Gerardo Lafferriere - Portland State University

Professor: Gerardo Lafferriere

Department: TBD

College: Portland State University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MTH256
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

This guy could've made me hate math with a passion, if I'd let him! Lots of students in our class were frustrated and dropped. Either you like him or you hate him. Yeah he knows the stuff well, but lacks teaching ability or giving help on a low enough level that most students can understand. Very harsh grader; all or nothing on homework and tests.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH256
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Gerardo obviously has improved. This had to be one of the best Profs i have had. He has an accent but has no problem repeating himself if asked. His Exams are directly related to his practices exams that he does in class. If you show up, do the practice exam, you will pass no problem. His partial credit is very gracious. I highly recommend.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MTH311
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Gerardo is obviously a really smart mathematician. His teaching style is traditional (lecture, HW, tests). His HW is pretty difficult (and long) and his tests are just beasts. No notesheet allowed, required to memorize nearly 8-9 full page proofs and also be able to apply them to multiple different situations. Super hard. Not a first proof class.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MTH511
• 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:

My favorite math professor at PSU. But he will be difficult for a non-math major. He teaches like a mathematician, i.e. is concise and accurate, presenting only what you need to solve the problems. He cares a great deal about his students. But if you come to office hours having obviously not read the material, he will make you feel stupid.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MTH253
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I had him for 252 and 253. Whatever I learned from those 2 hard classes, I taught myself. He was not capable of dumbing down his explanations of the material. Everyone except one person in the class failed the first exam! He was not nice in office hours, always in a rush and preoccupied with his own research. Take calculus with a better instructor!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH478
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Teacher has accent, barely legible handwriting, cannot figure out what to do if students don't get the material the first time, has low if any student participation, and moves quickly through things that need more explanation and goes thoroughly into things that don't. He does give notes, but students would do better with the book.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CALC
• Grade Received: C-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I knew one grad student (who was my TA for Math 111) who had him as her thesis advisor. She found a new advisor after Geraldo reduced her to tears often and accused her of not working hard enough. Foolishly I later took him. He is not a nice person, not a good teacher. His tests were the only F test grades I ever received in my college career.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MTH399MTH470
• 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:

Difficult but good. He expects quality work from his students, which can be hard but is worth the effort. Teaches out of the book for the most part. Covers a lot of material in class. Lots of theorems and proofs, which is intimidating but definitely integral to learning maths properly. Basically, this is what you want out of a college math class.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MTH399
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

My grade is a reflection of my grasp of the material in transitioning in math from computations to proofs, NOT of Gerardo. While office hours are a little sparse, he is more than willing to help, particularly if you ask specific questions. Negative reviews below are off-base. Much more helpful than Elzanowski!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MTH344
• 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, and a great teacher. He structured the course so that the homework had extra credit in the form of an extra assignment and tests were a reflection of problems from the homework or presented in class. Outside of class he's extremely helpful and very concerned with students performing their best. One of PSU's best.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MTH311
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Covers up his own writing on chalk board, picks favorite students every quarter, is very rude/disparaging both in class and in office hours, will mark you wrong for proving things the way the textbook does, gets lost writing his own proofs but expects you to be able to produce them, teaches by just writing proofs on the board. Avoid at all costs!!!

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MTH311
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Not always the clearest in lecture, but extremely helpful in office hours. I was kind of intimidated by him at first, but he turned out to be a very kind and approachable man who seems to truly care about his students' learning. I think I got more out of 311 than any other math class I've taken. I would definitely take him again.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: MTH343
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Very intelligent and awesome guy; however: half the material (he confirmed) isn't in the book, if you miss one day you'll lose imp. info cant be made up, he moves too fast, he grades too hard, ends class late, isn't clear when you ask questions, and wants you to prove abstract concepts with little back-up information.expect to work harder than nec.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MTH311
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This professor is among the best mathematics instructors that I have ever had. He will not tolerate hand-waving or leaps of faith in proofs. He has high expectations for his students, but he really pushes us to do better. I think I learned a lot from the course, and I feel like I am better prepared to continue in math because of it.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH1
• 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:

I have had Prof. Lafferriere for a number of classes. He is an instructor with high standards (both for his students and himself). If you are afraid of being told in no uncertain terms that your answer is wrong and your approach doesn't make sense, then avoid Prof. Lafferriere. If you want to know how to do things right, then take his courses.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MTH667
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Perhaps the strongest comment I can make about Prof. Lafferriere is that he is very concerned with his students' learning. He is frequently available outside of class, and tailors the lecture to a reading of the textbook. He is also quite exacting, which is a benefit for his students given the matter at hand (i.e. mathematics).

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH571
• 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:

I had him for Math 571 and 572. Class size dropped to 1/3 for 2nd class. Lectures were heavy on proofs, but he is willing to explain when asked. Great help via email, but phrase questions carefully -- he seems to ignore details after the first few sentences (in email) or words (verbally). He was nicer and easier for the second (smaller) class.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH251445
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

The best Professor ever! If you are a slacker don't bother. He will make you sweat blood, but learn more with a better understanding than anyone. Do not take Lafferriere if you are just in math to get your engineering degree. Let him spend his energy on these of us that actually want to learn. My success in graduate school is due to him.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: MTH251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This guy is awesome but very hard! He really cares and is very approachable. I probably spent 2 hours a week in his office getting help. He always spent the time and had patience with me. In my next class I felt way more prepared than almost anyone else (the first time for me in a math class!)

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MTH343
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Teaching ability was mediocre, but his grading was inhuman. Class average of 62% for first test. The tests are almost entirely obscure proofs. Avoid at all costs.