Chadwell, Charles  

Okay chadwell is freakin awesome. and this is coming from someone who hates CE. This was his first quarter, but he did great. his lectures are a little lacking in examples, but he did more as the quarter progressed. he is very clear in lecture, but if you still dont get it, he's always in his office. i was never in there longer than 10 minutes, because he was always able to explain whatever i was confused on right away. the man absolutley loves CE, and it shows. if you ask an insightful question, he gets really excited, and gives you a great answer. he definatly knows his shit. homework is assigned weekly, and is very representative of the lecture material. the midterm and final were pretty hard, but he curved accordingly. he really wanted to see everyone do well. the only thing i didnt like was that the final was worth 50% of the grade. but seriously take this guy, he's awesome.

Prof. Chadwell is fresh out of Berkley with his PhD. He is a great professor. He only had one midterm and a final with homework counting as 20% of your grade. I would have gotten an A if I did all of my homework. His tests are fair however he likes to focus on simplex problems with questions relating to theory. I plan on taking him again if I have the opportunity.

I know this guy tried really hard when it came to lectures- he really went out of his way to make sure his lectures were clear. However, since he is from Berkley, the lectures focus almost entirely on theory. The is the exact opposite of Cal Poly's philosophy- which is focusing more on application. Needless to say I had trouble understanding his lectures and couldn't really connect with Dr. Chadwell. The midterm was a time crunch and fairly difficult. You really needed to go as fast as possibly. Chadwell did give out practice exams for his tests which were quite useful when it came test time. The problems on the exam look NOTHING like the hw. Don't think that by doing the homework, you will do better on the exams. Homework is very general application and his test probelms are all theory. Hw was also worth 20% which is a huge time waster because it really doesn't help with the exams much. The final wasn't as bad of a time crunch as the midterms but he made it extremely difficult. I think the avg was somewhere in between 40 and 50 precent. I thought I was going to get a C in this class but I ended up with an A- due to a HUGE curve at the end. He also holds review sessions for the midterm and final and you need to go to those to do well and understand what the heck is going on. I think he will improve greatly as a prof over time- once the CE department jams application down his throat. I, however, didn't really like his class or his lectures all that much.

I was completely shocked when I read the reviews for this guy. I know it was his first quarter and it's great to suck up to teachers in your major (CE), but Chadwell was horrible. I'm an average B student and I couldn't understand half of what he was trying to lecture on. He's 110 percent theory and -10 percent application. I know of at least three people, including myself, that recieved D-'s in his fall lecture. I know he is smart and I know he has potential, but right now he's below average on my list.

Good Teacher, Some problems on the test are tricky and some were on material not explained. They were curved though and he helped you figure out problems in office hours in a good natured way.

Dr. Chadwell is by far one of my favorite professors. He seems to have some negative comments so far which seems to me is coming from the complainers. Cal Poly and the students should just be thankful that this guy wants to teach. I'm tired of Cal Poly students bitching that they actually have to put some work into something. Guess what? No ones going to hold your hand, especially your employer. If you think engineering should be easy, and you find yourself doing poorly then see your way to business or art. Engineering is no joke, and I want to up hold the profession with competent people. Now if you want to learn something, and get what you paid for, then take his courses. Many of you say he spends too much time on theory. Have you forgotten that CE-205 is an introductory course? You have no business applying any thing to anything without understanding the theory. If the theory confuses you then try to figure out why and make adjustments accordingly. Personally if I thought the theory in 205 was hard then I would just spare myself the pain and look into a business degree, because this theory is nothing. The rest of this is for the students still reading this post. Dr Chadwell has the most comfortable office hours, he will explain any of your dumb questions, and can LECTURE! He does lean toward theory, but that's because he knows it, and can explain it. Seriously I want to take every class I can with him before the bitches ruin him. Isn't Calpoly supposed to be a great school? Our reputation is based on how we perform in the "real world" so lets keep the standards high. Furthermore, Dr. Chadwell is doing more with student projects and senior projects than any other Ce prof. this is commendable and shows his desire to help you learn. He seriously cares about his students, and cares about anyone willing to put in the hard work. So if you want to get an understanding of the material, and go into the next class ahead of the game then choose this guy. If you want to slack, graduate with no F

Chadwell is ok at lecture. As a person he is one of the more arrogant and rude professors I have ever had. If you have questions that he thinks are dumb, he will let you and the whole class know it. Also he told us he wrote our common final and that we would thus be more prepared for it. But the common final seemed as if it covered none of the material we had spent the most time on.

