Heying, Michael  

Dr. Michael Heying is awesome. His class is challenging, but it is totally possible to get a good grade. His lectures are extremely informative and organized. His tests and quizzes are very straight forward and follow the material that was covered in lecture. He has a very dry sense of humor, but once you catch onto his jokes, the class becomes much more enjoyable. Moral of the story: TAKE HIS COURSE. If available, take an accompanying workshop- it will really help. ps. Make sure you take Michael Heying's class and not Melanie Heying's class. Although they're related, he clearly received the family's good-professor genes.

Heying is a good professor, considering how bad most of the Chem department is. His class is pretty hard, but you can still do pretty well in the class. His lectures are pretty good, and he gives a lot of the information that will be important for the quizzes, tests and the finals. Overall I think he is one of the best teachers in the Chem department, and from what I've heard he is definitely better for 124 than 125.

Honestly, this class was quite difficult to balance with my other classes such as Calc. 3. I would recommend not taking Prof. Heying's class lightly as class material goes by pretty fast. I would say on average the grade most people got was a B. My understandable yet disappointment of a grade was a combination of adjusting to my first new college schedule(I had my Calc. 3 class that started at 7:00 a.m and this was right after) and poor scores on quizzes and midterms. The homework load(medium) consists of pre-lab write ups, lab-write ups, optional book assignments as well as optional online worksheets. For the benefit of those who are or will take him, I am going to summarize his class into 3 sections and how you should handle them: Lectures, Labs and Quizzes/Midterms. Dr. Heying's lectures are pretty boring, simply because he teaches by writing on a device that then displays it onto a computer screen in front of you and you sit looking at that for an hour or two. He then tries to liven it up with random movie segments to which have no effect since his volume for the videos are so freaking low that no one gets the references. My advice is to read up on the chapters beforehand which is usually posted on the "Chemweb" website so you'll understand what the heck he's talking about in class. The labs are pretty easy, just make sure you write your pre-labs thoroughly and you should be fine. Lab-write-ups are the only reason I didn't fall below than I should have. I aced every single lab report. What annoyed me most was how the T.A's would dock of 1/2 or a full point and keep you from getting a perfect score because they didn't like how your title sounded or your axis was switched than how they wanted it, even if the data still made sense. There is no avoidance to this irksome grading system. My advice, during the lab is to ask T.A's or another group for advice if you're not sure of a certain part in the procedure, just don't rely on them too much. I also recommend that you try to get your lab report as perfect as you can as it will act as a support in your grade in case you don't do well on the quizzes, which happened to me... There are in total 5 quizzes and 3 midterms. This determines whether you get an A,B or C really... (If you get a D in this class, you really aren't trying.) The quizzes are hand-written meaning you have to write in the blanks. They aren't multiple choice like the other Chemistry classes...lucky bastards. The first part of his quizzes are 5 true/false questions followed by 3-5 written responses you have to answer by sentences or by drawing diagrams.Although sounding simple enough, one wrong answer will almost immediately you drop your quiz score a letter grade. My advice is to study for the True/False questions through your lecture notes and by reading the textbook. To study for for the written questions, DO THE OPTIONAL WORKSHEET PROBLEMS, the questions will be some variant of the worksheet problems. The midterm has some multiple choice and is basically the same process except you study your past quizzes as well. He is helpful and friendly during office hours, even if he comes off as a little arrogant and condescending during class. Go to them when he briefly goes over a complex idea in class and you need help clarifying what he meant. I think he is an O.K teacher for a subject that people just don't like. Again, do not take this class lightly.

If you want to coast by without any effort, this is not the class to take. Heying makes his class difficult, but you will actually learn a few things about chemsitry throughout the quarter. He assigns a fair amount of homework and in-class work. If you keep up with the class and consistantly attend lecture, his quizzes and exams are doable, but very difficult overall. Heying is a nice and fair professor, and is consistantly awkwardly funny throughout his lectures. If you want to learn, take Heying.

Dr. Heying is a nice guy and a decent teacher. I had already taken chemistry in high school so I tended to zone out in class frequently, but still did OK in the class. His random non-sequitors are the best part of class. He knows his stuff and explains his material clearly, even if in a not very exciting way, although he does make it entertaining now and then. If you visit with him in office hours with questions he tends to only have one way of explaining things though -- if that doesn't work for you, you could be in trouble. Overall I enjoyed his class though.

