Robert Connelly - Cornell University

Professor: Robert Connelly

Department: TBD

College: Cornell University

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: MAP2302
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Robert Connelly is one of those rare instructors who really cares about his students. He cares about your success and the knowledge you take away from his class. I took ODE with him and although he doesn't make the class easy, he doesn't make it difficult either. Just show up, do the homework, and take the class seriously. 11/10 would recommend.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: MATH2220
• 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:

Really just a terrible professor. The only thing that saved this course was that another teacher for the course and the TAs in the course were trying to make the tests at least somewhat reasonable and allow students to pass. Were it not for the help of my TA's, I would have failed this course and learned nothing because Connelly is that bad.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: MATH2220
• 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:

Terrible lecturer. He's obviously a brilliant mathematician, but he cannot for the life of him explain even simple concepts. Lectures are completely disorganized, and he makes tons of mistakes in examples. He probably makes sense to people to whom math comes intuitively, but for 90% of the class this isn't the case. Exams were ridiculously hard

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: MATH7510
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Connelly is the greatest teacher I have had, and takes a genuine interest in the success of his students in and beyond class. He is one of the most respected topologists in the country, and he uses his reputation to benefit his students. Plus, he looks dresses like a mystical wizard of math!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Makes several mistakes and is known as "Goth Moses" by among the students. Lectures are essentially useless... READ THE BOOK

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

To be fair I came into this class with prior experience in multivar. He does a great job conveying the eloquence behind the theorems being taught but he's not the best at teaching basics, which is tough if this is your first exposure to the material. Beyond 1920, hes incredibly accomplished (check wikipedia) and wears great outfits so thats cool.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Have to use the textbook to learn the material well.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: MATH2310
• 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:

Sometimes has a tough time communicating exactly what he is trying to say, but gets the job done at the end of the day. Very understanding and super generous with final grades. Bomb a prelim? It's okay if you do good on the final he'll bump you up at around a B

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: MATH3040
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Connelly is one the few gems of the mathematics department. His wit and intellect is unmatched. And don't get me started on his fashion! So bold and progressive! A true academic!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: MATH2310
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Literally an atrocious professor. Made absolutely no sense, frequently made mistakes in lecture, teaches straight out of the textbook which is also horrendous and he doesnt understand either, and is terrible at judging when the class is or is not following the lecture. Just watch the online lectures with Strang at MIT, start praying, and drop.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: MATH7510
• Grade Received: Audit/No Grade
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Going to Bob Connelly's office hours is a privilege that increased my understanding of mathematics by orders of magnitude. Doing proofs with him on the board is a humbling experience, because he is supremely gifted, but the benefit of the experience more than makes up for the blow to your ego.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Connelly frequently made mistakes on the board while lecturing. He is not a clear lecturer. Class would have been significantly easier if I knew what was going on.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: 3040
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

Prove it was a small class and it's really a gentle introduction to higher level maths. Covers basic analysis, algebra, and geometry with a lot of emphasis on writing the proofs correctly and with good style. Office hours helpful, used an online textbook.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

As others have said, Connelly is a boring lecturer. His examples were all theoretical and not what we would see on homework nor tests. He basically teaches right out of the textbook. He did seem to improve throughout the semester, however, which is good, because it implies that he does listen to student feedback, but by then, it was too late.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Connelly is a nice guy, but not the best teacher. I started going to the other professor's lectures after the first few weeks. The hardest part of 1920 is the volume of material they expect you to learn, so make sure you stay caught up and its much more manageable. Multi is actually pretty cool but unfortunately they don't present it the best way.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

His lectures are littered with mistakes, and I genuinely think I learned less by going to them. I stopped going to them half way through the semester and my results were the same. Luckily, MATH1920 is a really easy class now since they got rid of prelims.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He tries... but that's not saying much. He will teach material incorrectly, and he constantly asks students if he made a mistake.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: MATH1920
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Literally and figuratively the worst math teacher I have ever had.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: 1920
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Terrible, inadequate teacher. He definitely does try, but he is always unable to convey anything without making tons of mistakes. I used to love math in high school. Connelly singlehandedly killed my interest in mathematics.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: MATH3040
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 1.0

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

Comment:

Took this spring 2013, first 3000+ level math class. Really developed a lot of tools and perspective that helped me with other math classes later on. Lectures can be a little dry but still worth listening to and was helpful for office hours. Has a low rating for teaching boring classes like math 1920 to engineers.