Sean McGowan - University of Massachusetts Lowell

Professor: Sean McGowan

Department: TBD

College: University of Massachusetts Lowell

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: INFO4600
• 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:

Unclear instructions and arbitrary grading. Very nasty to students. Don't take this class if you can avoid it. He's horrible.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: INFO4600
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Inconsistent grader that is arbitrary at best. Makes many mistakes with grades and does not like them to be pointed out. He will bicker back and forth with you through email; exhausting. I personally don't think he likes to give out high grades to make the class seem more difficult than it actually is. Literally the worst instructor I've had. Don't

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: COMP460
• 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:

Very tough grader. You need to understand that he is grading your opinion/test/quiz against his opinion and not the class. He will fight that you are not using the lecture or the class notes, but at the end of the day, you WON'T have the best paper.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC460
• 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:

I take the class because it is the requirement. He is expecting a clear writing with unclear assignments. One benefit of this class is the Exam without timing, however, you are required to do a lot of writing and explanation. My recommendation if this class is your requirement, you gotta take it seriously regarding the work submission. Good Luck!

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC460
• 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:

He is tough! Make sure you follow the way he wants it or you will fail. Every writing assignment are not clear. For every work you submitted, if he doesn't like it, he doesn't give a F..K I'm taking his class because of the requirement. GOOD LUCK!

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: INFO4600
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He and I almost got off to a bad start because of a significant conflict with one of my writing assignments. In his eyes I was way out in right field, and in retrospect I probably was because I overthought the question. Once we had our own discussion about this, things worked out.

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC460
• 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:

I really recommend you do not take this course if you plan to take his course. His instruction is not clear, and suddenly update the instruction on Sunday, due date. You won't pass. You will get F because his instruction is not clear and your works are not acceptable. Please check other comments as well. Good Luck.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC460
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Here's my 2 cents. He only wants you to do things he likes. If you're a liberal, you'll get good grades. He explains what he wants clearly, however, I don't think that's fair and objective. He doesn't let you think outside the box, easily get upset and doesn't communicate clearly. If you're a creative a person, don't waste your money and time here.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC101
• 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:

All I can say about him: "You have to think the way he thinks or you will fail". If you enroll to take Ethics whit him, Good luck!

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: INFO3640
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

He's more concerned about students doing things "HIS" way rather than being creative and thinking outside of the box. I lost points for using a while loop instead of a for loop because he didn't like "how it looks". Class is hard, he'll work with you, but gets annoyed by too many questions. He doesn't seem to have industry experience and it shows

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: COMP267
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

AVOID! Programming in C is an extremely easy class but it's no thanks to the professor. 1: Picky! Expect him to gripe more about tabs-vs-spaces than actual content. 2: He very clearly has no programming experience outside academics. Everything you learn will be from the text. He's actually a very poor programmer and can't help you.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: ETHIC460
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Read the material, submit all work, and show up for everything. One of the most stressful things about this class was not understanding the grading criteria. He does make an outline, but how he grades doesn't seem consistent for papers. That being said, if assignments were a few hours late he didn't take off points.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: INFO4600
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

There is lots of reading required for this class, but then again, it is a computer ethics class. I thought Sean McGowan was funny in chat and made you work for your grade, but was fair about grading. Some of the emails/instructions could be a bit confusing at times, but most times all was good to go. Show up for chat and read what is assigned.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: UNIX31
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The class was unnecessarily difficult. I don't expect to stroll through class with ease but this one was ridiculous. There were two textbooks, one from the 90s but still relevant to clunky Unix. Reading assignments were confusing which made studying and assignments difficult. Grading was tough and the points were hard to come by. Wouldn't recommend

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: INFO3640
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 4.5
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Professor McGowan does a good job explaining concepts covered, is very helpful during office hours (will help debug code even), and responds fairly quickly to email. He's about as good as you're likely to find for mid-level/upper-level programming classes.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: INTROTOUNIX
• Grade Received: F
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Never come up with any visual presentation to help student understand the course. If you can't understand the coursetopic read the textbook or consult to man page. But not to him because he expect that you know the topic well. THIS IS NOT AN INTRO COURSE!!!

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: 90460061
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

If you're taking computer ethics with this teacher, good luck : . Get ready to read and do lot of homework. You've been warned. Other than that, he is an okay teacher.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: 90460
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

worst class ever,

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: COMPETHICS
• Grade Received: A+
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Your must participate in DB and think about what you're say. 2 writing assignments and 2 essay exams. Group project helps you figure out how to communicate with other members. Clear guidelines so I don't understand how others had trouble. Quite a bit of work but not difficult. If you think this is tough I don't know how you'd get your BS. Great!

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: 90311031
• Grade Received: C+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

By far the worst professor I have ever had. Very pickey on how he wants things done which makes the class very difficult when it does not have to be. I took Intro to Unix/Linux operating system. Avoid him if possible. I have had instructor make their class challenging but Sean just makes it hard.