Chipping, David  

Physics

1.78/4.00

149 evaluations


ASTR 101


Freshman
D
Elective
Aug 2001
This guy is so crazy. He's mean to diffrent cultures and he called the daily a "toilet" and said people waste their time who work on the paper! Also, his tests were in like size 8 font all smashed together on both sides of one page. His lectures were long and hard to understand, all you really have to do in this class is do the questions he gives you but the answers are hard to find and are so specific that you don't learn about anything useful. And, don't go to his office hours because he just sits at his computer and barely looks at you- and makes you feel dumb if you ask questions.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Dec 1999
Professor Chipping's lectures are very long and boring and he fails to organize them properly. He skips from one subject to the next and does not announce it. He was very rude to students in the class on various occasions. Half the people in my sections fell asleep or walked out half way through the lecture. Fortunately his tests are made up of questions that he gives the students in the beginning of the year so it is just a matter of memorization. Chipping is quite excited about his subject, I'll give him that. And yes, bring your maginfying glass to read the tests :)


Freshman
A
General Ed
Jan 2000
Ok, Chippin isn't an easy teacher and his lectures are boring and senseless, but anyone can get an A. The trick it to find the answers to all of the questions in that blue work book he makes you buy and memorize them. Those are the questions that are on the tests, and mostly they're word for word. Sometimes the answers are hard to find, but if you have specific questions, he'll answer them for you in his office hours. Just be prepared to be made to feel extremely stupid. Trust me on this formula though, it worked for me and all of my friends.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Jun 2000
I took Chipping for Geology too. If you need to graduate but you don't have the time to go to class, this is the one for you.You wont learn a thing but its an easy class. LISTEN UP CAL POLY- You can sign up for Chipping's class, Never go to Lecture (except for test) , just study his "study questions" the night before and you will get a B or better.The study questions are exactly the test. Chipping is not needed. Learn everything from the book.That's what I did. I got a B in astronomy, and a A in Geology.I always go to all my classes, except this one. TRUST ME - YOU ARE MORE CAPABLE OF LECTURING BETTER THAN THIS GUY. If you take him, read the book. Never go to class.


Freshman
Withdrawn
General Ed
May 2001
First of all let me say that Prof. Chipping is just too smart for his own good. Becasue of his intelligence, he has gained respect, but his ability to clearly state his material is seriously lacking. I took the class with him as my professor after reading the Polyratings and thought, "hey, I don't have to go to class and can get at least a B". WEll, first of all, due to his Astronomy 101 class in winter 2001, HE NOW TAKES ATTENDANCE , and 2, this subject matter is not easy. SO, if you are the kind of person that needs someone to help you understand concepts, this isn't the class you want to take. And don't be fooled about just filling in his workbook. That in itself is a good 2hr per chapter task. There are about 50-100 questions per chapter. You have to know 5 chapters for each test. This class is easy if you have really good memorization skills, or REALLY like astronomy. Otherwise, it sucks.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Aug 2001
Anybody who doesn't get an A in this class is a complete moron. Chipping's tests are ridiculously easy because he takes the material right out of his study guides. Who cares that know one can understand him because of his english accent and his sometimes wild outbursts- the guy really does love astronomy. All you need to do is know the answers to the study guides and you've got it.


Freshman
Credit
General Ed
Mar 2002
Do not take this man's classes....any of them. I had him for astronomy and I hear he is terrible in all of his courses. Half the class stops showing up during the quarter and he can't figure out why. He is not clear about points, it's difficult to tell what is and is not an important fact to write down when taking notes. Most of the time he just babbles about 5 topics at once, so nothing makes sense. TAKE ANOTHER TEACHER!

GEOL 101


Freshman
Credit
Required (Support)
Apr 2004
Dr. Chipping Rocks!(pun intended) His two-hour lectures were long yes, but they were filled with exciting pictures of lahars and plinian erruptions--complimented with his sarcastic jokes that I compiled a list of. He is short, round, Scottish, and a pompus cranky old man as well, but that just adds to the charm. Doodling in class is okay during the chemistry section, but decorate using a geologic theme! Tip: Bring your redbook to class and take notes with it, answer the questions for each chapter, and meet people to have study groups with. It only takes a few hours a weekend before the midterm to get together and go through the questions. After you do, the midterm will be so easy. Trust me, all of us got the highest test scores in both of the classes.

GEOL 102


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Jan 2002
chipping is a funny guy in that bizarre british sort of way... unfortunately the occassional joke was hardly enough to keep my attention on the incredibly boring subject matter. its obvious that he knows what hes talking about and is groin-grabbingly enthusiastic about geology, he just doesnt convey the material well-enough to the students...if you want an A, you MUST read everything and attend every class (as many questions on tests are lecture-based). if youre lazy like i am and dont give a damn, you should make it outta there with a C. because he doesnt take attendance, less than half the class would show up for each session, and most of those who did show up would leave during the break.... noticing this trend, chipping decided to encourage attendance by inserting questions into his slide-show lecture which would hafta be answered correctly on a scantron for points. stated simply... geology is boring... deal with it (unless you dont have to)


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Feb 2002
Man O man this guy needs help. Everyday you walk out of this class you will say, "Fuck Rocks!!!" In the purple book you have to buy, answer all the questions and memorize each one because that is the EXACT questions from the test. Going to class will make you stupider...I promise.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Feb 2002
This teacher has no idea what he is talking about. The only reason i went to class was because he asks you questions during the class and answer them on a scantron, then turn them in. Otherwise, I just sleep in his boring ass class.


Sophomore
N/A
General Ed
Mar 2002
i took this class thinking it wouldn't be that bad since its a lower division GE course. Little did i know that prof. chipping would turn my life into a living hell. he is one of the worst teachers i have ever had in my life. His lectures are the biggest waste of time and they don't make any f@*%ing sense. He jumps from one topic to the other and talks to us as if we are geologists and we know all of this stuff already. Well, FYI prof. Chippling, we are not geologists and we don't give a SH*T!!! Under no circumstances should you ever take this class (or any class for that matter) from this guy. And the kids who say that he is a good teacher are full of sh*t, over achievers who spend their entire life memorizing uselesss info so this is nothing new to them. So don't listen to them!!!


Freshman
A
General Ed
Mar 2002
Not that bad. Pretty boring lectures. Sort of a funny guy. Hard to learn from. Tests are mostly from the study guide and there are big curves. May have taken some one else if I could do it over again.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Apr 2002
This Professor is boring, to say the least. He can be somewhat funny, but when it comes to presenting the material in an understandable way, he falls short, VERY short. What is worse (to people who arent speed writers) he likes flipping through slides like 1..2..3.45678910. So either buy a voice recorder or know the subject really well to begin with. He has a few assignments throughout the course, as well as three exams including the Final. Although they are multiple choice (100), they are HARD. So most of the time you end up guessing, with a (usually) 50/50 chance since most are true/false. He does provide a note/question booklet, supposedly summarizing the info and providing questions which were supposed to help you prepare for the exams - so of those questions were on the exam itself. However it didnt help me very much. About the only thing going for David Chipping is the fact that he curves after every single exam, usually very high (probably what saved me from failing his class). Oh, he also gives impromtu scantron questions throughout the lecture, in an attempt to make sure students come to class (although it didnt seem to work). I highly suggest taking someone else or some other class if possible.


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Apr 2002
chipping is a jackass... i had a B throughout the quarter... i dont do too well on the final, and i wind up with a 79.95% as my final class grade (according to his postings)... the shithead gives me a C... not even a C+ or the B- that i deserved. as far as im concerned he can stick all his goddamn rocks up his petrified british ass


Freshman
A
General Ed
May 2002
Chipping is wierd and doesn't really care about his students. It's quite easy to cheat in his class and i don't think he gives a damn if we do or not.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Jun 2002
Chipping is a really boring professor. His accent may be cool, but his constantly telling us that we are all going to die because we are running out of oil and polluting our planet, gets old after the first 100 times or so. I would recommend getting another teacher for this course, but if you have to take him, make sure you do the chapter questions, it is the only thing that will help you pass the class.