Heying is a good professor and a good teacher. He doesn't make his class easy though. But if you keep up with the material, everything he teaches will help you and you can get a good grade. The midterms are pretty time pressured, and they contain true/false, multiple choice, short answer, and free response. Heying tests you on EVERYTHING so you need to make sure you know the material well. You will learn a lot in the class, but it's not an easy A. Although not easy, he's an amazing teacher that's also very entertaining with his movie quote references, cracking jokes, and playing his pandora station.

Overall, I'd recommend taking this class with Heying. His tests/quizzes are straightforward and come directly from lecture material and he doesn't put in any material that we haven't gone over. The class is fast paced, with a guaranteed quiz or test almost every week (3 tests/4 quizzes) so make sure to attend every class. Almost forgot, no homework! But he does give out worksheets before each test/quiz, do them! The problems are very similar to the questions given out on the test/quiz. I got by with <2 hrs of studying per week (just before each test/quiz) since I had other classes to focus on, but it shouldn't be hard to get an A in this class if you put in the time and/or form a study group. My least favorite part of this course was the lab section, the lab reports were graded viciously by the TAs, they care about lab report format as much as a professional organization would (ain't no one got time for that).

Dr. Heying was a great professor. He was always helpful during office hours and his lectures are very clear. Class schedule went: Break week, Friday quiz, Friday exam. None of the tests were terribly hard, nor was the final. I'm taking him again.

Chemistry, in general, is not an easy class. Don't take it lightly. You should expect to spend at least 12 hours of studying outside of class if you want to do well. Dr. Heying is the best of all the chemistry teachers. He is really organized and returns things in a timely matter. He is a great teacher, and he makes awkward yet funny jokes throughout lecture. He made me enjoy taking chemistry. He is really helpful during office hours and he makes sure that you understand a concept. So make sure you take advantage of it. He genuinely wants you to do well.

Heying was a really great teacher. The homework in the class is not graded, but CRUCIAL to do if you want to understand the material. He also gives out worksheets every week or so that have about 5-8 problems on them that reinforce the material in class that week, and then he posts the solutions to them online a few days later. Both the homework and the worksheets are extremely necessary to do and understand in order to do well in the class. That being said, he is a really cool guy. I had him for both lecture and lab, and he almost always plays fun music in class and cracks jokes every now and then. The midterms and quizes (he drops your lowest quiz score) are very reasonable if you do the "suggested" homework well, and the worksheets. The final on the other hand is different. The midterms are a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, and free response, where as the final is a common final that all the chem 124 teachers give. It is 50 multiple choice questions, and is very different from the midterms. However, I got a D on both the final and on one of the midterms and still ended with a solid B in the class, so he does do some "weighing" at the end of the quarter. I would definitely recommend this teacher. He's a great guy, helpful in office hours, and is a really good teacher.

If you want to take an easy class, or just want to get over it...don't ever take him! But if you are pursuing a chemistry major or something like that, he is a good teacher. His tests are so hard, and grades them harshly too... I never understood him, maybe he is not just the professor that is compatible with me..

Dr. Heying is a good chemistry professor. He knows his material and does a fairly good job of teaching it. Plays good music and has a funny and dry sense of humor. I did find the lab/lecture(2 times a week) hard to pay attention to at times because it was 3 hours long but the labs are very good for learning and entertaining and if you pay attention for the lecture you do learn a lot. The tests and quizzes come directly from the lectures which have a few(although I wish there were more) practice problems. The tests and quizzes are generally very hard though and I did not average a high grade on them(although I am pretty bad at understanding chemistry). I struggled through the class as it was very fast paced but I did learn more than I thought I would about chemistry.

Dr. Heying is a great chemistry professor. Chemistry is not easy in the slightest, but Heying really puts an effort into making his students understand the material. He is nice and approachable both during class and in office hours. No homework, but he does list recommended problems and worksheets on his website. DO THE PRACTICE PROBLEMS BECAUSE THEY HELP A TON!!! Go to each lecture since there are 3 tests and 5 quizzes that make up a good chunk of your grade. Tests and quizzes contain true/false, multiple choice, short answer (usually chemical reactions), and free response. Tests are very straight forward, and he will even replace your lowest test score with your final score! Final is 50 MC questions. Take him!

