Harding, Trevor  

Dr. Harding is very unorthodox. He teaches individuality and urges his students to do what is necessary to help others. the second week of class, he began discussing his view on capitalist employment, talking about how when one obtains a job with a company, you have sacrificed your control over what you say and do. much of this quarter was devoted to ethics, general engineering, and (oddly enough) emotional development. it takes some getting used to, but it is genuinely interesting, you tend not to want to miss his class. there are no tests, and the homework is just working with your groups on projects and presentations. no matter how much you try, however, he will always rip you problem statement and needs assessment to shreds! He is a good guy, though, and a great teacher.

I know a lot of people appreciate Harding, but personally I don't consider him a good professor. I feel that while dealing with him he tries to give off this aura of "all knowing" when he is nothing more than just your average joe. He seems to enjoy listening to himself talk and loves to recieve attention from his students. Basically, his cockiness is annoying, and made it difficult for me to appreciate what little he had to offer.

Obviously a bullshit class and he tells you at the beginning of the quarter. With that being said I would still say that I gained some knowledge out of this class. Harding is the man and is one of the most awesome professors in the MATE department.

Professor Harding is the man! Very open minded and helpful. 70% something of the grade is based on HW. Take him

Awesome teacher. makes material interesting. weekly hw. but answers straight out of notes. 2 quizzes which are worth the same amount as hw and questions straight off quiz and he tells you exactly wat to study whatever questions on hw class did bad on. final was easy. take him

Dr. Harding is a GREAT professor. I got a C+ in his class, and went to his office hours a total of zero times throughout the quarter. I put about twenty minutes per week of my own time into the class (doing homework and studying) and still passed. Its not that he doesn't teach hard materials: its just that he has an AMAZING ability to teach and communicate clearly. If I had put more effort into it, I would have gotten an A without a problem. Dr. Harding wants students to do well and does his job to educate students; not to collect a paycheck. He answers any question you have, and will always tell you why certain subject matter is important. It was a true pleasure being a student of his, and I highly recommend him.

Dr. Harding is a very knowledgeable fellow. He keeps his class amused and present material rather simply. Short in class problems help you put things in perspective. Doing the homework is VERY HIGHLY ADVISED; it's a hefty portion of your grade and they closely reflect problems on quizzes and the final. Overall a good guy and very helpful when you ask questions.

Harding appears to know a lot, but after really listening I realized he is a great BS er. He knows basic MATE, which I would hope, but he goes on to pretend he is an authority on everything. Sorry, you can't be all things. This behavior reeks of insecurity that I have seen in other professors. I remember him saying he was an aeronautical engineer, but when I asked him even some basic questions he had no clue. He would be a much better teacher if he quit trying to be cool and just was said 'I don't know' You don't have much choice though from what I know everyone in that department is a clown, so pick your poison

Wow, Harding knows everything! At least he wants you to think that, a very insecure pecker, total geek, just needs some hornrims and a pocket protector, but at least those engineers actually have done some real engineering. Harding told us he went straight into academia so he could teach, but the trouble is he never has worked in the real world, and worse really thinks he knows how it works. He is another example of what is wrong with college--give us someone but a glorified post-doc who ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THE F&^K THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!! HARDING DOESN'T KNOW SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOW.. someone's a little pissed about getting a B. Get over it.. Harding makes the class fun and he clearly knows what he's talking about. Maybe he does it in a 'cocky' way, but it isn't demeaning, so the guy below me must not be able to handle Alpha males.

Dr. Harding is a great professor. He is very approachable and always willing to help, but will not just give you the answer. He makes his lectures very entertaining, although I didn't like the "fill in the powerpoint slides" method. Also he is a cool guy, and loves to talk about beer. I recommend him to everyone for MATE 210!

This class is what made me realize how much I want to be an engineer. Professor Harding teaches differently than most teachers, he tries to teach as much for the students as he can. He uses powerpoint to present the class the material, but if you don't show up to class you will miss information because the notes are fill in the blank. There are in class assignments to really solidify your understanding of the material. Two midterms that aren't too difficult, he tells you what learning objectives will be on them, you just have to learn them. The final wasn't too difficult, it included all the learning objectives that the class as a whole hadn't completely grasped. You are allowed one 3x5 notecard for all tests, use it wisely. I would recommend Harding, he put a lot of things in perspective for me this quarter.