He showed up to class 45 minutes late on a quiz day, claiming he forgot what time class started (this was at the end of week 2).

Chadwell is great professor. This being said, he is very tough. I am interested in Structures, and after taking his class, I am even more interested. Although I got a C+ in the class, I came out of the class knowing I knew the material. His tests are hard and there are conceptual questions asked, but he also incorporates real life problems, making the course that much more interesting. I would recommend Chadwell for any course. He makes class interesting and is a lot of help in office hours. I know that I will take him again if the opportunity arrises.

Assigned a decent amount of homework and the tests were tough, but this class is supposed to be tough, so might as well take a professor like chadwell who is interesting.

Professor Charles Chadwell. Let's see... structures is a really tough class, but manageable if you keep up with the work. His assignments can take a while, so start on them early. He assigns problems from different texts and prints them out for the class. Very helpful during office hours and very nice. He doesn't make you feel like a dumbass like his TA, Matt Porter. I believe it was 2 midterms, a final, hw, and lab assignments when I took it. All weighted like 20%, 20%, 30%, 15%, and 15%. Good ol' 10" Chadwell.

Very knowledgeable guy; very hard coarse. Plan on spending at least four hours a week in his office hours. Two midterms and final, all exceptionally difficult.

Chadwell is a very smart lecturer but he's not there to be your friend. In fact, if you ask a question that he doesn't deem to be intelligent enough he will try to belittle you before just answering your question whether it's in office hours or in lecture. For lecturing I give him a good score, for "recognizing student difficulties" he is one of the worst.

Chadwell is an excellent Professor. If you ask a question (I forgot how to do something from statics and he helped me with it) and pay attention he will gladly answer it. His test are very hard, but he is very generous with partial credit and he cares about the process rather than the answer. Also he curves. Structures is a hard class, and he makes you work for your grade. However, you will learn a lot more from him compared to the other professors. Just don't text in class then ask a question because you weren't paying attention. He sees everything and will call you out on it.

Ever since Dr. Moazzami retired, the class got much harder. I was a bit frustrated that she left in the middle of the quarter. We recently took one midterm and she took it with her when she left! Professor Chadwell and Esola both took over our class. It was difficult absorbing three weeks worth of information into one week and realizing that Moazzami did not cover the 351 material we needed to know... Dr. Chadwell had very high expectations of our class and expected that we knew concepts that were not covered by Dr. Moazzami. The exam he made was very difficult. The average on the test was a 43%. The highest score was a 78%. Dr. Chadwell gave us PowerPoint handouts that were hardly helpful. They were not very detailed and hardly helped with the homework assignments. To make sure that you were "paying attention", some sections of the PowerPoint notes were left blank. Both the lab and homework assignments were difficult and took up a lot of time. For example, one lab was to calculate the whole weight of Bonderson and you had to look at each of the components that make up Bonderson. Another assignment was similar to the ones in a previous timber's class. I actually timed myself and spent over 100 hours doing the homework/lab assignments and studying for the new midterm/final. This class was my most difficult class so far. It was waay harder than my CE 204 and 207 class (I had Qu and Murphy). The main reason could be because the material was crammed in a short period of time though. Overall though, I thought Chadwell was very enthusiastic in this subject. He explains things very well and replies very quickly by email.

Dr. Chadwell is one of the best proffessor's I've had here at Cal Poly. Number one thing to know about him: He is hard. But if you get over your slacker attitude for 2 minutes, you'll learn more in his classes than any other. Also, if there's something you don't get during lecture, stop by his office and he will make sure you get it. Other than that, expect a fast paced lecture, pretty difficult tests, and reasonable homework load.

This is in response to the previous post. To Anonymous Poster, I am bestowed by your clever ability in ranking of the college of engineering faculty,

This Class was A malesrtop of information. He presented the material too fast and did not explain homeworks at all. He did not return the homework until the tuesday of finals week so it was hard to see how we were doing in the class. I would not take this class until it is more structured and not in an experimental stage.

