Zhang, Xiaozheng  

Electrical Engineering

2.69/4.00

36 evaluations


EE 112


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Jan 2004
This professor was the only one teaching this course, and it was her first quarter teaching. Her teaching style is very dry, basically repeating what can be found in the book. She doesn't really take questions during lecture, and her examples are very basic. When she does do a complex problem, she goes through the easy parts really slow, then dashes through tough material fast. On problems afterward, she does the same thing, emphasizing the same stuff and then rushing. Her midterms are very tough and unforgiving. Overall I would avoid her if possible.


Senior
Credit
Elective
Feb 2004
If you value your grade, DO NOT TAKE this instructor. My reasons, the highest grade (for all her classes) on the first midterm was 36 out of 50. You do the math. The second midterm produced about the same results. By rights, 70% of her students should have failed! To prevent this, she grades on a curve, so if you take her class, just make sure your "F" is bigger than everybody else's "F" and you should do fine. Basically, her tests are VERY HARD and are not related to her homework assignments. The homework load is minimal, but be prepared to get confused by the book. She grades harshly on the homework as well. She rushes through the material and seems to have a communication barrier when students try to ask questions. It just got to a point where nobody would ask her to explain or slow down. She is of no help during her office hours because she just stares at you (as if the answer to your question is written on your face) and expects you to answer your own questions. I don't know if it is a culture gap or what...but, avoid her at ALL costs. This 2 unit class is not worth the effort you will put in for a decent grade.


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Feb 2004
She is not as bad as the other comments might make you think. It was her first quarter and we all suffered the consequences that first midterm. She did however try several things through the term, and eventually tried a more communicative style. She was better prepared than many of my other teachers too. I think that she will get an idea of student needs soon. They are right in saying that she was a little dry in the presentation, but I think it was out of the lack of practice. Outside the classroom she is approachable, although she does have some problems understanding questions.


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2004
Hard to stay awake in her class, she doesn't understand questions that are asked very often, and she assigns mostly even problems in the book....which is very very useless when you can't make it to her office hours but need to figure out the material on your own. Other than that, hw is 10% midterms (2) 50% and final 40%.


Sophomore
F
Required (Major)
Mar 2004
She has absolutely no idea what she is doing. She goes over certain types of problems in class and then changes vital pieces of them when they appear on an exam so that the method of solving them no longer works. For the final i studied our previous midterms, the midterms/finals of the previous quarter, every section we covered in the book, and every set of notes we took in class. Not a single thing that i studied was on the final. She basically sits in the front of the class all day and drones on and on... she will either not answer questions or seem to completely lose her train of thought and become lost. Either way, extremely unhelpful during lecture. Every single one of her office hours was during other classes I had so i don't know about those, but i can't imagine they would be much better. Avoid!


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2004
Zhang wasn't the greatest teacher I had, but she wasn't as bad as others claim. She does cover all of the material that appears on the exams, but is a little harsh in her grading system. The one problem I had was that she did reasonably easy examples in class, but assigned much more complicated homework problems that did not have answers in the back. She can be a little boring to listen to, but if you pay attention she does cover the material well.


Sophomore
D
Required (Major)
Mar 2005
I would say that you should only take Zhang if you have to. I went to office hours and class, and I barely feel comfortable with most of the material. The basics of the class I'm familiar and comfortable with thanks to Physics class, definitely not from her. In both office hours and class, if you ask a question literally 90% of the time she will respond with an answer that had nothing to do with the question. Her prepared notes are a joke. You MUST go to class and take notes yourself. I know the material, but probably not as well as I should. Believe me, I worked really hard for this class and Zhang didn't really help at all. My advice would be to find a better teacher if you can.


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2005
Zhang was okay. Homework was not too bad, nor were the exams. My only complaint was she didn't give the neccesary topics more time. Thevnin and norton's theorem, stuff you WILL use in upper division EE courses, were lightly skimmed over at the very end of the course. That made EE 211 slightly harder. Otherwise, clear presentation and reasonable requirements. I was not familiar with her office hours.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2006
I was surprised I got a B- in the class. Zhang might know the material, but her way of presenting it was juvenile and confusing. She would present overhead slides which would barely explain a new concept, do an example on the board which would either be incredibly easy or she'd screw up on. The grade is determined by three quizzes, two midterms and a final. When she announced that the average score on the second midterm was around a 50%, she should realize something is wrong. EE students have to be a little bit intelligent and there has to be something wrong with her presentation of the material, rather than half the class only mustering an understanding of half the material. I went into the final with around a 55-60%, which is a D+/C- according to her grading scheme. I thought I performed well on the final and came out with a B-. A grade higher than I was expecting. Either there is a generous curve at the end or I did amazingly well. Zhang doesn't really have an accent, but she is a small asian woman with a soft voice and no classroom presence. She isn't a very good teacher either. It's not like I will never take her again, but if I could take someone else, I would.


