Tara Meyer - University of Pittsburgh

Professor: Tara Meyer

Department: TBD

College: University of Pittsburgh

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: CHEM110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Meyers is a nice person, and was long as you do the practice problems she gives you, you'll do fine on tests. Her lectures were very boring and seemed to be copied directly from the book, but tests don't rely as much on the lectures s they do on the recitations and practice problems. She gives many opportunities for you to get help.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Meyer was adequate. I had no background in chem so the class was a bit difficult but tolerable. She does POGIL, however she explains them well and does TopHat Q's on them. Attendance needed for TopHat. She does greatly curve exams, three mid-terms and lowest is dropped, and a final. Would not recommend professor. Lectures were rushed and boring

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Not the best teacher. Though she does curve for exam difficulty. I had a good chem background so that really helped. Rely on textbook to prepare for exams and quizzes. Attend class for TopHat points.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• 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:

Always added a good bit of points back on tests to make up for exam difficulty. She also posts a practice exam before every exam which were the same difficulty as the tests so it was great practice. Gives a lot of optional practice problems on Sapling and in book. Definitely have to work for your grade.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Sweet lady, not the best teacher. Occasionally helpful, but the class consists mostly of POGIL exercises with little lecturing on her part. Take if you have a strong foundation in AP chem or are willing to spend a lot of time teaching yourself the material outside of class.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: CHEM110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

POGIL is terrible do not take chemistry classes. avoid at all costs

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

The one thing with all the Gen Chem classes is POGILs. They suck. However, Dr. Meyer makes some it better because she goes over the important POGIL question with the class. She also uses the catch mike which allows easy question answering. She is very helpful in preparing for tests as she makes exams to practice before the exam and holds weekend OH

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 4.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Lectures are dry and kind of pointless, but she gives you plenty of resources to practice skills outside of class. Makes herself very accessible outside of class, and her exams are hard but reasonable. Many opportunities for grades, if you want a B or higher you have to work for it but she gives you the resources necessary to get there.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

I have her for gen chem 1, and even though it shouldnt be that hard of a class, she makes it hard. She barely teaches, so I have to rely on the textbook to learn basically everything. Going to lecture is useless because the actual lecture is very scattered and not thorough, and most of class is spent on pogil exercises with no answer key.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

If you are confident/ have a strong foundation in AP Chem, this class is manageable. If not, take someone else.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A-
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

Teaches using POGIL which doesn't really work and lecture is only mandatory because of TopHat. You really have to read the book because I didn't get much out of class. Not an awful class but just not enjoyable. Do lots of practice problems from the book and all her practice tests and you should be okay.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 2.0

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

Comment:

If you took AP Chem this class is easy. Dr. Meyer really cares and wants her students to do well in her class so she'll make time to meet if you're struggling. In class lectures are boring, but you do POGIL most of the time anyway (group work). However, she will never directly answer your question and she will never tell you if you're right

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

The POGIL is meant to help but it is just a waste of time and makes things more difficult. Her tests are hard and filled with errors. She spends the first 15 minutes of every class discussing "logistics" of the class. If you work hard, you'll be fine.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: B+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

She utilizes a teaching style called POGIL which is basically working in a group to figure out problems. If you are stuck with people who dont know what theyre doing, youll never know if youre right or wrong because there is no answer key. Office hours are not helpful. The short 15 min that is lecture is disorganized. Tests are very difficult.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

I was in a POGIL class, which was half POGIL and half lecture. POGIL did not help with problems that would be on tests. Her lectures came straight from notes online. She is nice and cares, but I mostly taught myself with the online homework, TA recitation, and the textbook. Tests are mostly straightforward, but she makes many typos and mistakes.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

If you do not have a solid background in chemistry (AP) then there is a good chance you will do poorly. She doesn't explain concepts and instead goes over POGIL 90% of the time. If you do have AP background, it will be easy to do well.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Tara Meyer is no help in teaching the basics of chemistry. She is too smart to teach this course and if you are not coming from an AP Chem background get ready to use every resource possible. The textbook and recitation with TAs are the best/only easy ways to learn the material. BTW her lectures are AWUL

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: CHEM110
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 3.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Dr. Meyer as a person is fine, if you go for office hours she will help. The class structure is terrible. We spent 90% of class time doing POGIL on topics we didn't learn. This class is clearly for people who have taken AP Chem in high school. READ. YOUR. TEXTBOOK, thats all I can say. Tests are hard. Lecturing only happens for 15 mins per class.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

She's just not very good at explaining chemistry topics at all. If you took AP chem and had a good teacher you should be fine, but without a lot of background in chem it'd definitely be a struggle. Attendance is mandatory b/c of tophat. Her teaching is more confusing than helpful so try to learn from your TA and textbook as much as possible.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: CHEM0110
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Her grading is based off of a wide variety of things but nothing counts nearly as much as her tests. The final is cumulative and worth 200/655 points. She does drop your lowest test grade during the semester so another 200/655 points there. She does not teach to the tests and the book is more helpful than anything else in this class. Good luck!