Charles Colbourn - Arizona State University

Professor: Charles Colbourn

Department: TBD

College: Arizona State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

the professor explains the context pretty good, but the point is that he expects you to know more then what he taught in class which requires a really good/ depth understanding of material beyond what he present in class, which most people won't have since a lot of us take this class because it is required, but he curves, so take if you want

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CSE551
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Gives a tough, challenging and confusing quiz every week which requires an understanding of the topics of the quiz in depth. Mid term and final exams are god level. I would suggest to take this class at your own risk(that too if you have good grades), one can learn something new from this course.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CSE551
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He is one of the worst faculties out there in terms of grades, difficulty and teaching. Do not expect a grade if you are taking him, learning is dependent on how well your mind works at 7:30 in the morning. As a person he is nice but as a teacher, bad. Tough quizzes, exams and homework. AVOID. Expects you to know the subject better than him.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CSE551
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I would strongly recommend this course if you want to learn. If you need easy grades, you won't find it here.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This class is not a walk in the park. Professor explains each concept/proof in detail rather than skimming over it. However to really become comfortable with the subject matter you need to practice past exams/homework/sipser questions on your own. Replies to all email queries in detail. Mid terms follow previous papers. End terms are hard.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSE555
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very difficult class, but a very enjoyable one. Lectures are excellent. Homework is very hard but he is a very fair grader. Professor has office hours but are very early. As long as you really try to understand the material, you will probably do fine. Honestly should be a required course imo.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor Colbourn works hard to make the subject matter as clear as possible, which sometimes results in the most complex jargon I have heard uttered. Quizzes are poorly worded. "If you don't understand that, I can say it louder" should not be any teacher's response to the first request for clarification in the entire class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Professor knows his stuff but he is too heavy on students. He wants the student to understand the concepts thoroughly and will never ask direct questions. 1st and 2nd test was OK but he gave an extremely hard final test. 70/100 gave me A-, so you could sense the degree of toughness. This class was my nightmare.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

HWs are tough, would need to attend recitation sessions to complete. In-class online quizzes are ok, but can be confusing. Midterms typically follow the same pattern as previous ones, so going over them and practising questions helps. Finals were brutal. 10/10 would take this professor again for another course.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This guy is so stuck up(due to his research background), and this results the class being much harder than its suppose to be. Test take majority of the weight, they are insanely difficulty. He curves final averages heavy but it won't save you if your grade is not "in the salvageable zone". Take someone else.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Curve fitting is what will save you at the end.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• 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:

Hard

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This was not a good class. The final was written as if he wanted you to fail the class. The final is 45% of the grade and I'm not even sure if we learned half the things mentioned on that test. Also, quizzes are done online in class and the prof. will not do anything for you except apologize if you can't take your quiz for any reason during class.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSE591
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Amazing lectures. He knows his stuff and expects nothing less than that from the students. His HWs are very difficult but he gives enough time to work on them. His tests weighs much more than the HWs. His tests are hard but easier than HWs, sometimes based on HWs and also long. His focus is on the concepts. He will never ask a direct question. FUN!

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

You could skip class, but you'd probably fail. This was my hardest undergrad class and my only A-, after a massive curve. Go to every recitation and review session. Study the material from the (optional) book before class. DO THE HW! The other reviews have good pointers too. Good luck and may God have mercy on your soul.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Tests are tough but heavy curve, as everyone says. The secret to the test is the hws, quizzes, and recitations. At least one short answer on each test is from the hw. Almost all the mult choice is from the quiz/quiz explanation. The rest are derivatives of the recitation. I didn't figure this out til after the 2nd test. Definitely still hard though

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This class is really tough, but Colbourn is a good lecturer. The exams are extremely difficult and definitely intended to test for your full understanding of theory, going beyond what he teaches in lecture. Take advantage of recitation/TAs. The book is really helpful for going over confusing topics. There was a very nice curve for the final exam.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

A lot of people put skip class and you wont pass on here but i went to less than 5 lectures and did fine. He's a tough grader but if you read the book or go to lecture you should be okay.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This is not an easy class, but I feel Dr. Colbourn's Lectures are fantastic. I really enjoyed going to class. I will say that you need to do the Homework, go to Recitations and ask lots of questions. Don't just understand the procedure learn everything you can. Look up on youtube that helped me a ton.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CSE355
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

One of the worst lecturers at ASU. Take this course if you hate yourself. Course content is actually fine, but his exams are totally unreasonable. He will teach right from the textbook and HW and finals will be 10 times tougher. Final is heavily weighted, so if you screw that up, then just pray. DON'T SKIP CLASSES.