David Bover - Western Washington University

Professor: David Bover

Department: TBD

College: Western Washington University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CSCI241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Great lectures, but poorly planned homework, with variable grading criteria. Tests are also extremely unforgiving of minor mistakes, with even a small misread loosing 1/4 or 1/2 of the credit on a problem, so if you are prone to make small mistakes even with a good understanding of the material, this class may be quite difficult.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CS247
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Bover is the BEST. Had him for 301 too. His lectures are great, his exams are exactly like lecture and the labs and projects were very doable. Take him if you get the chance!

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CSCI247
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The man is a savage. Took him for 145, and was encapsulated by his teaching style. From then on I've taken him for 301 and 247. He's straight to the point, easy to understand, and won't hesitate to answer anyone's question with a sprinkle of insult. Wish he would teach upper level courses

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CSCI145
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Exams are hard, as mentioned by others, however I found that the assignments and labs given were both very good learning tools and were graded hard, but fairly. He really hates chalk boards and enjoys jokes that include maiming students. 10/10 would java again.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CSCI145
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His examples and explanations in class are top notch and really applicable. Labs and homework are at a perfect difficulty level, challenging but you learn. I really didn't like his exams. Questions were easy or seemed very unnatural to write (instead of put on a screen), though I think this is a problem with CS in general, not the professor.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CSCI145
• 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:

You can get graded down if you go above and beyond in the homework. He wants you to do something very specific and if you do anything more or do it a different way you will get marked down.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CSCI145
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Bover I think is a great teacher. He does an amazing job with examples and putting them in a way that you can understand if you show up and pay attention. When I had issues with my program during an assignment I went to his office hours and he was immediately helpful. The class isn't a breeze and you'll have to work for it but he will help you.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CSCI145
• 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:

Class average for each exam is 50%. Gives very little detail about exams, is helpful when you go to office hours.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CSCI247
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Attendance wasn't required, but the content covered in lecture was more than in the textbook. 5 or 6 labs, 2 assignments, one of which had a good deal of extra credit. Midterm and final was challenging, but he graded on a generous curve. Good professor for the hardest class in the major! Would take again.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CSCI247
• 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 loved the class I took with Bover. He was always very available and ready to help with any problem that came up. His lectures were great even though we had a ton of content to cover.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CS241
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Bover is a fantastic professor, definitely one of the best at Western. His tests are straightforward but he grades harshly. I learned a ton but definitely had to work for every point. Hilarious. Available for help outside of class, but go see him in person if his email responses aren't sufficient.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CSCI301
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

His lectures were clear & easy to follow! He knew how to teach the content well, overall he was a really good prof but his midterm was very hard as well as his final. We had a lab, assignment and a quiz every week. Lab was in Racket and not too bad, assignments were based on class lectures and typed in LaTeX which was very time consuming!

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CSCI301
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Bover is a chill guy most of the time. He lectures well, even though you aren't required to come to class. His labs were really reasonable and tied into the class content. Weekly online quizzes and homework. His midterm and final are TOUGH, but he's generous with the curve (at least on the final). Taking him again next quarter!

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CSCI352
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Assignments are pretty rough and worth a big chunk of your grade. Fairly straight forward class. Grades on a small grading scale. Weekly quizes can be ambiguous.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

This class was a ton of fun. It was the first time I tried any coding and it went really well. The assignments are a lot of fun but are pretty time consuming. Many people complained about the tests being too hard but they were open note so I think this concern was a bit invalid. I brought in over 50 pages of notes to be sure I had everything.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

For me, this class was all about the labs. Dr. Bover designs the assignments to be really fun puzzles, often with an added challenge that can give you extra credit. The grading is weighed so heavily on the assignments that getting the 5 points extra credit from one assignment will boost your OVERALL grade by 5%. Super redeeming class

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• 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:

Bover is an awesome prof. The labs can be difficult at times and are time consuming so expect to spend some extra lab hours when they have open labs with the mentors. Some of the mentors/TAs are really good, look for clark but some arn't as good. Bover is really good at explaining things clearly and hes probably one of the best csci teacher wwu has

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Gah. This class was really hard for me. I am a 3.8 student with a mathy mind and I really struggled on these labs and assignments. Without the TAs, I would have been lucky to pass it. The lectures are easy to follow but the assignments expect you to have internalized every tiny piece of information from them.. it just doesn't feel realistic to me.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• 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:

Bover is a great teacher. Labs are not difficult, most of the information is put directly into the lab requirements. Assignments are more time consuming, but not impossible. They require you to think, and if you are not prepared for a very logic based class then you should not take this class. I would recommend this class to any interested in CSCI

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CSCI141
• 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:

Took his intro to ADA class and it felt like it was much more difficult than it had to be. Labs werent too hard with the help of the TA, but assignments were almost impossible. There wasnt enough help to do it or examples to look at. This class was very difficult and made me hate the major that I love. Bover has moved onto a Dean position however.