Senior
N/A
General Ed
Jun 2002
Dr. Chipping is the worst professor I have ever had in college. No question about it. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! I would have delayed graduating if I knew this class would be like this. He doesn't teach, all he does is show his stupid slide show too fast to even take any notes. He really is out to get his students. My class was doing particularly bad, so instead of helping us by making a better curve, he made freakin' harder! What a D%CK! Don't take this class. The answers aren't really in the book and he makes fun of the class for getting things wrong. To sum up...the guy is a jerk, doesn't care about students, and can't teach.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Sep 2002
Stop ripping on Dr. Chipping. Ya, the class wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, but then again how exciting can geology actually be. Dr. Chipping ran a good class, even though he did do his lectures quickly. His tests are a piece of cake: all the test questions are from the homework. On top of that, he curves the grades so you gotta be a pretty big dumb ass to get lower than a C on his tests. He does give a lot of homework from the book. You answer all the homework questions on a scantron. You also answer class questions on scantrons. I don't know why people are saying that he makes you feel stupid. He never was rude when he didn't have to be, he never challenged anyone in the class, he knows a lot about geology, and the people who say they didn't learn anything from his lectures belong in the special day class back at their old high school.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Sep 2002
Easy, boring. Easy, boring. So boring that the easiness doesn't act as a plus. Just have plenty of scantrons on hand and hope that you don't fall asleep reading the textbook or listening to the lecture. Chipping really likes geology, but it is so obvious that no one else does. (Okay, so one person did raise a hand when he asked who liked the subject...) I had no problems with Chipping as a professor, but I (as did everyone else) had problems with the subject matter. (So boring!) I "learned" more than anyone should have to about rocks and forgot about it as soon as I was done with the test. About the only interesting thing in this class was the chapter or two about water. I suggest taking this class with a friend and trading days (Tuesdays you, Thursday him, etc.) so that you can make it through as simply and interestingly as possible.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Nov 2002
n/a


Freshman
B
General Ed
Nov 2002
Overall Dr.Chipping was one of the best teachers I've ever had. Tests can be kind of hard, but he grades n a curve so its not to bad. He try to make the class entertaining even though you are studying rocks. He has a cool accent and is a nice guy.


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Dec 2002
This guy is a tricky bastard. He prides himself in weeding out students he considers stupid and, accordingly, can be utterly smug. At the same time, while he is boring as hell and monotoned in his lectures, he has made efforts to make the class easier... giving homework, occasionally asking questions and repeating himself in lectures. In all fairness, he's a lot better than he used to be. Yet, admittedly, his tests are still intense. And he's still a tricky bastard. .....One more thing..... he belongs in "Monty Python" with his accent and incessant giggling and shuffling during lectures.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Dec 2002
Prof. Chipping made geology as interesting as possible by incorporating pictures into his lectures. I appreciate his use of Powerpoint because his writing is REALLY difficult to read. The class was really easy IF you do the homework. The assignments were basically designed to make you read the chapter, but they can be completed within an hour most of the time. The tests are 100 multiple choice questions with about 95 of them coming directly from the homework. The other five are usually from class and they can be tough. You don't necessarily have to go to class, but be sure to get your homework graded. Class isn't that bad- he actually makes some really funny comments but everyone's daydreaming. I would definitely take another class taught by Prof. Chipping.


Sophomore
B
Elective
Dec 2002
This is an extremely boring class. He also asks questions every day during class to make sure people attend, but as long as you go to class and do the homework, then this class will be easy. he takes almost all of his exam questions straight form the homework, so just memorize the homework and this class will not be a problem.


Sophomore
A
Elective
Dec 2002
I think Dr. Chipping is a really neat guy. He's really enthusiastic about teaching this class and makes the tests and homeworks really easy...the homework questions are out of the book and the test questions are replicas of the homeworks. Keep up with the reading and pay attention in class and you'll do fine. He gives out a homework paper for every chapter and lectures after the tests. He's a cool guy...but don't take him if you don't like homework.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Jan 2003
Although he tries really hard, Chipping is not a very good professor. He is difficult to understand, makes bad jokes, has no organization in his lectures, and assumes his students know just as much a he does. As far as the class goes, it couldn't have been easier. There is weekly homework and three noncumulative exams. About 85 to 90 percent of the test questions come directly from the homework. The others come from lecture. Be advised that even though Chipping does not count attendance, he asks multiply choice scantron questions during his lectures which he will randomly collect throughout the quarter. All together this class was very boring, uninformative, and unchallenging.


Sophomore
D
General Ed
Mar 2003
Quite honestly, the WORST professor I have ever had at Cal Poly. DONT BELIEVE THE POSITIVE THINGS SAID ABOUT HIM. He used to have a reputation on this site as a really easy teacher. Apparently, he caught wind of his reputation and set his mind on changing what people thought. So, he assigns a 50 question take-home scantron test EVERY CLASS PERIOD. He also uses a version of the text that is outdated, so he'll ask questions that aren't answered exactly. You'll be staying up late pulling your hair out trying to figure out what the hell he is talking about. When he noticed that the class was not doing well on homework that was from the book, he chalked it up to "our stupidity." Yes, he actually insulted our intelligence. Instead of assuming any fault in the matter, its easier to assume that the 100 people in your class must all be stupid. He also goes way too fast during the class lectures. By the time you see the slide and start taking some notes, he's gone onto something so radically different, that you have to either stop taking notes, or completely miss the new information. He caused me unwanted stress and I walked out of the class having retained nothing new from the class. By the way, people who say things like "He's a cool guy...but don't take him if you don't like homework." Should not be rating professors. Nobody browsing this web site "likes" homework. We're all looking for professors that are good at their jobs with the minimum amount of bullshit. Chipping is a bad teacher. I learned nothing and despite some hard work, I left the class frustrated and discouraged with a bad grade.


Sophomore
N/A
General Ed
Mar 2003
Wow...Okay, let me start by saying why I took the class. Before last quarter I read the polyratings on him that said his lectures were boring, you didn't really need to go, and all you had to do were the study guides before the tests to pass the class. THIS IS BULL! Chipping realized that people were slacking off so he made it incredibly harder. You have a homework assignment due everyday (50 retarded ?s), then two midterms and a final that counts as much as a midterm (non cumulative). THEN he has in class questions that you can't really get because his lectures are so fast and he never actually makes sense. So you have to go to class everyday to get the inclass questions that he collects randomly. Then his finals are like 70% lecture questions that are totally bogus and you inevitably fail! Luckily so does the rest of the class so he grades on a curve. PLEASE do not take this class! at least not with him, I've heard garcia is alright, but Chipping, the old English man is horrible. OH and he also makes fun of religion, which is actually sort of funny. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS! EVER!


Freshman
A
General Ed
Mar 2003
Wow... this class should be called "Geology for Retards." The lectures were impossible to follow due to the fact that Chipping talks WAY too fast and all of his words seem to smear together. However due to the fact that no one attends class it is actually quite easy to get an a. i got 2 d's and a c on the tests and managed to get an A in the class. All you need to do is memorize the homework answers before the tests and you will do better than most on the tests. i would not have even bothered going to class if it were not for the annoying questions he asks in class that you have to answer. i recommend buying a lot of scantrons and bringing other work to do in class if you even bother to go.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Apr 2003
The class was tough, but that's just the course, not too much Chipping's fault. Mr. Chipping is very very intelligent, so sometimes he gets going and lost me in his lectures, then gets pissed off if he doesn't think people are paying attention or taking notes. His tests are tough, nobody gets anything above 80% (literally) but he curves it. His grading is somewhat confusing. If you have to take geology then just work hard, but for GE just take a different class.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Jun 2003
I don't think Chipping is a bad guy, honestly. He's funny, in a "I'm-a-nerd-let's-all-have-a-good-laugh" kind of way. He has trouble matching his homework to the reading, something which I found completely frustrating all quarter. His tests follow suit, because he just cuts and pastes questions from the homework. He has in class scantron questions (about 15 questions per 50 question scantron, a big goddamn waste). He cuts and pastes those too. Now, here's the problem . . . he doesn't grade on how much you learn from the class, he grades on your ability to memorize. Test questions are all cut and paste, and it seems easy, but if they didn't make any sense to begin with, then they won't on the test. Meaning, if he wrote a question poorly on the homework (which he did way too often) it was written poorly on the test, which has a huge effect on the grade. I'd still take him to avoid taking chemistry, which I hated in high school, but Garcia has to be better. This guy is a pain in the ass.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Jul 2003
This is the most boring class I have ever taken. His lectures were pretty much all over the place and it was extremely hard to stay awake. There were usually 2 long homework assignments a week and you had to go to class because he asked questions that you would answer on a scantron throughout the class. But, if you miss class, just give your scantron to someone to fill in in case he asks questions or collects the scantron. I probably missed half the classes during the quarter and managed to get an A because I always gave my homework and scantrons to someone to turn in for me. The first test was easy becasue it was all homeowrk questions. But then, he yelled at us for only memorizing homework and not coming to class and taking notes, so on the 2nd and 3rd test he changed the format without warning, and made them about 60% lecture questions. I did great on the first test but OK (around a C)on the second 2. The good thing is he curves A LOT so if you are in the top half, you'll get an A or a B. Overall, it was boring and time consuming, but a pretty easy GE. I'm not sure if I would do it over again though.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Dec 2003
Dr. Chipping's class was not as bad as most people have posted. His curve makes the grading very reasonable and if you do the homework and study the questions you should do fine. His lectures are not that boring if you find the subject matter interesting although the 2 hours of straight lecture is difficult in any circumstance. His scantrons are a bit of a pain but otherwise nobody would go to class. He is also very willing to help out students who are having difficulties and is very knowledgeable.