Good teacher, should assign problems from book since it seems that is how his exams resemble a little

Dr. Harding is great. His methods of teaching are a bit unorthodox but it is definitely not a bad thing and I can honestly say that I almost wanted to go to class every day because of him. His tests are not difficult as long as you learn the learning objectives (he tells you what they are) before the test. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you are allowed a note card you will be fine for the tests. You must really have an understanding of the material, which if you pay attention in class (which he makes it very easy to do) is not difficult. Dr. Harding really is a great guy, the best professor I've had here at Cal Poly hands down. He really cares for his students. He not only teaches you about materials, but tries to make you a better person while doing it.

He looks damn good in a dress! fuck yeah snow white!

Harding has a hard-on for hearing himself talk. He disguises his lack of expertise with tons of bs. Nowonder he got hired by the worst department in engineering. Oh, and seriously... cowboy boots?

harding makes this class fun. even at 7am. come to class, take notes, do the homework and you will be fine. there are no tests except the final, which is only %15. it is definitely an application class and not a memorization class.

I\'m truly shocked at some of the reviews Harding is getting. I\'m a junior know and have had him as my professor for 2 years, and he is my favorite teacher hands-down. He has a way of presenting information in a way that\'s easy for anyone to understand, which is really helpful on tricky subjects. Plus, he has a great personality and has no problem making fun of himself (even if it means dressing up like a woman). As for the cockyness some of you complain about, I don\'t even know what you\'re talking about. He tries to answer everything, but even when he can\'t, he\'ll admit that he does not know and ask the class to look for an answer so we can tell others in the class. BEST TEACHER I\'VE HAD!

His class is interesting. You will learn about stuff other than materials and there are 2 art projects involved. I truly learned a lot from his class but since he made sure everyone got the material before moving on, I do not think he covered everything we were suppose to. I do not know how that will translate into my future classes but I hope it does not make me suffer. Another thing I would like to include in this review is that he will tell you what questions will be on the final (not in exact words) and he will give you a notecard to bring to the final. So what I did was write all the answers to the questions that will be on the final onto the notecard. Then when the final rolled around I just copied my notecard onto the final. So did I really learn anything? Yes. Did I retain the specifics? No.

Harding was a treat to have, even at 7:40am. He\'s a funny guy and succeeds in mixing it up a little from your typical boring engineering class. Yes, we do some art stuff - it\'s a chance to be creative and risk a little. And he\'s interested in psychology which adds a little variety too. His class is nice because you have no tests except the final and just two projects. Most of your points will be from the homework which you really can ace every week if you work hard enough. They\'re not even long asignments. If you go to class, then you should only spend an hour or two on homework each week plus maybe time for a quick question or two in office hours. Take him!

Easy to get a B, hard to get an A or a C. With that said going to class was definitely worth it just for the laughs. He\'s a cool professor and he gives surprisingly deep speeches. The end of the quarter speech was awesome.

Harding is a decent professor who assigns a lot of homework and comes off as being pompous in his lectures. You can probably pass the class, but doing perfect will be difficult as he uses student graders for his assignments and they grade to a key where you lose points if you don\'t hit upon every single key word they\'re looking for.

Don\'t buy the book! Trust me, you never use it. All homework is based off the lecture notes. Never opened the book once.

Harding loves to go on tangents, which actually are very interesting (I thought). If you\'re the kind of person who sees going off topic as a waste of time than you\'ll probably hate him. But for people like me who enjoy the random speeches about life, beer, or wherever the discussions ends up you\'ll like him. Even though the class was at 7:40 I always looked forward to it because he gives very interesting lectures.