I personally had a lot of fun in his class. His class was somewhat fast paced, but not fast enough that students cannot understand him. Personally, it was a nice pace for me. He would occasionally joke in the class to get people's attention and I personally like them. He has a quirky sense of humor and plays some good old music during the labs, which I thought was kinda nice. There was a time where I was too sick to go to class, so I turned the lab in during his office hours. There, he explained what happened in the class that day so I don't fall behind, despite the fact that I don't think I asked what happened in class. I personally recommend him. He's a decent professor.

Heying's lectures are extremely fast paced and it's hard to keep up with the information he's trying to convey. He gives weekly quizzes, which aren't too bad, but the midterms are a lot more difficult. He is a lot less intimidating in office hours, so I definitely recommend going to those. I joined the chem workshop for Heying's class, and the instructor was really helpful, giving worksheets with practice problems and going over the questions for everyone to understand. Heying has good intentions and tries to keep the class lighthearted and fun, but he often forgets that some students didn't take AP chem and didn't come in with loads of chemistry knowledge - as a result he tends to rush through things and doesn't feel the need to explain things in full depth. I came into his class with little to no knowledge of chemistry, so understandably, taking his class was a wake up call. Be prepared to put in a TON of hours into this class, read and take notes from the textbook, and stay on top of the workload. Also, make sure you don't show up late on the first day of class because the people who sit at your table will be your potential lab partners for the rest of the quarter.

Heying is a hit or miss for most people. I personally loved him but I know people that didn't like his teaching style. I found his lectures to be a little dry but he really presented the material well, and his few dad jokes he threw in helped lessen the three hour block. Use his office hours! They're really useful and he's a really nice guy and always willing to help. His quizzes and tests aren't that hard at all as long as you pay attention and DO THE LABS. Definitely take him if you can.

Heying is a professor to take if you've taken chem in the past 1/2 years. His teaching style makes it difficult for students who haven't taken chem in a while/at all. He consistently goes on tangents and doesn't present the material clearly. He is alright in office hours when there aren't dozens of other students who are also confused about the material. Sit next to people you know who work because they're going to be your lab partner for the rest of the quarter, and you have to turn in assignments together. His weekly quizzes reflect maybe 2/3 of the material he presents in class; if you ask him a question during office hours he will first refer you to read the online book instead of helping you. The practice problems online help with 1/4 of the quizzes he gives. His midterms are nothing like the quizzes-- he intentionally makes them complicated with wording (e.g. if x increases, then that means y... etc). The final at the end of the quarter was much easier compared to Heying's midterms since it was a common final between all the Chem 124 professors. I would not recommend this professor to students who learn by the material being plainly presented. Heying likes students to "discover" the answer and draw conclusions on their own. Prepare for hours of self-studying if you have Heying.

Dr. Heying is a very good teacher. But he takes off rediculous points for correctness on his tests and quizzes. I was teaching things to my friends and leading study groups, but I still got a B for rediculous things. By the end of the quarter, I just gave up and bombed the final. He's a nice guy but hes super nitpicky and he just irked me. Really good teacher tho. Weekly quizzes and two midterms, weekly lab reports not too bad

He comes across as a nice, “cool” teacher but he’s condescending and talks in undertones- never really saying exactly what he means. Pretty much an asshole to be honest. He is organized and stays on topic, but has a monotone voice that put me to sleep. He thinks the best way to teach is to let students draw their own conclusions, but in reality it just leaves you frustrated and confused. The lab portion of the class was a giant waste of time and was really just a test of following directions. His class was not worth my time or money.