Chadwell is an idiot

Dr. Chadwell really separates who knows the material and who is just pretending. If you have skated by in your previous engineering classes and BS'ed your way to a decent grade, you probably aren't ready for Chadwell. People with 3.5 GPA's or better take his classes and regularly get D's. If you want to keep skating by, avoid him. If you want a quality education that you will have to work for, I highly recommend Chadwell. It is possible to do well in his classes (I have taken 4 of them).

I agree with the poster below, chadwell is an idiot unless you kiss his ass to get a good grade in his class. If you were one of the few that brown-nosed their way to an A, good for you. Other than that the guy did not sufficently explain the homework, not did he do anything other than theory 90 percent of the tim in class.. Try to avoid for this class, 455 is much more usefull

F*** Chadwell and his damn programs

you will have to work for a grade lower than you're used to, but if you are in it for knowing the material, he is a great teacher. Don't take two of his classes in one 1/4. Small doses are better.

This class is known by many to be the most challenging class in the CE department, and Chadwell makes sure that its reputation is maintained. The class is divided into 1 quiz during the 2nd week on CE 355 material (10%), 6 LOOOOONG Homework Assignments (25%), 1 Midterm (30%), and 1 Final (35%). Good Luck!

Chadwell was a great teacher. He was teaching us about the industry and what real world applications were. His downfall was that he was trying to get too much into one class for timber. The labs were great and gave a great idea about what it was he was talking about in lecture. His office hours were also always good and he is more than willing to help out with students. A deffinite recommend.

Dr. Chadwell is very good at presenting material he is very energetic in his lectures and makes you interested in the subject. His test on inovative and he thinks of things no one else wood that really challange the students knowledge and the abiity to apply it to complex situations. His test are long but they do a great job of seperationg out the grades so that people whom put work in are the ones that get the good grades. I averaged 10-20 hours a week on his class...so if your not willing to work hard do not take him, but if you are wil;ling to work hard you will learn more from than just about any other teacher except maybe Hall or Kasper.

I have taken Dr. Chadwell for several classes and he is challenging but you will learn more then from any other professor. People who want to go along and learn nothing will be stopped by him, but this does not make him bad. Some people try to bash him because they are jealous of him. For those people you can take comfort in role models such as El Gandor, or possibly Dr. Daza (a real idiot).

Great professor, but this class is a lot of work. My timber group became my social group. You learn a lot and can design anything using wood by the end of the quarter.

Chadwell deserves A's across the board, that is why I'm evaluating him. Yea, this class is so much work.. you design a whole structure out of timber but you wanted to be a CE and this is what you should be getting used to. The group idea is very good. EVERYTHING (midterm, HWs, Labs) is done within your group and graded as a group EXCEPT your final. Your group is made from a survey of your skills and he pools together people with different strengths and experiences and usually puts smarties with dumbasses. I think I was the latter haha. My only disagreement with this class is the 30% final. 30% is standard for finals but this class is not your standard class. This is the toughest CE class and the amount of work done for this class is enough for 6 or even 8 units... many nights were spent in the CE Lab until 3 am. The final should be worth 15%.. maybe 20% max because most work is put into your project and it's a slap in the face to only get about 50% (maybe less if you don't count the labs as part of your project though it sort of helped) of your grade from it.. And don't think you can slack in your group and let your members do the grunt because you get PEER REVIEWED (*anonymously*) on how good of a group member you were regardless of your academic abilities. Basically, if you put the time in whether you were smart or a dumbass (like me). The review will swing your grade +/- 10% ... a whole letter grade possibly. Your teams are RANKED after the midterm somewhere around Week 6-7. Labs are very cool, you break tons of wood and even build a little for one lab. You also guess on when your pieces will break and get bonus points towards a prize at the end of the quarter... BTW, the Midterm 2 hard ass crazy problems. The final is much easier just more cumulative. If you are going structural this class is 100% a MUST... Good luck.

Dr. Chadwell is a very good teacher. He knows the subject very well and is able to convey the subject. The only problem I found is that the quarters are soo short for the amount of material he wishes to teach. This means that you will feel rushed since he will cover 1-2 chapters every day. I would say take him if you are not taking a workload of classes. Chadwell seems to like mathematics since some of his stuff involves solving matrices. I would say lets leave this for the computers. If you do your work, and I don't mean copying from others, and know your stuff then you will do fine. If don't understand something do not hesitate to ask him question since this will help him, you and other in your situation. Note during his tests he likes to include information that is not of use in the test only to see if you do know your stuff.