I thought the class was really fun. I am a chem major but managed to get the class to count for an major elective. I had heard amazing things from my engineering friends about the class so I petitioned to get it to count. The class was relatively easy, took very little time a week and was a good time overall. No tests except for the final, homework every week. Unfortunately my section was stuck with a really picky student teacher. Harding claimed he would curve but he didn\'t. I wasn\'t thrilled on the idea of group projects (I\'ve been burned by bad group members many time in the past), but they turned out to not be bad at all. He can be a bit cocky like other people said - but most heads of departments are. If taking mate 210 I would definitely take him, especially given what my friends that had different teachers for the same class said.

DO NOT NEED THE TEXTBOOK FOR MATE210... besides that, if you're an upperclass student, the first 2 weeks of this guy will make you think of him as just another professor trying to be different and unique by 'switchin things up' and teaching differently. But he's the only one who actually IS a uniquely different teacher... He's definitely one of the coolest professors i've had. Show up to his lectures, pay attention, and you will get a B or an A, handsdown. Just take good notes.

Like others say, don't buy the book. Harding has a very different style of running his class. His class was very enjoyable and different. His class was based on online quizzes, design assessments using CES, group projects, reflections, and a final. He wants you to take notes using his slides and fill in the blanks. Make sure in your reflections you actually reflect= you don't need to follow the prompt at all. Harding was trying to teach us life lessons and does go off on tangents. Love him and he will love you.

Everyone on Poly Ratings says that this guy is an awesome teacher so I took him for Mate 210. Allow me to clarify. He's an Awesome person, but an average teacher. My greatest complaint with the class is that your grade is based largely on 2 art projects, some group assignments, and your ability to BS through "reflection" assignments. His goal seems to be to push you out of your comfort zone which sounds nice I suppose but I would have much rather had a normal class that actually focuses on materials engineering. If you like your grade being dependent upon group work, group art projects, and reflecting about said assignments, take him. If your prefer the typical engineering class, look elsewhere. Oh and just a heads up if you do take him, he likes when you take risks (artistically) and your art projects are peer judged (he doesn't even take them to grade later), so keep these two things in mind when making them because he tells you neither of these until after your first one.

If you wanna do well in this class, then fire up your BS skills cuz this guy loves to hear that his extremely unorthodox teaching methods (more like rants about how our education system has made us blind) are helpful (and that may totally be true for you). Besides the first week and the last week, I consistently went to only one lecture a week and there was also a three week stretch that I completely did not go to class. Even then, this guy would still be working on getting through the same slide I left at and still blabbering and hating on society and what not. Grades consist of two art projects (Make it look good. The actual content hardly matters.), two group papers (Fairly normal assignments.), four reflections (Make this poor guy think he's loved and say how you are growing as a person shaping your own future, blah blah) and the final (study the lab stuff or find someone who took the lab portion to get notes. Honestly, you learn actual MATE from the labs.) The class is easy to get an A, but it felt like a total waste of my time and I had a hard time getting anything out from his self-absorbed lectures.

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Professor Harding is probably the coolest professor that I've ever had, because his class is different than any other class at Cal Poly. The class is pretty straightforward and easy. Your grade is based off of 2 group "art" projects, group design assessments using the CES software, online quizzes, self reflections, and 1 final. There are no homework or midterms, which makes the class pretty easy. Like everyone else has said for the reflections, don't follow the prompt at all, and you'll get a higher grade. All of the group projects are easy, but vague, because he wants you to take risks and to push you out of your comfort zone. Bottom line is that if you show up to most lectures, pay attention, and fill out the lecture slides that he puts on PolyLearn, then you will easily get an A or B.

Harding is a lot of fun to listen to. He's at his best when ranting about the failures of the educational system, although he does an excellent job explaining materials engineering as well. I went to class almost every time and it was at 7:30 AM, so that gives you an idea of how effective he is as a lecturer. As a grader, however, the self reflections and projects, which make up most of the grade, are a bit of a crapshoot, sterring people towards middle of range grades regardless of the effort put in. Hard to fail, hard to ace.

