Hampson, Brian  

The tests are fair. If you go to class everyday, he covers everything that will be on the tests and quizzes. Granted that some of the questions can seem tricky, but he is amenable to changing your grade or throwing out questions that are ambiguous if students come to him and state their case. I have had him for 3 classes and have found his teaching style to be entertaining, which helps to break up some of the material that is a little dry. I have heard more than one student say that Wines and Fermented Foods was a bad class. On the contrary, the class was a very interesting class, especially for those who have not had any experience in the wine industry or beer making. All of his class take a bit of studying, but certainly won't take all of your time. If you get a "D" in any of Dr. hampson's classes, it might be more of a reflection of you as a student, than of him as a teacher! What's so hard about remembering the name of the German Purity Law "Rheinheitsgebot'!

There was a lot of information for this class so be prepared to study. I had an A going into the final and some how I ended up with a C. When I went to ask him about it he wasn\'t in his office so I emailed him but he never responded. He\'s an ok teacher and the class itself is interesting but the way he teaches it makes it boring. There were 5 quizzes (one is dropped), 2 midterms both multiple choice, and a final which is again multiple choice.

A friend in food science warned me about Dr. Hampson – he’s boring and he’s a tough grader. I went into the quarter with an open mind but after the second class I realized how right she was. He gives five point quizzes at least once a week. I was worried studying for these and he said it’s just food science, not rocket science (which was funny the first time- ten times later not so much). I did well on the quizzes and before the midterm he said it would be just like the quizzes. Wrong- his tests are super specific much harder than the quizzes. I attended every class and still hadn’t heard of quite a few things on both the midterm and final. When he preps you for the final and says you’ll do well if you understand the concepts- have a general knowledge of the concepts but look at the most specific things or what seems to you as worthless. Know abbreviations: don’t be surprised if they are identical except for a changed suffix. He curved the midterm since people did so poorly; my B became an A. He does a lot of true/false which can go either way and loves to trick students. It’s nice that he has a course manual- I bought the book but never really looked at it. The book plus the course manual was too much information to absorb since he covers topics very quickly. He speeds through slides, finishes past the bell and adds his “funny” stories (which aren’t funny and will be repeated several times). Dr. Hampson is an intelligent, tactless man. You will hear about all of his degrees along with his offensive comments about religion, war, drinking. He refers to his ex wife as his “baby mama” which is a testament to his maturity level. Basically Dr. Hampson took what could be an interesting subject (food processes, wine and beer making) and made it incredibly boring and no amount of preparation could have you confident after the final.

I took this class as a requirement for GrC packaging. Be prepared to learn absolutely nothing about food packaging from Dr. Hampson. He is too busy telling stories about the food science conferences he speaks at because he is so highly regarded in the industry, but you would know that if you just listen to him speak. The way he pronounces his words makes it clear that he is a VERY important man. I missed one class the entire quarter and I will likely end up with a C. He gives five point quizzes throughout the quarter that cover obscure topics from the book of very unorganized slides that you are required to purchase. Hampson says that if you understand the concepts in the class, you will do well on the tests. This is completely untrue as he asks questions about very small details. Also be sure to know the acronyms he presents and be sure that you don\'t add the wrong suffix to that acronym because what really matters in the long run is whether the N in NLSA stands for nutrition or nutritional, right? I guess what I really want to say is that this professor is complete SHIT. And that is an acronym.

Oh Hampson. I'm sorry for nearly falling asleep every class.......with that said he is a very nice man, and has some really interesting things to say. His exams were doable (unfortunately theres only a midterm and a final) his quizzes sucked! 5 questions fill in the blank and multiple choice, random too. 1 thing is necessary for success in this class, and its not the boook.....its caffeine!

Easy to understand, gives pretty clear lectures, but has no concept of the spirit of teaching. The point is to LEARN, not to play some stupid game between teacher and student. This is a teacher who will have quizzes on days when there are a lot of abscences, just to screw everyone over. You can MEMORIZE his lecture slides, but he'll be as tricky as possible to stump you on the tests. He uses material that will be tricky on the test, not stuff you would retain. He's very competative, and one of those who is insulted if you do well, so he'll prevent it as best he can. Its curved, so hard to get below a C, but hard to do any better since you're fighting him all the way. Avoid if at all possible. Pompous ass.

Not the easiest class, but you will learn a lot if you actually go to class. You'll notice that the complainers here actually admit to skipping class. I don't think you can talk about a professor's ability to teach if you didn't go to class. Anyways, go to class, read the book when he tells you to (I only read most of it, not all, but still did well), and take good notes. Some people complain about him going off on tangents, but these "tangents" are some of the most important tips you'll get in college if you actually listen to them. He talks about real world stuff from his personal experiences and often, this is the material that's really good to learn. This "in the industry" stuff is often more valuable than the course material (although it's good too). Quality Assurance is an important part of any company selling a product not only because they maintain the integrity of the product, but also because people in QA have to be able to work with all other departments. Hampson's tests are difficult, but even if you seem to do poorly on a test, it doesn't mean that you'll get a poor grade in the class. He doesn't do standard numerical grading, but rather how you do compared to your classmates and your previous tests (so just do better than the average- a 30/50 does not necessarily count as a D, it could be a B or A even). He's a good professor if you just realize that when he marks an answer wrong it's because he really wants you to learn the material (your actual grade may not even go down anyways). Also, on your answers to any written question, make sure you restate the exact question in starting your answer. Go to class and you might actually learn something (even if it's in the early morning like my class was).

Worst teacher at poly? If by worst, you mean best, then yes, he's the worst teacher at poly. This teacher is awesome. Sometimes the material is a bit slow, but he does his best to keep you interested- it's like he's still a kid in a lot of ways. You'll like his classes better if you get to know him as a person and not just a lecturer. Go to office hours, ask questions, etc. It's an informative class if you actually go.

Hampson was the WORST professor that I have had a Cal Poly. He is not understanding of students, and his lectures are very boring. The book that you have to buy that consists of his MILLION slides is what he lectures on in class so it is not worth sitting there. But since I didn't ever stay I have a feeling that he would throw in random shit that would be on the final. The final was crazy with fill in the blank that he would expect us to pull out of our ass, cause there is no way that someone could remember all of that shit. All in All I would not recommend this class or teacher. If you think that Wine and Fermented food sounds interesting, IT'S NOT!

no idea why he's got such bad ratings... he's suuuch a cool guy. he's funny in a realllly dorky way and is way excited about his material. for the most part, its interesting though there are certaintly boring days. quizzes (5 pts) were actually pretty hard which should have been a clue to me to study my ass off for the midterm/final. tests were HARD. final, sorta unreasonably hard. he wanted us to know the german word for some law they had that restricted the ingredients used. it was some 12 letter word...i wrote on the test i was not pleased with the question. overall, he's cool and i think he curves the class. he's open to questions and is definitely approachable.

Trump 2016 -> Kanye 2020 -> Vermen Supreme 2024 -> ??? -> Profit

A lot of people don't like Hampson because he tells the same stories over and over and his tests are hard. Well, boo-effin-hoo. His tests ARE hard, they are a challenge for sure, and although I think he could cover material better, if you just read the text he provides you (even he agrees that textbooks are too expensive! He scans them and prints them out for you for free) then you should be able to do fine in his class. He's a really intelligent guy and you can tell he's been doing this for so long that he just likes to amuse himself. If I taught these classes every year over and over I'd probably start trying to amuse myself too with quirky jokes. Just be prepared with the crossword puzzle from mustang daily, your laptop, or a smartphone for games because he WILL ramble on about his experience in the industry. I enjoyed having him. You will too if you have a sense of humor at all.