Valdez, James  

This class is a little bit harder if you have never taken physics before. Valdez just reads off his powerpoints for the lecture and posts each one online. He goes through really fast on powerpoints so its nearly impossible to take notes on the lectures. However Valdez knows his stuff big time. He worked in the electronics and mechanical industries forever so he is extremely smart. Go to his office hours they help tremendously. There are pop quizes every couple weeks so it encourages students to always study. His tests are multiple choice on scantrons so they can be easy. This is not a class you want to cram the night before a test because each test covers a lot of material.The lab paired up with this class can be sometimes a little confusing but it's an easy A.

I heard such great things about Valdez that I was excited to take this class, but I was quickly proven wrong. The subject material is so different from anything you've ever learned before, so it can be super overwhelming if you have no previous background knowledge. The class is filled with engineers who transferred into IT who think the class is really easy, which makes you feel worse about yourself. The lab is really relaxed and run by a LA so you can get a lot of help from your peers if you need it, and you normally get out 1-2 hours early. Valdez's tests are easy if you know your stuff, but you're screwed if you don't. There's no textbook, and his lectures are super boring but he posts them online so they're easy to go back to. Overall he's a nice guy who has a lot of experience in the field, he loves to talk to students and he's super understanding. Nice guy, difficult subject material.

Valdez is awesome. He cares about his students and just is a smart guy. The class has a group project which takes sometime, but not too bad. Group presentation. Four articles are due throughout the quarter and you present one of them to the class. Very casual and comfortable class to be in. This is an easy class.

One of the best teacher's I have ever had. Awesome class. TAKE VALDEZ!!!!

This class was a JOKE. It's comprised of two 1 hour lectures and two 2 hour labs and he cancelled the labs halfway through the quarter once we started working on our group projects, so we really only met for about an hour a week because he only lectures for 30 minutes. The lectures are really basic, like "What is Leadership?" and "How to Present Well" are some of the topics and the slides have max 4 bullet points per slide with very little information. Everyone was on their computers the entire lecture. The midterm and final (non cumulative) are multiple choice and based off the lecture slides and I studied the day of and got a 95%. For the labs, you do a 10 minute individual presentation at the beginning of the quarter that's super easy, and a group project the week before dead week. The group project is what really pissed me off about this class. Valdez brought in a serial entrepreneur a few weeks into the quarter, and he basically tasked the class to do his work for him. One group designed a solar panel cleaning system and one group writes a marketing plan for it. The project was really easy and didn't take much time (I did the marketing plan so it wasn't hard), but it's just annoying because it seemed like the guy comes into these IT classes and takes our research and design ideas and uses it for his own benefit. Maybe if it was a cool product we had to market it wouldn't be such an annoying project, but we did a solar panel cleaner which was so boring. Honestly the project just felt like an inconvenience and just a way for this guy to get free work done. He mentioned how he uses the technical writing classes to write his manual's for his products... Idk lol. If he wasn't so egotistical maybe he wouldn't get on my nerves so much. That being said, the class is really easy and I think I'll finish with a very solid A with very minimal work put in. If you want to take a class where you can do nothing and get an A and don't care about learning anything, this is your class. I was a little disappointed because I thought I'd be learning about how to really talk about and present technology, but that was not the case. Valdez is really nice though and really cares about his students, and he seems like a great resource out of class so there's that.

The class is extremely lightweight for most of the term. You watch the online lectures and then he repeats everything you watched in the video in lecture. Sometimes he gives you short assignments. There is a quarter-long group project that is about proposing a start-up. You get a group randomly assigned to you, everyone comes up with an idea, group picks an idea, and then you follow the business process to determine if you have a good idea/what changes you must make to appeal to your audience. It is normal if you don't spend a lot of time on the group project for most of the quarter. You won't know your grade until the very end. The final is just the videos and some other readings, and you're allowed to use your notebook. Talk to him if you have a group breakdown, he WILL help and work with you unlike a lot of other teachers.

Valdez is an awesome guy. He was always there for me, and let me make up a quiz after I had missed the class due to illness. He doesn

Best teacher at Cal Poly. If you get a chance to take Valdez then DO IT!!! He is always there for his students and he is an extremely bright and personable professor. You will not be dissapointed!!!

Great professor, great guy. Very qualified, availible, flexible, course was fun and informative. Happy to have him here in the IT department. Highly recomended!

Great Guy!! Always there to help you. Valdez is definitely one of the best IT instructors.

Very good instructor, is very approachable. Has a good sense of humor and understands students. I am glad to have him in my department after losing so many great professors.

He is a fantastic professor. He cares A LOT about all of his students. He is amazing, take him if you can. You won't regret it!

Professor Valdez is the most straight forward/ no bs teacher I\'ve ever had. It is such a rarity to find a teacher who can effectively communicate to the class that is to the point and with out fluff. He will teach you what is necessary to know, and not crap that doesn\'t belong in the class. Thank you Professor Valdez, for the refreshing teachings that I long for in the rest of my classes

Excellent professor. Easily within the top 3 professors I have had at Cal Poly. I am disappointed I do not have any more classes with Valdez. Take a class with him if you have the chance.

Hands down one of best you will have. Great guy, great teacher, wants you to succeed. It may seem sometimes that his tests are too easy, he covers the basics, but you actually learn something and are able to leave the class with some usable knowledge instead of a bunch of filler from the book. Take him for every class possible and you will succeed in the real world.

Great professor!

Great teacher. Makes class fun and relates well to materials he teaches. Easily my favorite professor in my four years here at poly. Tests from powerpoint information. Great course to take with Jim.

Valdez is the best professor you could ask for at Cal Poly. He doesn't just care about teaching you facts in the but rather life skills and knowledge. He is one of the last good professors in IT. I don't just recommend his class but actually getting to know him outside of class. He will go out of his way 100% for you and do everything he can to make you the best person you can be. He also has tons of connections in the industry

Mr. Valdez is a genuinely nice guy. He is also a very knowledgeable instructor with a lot of experience in the field. His classes are enjoyable and informative. I would highly recommend him!

Valdez is one of the most sincere teachers I've had. Yes, his 30 minute lectures a day are so dry that no one pays attention really, but the class is fairly easy and is a true LEARN BY DOING class where you get out and do work. Its more of an entrepreneurial class. Overall, Professor Valdez is there for his students- he is rich enough to not teach, he just wants to give back. He cares about your success, and is a great mentor and connection to have in your career. Take him at some point in poly!