Sophomore
No Credit
General Ed
Jan 2004
ok. let's begin. i heard all of the horror stories about taking geology after i already signed up for the class. in no time i took matters into my own hands and changed it to credit/no-credit, in order to save myself from the consequences of not engaging in this boring (to say the least) subject. i was hanging in there...i even had the advantage of a friend who had all of the answers to the red book questions. i know i didn't study them as much as i should have, but i thought that i had an ok understanding of the material going into the test (given that i was a notetaker for the class, so i showed up to the majority of the lectures). the tests were hard to say the least, unless you are willing to search through the book to look for the answers and hope that they are correct.. which still didn't help. my only advice is get out if you have the chance, better yet never take the class. take something else. im am positive that i could not be as bad as this class.


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Feb 2004
Chipping is a pompous jack ass. He makes you do ridiculous amounts of hw, and his test are just hours of and hours of memorization because to him geology is the only subject that matters in life. His lectures are pain stakingly unbearable, and you can never understand what the hell he is saying when you do tune in for a second. He is by far the worst professor I've ever had. Take him if you ever want to catch 2 hour nap on campus.


Junior
B
General Ed
Feb 2004
Geology 102 is *very* easy if you do things correctly. First, you need to get the red book and the text book. Answer ALL of the questions in the red book. He's VERY TRICKY about some of the questions, so if there is any doubt, go to his office hours and he'll give you an explaination that will (hopefully) tell you the right answer. He won't give you the right answer, so don't expect a freebie. Those questions are WORD FOR WORD on the test. If your red book answers are correct, you WILL get an A. The hard part is getting the right answers. GO TO OFFICE HOURS. I cannot stress that enough. I got a C on the first test because I didn't realize how tricky he was in the questions. I got a B+ on the second midterm because I got the right answers from him.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2004
I think the biggest problem with this guy is that he thinks he's funny but he's not. I really think he feels bad when no one laughs at his geology jokes, and then you pay for it when he lectures in his boring monotone manner. If you need an easy class to satisfy a GE, take it, but if not, i would try to avoid this teacher.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Mar 2004
I have one thing to say... take advantage of his office hours! seriously. I probably would not have passed Professor Chipping's class had it not been for my constant trips to his office. He requires you to buy his notes, which include multiple choice questions. Many of the questions in this book end up on the exams. But the only way to check your answers is to go to his office and ask questions. So definitely take advantage of that!


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2004
If you do the "reb-book" and memorize all of the questions in it, you'll get c's on most tests...but with the curve, it's an A. Lecture is boring, but the daily in-class quizzes make for easy points. Chipping's a big Bible basher which just got old. I respected him for being a teacher, why couldn't he respect the fact that some people believe in the Bible?


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2004
Dr. Chipping is an unreasonable professor. His grading policies are very vague and he would not even tell you what chapters the tests were on until a few days before. I went up to him and asked what chapter his lecture coencided with and he just got mad and said I should figure it out. He does not round up your grades either. I worked very hard and still did not do well on the tests, but nobody does very well so there is a large curve. His lectures never helped me out, but I had to go because he asked questions during them that we handed in. I thought he should have told us what our grade was based on and made the tests more realistic. The class turned out to be a lot of work and studying for nothing and I would never reccommend it to anyone.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Aug 2004
Prof. Chipping Loves Geology. I Wish i could say the same for all his students. Oh Well. He goes off on rants during his lectures that will leave you lost for sure. Just be sure to pay attention to the overhead slides as you are tested in class everyday on scantrons. Also be sure to buy the "redbook". Many of the Questions in here are repeated verbatim on the three midterms and of course the final--all of which are 100 MC/TF/YN type Questions. The tests are really long and kind of a bitch but he curves A LOT!!


Freshman
C
General Ed
Oct 2004
This class was ridiculous, especially for a general elective. The lectures were simply power point slides with dry facts. Sometimes I found it hard to stay concentrated for extended periods of time listening to Chipping's lecture. However, Chipping does provide a practice test booklet that you can buy. A good portion of his exam questions are straight from the booklet, the rest are from the book and lecture (hopefully you didn't fall asleep).


Freshman
B
General Ed
Nov 2004
This is the most exitable teacher you will ever meet. His lectures are full of information and interesting, but you really need to keep up with the readings and lecture notes. He grades on a curve so you end up competing with your classmates for a good grade, but he is a very fair tester and grader. For such a potentially boring subject as geology, he was an excellent ally.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Nov 2004
The best thing to do during lectures is listen -- not just to the material, but the man! he's mad about geology and it's quite entertaining. if you listen for his crazy witticisms you'll probably learn a lot of the material too. here's an example of what you might hear him say on any given day: "most of you just sat there like ppop in the park." "always trust your government. they will never lie to you." "needless to say, all their skin fell off and they died." "no condoms here, we just dump you over a cliff, take care of that little population problem." "i don't remember what i did, but at least i had my pants on." "keep your black hellicopters out of my bathroom." although geology is boring, he adds a little humor now and then. oh, and the little book you have to buy, if you really truly study those questions you'll get an a. and make sure you come to the second half of class after the midterm because he collects the in class quiz at that time.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Dec 2004
Dr. Chipping is the best! I've seen and heard a lot of complaints, but these people must not have a sense of humor because he is hilarious! He's an old Scotish man who cracks random jokes, but explains the material very well. STUDY THE RED BOOK! Like 75% of his test questions are out of that book. Note: In the margins of your class notes, write some of his random jokes and/or funny comments down because they provide excellent entertainment when reviewing for tests!


Freshman
A
General Ed
Dec 2004
Chipping is a nice guy, but all he does is lecture. The test questions come straight out of his course booklet, but you still have to go to class because of his in class quizzes. I would recommend finding another way to fulfull this general ed. requirment. Fairly easy class and his curve is extrememly helpful, but hard to sit through.


Senior
A
General Ed
Dec 2004
Professor Chippings lectures are torture to sit through, and he will lose you in his rants about his rocks. Luckily, he posts all of his power points on blackboard so you can review them again later. If you do the questions in the handout, and you know them for the test.. you are guaranteed at least a B on his tests. He curves the tests generously, usually knocking your score 7-10%. The few questions on the tests that are not in the handout are things he said during his lecture that he spent a lot of time on, or sometimes they were the questions from the in class scantrons. If you pay even minimal attention in class, and study the questions in his booklet, this class will come very easily!! If you do not understand questions in the book, check with him for the right answer so that you dont study the wrong ones.


Sophomore
D
General Ed
Feb 2005
extremely boring class. take something else if you dont like geology or science. if you do take the class, make sure you buy his study guide, because test questions come straight from that.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2005
Chipping isn't a bad teacher. He gets alot of s**t for talking about politics in his lectures but if you listen closely to him he's actually very funny. Geology is a bit boring, but not a bad class to take to fulfill general ed. for physical science. You will have to go to lecture, which is VERY boring, because he has you answer scantron questions and turn them in periodically. If you get his lecture notes and answer the questions in them, you will do fine on the exams, the questions in the booklet are identical to the tests!!!! This class can be overwhelming if you fall behind, but if you keep up on the reading its not a bad class to take.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
Mar 2005
I left lecture everyday with a headache. He presents new material in the book, the course reader, and in lecture...so....information overload. Luckily he grades on a curve, otherwise the entire class would have failed. My highest grade was a 72 and I still got an A somehow. If you have decided to take GEOL 102, try to take it with another professor.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Aug 2005
Okay, okay, all i hear is a lot of bad talk about the guy. True he is a little conraversial with his statements and really whips through the material fast enough that you are happy with getting half the notes written down, but he isn't bad. If you had the foresight to purchase the class study guide you would see that 50% of the test questions are pulled right out of it. Also the final is just another midterm. it helps that the questions are all MC and usually there are only 2 or 3 answers to choose between, plus he adds a huge curve so no worries if you get a low score. If you skim the book and cram with the study guide before tests then this class will be a breeze and you should get at least a B.


Sophomore
N/A
General Ed
Nov 2005
AVOID CHIPPING AT ALL COSTS. His lectures are MORE than a challenge to listen to, they are all over the place. Not to mention that he mumbles, goes through material too fast talks too quickly and does not explain anything clearly. I sincerely regret taking his class. His tests are WAY to hard! They are a bunch of random facts. No matter how much you read the chapters and study it's impossible to feel adequately perpared for the test. He curves, but still not a class worth taking bottom line.


