Dave Kaplan - Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

Professor: Dave Kaplan

Department: TBD

College: Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville

Rating # 1

Overview:

• Course: PHYS132
• 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:

Refuses to help students. Will not allow you to miss class or he will drop you- even if you have a valid reason. Our semester started out with 40+ students and ended up with about 8 because of how many people dropped/ were forced to drop. Wouldn't recommend. He acts rude just because he thinks can.

Rating # 2

Overview:

• Course: PHYS132
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

By far the worst professor I've ever taken. The lectures consist of him reading his own hand written notes which he projects onto the board. There was not a single worked example the entire semester. All learning will be done outside of class, tests are extremely difficult and confusing.

Rating # 3

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• 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:

Ive taken 400 level chemistry courses easier than this physics course meant for freshmen. I dont know why he thinks he needs to make this 3 credit hour course so difficult. Also very rude and will not help you. Do not take.

Rating # 4

Overview:

• Course: PHYS132
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Only useful thing was his notes that he posted. He doesn't have to do that, but he does and I appreciated it. However, with how much I studied, I deserved an A. I got a B because of his inconsistency in tests and grading. Attending class is mandatory and the worst hour of the day. Take anyone else.

Rating # 5

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• 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:

Will talk in circles for hours and 'explain' class content for the last 3 minutes of class. In his lab, he will spend an hour and a half talking about the experiment and leave us rushing to finish the lab in 20 minutes. I wouldn't recommend Kaplan to anyone, unless you're looking to waste all of your time listening to incoherent thoughts.

Rating # 6

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• 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:

Worst professor I have ever taken. Micromanages every little thing you do in his class. Not staring directly at him? He will call you out. Also never available for help because he is "very busy". Not sure why he is still allowed to teach. Avoid at all costs, unless you are ok with being back in 3rd grade class management with grad school difficulty

Rating # 7

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Professor Kaplan is easily the worst professor Ive ever had. He does not care about the success of his students. Aside from being rude, his. lectures are long, boring and do not provide students with enough information in order to pass his tests. If you are able to, avoid this professor at all costs. Absolutely awful.

Rating # 8

Overview:

• Course: PHYS132
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Good luck staying awake in this class. Probably the most boring class I have ever sat in. I would definitely recommend taking this class with a different professor. Tests are brutal. If you are stuck in his class though I would recommend studying the handwritten notes he puts up online and review them often.

Rating # 9

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151L
• Grade Received: C
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He would take the first 50 minutes of lab to talk to the class, but most of the time, he just spoke about material that had nothing to do with the experiment. Sometimes, he even interrupted the experiment to talk more. He is very arrogant, and if you word the answer to one of his questions slightly differently, he would just say that it was wrong.

Rating # 10

Overview:

• Course: PHYS131
• Grade Received: B
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Where to start about Dave Kaplan... first, he will start the class with his phrase "I ain't afraid of no Dave", which you may not be afraid of him but your GPA should be. From his cringe-worthy jokes to his unnecessarily harsh grading, he is a teacher you want to avoid if you want an A.

Rating # 11

Overview:

• Course: PHYS131
• Grade Received: Not sure yet
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm currently taking Dave's class right now, and I think I can easily say that he is the worst teacher I have ever had. He gives barely any examples in class, and even if he does, they are nothing like what's on his tests. He dances around questions and never gives a definite answer. If you have a choice, do not take his class.

Rating # 12

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

This guy does NOT know what he's doing. He made this class unnecessarily hard and I hated every minute of it. I suffered through 13 weeks without knowing I didn't need this class, and on top of everything else that I went through last semester, I was SUPER stressed. His office hours are managable, but good luck dealing with his crappy jokes.

Rating # 13

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151
• 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:

By far the worst professor I have ever had. Simply AVOID AT ALL COST. He seems like he is going to be really sweet and super easy to get along with but he makes you feel stupid if you ask a question, and he acts like everyone should just automatically understand the material presented.

Rating # 14

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151L
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 3.0

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

Comment:

He would take the first half of every lab to lecture us about the lab. This is fine but if you even slightly worded it differently then he wanted, he would just say it was wrong. He also would not make it easy to understand what he was trying to tell us and would yell at us because no one wanted to answer his questions.

Rating # 15

Overview:

• Course: PHY111
• 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:

Terrible.

Rating # 16

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• Grade Received: D+
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

I'm a biochem major and he is the TOUGHEST grader I've had. He isn't available outside of class. Makes you feel dumb if you question something in class. Tests are 78% of your grade. He knows what he's talking about, but it's difficult for him to relay it to his students. He is very intelligent but not a nice, helpful, understanding teacher AT ALL.

Rating # 17

Overview:

• Course: PHYS151L
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 5.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Poor at explaining information. Lab exams were very difficult compared to the other sections exams.

Rating # 18

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 2.0
• Course Difficulty: 4.0

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

Comment:

Avoid him if you can. His lectures are dull and confusing. He is oddly specific about how you word sentences and its his way or leave.

Rating # 19

Overview:

• Course: PHYS251
• Grade Received: N/A
• Overall Rating: 1.0
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

Uses his own unpublished text book that he only distributes by chapter while you learn so you can't study ahead. Lectures are dull, and he only really cares about students when it gets around evaluation time. I would avoid this professor at all cost. He is unliked by both faculty and students alike, and for good reason.

Rating # 20

Overview:

• Course: PHYS111
• Grade Received: B-
• Overall Rating: 1.5
• Course Difficulty: 5.0

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

Comment:

He makes students feel like they know nothing. I've been to his office hours 3 times and he hasn't been there. I ask for help and he expects that I should know it. He knows his material really well, but will ask a question and dance around the answer without being clear. He also has kept my class 15 minutes late the last 4 classes.