Freshman
F
Required (Major)
Aug 2008
She wasnt horrible but she would speed through material that was important and spend time on things that were not were not very significant. I failed because I never study very hard.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Nov 2008
Zhang has to be the nicest professor I have ever had. She genuinely cares about your comprehension and your grade. She does, however, have a thick accent and she, like the rest of the EE department, goes over a bit of theory and a few easy examples and then expects you to go from there. Unless you have no trouble with the homework, make sure you go to office hours to get help/clarification.

CHEM 127


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Oct 2005
For all of you that think chem is the hardest thing you have ever done, take this class. Even though her english is not perfect, her tests are easy, she prints all her lectures for you, and her office hours are fun. You never have to turn in the homework and she usually just gives u answers to labs if you go to her office. she is the nicest lady of all times and i absolutely adored her!


Freshman
N/A
Required (Major)
Jan 2006
First off, I really liked this professor as a person, she's a sweety but when it comes to chemistry and teaching, I wouldn't recommend her to anyone. The class average was around a 62% the whole year. For anyone with chemistry as their major classes whether directly for their major or a support class, the basic concepts are very important which were not taught well by this Professor. Good luck if you get her.


Freshman
D
Required (Support)
Mar 2006
avoid this professor at all costs!!! i had heard that she was just hard to understand because she has a heavy accent, but i could understand her perfectly. she just talks during class. she doesnt really teach the material. on my first 2 midterms a got a D and a F and i did all of the chapter readings and all the optional problems from the back of the chapters. and when she gives you practice exams... they are nothing like the actual test. if you must take her go to her office hours all the time because she teaches better there than in class. she was ok for the lab though. i got a B in lab but still got a D in the class.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Jun 2007
I could not understand this teacher, be aware that she has a thick accent and does not speak english well. I would not recomend her to anyone.

EE 151


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Mar 2005
Ok this woman is very helpful if you go and see her for office hours. THere is one overlying problems for the EE department though. Everyone can't speak english. She is no exception.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Mar 2005
Jane is a very nice lady who teaches the material very well. If you go to all her labs and pay attention to her lecture at the start of the lab you should gain the neccessary tools for success in 151. Her final was rather difficult, but very fair. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
May 2005
I would say that you should only take Zhang


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Dec 2005
Zhang turned out to not be quite as bad as I thought in the beginning, however only take her if you already know everything you thought you were supposed to learn in this class. She's a nice lady, but has the softest voice I've ever heard. The final wasn't as bad as I expected, it's mostly just bits and pieces from the questions from the labs throughout the quarter. She isn't very much help in lab, which is a problem. She seems pretty well prepared, but assumes too much previous knowledge, and doesn't explain incredibly clearly. If you ask for help in the lab, which you invariably will at some point, expect to wait in line, because she takes about 20 minutes with each student who asks a problem that should take 2 or 3 minutes. Good luck!

EE 211


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2004
I had Jane Zhang for two quarters and I must say...she's not as bad as many people portray her here. This is her 3rd quarter here so cut her some slack...she was pretty bad when I took her for 112 but she did improve alot. Her tests were no longer "omg where did she pull that out from", and her lectures are less "write equations onto the board the entire class period". If you go to her office hours, she actually helps you, instead of just staring at you like the previous quarter. Sure, there are alot of things she could still improve on, such as making the lectures less dry, but overall she's not a bad teacher.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Mar 2008
i donno, she's kinda cute

EE 212


Junior
C
Required (Major)
Dec 2006
Jane is one of the better teachers in the EE department. This was her first time teaching circuits 3 but even at that, she was well prepared. She did go VERY slowly through the material with lots of examples. She's an honest, fair EE prof. Take her for a quarter if you can.

EE 228


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Jan 2006
She is a very smart teacher. I've heard stories about other 228 teachers not having a clue what they were doing when they lectured, she is not one of them. She had a very good grasp of the material even though it's her first time teaching it. She talked a little bit quiet at times but it was easy to understand her. Some people in our class didn't know how to handle problems with complex numbers so they put her on the spot during class blaming her for not teaching it, but she handled it well.