Senior
B
Elective
Dec 2005
Dr. Chipping: excellent professor, not so interested in human relations. Let me advise you: take his class, Geol 102. Get the blue study guide. Nothing else needed, I promise you. Take the study guide to class every day, and go through the lecture with an ear for the questions in that day's chapter notes. Then study the study guide. Memorize the questions as they appear in study guide. You will be amazed how fast you can ace the tests. SO Easy. Unless you are actually into reading text books, which might be fun, do not bother with the text. I never read a page of it. I cannot emphasize the blue book enough. Get it. Also, if you are smart, you will go to the man's office hours. I did not do that much because I felt that he did not want me there. If you can find a way to get him to enjoy talking to you, great. I wish he would have been a bit more friendly to me, but that is only because I enjoyed his teaching style. I thought he would be a fun person to get to know, but he definately did not seem to be interested in chat. He is an absolute riot!!!! the anti christian remarks are so hilarious. If you are into the bible you may wish to avoid this genius of a man, becasue he will definately show you that the bible is not too accurate in its whole creation story. Good luck at poly, I am out now. yipppeeeee


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Dec 2005
First of all i don't understand why THERE ARE actually students at CAL POLY who apparently think this guy is good. Let me tell you the reality. Not only can you never follow his lectures simply because he either talks wayyy too fast and only waits around 5 seconds before he skips on to the next slide, giving you absolutely no time to copy down lecture notes. Your going to his class for two hours every other day and your lost, so what do most students do? OFFICE HOURS! nooooooooo bad idea wanna know why? because he discourages students to see him in his office hours. Basically if you dont understand his horrible accent and chicken scratch of diagrams on the board then you are "absolutely stupid". Let me give you an example of just how humiliated he makes his students feel in class. After he saw that the second midterm average score was in the 50's range he bluntly said "an untrained monkey with a pencil in his hand could stab at a scantron and score higher than you guys" SELF EXPLANATORY. On to the BLUE BOOK whoever wrote the rating below me is a liar! I had the class the same quarter that person did and obviously Chipping cought wind of the fact that his tests are all from the blue book and made his tests ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE. Ok the first midterm was mostly from the book and then 20% was from who knows where which made it impossible for anyone to get better than a B. The second midterm was 50% from the book and the final was 10$ from the book. AND! if you do get all the answers to the blue book and go over them with him in office hourse if you can manage to get him at his office, you will find out that all ur answers are wrong according to Chipping when they are perfectly stated the opposite in the book. I can go on for days....Basically DONT DO IT FOR THE LOVE OF ANYTHING!!!!!!!!!!! P.S He makes it so that more than half of the class gets C's and only 5% get A's and B's! GLUCK!


Freshman
B
General Ed
Dec 2005
Well what can i say. This guy is hilarious (assuming your not religious) If you are religious dont take this class you will be incredibly offended. As far as the class goes i think hes a great instructor but the material is boring as sin. If you keep up on your reading and take the handbook into the lectures youll do fine he curves the class a lot.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Feb 2006
Dr. Chipping is one of the funniest teachers you will ever meet. I went into the class hating the material, and ended up loving geology just because he presented the information in such an interesting way! Yes, his lectures can be long, but his crazy accent and his overall eccentricity make up for anything boring! Take his class, you'll love it. Just remember to go over the questions in the blue book-- most of his test questions come from that.


Senior
Credit
General Ed
Mar 2006
Horrible teacher.....avoid at all costs. he only talks about politics and how much he hates America. He expects you to go into his office hours which are only an hour a day. He is a horrible old man


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Mar 2006
I came into this class knowing that Geology isn't that interesting of a subject. I left this class with the same feeling. However, Chipping wants all of his students to do well. He has two midterms, and a final, which are all curved. He also has hw that he assigns in order to help the students' grades. Overall he's a pretty good teacher. I've learned that if you go into his office hours(especially for the bluebook answers) he helps alot. Even though the subject of the class is boring, it's not too hard to get a decent grade in the class.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Mar 2006
Do not take this class unless you are prepared to go every day. If you miss one class, it's easy to fall behind. Make sure you start working on the blue book questions for each chapter as soon as possible and try and read ahead/keep up on all reading. I didn't personally particularly like this course. Even though I studied a lot, I still found I had difficulties succeeding even the slightest bit in this class. The tests were really hard, and it's really difficult to keep up with him in class. Taking notes...well my notes were a disaster all quarter long b/c the things he puts on the chalk board and says are very key and important to what he puts on tests [as is EVERYTHING] however, it's hard to keep up w/ what he's saying, writing, and what's up on the projector screen. No matter how hard I tried in this class, I just felt like i couldn't cut it. I studied incredibly hard for the final and felt unbelievably unprepared. I do think he is a good professor in that he is very very very passionate about his subject. It's hard to find a professor so passionate. I think i definitely just didn't find this subject particularly interesting [some things WERE really interesting]. I think that he deserves a lot of respect for showing great passion for his subject.


Senior
C
Required (Support)
Dec 2006
He is politically adept & VERY well informed about what is going on in the world.The course has ALOT of vocabulary and requires work in order to pass. He recognizes who stays for lectures & who leaves. Of course he knows who is having difficulty but expects the student to come to his office to talk about the situation. He will NOT pull you off to the side & babysit you. He expects his students to work. Not unreasonable.


Sophomore
B
General Ed
Dec 2006
The sophomore that said he didnt pick up a book and got a C is NUTZ! This class was basically consisted of memorizing answers to test questions which left very little room for personal thought and reason. As you all know GEOL is the study of rocks so exactly how boring could it be right? I gotta tell you its not as boring as one might think. GEOL also taught me about how the earth's continents were formed and what caused the earthquake in hawaii and a crash course in meteorology. Anyway if you have to take GEOL, i cant recommend Chipping on the premise that his class structure is terribly skewed towards memorization of over 250+ study questions.


Sophomore
B
General Ed
Jan 2007
The man is awful. He is SO condescending and boring and he even gives the class incorrect information at times. His test questions are so effing random that I barely scraped by with a B, even though I aced three other higher-level geo courses. The tests are basically the blue book questions, so memorize those and you'll do fine. The class isn't the problem - the teacher is. I would NOT recommend him to anyone, even though I love geology (or at least I did before I took Chipping). See if Garcia teaches a different section before you sign up for this one. In short, Chipping is the reson I'm dropping my almost-complete geology minor.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Feb 2007
Chipping is a good teacher if you like the subject and do the readings then it might be interesting for you, however for people like me who left after the first 15 mins every class period hes also a good teacher becasue is you just study the study questions you can pass with at least a B. He also curves off the highest score which is usually an 87 or something so this class isnt too bad...plus he has some pretty cool stories.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Mar 2007
Chipping's alright, his lectures are really boring and hard to follow, and his tests are really hard, but he curves the tests, so it's not too hard to do ok


Sophomore
B
General Ed
May 2007
Dr. Chipping discourages student participation. He reacted to valid and insightful questions with clear annoyance. I visited him several times in office hours and each time was made to feel like my stupidity was an incredible burden on him. The homework system he uses makes it very difficult to know if you are answering the questions correctly and almost impossible to study well for tests. Additionally, many of the questions are not relevant to the actual point of the material; it is easy to miss questions due to simple misinterpretation. I dreaded lectures and found them incredibly difficult to follow. Ironically, I found the material itself (Geology) quite interesting, but Dr. Chipping made it extremely unenjoyable for me.


Freshman
A
General Ed
May 2007
chipping is a horrible teacher. there is absolutely no class participation and his lectures are 100% irrelevant to his tests. his tests are solely based on memorizing 300-400 homework questions. technically you don't even need to do the homework, but rather copy the answers from the scantrons that he leaves outside of his office after they are graded. memorize the homework questions and disregard what you learn in class and hopefully you can pull off an A.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2008
Dr. Chipping has a VERY small amount of tolerance for people who sleep through lecture, or not show up at all, then complain that he is not being clear or presenting enough explanation. The subject matter is complicated and a student MUST pay attention, or visit him during office hours in order to do well in his class. He does make gov't and societial jokes that I found amusing!


Freshman
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
Dr. Chipping is a horrible teacher who does not understand the meaning of an introduction class. I am in his 102 class and he gives us the same exact lectures and information as he does his 201 class. His tests ask the most miniscule unimportant questions that were barely discussed in class. I studied for each midterm for over six hours and only got a B with the curve. He is also very rude and has an abrasive personality and just today called a student 'stupid' for asking what chapter a sheet of questions was for. At first his eccentricity was amusing, but that wears off after a few weeks and you realize he is just a crotchety old man. Avoid Dr. Chipping at all costs.


