Robert Smith
School: | Mississippi State University |
Department: | Mathematics |
Location: | Mississippi State, MS |
Overall Rating
rated by 21 students
Helpfulness | |
Clarity | |
Easiness |
School: | Mississippi State University |
Department: | Mathematics |
Location: | Mississippi State, MS |
Helpfulness | |
Clarity | |
Easiness |
Mailing Address:
Uloop Inc.
306 S. Washington Ave
Suite 400
Royal Oak, MI 48067
Telephone Support:
312.854.7605
Email Support:
greg@uloop.com
Cons: If you actually want a challenge, keep looking.
Protip: calculators are allowed, and TI's high-end models such as the 83+, 84+, and 89 can do all the work for you anyway, especially with some additional programs from ticalc.org.
Cons: None really. I went to every class and enjoyed it.
Loves teaching
Quotable
Interesting in martial
Available at office hours
He gets to know his students
Cons: None
I have to say this is my favorite teacher at MSU. I would go to office for help and we would discuss the problems until I understood them. Most teachers can't teach past their normal method but with Dr. Smith if your weren't understand it one way he would find a way that made sense. We often discussed how much he dislikes the books they gives us now because the amount of details they add. He feels like it limited our ability to think outside of the image.
He makes the class much easier than it should be; however, I came out of the class knowing how I'm supposed to approach basic linear algebra problems. I feel like for this reason he does not over-complicate it like other professors.
Finally, take this man. You will not regret the decision.
Cons: I wanted to learn more than I did, but it's almost a positive because it is not necessary for every major.
Cons: He can speak over your head sometimes meaning he likes to express his knowledge of the material and sometimes confuses you.
Take a class from him! You will come out feeling good about yourself and its not hard to get an A.
this was my second time taking Intro to Linear Algebra. First time was a miserable failure thanks to Betty Scarborough but his class was a breeze
Very intelligent professor
Doesn't try to over complicate the class material
Cons: Sometimes class can be a bit boring
Dr. Smith is a very smart professor. Is class, he does a lot of symbolic derivation and boring note writing. However he does always make the material easy to understand if people are having trouble. His tests are not very hard and he does tell you what you need to study in order to do well on the test. I enjoyed his class a lot and would highly recommend him for any math course. He is one of the few professors in the math department that will actually help you learn the material.
Reviews material on test class before the test.
Cons: Can get a little boring.
Not prompted to pay attention.
Dr. Smith is a great teacher, but you can easily find yourself not paying attention or seriously contemplating skipping class. He is easily one of the top math instructors at State, but due to his intensive pre-test review.. if you go to the class before your test, he'll basically spell out what you need to know for it. But I say go, he is one of the best, might as well enjoy a great teacher when you finally get one.
He gives a review before the test that has the problems from the test on it.
Cons: he speaks a little over the hands of his students. He makes everything seem more complicated before the test review. Speaks in math proofs! He loves his proofs.
Take this professor for this class at all cost. It is worth an arm and/or leg.
If you have a serious interest in Linear Algebra and want to be highly motivated to study it to get a good grade, stay away. But if you're just looking for the 3-hour credit, you need to sign up.
Also, he always asks for questions on the homework at the start of class, so if you are having difficulties he can help you through.
If you struggle with concept learning you might not want to take from him. He teaches you the WHY of what you are doing rather than the nitty-gritty steps involved. If you can only learn by following steps you won't like his style; he likes to make you think instead of blindly plugging numbers into formulas.
Overall... Smith is an amazing teacher, but make sure you like math theory at least a little bit or you are going to totally be lost. He moves quickly, and thoroughly expects you to remember everything you have learned in previous classes, such as trig.
The average score on most of the tests in our class was around an 83, which seems low for an honor calculus class, but I didn't find the tests particularly hard.
Dr. Smith is ridiculously brilliant and makes lots of fun math jokes. TAKE HIS CLASSES SERIOUSLY, or you'll suffer for it.
If you don't like math, don't take Dr. Smith. He can be really funny and lighthearted, but he still means business. But if you really don't like math, why are you taking the kinds of classes that he teaches (Cal. III, IV, etc) anyway?
For the rest of you, you'll love him and you'll learn more than you thought possible. If you cherish your 4.0 GPA, you might want to consider taking another teacher, however. It's not impossible to get an A in one of his classes, but it's much more difficult than almost all of your other classes. I myself had only one B before I took his Cal. III class.
If I had to give a name to his teaching style, it would be ""blitzkrieg"". It's fast and proof-intensive, but it's not without examples and practical applications. Heck, he even goes into the history of certain areas of mathematics at points. He's very knowledgeable about what he teaches and the academic disciplines that are connected to it, so he will almost always be able to answer your questions.
Homework is assigned, but not taken up and graded. Nonetheless, if you don't do it, the best you'll get out of the class is a C, and only then if you're lucky. Grades are computed using a combination of tests, projects (which usually involve Mathematica), and a comprehensive final.
Dr. Smith starts every class by allowing students to answer questions about the homework, he's not a stoic lecturer who doesn't care whether or not you get it. It's hard to find another teacher that I can reccomend more highly.