Zumwalt, Marta  

You can tell she is a new teacher. She is very intelligent in her field of chemistry, but that is about it. If you want to learn anything, you read the book and do the worksheets that she hands out. The TA's are usually more help explaining than she is. Be prepared to sit through 2.5 hour lectures on lecture days. It is a fairly easy class, but the teacher is below par.

Well.. 124 is a hard class but I actually really like Zumwalt. Her lectures are very clear and straightforward. You will have a quiz every Friday along with 3 midterms and one final (she drops the lowest quiz). All of her quizzes though come straight out of the notes. She never really tried to put tricky questions or anything like that. Also she is super helpful in office hours as long as you have questions when you go in. I would recommend her even though she may not be the easiest teacher, I liked her

Before I start this is not an angry spiteful evaluation, this is a legitimate evaluation of her and her teaching skills. Here's the deal with this bitch, she presents the material poorly at best and it doesn't help that chem 124 is a hard class to begin with. Secondly you will not 1, not 2 but 3 fucking midterms and a quiz every week that you don't have a midterm. All her tests are way too hard, if you managed a 70% or better you should go celebrate. Worst of all she is heartless and may in fact be the devil. I had a low C all year I was satisfied. Then final grades came out. And she gave me a 0 on the final because I didn't turn in, are you ready for this? SCRATCH PAPER!!!! I failed her class because of scratch paper. I don't know what kind of monster does that but apparently she does.

Zumwalt is an excellent professor. She's smart and she knows what she is talking about. Study and you'll get a good grade. That's the way it works at Cal Poly - Learn by doing. To the necrophiliac who was complaining about failing the final because of scratch paper, dude get a life. That's the rules for the final exam. No Scratch paper = 0 on final! Even someone with a failing grade in a BS course like Math 112 can understand that equation.

Zumwalt is solid. No complaints. Knows what she is doing.

Zumwalt's class was extremely difficult for me, but it was actually one of my favorite classes first quarter. The greatest challenge for me was the workload: lots of notes during lecture, and a very fast-paced lab in addition to reading the textbook. There's also a quiz or test every week based primarily off of lecture notes and some material from the textbook (so be sure to take detailed notes during lecture).

Dr. Zumwalt is a dedicated professor. Her lectures are delivered on space-age live action video displays as she writes down information and are very easy to copy. While I never personally went to her office hours, she was constantly telling me after I was docked points on my labs that I should have brought my questions to her. Throughout most of the year I completely hated her. She never gave me the points I deserved on labs, she refused to correct a grading mistake because apparently I "got a better score than most of the kids in this class on this assignment" and should consider myself "lucky." On several of her labs I found myself constantly swearing and seeking help from the TAs because the online lab manual was poorly written and vague. Although, come the end of the quarter, the material started getting easier, she started warming up to her class, and my hatred of her eased. Now I reflect on the quarter with a highly positive outlook. She whipped me into shape for Chemistry and improved my understanding of the chemical sciences in general. As I sit in 125 I sometimes miss her silly antics and mannerisms. She is overall a good teacher. I think she wears her hair down intentionally only on test days. Strictly business all week long until we need to perform in the clutch. Then she tantalizes us with that luscious blonde hair of hers.

Chem 124 is a fairly difficult class in general. Zumwalt is nothing special but she isnt the worst either. Everything was pretty straightforward.

She has a different type of teaching than most others, she expects for her students to learn some things on their own. She goes over everything once in lecture so that part isn’t too big of a deal but when it comes to quizzes and tests she will throw a little curve in there so if you are comfortable with the material its no problem but f your unsure of your self you will get railed upon. She expects for the class AVERAGE to be around 71% and she does not curve except for one case when our class average we 53% and she curved it to 60%. One thing that is nice is that a 81% is a B and not a B-. Overall she is a tough teacher but you will learn the material and when the common final comes its easy compared to the other tests. So if you want a challenge and want to actually learn something in this class take her.

Zumwalt is alright, but she isn't the greatest either. As far as Chem teachers go she is pretty good. This class is extremely difficult and demanding. There are lab write ups all the time, quizzes, three midterms, (the last one which she gives you during dead week), and a final and you must constantly be engulfing yourself studying chem. The averages on all her exams were around a 70 to a 75. The final average was in the low 60's. She did not curve. Chem 124 is just a hard course. Being in class for two and a half hours also sucks. If you don't show up on fridays, she starts putting the quizzes on fridays.

I had to withdraw from Chem 127 due to health issues during the quarter, but Zumwalt was anything but understanding and nice. She made class hell when I was enrolled, I found her to be rude and disrespectful to students-- often putting them down for their difficulties. She was always harsh and her lectures at the beginning of lab never really helped. I am not one to understand Chem easily, but I can definately say she was no help at all. Even when I did seek help from her, she acted as if i were bothering her. She often made me feel insignificant and stupid. I would reccommend you avoid her lab class... especially if you struggle with chemistry.

Zumwalt was a great teacher. I am horrible at Chem and I was very nervous going into this class. She presents the material very clearly, and she is a very fair grader. Her worksheets and handouts are very helpful, but be sure to actually do them. She tries to make it so her students can succeed, and she offers partial credit on her tests which helps ALOT! I didn't read the textbook much, but be sure to take good notes and do the worksheets and you should be fine. She is very helpful in office hours, and very accommodating. I didn't have her for lab but I wish I did. I heard she was good. This isn't an easy class by any means, but Zumwalt certainly tries to help her students. I saw some of the complaints below how she treats her class very childlike- and its true but really, she knows her stuff. I recommend her highly for chem, especially if you are not good at chem like me or are worried about passing. I got a much higher grade than I expected.

She was a good teacher. I had never understood a chemistry class before in my life but no i actually get it! GO TO OFFICE HOURS they help so much. tests are challenging, but very fair if you study. i didnt do as well as i hoped, but i would definitely recomend her. shes very nice &helpful. also DO THE WORKSHEETS they help alot & are very similar to the tests/quizzes