Sophomore
N/A
General Ed
Feb 2010
Ok...this class put me to sleep almost everyday. All he does is read off the powerpoints which he puts online...so I wasn\'t motivated to go at all. He also gives A TON of multiple choice hw and even though it\'s open book sometimes it\'s up to 65 questions per chapter so you might be doing those twice a week. 2 midterms and 1 final but none is cumulative so that was good. Test were hard and I felt that the workload was way too much than a ge...I did more work in this class then the major class I was taking this quarter.


Freshman
D
General Ed
Mar 2010
Professor Chipping is a ridiculously terrible teacher. I did every homework and read the chapters that would be on the tests, but got Ds on the two midterms (with the curve). The homework is right out of the book, but some chapters have like 60 questions, which take a good 2-3 hours. His reads right off his powerpoints, which he posts online, and he doesn\'t take attendance. The hundreds of homework questions you do wind up hardly counting toward your grade (it\'s like 10% or something). The tests are 100 multiple choice questions straight from the homework, so you just have to memorize the answers. I studied my ass off and got a B on the final, but wound up with a solid D in the class. The subject was initially interesting to me, but Chipping made me resent geology and, if anything, less motivated to try to learn anything about it. Avoid this teacher at all costs!!!


Freshman
B
General Ed
Feb 2011
Professor Chipping knows his materials but conveys them poorly in his lectures. He is funny at times to watch though. This professor either chooses to or does not know how to use blackboard for grades and due dates and such. The only reason for going to the class is to turn in hw, take one of two midterms, or see due dates. His lectures are of no use on the test as most of the questions are taken word for word off the homeworks and extra questions.


Junior
A
General Ed
May 2011
chipping is a sweet old man he was kinda eccentric but other than that not a hard class. kind of boring lectures, not many people go, but i just felt bad so i always went. didn't really learn much through his lectures, although he does use some questions on his midterms from his power points. if you just memorize all his homework questions, you'll do fine (he pulls like 2/3 of his test from his homework) take him it is not a hard GE at all!

PHYS 102


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Oct 2002
Professor Chipping is a neat guy. These people got to stop tearing him down. He's a nice guy that has a lot to say. His accent is cool, but I can see the class getting boring if you don't care for it. But if you do like geology the class will be interesting if not fun. Sometimes Professor Chipping does some weird things but it's funny. He gives a good amount of homework but it's easy and his tests are from the homework. And he curves his grades. In the end Doctor Chipping is a good teacher, and a nice guy.


Senior
N/A
Elective
Oct 2005
with only a few days of being his student, i can see why alot of negative reviews are posted. he is not into the whole creation myth. This is offensive to people who are blindly attached to the creation idea as a way of life. he seems to be a fantastic and hilarious teacher. I have laughed more in these two weeks of geology than i have in any other class in any whole quarter...and it is all from his completely hilarious comments. one thing that had me rolling in the aisles was how he asked if anyone goes to the 'tanning lounge'....what a riot!!!! you simply must take this man for a class, that is only IF you are mature enough to set aside the silly little religion issues for a while. many of the students here at poly are completely commited to the ideas from the bible. i am certain that it is these people, with those notions that are so freaked out by dear Dr Chipping. his stories are great, and he gives beautiful life advice (don't go tanning....go someplace!!!!)

GEOL 103


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Aug 2003
I was told that this class was an easy grade for a general ed requirment so I took it. The man is impossible to understand because he slurs his already confusing accent. I WOULD NOT reccomend him ever...look for any other alternative, he is unfair to hold you to things he never even teaches

PHYS 192


Graduate Student
B
General Ed
Sep 2003
DAM STRAIT U TELLEM CHIPPAY!!!!1 ;) LOL

ASTR 201


Freshman
B
General Ed
Dec 2000
If you are a non-science major looking to take a physical science without a lab, take astronomy with Chipping. He was hard but I hear all the other professors are even worse! His tests are hard and long but he does curve nicely. Heck, I got a B, I should have gotten a D- if not a F.


Junior
B
General Ed
Nov 2001
I did not understand a word this guy said all quarter. I got a B in the class by studying the practice question answers 20 minutes before each midterm. I feel bad knowing that tax dollars are paying this old fart's salary.


Sophomore
A
General Ed
May 2002
okay- first of all "mares and yellooow dust on Jupitah!" I don't know, or something along those lines. I took Solar systems Astronomy and the lecture IS quite possibly THE most boring thing EVER. However, this professor is so frazzled and quirky that it can be fun to watch. He seems very intelligent but you really can't follow his lectures, he goes pretty fast and on the chalkboard he draws weird diagrams and chicken scratch. He is not the best lecturer, but his class is easy as long as you are a book learner and have a decent memory. He gives you the whole entire test before you take it (a zillion multiple choice questions based on the text). This is important- the study guide IS the test. That is the key here. That's why I got an A. Yes, and half the class does leave during the lecture if they even show up at all.

GEOG 201


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2010
Chipping isn\'t as bad as a teacher as the other people were saying he is. He uses a power point presentation and usually gets through it most days. He assigns a multiple choice homework for each chapter. He is a little unorganized handing out stuff, but he presents his lectures clearly. He is funny and often makes cheesy jokes, especially when he is talking about earthquakes or volcanoes killing people. You really don\'t need to go to his class because he posts his lectures on blackboard and the homework is right out of the book. The midterms are based right off the homework questions and he does curve very well. If you read the book and do the homework, you\'ll do fine. Also, sometimes he leaves the homework to pick up outside his door, when he does that, you can compare your answers with other peoples to get the right answers.


Freshman
F
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
I would not recommend this teacher. Grade was based on three tests (each test 100 MC with 50 minutes of time), each worth the amount for your grade. His in-class lectures are powerpoints(everyone of them are found on PolyLearn) of each chapter with him talking nonstop about the material. He doesnt give hw, but you are supposed to study and do the MC questions he gives as practice. Studying for this class took a lot of time but i still failed, unless you are willing to devote a lot of time and go office hours and repeat his homework numerous times for his class, dont take it. BTW it is possible to pass this class w/o the textbook, it just makes it harder than needed.

GEOL 201


Sophomore
C
Elective
Aug 2001
Students should not take this class. Had I taken a class of his that didn't cover all kinds of rocks, I might have been more enthusiastic. His tests were extreamly hard, don't be fooled by his heavy curving. They are HARD!


Freshman
C
Elective
Aug 2001
Chipping had the craziest tests I've ever taken. He squeezes 100 questions in the smallest type possible on to one side of one sheet of paper. The questions have nothing to do with geology in general, but ask very very specific questions. I found I did better on the tests when I read all the margins and tables instead of the actual reading material in a chapter.


Sophomore
B
Elective
Aug 2001
Dr. Chipping's lectures are very boring because he cannot explain the class topics clearly. His thoughts, and thus the class notes, are scattered and make no logical sense. He does know a lot about geology, and tells good stories, but unfortunately the stories are not important to the scope of the class. He requires a lot of reading, and gives questions to supplement the reading. However, the questions are very specific and mostly miss the whole concept of geology. His exams are primarily off the reading questions, so you are tested on specifics. To me, a one-quarter geology class should focus on general topics to help the students understand geology as a whole, rather than focus on specific examples and stories. My advice would be to take another professor if you want to understand geology, rather than memorizing specific facts and events in Dr. Chipping's class.


Junior
C
Elective
Aug 2001
His class is kind of boring. The tests were hard, but I guess if you really knew the book, you could survive.


Junior
A
Elective
Aug 2001
His tests might have been hard, but he gives you all the answers before you take it. How hard can that be? He tells funny jokes that most students don't get a chance to hear because they are too busy sleeping or talking. If you put an ounce of effort into the class you can easily get a B, put a little bit more and you can get an A.


Freshman
Credit
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
This guy takes a difficult subject and makes it impossible. It is difficult enough to understand him through his thick accent, yet even more difficult when he tries to explain the material. If you have to take geology, which I don't recommend you do, take someone else. You'll learn nothing from this guy.


Freshman
C
Elective
Aug 2001
How did this man ever make it to the college level as a professor. He is a horrible teacher who can't present information in a way so that even the "smartest" student can understand him. I attended his class every day and I still felt like I was completely lost, as if I walked into his class in the middle of his lecture and was trying to catch what hi was talking about, only I never could. My only advice is this: excpect not to learn a thing from him. Just do the review sheets. That's all you are tested on. Going to class was a waste of my time. Don't even bother!


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
Dr. Chipping is like 'The Simpsons' in that he's constantly making fun of everything in subtile ways. If you're one of those religious types who has no sense of humor about those sorts of things, don't take this guy. But if you have a sense of humor, you'll love him. He has a tremendous passion for geology, but sometimes he assumes we do as well. Reading the book is VERY important, since he usually gets of on tangents during his amusing lectures. But listen to his tangents, because they're amusing, and help you to see geology from his view. He tests are taken right from his 'sample questions,' so the two are pretty much the same thing. I don't see how so many people fail his class despite the fact he passes out these sample questions. Tests are curved off the 2nd highest grade. I never went to office hours, since reading the textbook could clear up any confusion.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Aug 1999
Tests are taken directly from study guides. I found the lectures very interesting. Every lecure had the theme of "How Goelogy Can Kill You."


