Wirts, Sean  

unclear explanations, grades homework-for right or wrong, hard tests, try to find an alternative teacher.

Wirts class will stress you out, make you think you are retarded, and eventually hate life. He gives alot of homework, but it is helpful in the long run. Be prepared to work extremely hard. To do well in this class you need to go to his office hours, he is pretty scary at first, but he is actually a pretty nice guy once you continue to attend office hours. He will notice if you put fourth alot of effort. Do the homework, work hard on the quizzes(get help on these in his office hours), and his test are pretty much just problems from his quizzes! Do these things, and you will get an A or better, and i am not good at math, so I had to work hard! In the long run Writs taught me alot, and i am glad i had him!

Sean Wirts is a very interesting guy, he is barely out of school himself, and it shows. For example... one day we were factoring a harder than normal quadratic equation and he points to it and says "now, I don't think any of you want to try to factor this quadratic, unless you have 'leet factoring skills" but otherwise he is a pretty nice guy. He is a little nervous because he obviously hasn't been teaching long. He gives a lot of work for Homework, I dont know if this was because I was in the 116 class or what, but it takes FOREVER. He gives take home quizzes but you have to work on them alone because he is really good at catching people when they have similar work, esp if you make the same mistakes. His tests are really hard if you dont study at all (which is what i did for the first one and got a 63%) but if you actually go over the material in the book it makes much more sense. He also grades on a curve even if it gives the upper grades a huge advantage. for example I got a 120% on the last midterm because of the curve. So working hard pays off. He is also pretty good about giving grade check ups during the quarter. His office hours are always really packed, so they're kinda useless, but he teaches straight out of the book, so if there is anything that you didn't understand just look there. good luck!

Shawn gave homework every single night and graded it based on accuracy. His lectures are complicated and confusing. There are quizzes every friday that are about two or three questions long, but you end up studying for three hours for only two questions because he wont narrow anything down! He is really smart, but an overall terrible teacher. His tests are way way way too tough for 118. I passed the MAPE test half way through the class (because I needed 118 as a prerequisite) with no problem at all, but struggled immensely in his class. Don't take his class if you can help it.

I took this same class my senior year in high school and got A's both semesters. I thought it would be an easy A, taking it Fall quarter, but i guess not. With this teacher i got a D. Whatever you do, do NOT take this class. He knows the material but he doesn't know how to teach it. He assigned us homework that would take about 2 hours for each section, and then he didn't even test us on it. The quiz's and midterms were pretty much a free-for-all.

enjoys having an impossible class and prides himself in it will make your life hell

Okay, Mr. Swirts is relatively new so I'd give him a break. I had his class 8am in the morning, now for me that was a bit too early. I missed class almost every week, and even when I went I was half-awake. His lectures were straight-forward, like I said this was in the morning so the class was pretty much dead silent. He got some good jokes in and other times we were just whatever. Homework is required and graded in his class, due once every week. He gives you a lot of problems which can take more than an hour or even two or possibly more, almost everyday. In class he would go over some of the homework problems; side note: I see this for a lot of math teachers but it's just NOT possible to go over EVERY problem, that's what the office hour is for. Now although he gives you a lot of homework it's good practice, it's pretty much being drilled into you, but then again that's how you learn math...worked for me at least. His quizzes were not easy, and his exams were not easy either (most math exams aren't anyways) but both were do-able (get a B) if you did the homework and understood what you were doing. The tests seem intimidating because each question looks really long and most of them have several parts to it. Knowing how to graph is very important! For every midterm the averages were low 60s but read below... The funny thing is I scored only a little bit above the average (65-70) on the midterms, failed/missed half the quizzes, but did almost all the homework. By the end of the quarter going into the final, I had calculated that I could in no possible way get a B-, C (not C+ or C- but C 75) AT BEST if I did really well on the final. For the final I studied my ass off and when I took it it didn't seem that bad; the midterms were good review. Because our midterms were so pitiful he gave us an option (had to do a brief re-correction/paper of our midterms) to have our final replace one of our midterms, which I did (this was the good review seeing that I made so many mistakes). I don't know exactly what I got on the final but in spite of all of that I got a B - yes a B. I'm still surprised, because of all of this I think he can recognize when his students are struggling, which is a big plus for math teachers. So if I had to take him again it wouldn't bother me too much, there's "worst" teachers out there...

Well it was his first time teaching but he is horrible at it. His tests are unfair and he has difficulty in covering material presented on his tests. By far the worst math teacher i've ever had. You should avoiding taking him if you can help it.