Labs are a complete waste of time and sometimes difficult because you have to submit everything to LabPal and he'll take off points if you don't get everything right. His lectures are pretty basic, he tries to keep it fun with a lot of corny jokes and puns if you're into that. He tries to come off as a super helpful, peppy teacher but he can be pretty condescending at times. He is really helpful during his office hours though and I would highly recommend going if you're struggling with the material. He has a quiz every week, 2 midterms, and a final. Quizzes aren't too bad if you study, tests are pretty hard and he is a pretty harsh grader when it comes to partial credit. Overall, he's not the worst chem professor you can get but he definitely wouldn't be my first choice

I took AP Chem in high school and thought the class would prepare for what laid ahead... though i knew the content it never seemed to be enough. He would teach the class decently but did poorly to prepare you for the quizzes and midterms. It's ridiculous. You study so hard for these things and think you have a grasp on what he will test you on but he takes it a step further making the quiz or midterm insanely difficult. Poor with students that struggle in the class and has a condescending personality. I've never been more fed-up with a teacher before. Noone at my table received a grade higher than a C. Beware

Dr. Heying is a good professor. He definitely has that quirky science humor, so if you're into that, you will enjoy his class. His tests are very straightforward and there are never any surprises. There is no assigned homework, but I highly suggest doing the suggested problems.

I LOVE DR. HEYING! He is super funny in class and makes sure everyone is comfortable asking questions. Go to office hours too, they are really helpful. In addition, he makes study guides before each test that accurately reflect what is going to be on the exams. He really wants all of his students to succeed. I'm not sure of the grade I will receive in this class, but with PASS open right now, I wanted to make sure he had a good review!! Take Heying, he is fabulous!

Dr. Heying can be extremely condescending. He acts annoyed when you come into his office hours because he expects you to get everything right away. The homework load isn't bad at all but the class will get you. He gives around 7 page study guides that do not accurately depict how much detail he wants you to go into. He is HORRIBLE at explaining concepts. We had a sub one day and that was the first day I felt that I was learning.

Dr. Heying is an interesting guy. He is very condescending and somewhat rude. During labs he gets mad at you if you ask a question. I went into office hours and he was helpful but very short spoken and unpersonable. In class he comes off as this funny and understanding guy but he is a little scary. We had a sub one day and I learned more from her in 10 minutes than what he had been trying to teach for a week. I would recommend against taking him because his class was hard and he didnt make it any easier-just harder. Most other professors curve the class at the end but he doesnt curve anything, not even a quiz or test. He is a cool guy at times but I would recommend Keist or Russak or Shiblee.

Hands down one of the best professors I've taken at Poly. Really helpful in both lecture and office hours. His quizzes were a bit tough, but the exams were pretty easy. Very nice guy overall. He makes really bad cheesy jokes, but makes up for it with a kickass taste in music. There was nothing better than doing the Emission Spectroscopy lab while listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon".

Dr. Heying is very condescending. If you ask him a question in class, he will give you a wise remark and then give an explanation that makes no sense. His office hours are a little better, you will leave understanding the material only very slightly more than you did coming into it. Most of my class had horrible grades and he still did not curve the class or any tests. I ended up doing well in the class just because i worked my butt off. I studied hours for the class and put work into understanding the labs and material. A workshop really helps-take advantage of that! The only thing i actually liked about Dr. Heying was his test structures. His quizzes were difficult but not hard to pass. His midterms were fairly easy. Final was hard! Don't let Dr. Heying intimidate you.

Dr. Heying turned out to be one of my favorite professors! -- at first, I felt he was really rude and didn't care to help the students. Yet after I attended many office hours I understood why he teaches the way he does. He has a LOT of material to cover in a short amount of time, if he made asking questions in class an easy thing, then everyone would be raising their hands.. leading to Dr. Heying running out of time to PRESENT material. After all, this is a university, teachers expect their students to explore the material before and after class.. I didn't do well in the class despite having worked my A** off, all that aside, I don't blame Dr. Heying or his teaching style, ultimately I blame myself, there's always more you can do as a student to succeed.. and I did learn A LOT!! Just didn't grasp most of it in time to get good grades. I highly recommend him if you have prior chemistry experience.

Michael Heying is just an average professor. This guy is really smart and knows his ish. He was always prepared and always came to class prepared with what he was going to teach that day. He has practice problems that you attempt if you want to (I never did though). I took AP Chemistry in high school, so I didn't really study at all for this class. I ended up with a C- and that's because my dumbass never did anything chemistry related outside the classroom. I could have easily gotten an A. I went to his office hours twice, where he can actually really be helpful. However, in class (idk if it was because he expects us to already know the material,) but if you asked him a question in class he was a huge smartass and belittled anyone who asked him a question. Overall, very smart and organized guy, just not at all approachable.

