Zhang, Shanju  

Disclaimer: There don't seem to be any other ratings for Zhang for 124, so maybe he just hadn't taught the course before/was still trying to figure out how to teach it? pros: seemed to care about feedback, pretty sure he ended up curving the class, it was easy to just leave class if you wanted cons: not good at presenting the material, had no clue about labs, didn't teach things that were on the common final If you have previous chem experience and put in some effort, you'll probably do fine in the class, but this was the most painful class of my quarter. He usually lectures for about 2 hours, gives a break, then you have the rest of the class to do the lab. First of all, his lectures were very disorganized and confusing and they're pretty boring. He would go over the same concepts multiple times, but in random chunks (jumping from topic to topic), never fully explaining the concept despite teaching it repeatedly. Sometimes it would be a little hard to understand him because of his accent, but worse was that he would make a bunch of errors while writing his notes (like forgetting the '-' in a formula or telling us the wrong compound) and there were typos in his posted power points which interfered with comprehension of the topics. He also just did not cover a bunch of things that other classes did and that were on the common final. The things he left out weren't necessarily hard topics, but if I hadn't heard from other people that I should know them, I would have never known how to answer several questions. During labs, don't expect to get any help from him. Whenever you asked a question, he pretty much had no idea what was going on in the lab/how to help you. Luckily, the LA was helpful and knew how to do all the labs/what to expect, but Zhang really had no idea what was going on. He also was often confusing and contradictory with what he wanted in the reports and when things were due. Personally, it really bugged me how unclear he was with assignments and he never seemed to know ahead of time what parts of the lab we needed to do until someone brought it to his attention and then he just made something up. Oh, he was also so disorganized that we just didn't do two of the labs all the other chem 124 classes did. As far as grading, he was decently picky, but it is definitely possible to consistently do well on assignments. He also offered a couple extra credit points on the final if most of the class filled out the end of the quarter survey and there was an extra credit problem on the final. He doesn't put things into poly learn until the last week of class and even then it doesn't show your overall grade. He said he would curve if we bombed the final and that we most likely wouldn't get a curve, but I needed over 100% to raise my grade (which I obviously didn't get), yet he must have still curved overall grades. Overall: You'll do fine, it's just a really irritating class.

Zhang is probably the best chem professor I've ever had. If you even put the slightest effort into it his accent it's not bad at all. His lectures are dense, but there's so much material to help you succeed that I often found myself just reading through his lecture slides instead of the book. He's 100% fair on all midterms, quizzes and the final. No curveballs or problems that only "A" students would get correct. The dude is a genius and has tons of published articles on his research. Overall would highly recommend taking Zhang for any chem class.

At first he seems intimidating and difficult since he expects a lot from his students, but really, he's not a bad guy. It took me a while to get used to his accent, and sometimes I still don't understand him clearly but it's getting progressively better. He has confusing lectures but I still like him because he genuinely cares about his students and hosts review sessions every Friday (that he probably doesn't get paid extra to do) where he does hw problems and answers questions. If you study hard and go to the review sessions, you can do well.

He is a very nice person who really does care about his students. He does anything and everything to help, but has an incredibly thick accent. I eventually kind of started to understand what he was saying, but its still pretty hard. He is a brilliant person who really knows what he is talking about and has an incredible resume, he just doesn't know how to teach the material.

Zhang is a reasonable, empathetic, and kind professor. The homework assignments and lectures completely prepare students for weekly quizzes. Keys are provided for the quizzes after the fact so students can learn from and use them to prepare for midterms and finals. He teaches everything on the quizzes, midterms, and tests which I really appreciate. Review sessions are held every Friday so that students have an opportunity to ask Zhang about the homework in case they struggle with any of the problems. Every now and then he tells chemistry jokes, which reinforce the material better and provide a nice mental break from time to time. His accent didn't take long for me to get use to at all, so I don't believe his accent is a legitimate reason to rate him poorly as a professor. I highly recommend this professor. He genuinely cares about students, and wants them to both understand the material and do well in his class.

Very straight forward and great teacher. Really wants his students to succeed. As long as you follow his lecture and do the homework it is an easy A or B. I would highly recommend taking Professor Zhan. I am currently taking him for Chem 128 and could not ask for any better professor, he also occasionally makes jokes with his funny accent which will lighten up anyones day!!

My parents spoke Mandarin, so class with Zhang was never bad since I was always able to understand his accent, which is thick. He's a nice guy, and probably smart. If you're a native Chinese speaker, definitely take Zhang!!!

As long as you follow his "steps" you can succeed. He does have an accent but it does not impede on his intelligence and passion for chemistry. At first he may seem a bit intimidating, but quickly you realize how nice and funny he really is. I would HIGHLY recommend this teacher, he is awesome!

If you are not used to being around heavy accents, I highly suggest that you do NOT take Zhang. He is from China, and his Chinese accent is very hard to understand. His handwriting is also nearly eligible most of the time and he doesn't always understand what a student says when they ask a question, and ends up just repeating himself a lot, not answering anything. I ended up not going to half of the lectures because I would simply get frustrated at my inability to understand what he was saying. I ended up doing fairly well in the class, but only because I worked my butt off studying at home and teaching myself all of the concepts. Overall, unless you can understand Chinese accents, I highly suggest that you do not have him as a professor.