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Nov 1999
This teacher does not respect views outside his own. He says things like, "obviously anyone who believes such and such is a complete moron..." If you have any belief in creationism you'd better brush up before you take this class cause Dr. Chipping takes it upon himself to personally attack and tear apart every aspect of creationism. Besides being personally offensive his lectures are hard to follow, his writing is illegible, his (english)accent is hard to translate into American, and and and well that's enough isn't it? If you like geology it is a very interesting class but from what I'v heard the other teacher is better. Peace out.


Freshman
B
Elective
Feb 2000
Chipping is very inspired by Geology, but has no ability to relay his wealth of information to a student. The curve was nice...I should have done a lot worse. I'd probably advise others to try another science GE course...or a different GEOL 201 professor...


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Feb 2000
I am not one to bag on teachers, being that I am studying to be one, but this guy is horrible! He needs to realize that not everyone is as excited about Geology as him. It is an extreemly hard test, I read and completed all the study guide questions for the 1st midterm and recieved a D, with his curve it was a C-. I went to class everyday to stare at his illegable handwriting, practically falling asleep. I am thinking of dropping the class tomorrow and taking a W.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2000
This class and Chipping's approach to it are nearly impossible. It's obvious he knows an incredible amount, but it seems like he's trying to teach you the same stuff, and it's IMPOSSIBLE to do that in an intro course!! I couldn't believe how specific some of the test questions were. There's got to be an easier way to get your GE credits. And don't bother going to lectures, he gets off on so many tangents you'll only be more confused. I'd say just read the book and do the study notes, then show up for tests - that's your best shot.


Freshman
Credit
Required (Support)
Mar 2000
Chipping seems to have a firm grasp on the material, yet he cannot teach any of it. I suggest you do not take this guy. His tests are the study notes and some random questions he totally pulls out of his ass. His lectures are boring except he can be kinda funny sometimes. His handwriting is completely unreadable which makes it hard when you're trying to take good notes. One time he wrote the word cont. on the board and it looked like cunt. I got a good laugh out of that. If you really want to learn the material then it would be pointless to take Chipping.


Freshman
Credit
General Ed
Mar 2000
Dr. Chipping is interesting, no doubt. I actually really liked the guy. He was an average teacher, in fact I really didn't even go to class all that often. All I did was read and do his study notes, which are verbatim on the tests.(except for some randoms) He is like a mad scientist, it is funny. I would take him, because geology beats the hell out of physics or chemistry. He also has huge curves on the tests. He was highly amusing, but you have to be a certain kind of person to appreciate his humor. Bye the way, he went to Cambridge in England, and then Stanford, so he knows what he is doing interestingly enough...


Freshman
B
Elective
Mar 2000
This class is insane. Chippin is very enthusiastic, and if you do not share his enthusiasm, you will have difficulty. Form a study group and answer all the questions in his little green book. His second test was straight from that, and a good deal was on the final. His curve helps a lot, but the class itself is very boring, even though the material is somewhat interesting. Chippin is difficult to follow and it is difficult to take notes in the class. Avoid him if you can, the other teacher is more laid back.


Junior
Credit
General Ed
Apr 2000
The bottom line is: This guy is the worst professor at Cal Poly. I came into the class with the slim hope of learning about the interesting tenets of geology, such as the glaciers in the world, the metorite that destroyed the dinosaurs, and how we can better our environment for the future. Instead, we were taught about the silicon and iron content of rocks and items even more useless than that. I feel like I lost brain cells going to his lectures in fact. Before you take him, go to the bookstore and look at that little book of questions he makes you buy. Then you decide.


5th Year Senior
N/A
General Ed
May 2000
This class is harder to get a credit than my upper division business classes. I know this class may look tempting because it is the only class left when you have a bad priority, but do yourself a favor and take it at Cuesta, or take chemistry, physics, astronomy(not with him), or rocket science--it would be easier. I seriously want to petition the board of science at poly and get this guy out of the school. He is an embarrassment and needs to go back to England.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Jun 2000
I could rant and rave at the inadaquacy of his teching and the ridiculouly detailed information one must now to even pass the class, but I will just get to the point. He is the worst teacher I have ever taken, no comparison! To be honest, I heard the rumors, but I thought that I was a good student and could adapt with the intent to get a A in the class. I am not perfect and you must me perfect and/or ascientificly inclined to take this teacher. If you are not either or both, you will never study so hard for a simply passing grade. We should all boycott taking this teacher and mabye the administration will open their eyes and rethink his employment at CalPoly. (Please don't take this as total biased, I simply have never met such an incompitent instructor.)


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Sep 2000
This professor is very confusing and no matter how hard you study the "study guides" in which he generates for the class, you will not be able to find half of the material in the course book or in his lectures. This professors grading policy is to pass people only because he cannot fail the entire class. I would strongly recommend not taking this teacher!


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Oct 2000
Geol 201 is a pretty basic class. You answer the questions in the green book and that's what you are tested over. He never had quizzes, and never gave out any worksheets or anything supplemental. Chippng is v. knowledgeable in the subject and answers students questions in class very completely. Just study the green book and you will do fine.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Oct 2000
He's SO ADORABLE! He's the cutest little bearded english man ever. He doesn't make much sense but all you need to do is pay close attention to the text and definitely do ALL the sample questions in the supplementary note book! Yeah rocks are boring, but he's an enjoyable nut to watch.


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Nov 2000
Wow, what to say? This guy is just plain BAD. I did ok in the class, but believe me, he had nothing to do with me passing. If you like stupid geology jokes, then by all means, register for this class today. On the other hand, if you'd rather take a class where you LEARN from an instructor that actually cares about instructing, then keep looking. I can't believe what an arrogant prick this guy is.


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Dec 2000
Sean Connery's twin brother.


Freshman
F
Required (Support)
Jan 2001
This guy sucks dick! Nuff said!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Feb 2001
READ MY ANALYSIS. Aiight, im CE so i had to take this class. it's not nearly as bad as these people say. yeah, you might want to read the book, especially the tables. You will learn a lot in this class. if you hate the subject then it doesn't matter what teacher you take. i've heard that the other teacher (Schmidt) is way more boring than this guy. Chipping does not have a very thick accent. He does have horrible handwriting. He is definitely anti-religion, but i'm kind of religious and didn't really mind it. A big majority of the test questions come from the booklet you buy, so there's nothing difficult here. After we got back our grades for the first test, everyone was saying, "whoa, i thought i bombed it but i actually got a B." he curves (not a bell curve) very sweetly and is just really enthused about this stuff so i would take him if i were you. in his office hours, he's not very nice, but if you ask questions, he's not gonna not answer them. I think he's bummed that nobody likes the subject, and he probably thinks you're taking the easy way by asking him simple questions that he already covered.


Freshman
B
Elective
Mar 2001
TRUST ME MY NIGGA!!!!!! THIS CLASS IS A SURE A!!!!!!!! THE REASON WHY I DIDNT GET AN A IS CUZ I MESSED UP ON MY FIRST FINAL!!!!! THIS IS HTE ONLY CLASS THAT I DIDNT HAVE TO STUDY FOR ON THE FINAL!!!!!!!! TRUST ME !!!! SURE A!!!!!!!!


Junior
A
Required (Support)
May 2001
While this teacher is not the best, he is not in any a bad teacher. I liked his humor, although it was a bit strange. His lectures were based on the reading and his tests based on that as well. He hands out a book of lecture notes with the answers to the tests in it. All one has to do is know the lecutre notes well and a 100% in the class is easy to get. I would take another class from him, because, while boring at times, he did teach me the materail and the tests were cake. He only assigned two HW assignments that took no more than an hour total.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2001
If you want an easy class take this guy. I'll explain how to get an easy B. 1) Show up the first day and make sure you stay in the class. 2) Go to the bookstore and buy the stupid green book he puts out. 3) Anwser the questions in the green book by reading the book or looking at someone elses. These are the same questions on midterms and the final. I never went to class after the second day, excecpt on test days and got a B. If anyone wants to get and A just study the questions really hard. Tests took a whole 15 min. Very easy.


