot of stuff so he wont teach you them. Highly dont recommend

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I didn't think he was a bad professor. You don't have to buy a textbook for this class, he has his own online one. His exams are much easier than other professor's exams (you can score above 100), and the weekly quizzes in recitation are easy 100% if you go to class. Lecture can be dry, as said before, but I wouldn't recommend skipping.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MTH214
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Despite Scoring a B+ on his first exam, I will end up with a C. His lectures are dry & not engaging. You have homework every week that often includes material not covered. If you stay, i recommend you make friends in class so that you can help each other. visit him during office hours and he'll try to help. He's a good person, but awful at teaching

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Its clear for everybody that he's the worst teacher in mathematics. I didn't know that so I took his class and man he doesn't even teach the material that you need to know. all he talks about is the software and koofers and some non related things. He doesn't solve problems in the class. He is a bad grader and he doesn't help students.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He is a sweet and caring professor. But lectures can be very dull and I had a very hard time understanding the material. Take the time to REALLY study the homework and visit him during his office hours (he's actually pretty helpful one-on-one). His past exams are on his website and on koofers; tests are pretty easy and he recycles his questions.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: WD
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The way he teaches his class is horrible. Don't take him if you have an option.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He loves the topic, but he approaches the course in ways that unfortunately harm the student: 1 -Teaches 214 as 216, despite different goals and prerequisites. GMU should address this. 2- Uses an error-rich homemade website in place of a professionally edited textbook. 3- Even if you love the material, you are not covering standard 214 topics.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you're looking for an analytical, problem solving DiffEq class, you won't find it here. Professor Saperstone is far more interested in software and nicknacks to play with than he is teaching actual material. If you're interested in doing a lot of weird workarounds and theory, you'll love him. If you wanna solve problems, avoid at all costs.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH214
• 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:

Excellent professor. Clear guidelines about class expectations; all lecture notes online; maximally motivated to help students understand. Exams are thorough, but fair. Looking forward to future classes with this instructor.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH203
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Horrible professor, his lectures put you to sleep even if you are interested in the topic. He doesn't drop the lowest grade on the tests you get and doesn't provide solutions for the test either to see what you did wrong. His lecture style is below mediocre and doesn't explain anything well at all. if you want to save your grade avoid at all costs.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MATH216
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Like all math classes, you'll do fine if you do the work. DiffEq is supposed to be hard. Don't hate the Prof.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH203
• 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:

Good Teacher. Had him during the summer session. It wasn't bad at all.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH315
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

"Intro. Analysis" - by: Gaughan .... sorry title got cut off in the prior post

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH315
• 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:

I really liked Prof. Saperstone, he's a pretty relaxed prof, very easy to build raport with - only suggestion - change the book. I understand that the book wants to motivate abstract topics - and some authors this very well (Halmos) - Strichrtz, however, is not one of them. A book I grew esp fond of this year was: Intro. An

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH203
• 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 took him just this past summer. Nice guy but I feel sorry for people who take him for the full semester. Makes mistakes more often than you'd like for a math teacher but if you can catch them, then you're good. Besides, it's probably due to his age more than incompetence. Class material itself was easy so if lost, just use the book.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very bad professor. Isn't helpful and has a horrible teaching method. He just doesn't seem to use good examples and goes over all this theory and really doesn't want to help you get to the jist of the lesson. Either way, he's mean and will keep you for extra time. avoid.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MATH213
• 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:

Very nice guy. He tries to explain things clearly and he's always available if you need help. His exams aren't that difficult if you do the homework and pay attention in class.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH114
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

the exams are very difficult and he does not curve