This class was ridiculous... I learned nothing by going to class. I missed at least one a week, and I never missed anything. He goes into long explanations of everything, that he purposely makes obnoxiously confusing just to show how smart he is, and how the subject matter of math 118 can relate to some upper division math class... that no one would ever want to take anyway. It was his first time teaching though, so I'll give him that. He did do a lot of grade adjustments though. If you have him as a teacher... be there on quiz days, and do all your homework before the quiz and you should be fine.

he is the worst teacher i have ever had! you will ask him for help and he will ramble and then tell you that you should understand it. its not helpful AT ALL. he makes you do SOOOO much hw from the book but his tests and quizes are NOTHING like the book work, and he tells you that at the begining. AVOID THIS TEACHER AT ALL COSTS! he he rude and annoying.

While Wirts is a very intelligent man who knows the material that he teaches very well, he does not make an effort to make sure that his students are also understanding the material. The book that he chose for the class does a better job of explaining than he does, and the book is the only reason I understood anything at all in the class. He does things different than the book and tells the class that we can do the homework the way the book teaches, but that we are expected to do it his way on the quizzes and tests. How effective can it be to practice one way and test another? Also, his reviews do nothing to prepare you for the midterm or the final. On the midterm there were certain questions that I had no idea what I was doing on and I ended up leaving them blank. Wirts later admitted that he hadn't even taught us those problems and was just hoping that we would be able to figure it out. Nice, huh? Oh, he also assigns way too many problems a night, most of which if you ask him for help on, he will tell you not to worry about it because you won't be tested on something like that. So if you aren't going to be tested on it, then why waste time practicing it? Wirts is amazing at doing math, but just because you are good at something doesn't mean you are good at teaching it. He should not teach. Do not take this class if you can help it.

Ok, so I know Shawn's polyratings are not the highest but hear me out... If you go to his office hours for help and work hard, you WILL pass the class (unless you are seriously disabled). At first you are going to bitch and complain about how hard he is, and yes, he will challenge you, but he is a good teacher. Take good notes and do well on the first midterm because there is only one. He knows how well the class does but he doesn't want to fail you. Also, speak out in class and answer his questions. It makes you look good. Good luck!!

Wirts is not a teacher you want, and definitely not one you want twice a week in two hour increments. 10 weeks later, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He's a bad teacher, but it's not hard to get a B or better. Homework took about four hours a night and didn't help much in terms of helping out with understanding the content, and on top of that was only worth 5 points an assignment. Quizzes are take home, use your notes and USE YOUR book, in most cases his examples are straight from the book, and these quiz questions, or questions very similar to these are found on the midterm. You only have one midterm, which isn't that bad. Our class average was about a 140/200, and he gave us about 15-20 points to raise our midterm grades (30% of the grade). The final offered a few "chose your own question" sections, where you pick the question you think you can solve the best. He offers some (very small) extra credit opportunities, but don't rely on them. Study the quizzes, use your book on the quizzes, study your midterm. He's not that bad.

I took Shawn Wirts for 118 my first quarter of my freshman year. I'm observing a high school algebra II class and I decided to look over my notes that I took in Wirts' class. I understand them now, but let me tell you, the notes were way more complicated than they needed to be. I don't think he tried at all to make it easier for the students to understand his notes. He used math notation a lot, which I don't think anyone got used to. One of the most frustrating things that he did was not posting the homework promptly. He would email the class the problem sets each day, but he wouldn't do it until it was already night time, probably 8 or 9. It bugged me so much, because I wanted to do the homework in between classes but couldn't because he wouldn't post them. I'm pretty sure he has lost sight of how normal students understand math. He's a smart guy though.

Sean Wirts is an excellent professor. His knowledge of the subject matter is well beyond any other beings. His teaching style reflects that of galdalf the grey in the lord of the rings return of the king and the lord of the rings the two towers. I left this class with a broader perspective of not only pre-calculus but life itself. The term \"teacher\" can it describe the efficacy by which Sean teaches? That is the question i was left with after leaving this course. I was challenged to be a better person, to be more empathetic, to be more caring towards nature, and animals. Take Sean Wirtz! Going through pre-calculus is like going through the hellish depths of mordor deep into mount doom, but Sean Wirts lit my path into the darkness and he can do the same for you.

Wow, avoid this [professor] at all costs. [S]tudied my ass off and got a D from him. I think he actually enjoys failing students as I'm not the only one. ... RUN AWAY!!!