Nguyen, Frank  

Dr. Nguyen can be very humorous and fun in class. His lectures are nothing special but very helpful and informative. He quizes weekly and midterms are hard even after studying like crazy. Homework is not graded. Graders are really harsh (although graders change). Everything (class agenda, hw, labs, grades, etc) is put online and updated weekly or more which is super helpful. I also had him for lab, but the TAs are the ones helping you the whole time. I recommend taking him because this is a hard class and he knows it, so he helps you the best he can. Office hours are a great resource with Nguyen.

Dr. Nguyen is a great professor. He presents materials neatly and clearly to his students during lecture and is very helpful in office hours. His tests and quizzes are based on homework problems, so even though he doesn't collect homework, do it anyway. I highly recommend taking him.

He has a difficult accent, but he does try have everything that he says on power point (word for word) on the computers at your table. He struggles with answering questions, a lot of times he just doesn't understand your question and starts answering the wrong thing. His tests are hard even if you study, however he gives extra credit for coming to lab, which helps alot! even though the homework is not due, i recommend doing it. The final is very hard, because it is a general exam that every chem 124 class takes, and it is nothing like what he teaches. He covers a lot of information very quickly!!! not my favorite teacher by far!

Nguyen is great, but hard. Here's why: 1) You must completely understand everything from high school or chapters 1-5 in the book right off the bat. 2) His weekly tests are difficult but do-able 3) His midterms are pretty rough but passable 4) His final is IMPOSSIBLE. I passed his class. He knows his class is a very difficult one so he gives extra credit for lab attendance and tries to help you individually if you are struggling. He is very flexible in terms of office hours and does anything he can to help his students. I (like I'm sure many others) easily should have failed this class but was shown mercy. that being said, Frank is the man.

he can't teach.

Welll first of alll, unless you are from china good luck understanding this guy. His lecture is meaningless and the only reason people attend is to get extra credit points. I suggest you make friends with someone in class and always have them sign you in for the maximum amount of extra points at the end of the quarter. Furthermore crash in on a buddys chem for the entire quarter so you can actually learn the material from a qualified teacher. Your best strategy is to teach yourself how to do all the problems by reading the dull text book because during lecture you will be too distracted by the proffessors movie like accent when hearing about chemical formulerss and the ethanol we all so dearly love to drink. Goodluck with this guy his final will fuck you in the ass

Obviously, he has an accent, so if you can't understand it then it will be impossible to follow during lecture (a friend of mine didn't understand anything he said all quarter). Second, he goes through slides extremely fast, and it is impossible to take adequate notes. On top of that, the slides he posts on BB have gaps in it. He color codes the slides with red, as if to indicate that is where you need to copy notes down because there will be a blank, but he randomly takes out words throughout the slides. The color coding is just to throw you off and make it impossible to take complete notes without a computer in front of you. Finally, his tests are unbelievably hard. The class will average F's on every test.

Frank is a good guy and knows his shit. He'll keep you entertained. His accent isn't bad at all, just takes a few classes to get used to it. His quizzes and midterms are straight forward, the final is rough on everyone. Just print out the slides and fill them when in lecture. Lab is easy. He gives extra credit for going to class, so he doesnt curve too much in the end, like less than half a letter grade so every pt counts. Honestly I took AP chem and knew most of it but my friend who i studied with didnt but he still pulled an A. Just do the workbooks that he posts on BB, review his slides and you'll do alright.

nguyen is pretty arrogant . He assumes everyone is going to take the chem test equivalent to the EIT. He treats his course like its the only course you have and expects you to remember too many equations. He then wonders why his students dont do well. The final is so bad it had a 20% curve on it! I dont recommend him at all.

I don't recommend taking him. I took chem124 3 years ago... big mistake. Take 125 asap. BUT Nguyen didn't make it any easier. I actually didn't mind the subject.. It's also WAY WAY easier than 124. The bad: IF YOU'RE GOOD AT MEMORIZING THINGS, TAKE THIS CLASS. He makes you memorize ALL but a handful of equations. Retsek on the other hand, will give you an entire 1.25 page equation sheet with equations and constants. He also busts out random nomenclature-related problems on quizzes and tests that kinda screw you over before you start. The final was really tricky- they get you into the habit of going through the motions during the entire quarter and then throw you a billion curve balls on the final. I also got NOTHING out of his lectures. I basically made it through the class (C+) because I was in a study session and the tutor taught us everything we needed to know. The good: You can get points back by going into office hours and looking over your tests. ESP if you "circled the wrong answer" or had the right answer, but choose the other option last minute (show all your work & thought processes on your quizzes and tests), I've seen him give points back. He is also a pretty entertaining person & understanding if you are having problems and come to see him often. He also had the final graded & available to see at his office hours 5 min after the test was done. He's also patient if you don't understand- but sometimes he has a really hard time figuring out what you don't understand.

After reading most posts below, you will realize he is hard to understand. And his horribly put together PowerPoints don't make it much better. However, he is DEFINITELY not the worst chem teacher you could get at Cal Poly. He offers a ridiculous amount of extra credit, which you will need because his final is very difficult. I got an A, and put in little to no effort. Studied for quizzes and tests the night before. Labs aren't fully written out either, just fill in blanks and answer short questions. Just be prepared to learn nothing. And be confused at most times. He does like to joke about drinking the alcohol used in labs tho. Probably the one laugh you will get during the quarter.

Business majors: A degree for the intellectually impaired, HA HA.