I've never spent so much time on a class. It was about 10-25hrs a week just on the project alone. Not to mention the online lectures/quizzes outside of class and lab reports. He doesn't really teach anything at all. You learn most if not all of it from the online lectures and then he just goes through the slides and passes around some pieces of wood/connectors to look at in lecture. It's not really helpful though because everyone is falling asleep during his lectures because they've been working on his damn project all night. Regardless, the project really teaches you a lot and is a good resource to have if you're ever planning on building a house. I would recommend taking this class after you have taken a few structures ATEs, since it seemed to have made things a little easier for some people.

While this is the most work I have ever spent on a class (20-25hrs/week), it is the most I have ever learned from a class. Chadwell has this class down to a science and is extremely knowledgeable in the subject as well as can explain it very well (if you have the time to go to his office hours). The class is structured so that you learn the material from online modules and a packet of notes that are set up pretty clearly. You take quizzes on the material you learned from these and then usually go over the quizzes and examples in class. For me this was a great way in learning. You will be split up into groups of 4 and you will work with this group the whole quarter so you'd better hope you get in a group that works well together or learn how to. You complete homework assignments that are eventually part of the final project in these groups and spend an insane amount of time on everything. We had no midterms, but a final that was not too hard if you kept up with all the homeworks. Overall, I would definitely recommend taking this class if you don't mind having no life outside of timber and bust your ass for the quarter and want to learn a ton about timber frame engineering. And fyi all the bad reviews on Chadwell are because of the workload or because they did not take the time to go work things out with him in office hours.

Chadwell was great, timber was literally the most demanding course of my college experience. As a 5th year I had time though, so it was beyond rewarding. Great teacher, a little ridiculous having lecture in class and then online modules, quizs, labs, and main project... aka too much work for 4 units (hint: make it worth 6)

This class is a lot of work, and earns its reputation as the hardest structures class offered at Cal Poly. Chadwell doesn't present the material himself, but rather, you learn through online classes and "videos" which present the bulk of the material. After you have watched the video, you'll take a quiz. The next day, Chadwell will go over the quizzes and discuss the concepts lightly. If you don't learn enough by doing the online videos, I recommend you go to his office hours, a lot. Also, be prepared to have your grade dictated by other people. The majority of the work done in the class is done as a group of 3-4. The only portions you are responsible for by yourself are the quizzes and the final exam. Everything else is as a group. I felt I was dragged down by my group this quarter and it will be reflected in my grade. I didn't like the online learning and I didn't like having my grade dictated by lazier people. I learned a lot, but at the same time, the course left a sour taste in my mouth because of the presentation and how I'll be graded. If you do decide to take this course, be prepared to work a lot, maybe more than every other group because you'll have slackers and irresponsible people in your group. (Or maybe you'll luck out and have hard workers and it won't be as bad, but be prepared) Be comfortable with Excel, AutoCAD and some type of structural analysis program in order to have all the bases covered.

Hardest class I've taken at Cal Poly but also the class in which I learned the most. If you want to do structural then you really need to take this class. The people who took Timber are light years ahead of the rest in Structural Design (CE 454). Everything but the final is done in groups and the group rankings are shown to the whole class so hopefully you like your group and work well together. There are online lectures and quizzes that you have to complete before each class. They really suck and I fell asleep more than half the time, but understanding the concepts from the start will really help you in the long run. Chadwell will push you to do your best, regardless of how you stack up to the rest of the class. Just when you think you've done everything he's suggested, he'll ask you more questions that you realize aren't addressed in your plan. Finishing the design project was very rewarding and makes you happy for all the work you put in. tl;dr This class is hell but you will be really glad you took it once it's over

Incredibly time consuming, a lot of material, and a whole lot of learning. Chadwell loves this material, even more than Timber. Focuses on cross-sectional analysis, material modeling, seismic concrete detailing with ACI 318 CH 21, and frame failure mechanisms.

Fine teacher, but a little dry in the presentation. I wouldnt suggest having her at 8:00 in the morning, might be difficult staying awake.