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Jun 2007
I really liked Jane, she teaches very systematically and goes through the material quickly emphasizing what's important and giving plenty of examples. She is very helpful in her office hours and is overall a kind person who wants her students to really learn. She is by no means an easy instructor, but you will learn as long as you do your homework (graded on effort) and keep up with the readings. I would take her again as in my opinion she is the best EE Prof. i've had so far.


Junior
B
Required (Major)
Jul 2008
(Xiaozheng is Jane, by the way.) The class starts off as a joke and progressively gets harder. Keep up with the class and it'll be a REALLY easy A. I slacked off here for my other classes so that didn't work out too well. There are 5-6 HW, 6 quizzes, a midterm, and a final. The partial credit that she gives is only for completely correct work. There is a huge curve for the class - something like 60% = C+. Her exams aren't all that difficult, but for some reasons, students always tend to struggle with them. She is really easy to listen to in lecture and much better than your average EE professor. She's really nice, too.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
Jun 2012
This class is broken up into 2 parts. The first part of the class is all about waveforms, differential equations, and convolution. The second part is all about Fourier Series, Fourier Series, and Fourier Transform. That's what the class is about. Now about the professor. Xiaozheng (Jane) is not a good professor for this class at all. There is 1 midterm, 1 final, 5 quizzes, and 5 homeworks. The midterm was very hard with the average being 55/100. She is like most EE professors who will give you the easiest example in class and expect you to solve a way harder problem on the test. The midterm didn't reflect what she taught us in class at all. Same with the quizzes. A lot of the quizzes didn't reflect what she taught us. The final was very hard as well. So basically, most people do bad on the tests and the quizzes, so there's a massive curve in the end to make up for it. (about 10-15% is what she said it would probably be). Overall, take another professor if you can, but if you have to take her study a lot if you hope to do well or even pass the class.

EE 241


Junior
A
Required (Major)
Jun 2005
She was a good teacher for lab. The write ups were long (sometimes 15 pages), but if you did the work you'd get an A. The final was difficult, but it was pretty basic if you really payed attention to the labs.

EE 252


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
May 2008
Chemistry? When did she ever teach chemistry? She seems to be an electrical engineer teacher.

EE 302


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Aug 2006
She is a very friendly instructor and will help you out in office hours. She also doesnt really trick you on tests. As long as you learn the material, you should be able to get a good grade in the class.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2006
First off, Dr. Zhang doesn't teach any chemistry classes, so you can ignore all the ratings that pertain to those. Dr. Zhang is probably the nicest professor in the EE department and very helpful in office hours. Her lectures are fairly straightforward and out of the book, but she answers all your questions and you generally understand what's expected of you on tests. My only complaint is that she generally shows fairly easy examples in class and then gives challenging tests. But she grades on a curve, so it all works out in the end. The bottom line is that Zhang is definitely one of the best professors in the EE department. Maybe she's not quite as good as DePiero, but she kicks Derickson, Agbo, Slivovsky, Tandon, Saghri, Harris, and all the rest of the losers in the ass. If you have the chance, definitely take Zhang. And she's pretty cute. Also, she has a very nice, soothing voice that you can listen to for a long time; it doesn't get on your nerves like a lot of other teacher's do.

EE 314


Senior
N/A
Required (Major)
Feb 2012
The first and only midterm exam with a class average of 42/100... go figure.

EE 328


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2016
Class layout is pretty straight forward. Zhang is a good lecturer, goes over the concepts and maybe 1 to 2 examples. Some days it would be boring, but make sure to write all that stuff down. Do the practice exams and look over the objectives list to see what concepts might be on the midterm/final and you should be set for above average on the midterm. Class average was low 60 for the midterm but she curves at the end of the class so just chill.

EE 525


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2004
Prof. Zhang was pretty good. The material really sucked but help in other classes. This is a very dry subject and she did rather well. She is very effective in office hours but I've heard that she grades rather harshly when if comes to partial credit.


Graduate Student
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2004
Excellence in teaching (provide specific examples): She presents clear and well-organized lectures. Her excellent way of presenting the material makes even a tedious subject like statistics seem quite interesting. Her constant, encouraging, and friendly interaction with her students, during the lecture, coupled with her attractive disposition contributes to her students


Graduate Student
B
Required (Major)
Jan 2006
Dr. Zhang is very open and willing to help during office hours, which is a huge plus. You will need that since she is extremely difficult to hear during class (sit near the front). Make sure you understand exactly what is required on reports, she burns people on this. She's pretty well versed on the topic.

EE 528


Graduate Student
A
Elective
May 2011
Just assume it is an advanced dsp class. Dr. Zhang was easy to follow and convey the information very well. Lab was important to help you understand everything. Projects took a big percent for final grade, so be prepared to do programming.