Dr. Harding is one of the best if not best professor I have had at Cal Poly. I also had him for the MatE intro. series my freshman year and his entrance made me realize not all engineering professors are as horrible as some make them out to seem. The first day of any intro. class with Harding you will get a speech about why the educational system sucks, there's good reason for this, because it does. He is very knowledgeable in the class material and alternative ways of presenting it. The class is simply an intro. class so if you are looking for a professor that requires you to regurgitate material that is definitely not Harding. I was one of Dr. Harding's graduate students and he is very passionate that students mature while they are students. The class is mainly homework and projects with tests counting only a little (if there are any). As a person he's good but as a professor he is great, even if you don't realize it. LEARNING IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS as you will definitely learn.

I would avoid taking this professor if you want to learn about materials engineering. Dr. Harding likes to try out new things each quarter. For our class, we had to buy a $150 flappy book (with Top Hat and Mastering Engineering access codes). We could only buy it at the bookstore since it was the first time he decided to use these things. Mastering Engineering was horrible. We would get marked off for making rounding errors and some of the questions were poorly written. Even he agreed about them. They took forever too. A lot of the questions had part A, B, C, D, etc. In class, we mostly did Top Hat which was just answering questions he put up on the screen and talking about them. He expected everyone to have watched the lecture notes he put up online before coming into class. To answer the questions, you would text the number on your phone or put the answer in on your computer. There were many students who would just guess what the answer is. They never watched the lectures. It didn't matter anyways since he just gave you full participation credit whether you got the answer right or wrong. Some students didn't even show up to class because they could just put in their answers when they are at home. The questions popped up on the website as well. While the professor would be talking about the Top Hat questions, there would be some students playing games on their computers or just talking to each other. There wasn't much active participation in the class. For homework, besides Mastering Engineering, we had to do art reflections. To get an A on the reflections, just write something random and go off topic. I felt as if I did not learn a lot from this class. I wished that he lectured the class instead because I felt that this class was more of an art class instead of a materials engineering class. The class wasn't hard though. It was not hard to get an A. Just don't follow directions.

I got a B+. And I put less effort into this class than others. When it comes down to it, Harding is a solid "ok." He definitely isn't terrible as some people put it. He tried some new things out this quarter which forced us to buy a course pack containing a code for Mastering Engineering, Top Hat, and a textbook. It totaled well over $100. It could only be bought at the bookstore because it was just created, yadda yadda yadda (someone mentioned this below). However, he said he was only trying this out for one quarter. So everyone who took MATE 210 in the fall got screwed (financially). It is my personal opinion that, because Mastering Engineering was SO terrible, he compensated us by making the final easier. Which is probably why I ended up with a B+. In addition to Mastering Engineering there are three self reflections, several online competency tests via polylearn, three group projects, and a cumulative final. LOL I'm done!

Great guy. Highly recommend him.

I like Trevor and his style of lecturing with question sin between a lot. He is pretty funny and is good at explaining things clearly. I think he would be excellent to take in a smaller lecture. That being said, there are quite a few things that bug me. <br><br> First he starts off the first day by saying if he could, he wouldn't have grades in his class. Turns out that that is kind of bullshit though. Part of the grade is self reflections which you are pretty much free to write whatever you want. He claims to grade them on the depth of your reflection but it seems to be an arbitrary number based on whether he liked what you wrote about. When you get an 89 on a self reflection it just seems like bullshit points to miss. <br><br> Second thing is the group projects. I may be biased to start out with because I do and always will hate group projects. But in this class it just seems like he wants to have his students meet up and just shoot the shit. They are supposed to be "creative" projects. <br><br> The first project is to pick something and analyze the materials before you really know much about materials (unless you're a MATE major.) Just something to fill up space and have you "learn to work as a group." He has the students grade eachothers projects. By the way, here is a sincere "fuck you very much" to students who won't just give others an A because they "want to be honest". This isn't a competitive class, there's no bell curve, everyone can get A's, so just give eachother A's and don't be douchebags. <br><br> Second is a piece of artwork that is about materials and is about an issue that is important to you. If I wanted to be doing an art project I would be in an ART CLASS. This has absolutely nothing to do with engineering and absolutely everything to do with him being a "cool professor." I'm sure quite a few people agree with me in saying that I would rather demonstrate my knowledge about engineering by creating an actual functional project or even writing a paper. Again, the grade on this is just an arbitrary number he pulls out of his ass that may or may not screw over your final grade in the class. Or just get rid of that project and let me not waste my time doing unimportant shit. <br><br> Third is the fact that he will post his slides on polylearn. But wait! He leaves blanks in every spot that there is important information. I understand that he wants students to come to class, but the in class quizzes are enough to achieve that. Can I please just have the slides to review and learn off if I do miss a class? Missing the quiz points is enough of a punishment for missing class without making self-learning the material even harder. Plus its a 740am class... sorry but I can't always physically drag myself out there Tue Thur. <br><br> Positives: If the class averages well on the online quiz questions, then that topic won't be on the final. If someone wanted to be a real boss in the future they could make a shared dropbox folder where people could upload the answers. Pretty sure there is a way on polylearn to get all of your classmates calpoly email. <br><br> When it comes down to it, if this is one of your options to take as a technical elective I would recommend taking a different class.