Freshman
A
Elective
Nov 2001
This class is pretty damn easy. If you don't get an A its because you didn't do the study sheet that he gives before each test, which almost the entire test is based upon WORD FOR WORD. I barely ever went to class, did the study sheets, and walla instant A. Lectures were pretty damn boring. Chipping is a cinnical man with an English accent and enjoys every once in awhile to tell gruesome stories about way people were painfully killed by geology. I thought this was cool.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Nov 2001
Dr. Chipping is officially worthless. There is absolutely no reason for this old hack of a teacher to be on campus. Never have I ever been so bored in a lecture that I had to leave halfway through. His accent is mildly amusing, reminding me of those Sean Connery impersonations on Saturday Night Live but otherwise this class just flat out sucks. Its not all that hard but I now really really hate rocks. If you want to continue your love of igneous rock, don't take Chipping. He is is the personification of boredom.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Dec 2001
Dr. Chipping isn't as bad as everyone says. Sure, he isn't the most thrilling professor i've ever encountered but he knows the material like the back of his hand. Geology isn't really all that interesting as well but there are some good parts about oceans, earthquakes and plate tectonics. The best part about this class is that if you buy the purple study book for the class the test questions are in there! All you have to do is answer them and study them and that's it! He also has an extremely generous curve. It might seem, boring but once you get that A or B at the end of the quarter it makes it all worth it.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2002
He makes the material interesting and he really knows the stuff and enjoys it. His tests of 100 multiple choice ?'s is kind of stupid but easy if you just do the questions he gives you. There usually the same ?'s. I guess I would recommend him even though he gave us some retarded economics assignment that I got a zero on because I wasn't taking an economics class and didn't know or what to do it. But for geology he's pretty good.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
May 2002
I liked Chipping very much. He has a dark and quirky sense of humor, which I found funny. The first part of the class is very boring. You just have to work through the basics. The later material is much better, so keep at it. Using the supplement is the key to this class. The tests are multiple choice and almost all of them are straight from the supplement. He inserts a few from lecture, but only a couple of questions. If you aren't interested in geology at all, you don't want to take this class.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
May 2002
Chipping knows geology. He asks very specific questions about the material, but as long as you study the study guide, you'll do ok. If you bother to show up, chances are you'll get a B because the tests are graded on a curve and no one else shows up.


Freshman
A
General Ed
Jul 2002
Two Words: Easy, boring! hmmm...this class was a joke! yeah, I got an A, but I learned absolutly nothing!!! This is the most boring class ever! Throughout the quarter, we had to answer homework questions for each chapter-we would turn in a scantron, he'd correct them, and we'd get them back with the CORRECT answers...For the two tests and the final, he'd take the SAME questions from the homework...I'm not lying! So, all you need to do is MEMORIZE the answers~I say: take Chipping-it may be boring, but it's just a stupid GE that everyone has to take!


Freshman
F
General Ed
Feb 2003
i hate you. you put me to sleep. go away


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2003
Oh man, where to start. I read posts on here before signing up for the class which said he was easy and boring. Boring is still the case, but he must have read the posts, cause he got harder. First test was almost completely off of the hw questions. Then he got the clue and started asking the most random stuff on the tests. His lectures consisted of about 40 slides or so per day, and then on the exams he would expect us to remember exactly what he said about a particular slide during lecture. Needless to say, the test averages were pretty low. Luckily he grades on a box curve meaning half the class gets A's and B's and the other half gets C's. He only gives D's and F's if you didn't turn stuff in or he thought you were really slacking off. So just stay at the top of the class and you will do fine. Lastly, the worst part were the lectures. COMPLETELY UNORGANIZED. There was no logical pattern to what he taught AT ALL!!! Impossible to follow, and incredibly boring. I would suggest either not taking him, or if you have to, just grin and bare it. It's only 10 weeks.


Freshman
C
General Ed
Jan 2004
This class was the most boring class i have ever taken! The two hours seriously felt like an eternity. At times it was difficult to understand what he was saying due to his accent and he would get angry when people would ask him to slow down. He asks you questions in the middle of class to make sure your paying attention which were a pain and his tests weren't that bad because they were the same questions out of his study guide book. He also curves his grades, so it works to your advantage if everyone is not doing well. Although his grading system was a bit confusing... Don't take this class unless you have to.


Sophomore
B
General Ed
Feb 2004
OMIGOD!


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2004
Aside from the surprise chapter on the final and random questions on tests that he doesn't expect anyone to answer correctly, he's a pretty easy professor. His redbook questions have about 70% of the questions verbatim on the tests - but just because they're in the redbook doesn't mean you know what the hell it's talking about. Go to office hours - get the answers if he's not clear what it's about because it probably isn't that important anyway. As for him being a Bible basher - it's pretty easy to and expected from him as a geologist. What people were ignorant of 2000+ years ago vs. *scientific* knowledge that has evolved upon itself since then.. I think he actually tones down his actual thoughts in class, personally. -- and if it wasn't for creationists handing out pamphlets outside our classroom door about how the line of work he spent his lifetime studying on was all wrong, then I wouldn't expect as much bashing as he did. -- I prefer Chipping to Garcia for 102 or 201.


Freshman
A
Elective
Jun 2004
Everyone here seems to think that he's boring in lecture, but i found if you attended his lectures and actually paid attention, he makes sense and does a good job. Sometimes he gets off topic and rambles on, and almost nothing he covered in class was on the tests, but if you had his red book then the class was really easy. Anyone who failed must not have picked up on the red book thing early enough, or just simply didn't care at all. He's a nice guy if you talk to him, but don't expect him to take late assignments. Overall a good professor and a worthwile choice.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2005
He is a decent teacher, my biggest problem with him is he brings his personal politics into the lectures, it is unprofessional, tacky, and annoying. However, it is still a very interesting class, and I looked foward to going to his class.


Freshman
B
General Ed
Mar 2005
This class is horrible. I thought geology would be interesting and fun, but he manages to take every ounce of fun out of it. The tests are extremely hard, many true/false questions where one minor part is slightly changed. Many teachers want you to learn the general ideas of their subject, but his class is all about the small details of stuff that noone remembers. Dont take him unless you can memorize things very well.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2005
This is not a heavy workload class. Do the questions in the workbook, those are the exact questions that appear on the tests. There is not a cumulative final, just 3 tests of equal value. He starts off the quarter interesting, and towards the very end he is not quite as interesting, could be the subject. If you are a very religious person, be prepared to be offended, it is just his nature and the subject that he is teaching contradicts the stuff in the bible.


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Jan 2006
Honestly, don't read the book. Every question on the test comes from the questions in the blue book. At the beginning of the quarter, I tried taking notes on everything he lectured on and read the book, and did terribly on the tests. At the end, I stopped taking notes except for circling the answers in the blue book he went over during lecture and did considerably better. Not very approachable and downright offensive at times. When he stops collecting in-class scantrons you will see attendance drop to about 7 people a class. IF you can help it, don't take this class!!!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Jun 2006
What a funny man. He pretty much hates the world and religion along with it. Just don't take it personally or be offended. Memorize the blue book and you will do fine.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Jul 2006
Chipping is the most awesome teacher I have had so far. I could not imagine taking this class with anyone else and enjoy it the way I did. One thing you have to watch out for is that there are only 3 tests that define your whole grade, and if you don


Senior
C
Required (Support)
Jul 2006
Chipping is the most sarcastic and cynical person i've ever met. he hates religion and anything American! All I have to say to him is: Go back to England and get on a subway with some terrorists. That will change your mind about America!


Sophomore
B
General Ed
Nov 2006
ha ha this guy is soooo awesome!!! Sure people get pissed off because he's an arrogant little old man who hates teens, religion, and America in general, but he's still so awesome!!! i remember this one time, he was lecturing about a landslide that wiped out this entire village, and he started laughing hysterically about all the people who died, and I couldn't help but laugh myself. And this other time, we watched a movie about Mt. St. Helen's called Keeper of the Fire, which was pretty much amazing. I actually went to the library and rented it because i liked it so much! (I think it's a lot better watching it when you're drunk, but it's all good) anyway, to make a long story short, Dr. David Chipping is incredibly gifted, and he know's a lot about rocks. so take him.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Jan 2007
Chipping is a complete DOMER! This guy has no idea to run a lecture, totally disorganized and they make no sense. All he does is talk about random slides he has on a projector and his drawings suck. Don't let his funny old man look, accent, and jokes fool you. I got a 79.7 and he wouldn't give me a B-, i got a straight up C instead. Yeah chipping, dome me up.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2007
Chipping is pretty sweet. I don't know why people are so bitter about the guy. You buy a green book which has homework problems in them. These homework problems are the test if you do them and memorize them. Not too hard. He was a good lecturer and very smart. Quite messy on the board but who cares since the tests are from the greenbook.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
His lectures are completely worthless and unorganized. All he does in lecture is show a bunch of pictures that he's taken from the book and elaborate on them by drawing incoherent pictures on the board accompanied by his horrible handwriting. Grades are dependent on 3 midterms, the 3rd midterm is the final which is good because a cumulative final for his class would mean an automatic F for most (I can't believe I said something positive about him). His midterms consist of a 100 questions, multiple choice. Most of his questions come from the handouts he gives out after finishing each chapter. Just to give you guys an idea of how hard the class is... I went into the class expecting it to be my easiest class and it turned out to be harder than Math 143 and Phys 133 that I took the same quarter. He is disgusted by the scores people get on the midterms and he makes sure he makes the students feel like complete failures when he hands back the tests and writes down the class average on the board. I never went to his office hours because I didn't even know what I didn't know. Try to avoid him if you have an interest in geology. On a brighter note, his British accent does wonders for insomniacs like myself.