I have mixed feelings about this class. Your grade is made up of two midterm exams, 4 quizzes (5th quiz is dropped), lab assignments, and a final exam. The quizzes and exams have true/false, multiple choice, calculations, and conceptual questions. The quizzes and exams are doable (I got A's and B's on all of them) as long as you study hard--especially all of your in-class notes and recent labs. Dr. Heying gives out old exams and detailed study guides before the exams, which are very helpful. On the downside, this class if extremely fast paced. Dr. Heying is often rushed and struggles to fully explain concepts. At times he can be slightly condescending when students ask questions. He never fully answers questions , he likes to let you "figure it out yourself." As for the labs, he is VERY unclear with lab instructions, not to mention he has you do 4 labs at the very end of the quarter instead of spacing them out throughout the 10 weeks. The final exam in this class has multiple choice and free response questions. The multiple choice is extremely difficult because it a "common final" but the free response section is very doable and comparable to the quizzes. Overall, this class was challenging at times and I felt that Dr. Heying didn't care that much about his student's success. With that said, if you are self-motivated, you CAN get a decent grade in the class. TIPS FOR GETTING A GOOD GRADE: sign up for a workshop (workshop is a great place to ask questions, plus you get helpful practice exams), know the lab material for the exams (there will be about 2 whole pages of the 10 page exams dedicated to lab related material), work with your lab group and split up the lab work because there is A LOT at the end of the quarter, read the assigned sections in the book to reinforce concepts, take extremely detailed in-class notes on EVERYTHING Dr. Heying says and writes down-- a lot of his quiz and exam questions are covered in class

Dr. Heying is a great guy. He's clearly passionate about the subject and makes the lectures enjoyable. His silly jokes (which could be considered dad jokes) give the class a lighter vibe. He is very good at clearing things up for his students and giving helpful hints while still letting the student figure things out for his or herself. He is very articulate. He grades things very quickly (which is a plus if you're nervous about doing poorly in chem)! His tests are difficult but if you prepare for them (study the course material a few hours a week and do the practice problems at the end of each chapter) you should be fine. The quizzes are more important than I thought they would be (and slightly more difficult than I had expected). TAKE HEYING! HE'S A FANTASTIC PROFESSOR. *HOT TIP: Sign up for a workshop. They are IMMENSELY helpful. In my case, taking a workshop made the difference between getting a C and getting a B and I understand the material much better than I would have otherwise.

I took this class as a required support class (as I'm sure most people do) and I HIGHLY recommend taking any other professor you can for this class. He might be good at teaching engineering chem but for the genchem series, do yourself a favor and avoid Heying.

Professory Heying is one of the better lab teachers I have had. He's attentive and genuinely wants you to do well. If you ask him a question, he'll answer it in a way that makes it easy to understand. His lab quizzes are easy if you pay attention to his lecture at the beginning of the labs. Overall, good teacher. I recommend him.

Dr. Heying is a really nice guy, who honestly teachers in a really straightforward way. This is really hard class, there's no denying that, but he tries to make it fun and is definitely willing to help you out both in class and in office hours. HOWEVER, his tests are realllllly freaking hard. Class average on the first midterm was a 54%, and 65% for the second. No curve for either. Hence my grade in this class.

Average professor, he obviously is very smart but his way of presenting material can be confusing. Quizzes and midterms can be tough but as long as you study you will pass the class.

he sure does like his women, wet!!

Professor Heying is a supurb teacher and knows his course material inside-out. He is consistently approachable, understanding, and helpful during office hours, and he will make sure you have the support you want if you make the effort to engage with him. I enjoyed every moment of my class with Dr. Heying, especially his puns, nerdy interjections, and overwhelming enthusiasm for his subject. Ask him about his research sometime - chemists love to talk about their research. Please take all reviews on Polyratings with a healthy dose of skepticism! Most reviews are from GenChem students expecting an easy class or special treatment. You will get neither in the Chemistry department here, much less with Dr. Heying. He will, however, support you to the best of his ability if you want to master chemical science.

This professor was unwilling to change how he presented the information to meet the students needs. In office hours he was unhelpful and condescending. Granted this was his first time teaching the class but a good teacher is willing to change tactics if the entire class is failing quizzes. I am grateful that I will never have to see him again. Terrible experience.