Go ducks

Having the early lecture thoroughly sucked. I missed most lectures and therefore missed the in-class tophat questions. There are online quizzes every week, one cumulative final, tophat questions, reflections, and two really dumb projects. The quizzes are easy enough, then whichever questions are missed the most from the quizzes go on the final. IceTre also reviews these questions, so an A on the final should be a given. The projects were my stumbling block. We are assigned a partner (mine was a dunce) and given a too-open-ended project to do. It's practically art and has nothing to do with the material. With a little bit more effort it would have been an easy A. I procrastinated on the project and reflections which didn't help, but the open-endedness of the class (no hard-and-fast deadlines or guidelines) made it hard to get things done. IceTre is not a bad professor, but don't expect to like his class.

Awesome instructor for big lecture hall. Very interested in students and easy to read prepared slides. Homework is easy with friends and exams straightforward. Don't really need to go to lecture with basic concepts but projects are a must. Find a good partner.

Dr. Harding is one of the best and most inspirational teachers I have ever had. He works very hard to get the best work out of students without working them to death. Be patient with his alternative learning style, trust me, it is better for you.

Professor Harding is a different teacher. He likes the backwards teaching method, and it helps him not do any work. If he lectured like a normal teacher he would be fantastic, but he post lectures online instead. The class was pretty easy for our quarter, just an annoying amount of work on mastering engineering (of which he probably won' be doing anymore). If you want to learn about Materials engineering, don't take him, he doesn't do well at it. But if you want to have a easy lecture, learn the simple basics of MATE and have a 45 minute final, take him. Also, I liked his personality, some people didn't, but he is an open-sarcastic type, so it depends on you.

He goes off on tangents at times but leaves all the notes online in case he missed something, hes helpful when he has time in office ours. class isn\'t too bad the projects could be a little more clear but overall great prof definitely worth taking

He goes off on tangents at times but leaves all the notes online in case he missed something, hes helpful when he has time in office ours. class isn\'t too bad the projects could be a little more clear but overall great prof definitely worth taking

Great professor, conveys material clearly. This class was in the mornings and the best part about it was the group projects.

This class is a lot of material. On the individual assignments its still helps if you collaborate in a group.Stay on top of the homework. Pick a good group. I used an online text book so I spent no money on books! Harding does a good job but sometimes the class can be long! I really did enjoy this class.

Professor Harding's class is probably the easiest class you will be taking in your materials engineering curriculum. NO FINAL, NO MIDTERMS, AND NO QUIZZES. The class is graded based on three group projects, three individual assignments, and a final group project. All of the projects should take anywhere from one the three hours. Make sure you get in a group that will help you on the group projects so that you are not sitting there doing it all. The material is so-so interesting and is fully based on CES software. As a MATE, you will have to take this but as someone looking for easy tech electives from another department, this class is the one you are looking for. Pretty much guarenteed A.

I guess the students below don't know Professor Harding well enough, since they probably don't even care about the course that they took. He is the best professor I have ever had. He definitely knows a lot and he cares so much about his students. Dr. Harding teaches and communicates very clearly to students. I don't think he is cocky at all, I've had him ever since MATE 210 and he is still my favorite professor in the MATE department. Ask anyone in the major and you'll know what a great person he really is.

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!