Freshman
D
General Ed
Mar 2009
I have never got a D in my life.. from middle school, high school, college, anything. I can honestly tell you that i've never been so happy to technically "pass" a class with a D in my life. This was by far the WORST class, the HARDEST class, i've even taken ever. He yells at the entire class for the class average being a "74%" --that is WITH the curve. When in reality he is so oblivious to the fact that it might just be his teaching and not the students who are working there ass's off. I would absolutely avoid this professor at all cost. I have never worked so hard in a class in my entire life. The questions on all the test came from absolutely no where and are not relevant to ANY of the material. (maybe about 15% of the questions on the test i knew by heart) --dont take this class if you plan on getting a good GPA. Oh and now I know why it said "Staff" on pass as the instructor name, because no one in the right mind would take this professor.


Junior
F
General Ed
Jun 2009
I earned a 65% from him and that was an "F" because of the bell curve. Hopefully he is now grading on straight percentages. I had a difficult time following his lectures. Tying together his lectures and the book was a challenge for me. I should have appealed the 65% F for a D but it's too late now since I took the course in Spring of 1991. Since then I have learned that he is a nice man, but I wouldn't take another course from him in respect for myself and my G.P.A.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2010
As much as I loved studying this subject, I\'m so glad I don\'t have to take this class again. Save for 1 or 2 people who tend to get 100% and ruin the curve for the tests, the class averages were pretty low. I had some of the better grades on the midterms in the class, and I got 66% on the 1st and 58% on the 2nd. No joke, I studied more for this class than I did for CE 204, and I feel like chipping shat on my hard work. The subject has a lot of detailed information that you\'re just gonna have to memorize no matter who you take it from. I can\'t speak for any other teachers for this course, but i can tell you that chipping is one of the most difficult people to talk to. He gets frustrated by students asking him the same questions over and over, but with his poor excuse for hand writing, inability to clarify when assignments are due, and lack of a syllabus, I wouldn\'t recommend him for the sake of your grade. That being said, his accent is pleasant (except on the day he hands back tests and rips into the class for the average being in the D to F region), and his homework assignments are multiple choice scantrons that you can answer on wiki or right out of the textbook. I thought the questions on the tests looked similar to the ones on the homework, but he definitely tests how well you memorized the material. The subject is really cool, but Chipping is a douche.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2010
lets see here, chipping is quite unique. No syllabus...no clarification when hw is due, sloppiest, most unorganized teacher i have ever had. hw consists of scantron MC questions usually about twice a week. these build up into the tests which are essentially 100 questions from the hw. however by the time its test time there are about 350 hw questions. I either wikipediad everything or copied other ppl on turn in day. Study alot for the tests b/c they are tough. I got a 67 and 71 on the midterms and got a B. No idea how i did on the final but probably pretty similar. Tests are not cumulative, including the final. the only reason you have to go is b/c you won\'t know when crap is due unless you have a good friend in the class or something. i just sat on my laptop all class and didnt pay attention to a thing. didnt buy the book either. if you can study a few days in advance for a couple hours each day you will be fine cuz apparently he curves the class or else everyone would get a D or F. don\'t try and talk to him for help or anything b/c he just gets frustrated and thinks your a ratard.


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2010
Chipping is a crazy, bitter, old man who is hilariously unorganized and runs his class unlike any other teacher I have ever had. With that said, Chipping is too much fun to watch and listen to during lectures. He knows his stuff but his handwriting is just stupid. He admitted he can\'t read it and thats because he is really not even writing english letters (not kidding). All this made me like him more though because he is so eccentric. Oh yeah, hes terrible in office hours too. I thought the comment below me was funny about people ruining the curve- I got a 83 on the second test and that set the curve! The tests were 70 exact copies of questions from the HW (explained below) and 30 questions he pulls out of his ass that nobody knows the answer to. Its an easy A if you memorize the HW (much easier to do if you actually DO the HW and not just copy it) and read the chapters the night before the tests.


Freshman
N/A
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
Chipping's class is OK. Going to class is only useful because you get to hear the material somewhat covered. If you were to take his tests straight after the lecture, you would see tons of new stuff. You really need to read the book, read his powerpoints again, and do the homeworks he assigns. The seem like a lot, but they are worth it, which most people found out sooner or later. You will need to look up most of the answers, write them on a scantron, and turn them in for NO credit. then you memorize the answers, and hope he doesnt add much to the tests, which he usually doesnt. do the homework well, and you will likely do pretty well. He acts like an arse to some people in class, but they deserve it for being lazy and not showing up or showing up late.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2012
Chipping is awesome. He sometimes pokes fun at things people may take to be offensive, but it adds humor to the lectures. I attended every lecture and took notes on WHAT HE SAID, not necessarily what was on the slides that are posted online, something that no more than 3 other people did. I believe this is why I set the curve for the class (he almost always curves off of the highest grade in the class, so you do not have to get As on the tests to get an A in the class). Homework is optional, but do it because just by reviewing the questions before the test and understanding a majority of the concepts you will get at least 80% of the questions right on the midterms. The final is basically a third midterm, only an hour long, no harder than the other two midterms. Honestly to do well in this class all you need to do is pay attention in class (write things down, like what he writes on the board) and remember it. Then go over the questions. Not bad at all and way better than what I've heard about for other teachers.


Sophomore
B
General Ed
Aug 2014
Do yourselves a favor: GO TO CUESTA AND TAKE GEOLOGY WITH TOM HOLLIS. Chipping is an arrogant prick, and if you have any desire to understand or enjoy geology ... Sign up with Captain Hollis.

GEOL 204


Junior
B
Elective
Mar 2003
I really like Dr. Chipping. He has a bizarre sense of humor, which I like. I had him for Geology 201, as well. Geology 201 was a lot easier, but this class wasn't extremely difficult. If you don't come to class or don't read the book, you're probably not going to get above a C, maybe even less. Coming to class is more important than the homework, but you should do both to get a good grade. Use the sample questions he gives you, and you'll do a lot better. Many of the test questions are the same or very similar to the samples. Also, be sure that you don't fall behind, the class goes very fast. If I remember correctly, there were only 3 tests, including the final. One bad test can really drag you down. I think that if Chipping changed the style a bit, that this could be an excellent class. One problem is that the text doesn't always match the course content, and the supplement is written in what I like to call "Chipping Speak." Some parts of the supplement are just baffling.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Jan 2006
I really like Chipping his classes are hard but he curves like crazy. I mean after are second midterm there was an 18 point cuvre on the class grades. So there will be 2 midterms and 1 final which is exactly like the midterms. I love the topic which really helps me. BUT IF YOU DON'T PLAIN ON SHOWING UP TO DO NOT TAKE THE CLASS. He is one of the most knowledgeable teachers at Poly but that doesn't mean you will get the information. But as a said at the top i really like him and his classes.

GEOL 205


Junior
A
Elective
Aug 2001
He is an awful man, a decent teacher but he always bags on students. In is office he makes you feel like an idiot if you ask questions.

GEOL 210


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2007
I hated going to this class in the afternoon. Don't bother reading the whole chapter...just skim it. The tests are mainly from the questions that he hands out and if you go during office hours and want to ask him all of the questions for answers, he does. I recommend seperating them in groups and then meeting to review them. The hw isnt worth much but make sure you do your best. He's a really sweet guy but seeing slides of rocks for 1.5 hours gets soooo boring after a while. He does throw in a joke every now and then. My best advice is suck it up and go to office hours...if you want an A, do more than the questions.

GEOL 241


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2006
This teacher has the most knowlagde about this subject. He is a great guy and if you get his humer then you will be laughing everday you have his calls this class is only ones a week for three hours you will not be there that long. There is a field trip which would have been fun if it had not been really really cold the day we went. there is just a midterm and a final. I didn't study but that is only because this class was like a review of other classes i have all ready taken.

EHS 334


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Nov 2016
I learned that if I were to take up hunting, I should shoot deer, not bears, because a bear will hunt me back if I successfully wound it. Fascinating! I didnt know that the key to production and operations management was so brutally simple!