Dr. Zhang is the best Chemistry teacher I have ever had. Chemistry definitely does not come naturally for me and I have always struggled with it since high school. But Dr. Zhang wants every student to succeed. He has office hours and a review session each week to answer questions and review lectures. He is very enthusiastic about what he is teaching. His tests and quizzes are pretty straight forward, mainly based on the lecture examples and homework problems.

Best chemistry teacher ever.

Enthusiastic, yes. Like a puppy. Knowledgeable, no. He is seriously terrible. I'm pretty sure that his accent covers over the fact he doesn't know much.

Worst teacher possible. He has a thick accent that no one understands and even during office hours, he still cannot explain anything. DO NOT TAKE HIM.

I thought Dr. Zhang was a great professor. It was clear he really wanted his too succeed. He gives weekly quizzes and suggested hw problems, all of which definitely helped to do well on his tests. He also makes all of his lecture notes available on polylearn, which made it easier to do more learning in lecture and less frantic note writing. He also will do examples in class, and say that they will be on the test! That was helpful.

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First off, to the idiot who wrote the evaluation 2 ratings below me, just because you are asian it doesn't mean you can understand his accent and it doesn't mean you "love" him. His accent is also Chinese. A person from, for example, native to Japan or Korea, would have a hard time understanding him because the languages are completely different. But anyways, we are all Americans and we all speak english and I know plenty of other Asian-Americans who have a hard time understanding him. So to the ignorant motherfucker who wrote that, two words, FUCK YOU. Anyways, Zhang is a very decent professor who wants his students to succeed. The class isn't too bad. Yes he has a thick accent, but it's fuckin college, there are intelligent professors from all over the world who teach in the US. I'm sure there are Americans who travel to other countries and take up a foreign language and are viewed as having thick accents and hard to understand. Don't be afraid of this course. It's challenging but work hard. He's very passionate about what he is teaching. You'll survive

Doesn't offer solution guides for any of the homework assignments, or practice exams, so you have no idea if you're even doing the problems correctly. CANCELLED all his review sessions and office hours the day after his sail evals were due, once he gets his evaluations he stops giving a shit about his students. Very unaccomodating unless you go in for help within the first two weeks. I had family issues that kept me out of school during weeks three and four, he refused to allow me to make up any of the quizes, gave me half credit on all the labs from those two weeks (so five labs total). During week 8 I requested a meeting to discuss grades because he doesn't post anything online, he said if I wanted a meeting I should have asked earlier and that I'd missed assignments during the middle of the quarter (from weeks 3/4) and that the only way he would consider giving me even partial credit for missed quizes I had to get 100% on the final. Cal Poly has a host of really shitty chem professors, this may just be the worst. *Accent really isn't too tough to pick up after a week or so, it's just surprising he still speaks such poor english and still cant pronounce most chemistry terms properly, you just have to assume you know what he meant to say. Any other sources of knowledge you can find (other professors office hours, khan academy for the basic overviews, etc.) will be more useful than his lectures, as he just sort of talks at you for three hours straight without teaching you how to do the homework problems or lab. disclaimer: I was taking three other junior-level classes during the same quarter, chem was the only class I had trouble with. Not a bad student, just a bad professor.

Only giving him 3As because his office is room 420 (It was lit during office hours).

His accent is NOT hard to understand if you even put the TINIEST bit of effort in. It is very clear that Zhang is insanely intelligent. He knows three languages, his research is very impressive, and he can explain anything if you simply ask for help. He really stresses that you work with your groups to talk through the problems which is very helpful! Chemistry doesn't come easy for me, but with all of his in-class example problems (which he works through immediately after giving the class time to do it), it's completely doable to pass this class. With some extra effort, you should be able to do quite well! It's definitely all about what you put into the class. He also puts in extra time to have study sessions before quizzes. Overall, Zhang is a great teacher and really wants his students to succeed.

He's a very nice guy and you can tell that he really wants the students to learn the material. It does take a little bit to understand him, but once you are past that point, its breeze. He throws in the occasional chemistry joke, and they're always with exceptional delivery. Big props for that. He also came in clutch during coronavirus time and helped dissolve students' worries by making the final online and he made it where if you got a lower final grade than your overall grade, the final would not count at all. Overall, he's a great guy who understands the students and wants us to learn. I definitely did not get the grade I was hoping for, but I believe if I had done the homework that he gives us but doesn't collect, I probably would have done better on the midterms.

Oh man. It's actually really difficult to rate Zhang, but let me get one thing straight: TAKING ZHANG WAS THE WORST DECISION I'VE EVER MADE. I don't think he is a bad teacher, he seems to care for his student for some degree, his tests are straight from the practice exam...but none of that matters if you can't even understand him!!! I say it's difficult to rate him because I know some people (asians) love him, and that's because they can understand him. He has the thickest Chinese accent I've ever heard, which makes him incapable of pronouncing any consonants. Labs kinda easy, just listen to his lecture before you take the lab quiz and you'll probly be fine. MEMORIZE YOUR PROCEDURE. Gotta take advantage of those easy but stupid questions. He holds review sessions and has office hours which would be helpful if I could understand him. We cannot even have a casual conversation. I cannot stress how strongly I recommend sitting in on one of his classes before choosing Zhang.

Many people hate on Zhang because he has a thick accent, but most do not know that English is not only his second but his THIRD language after Chinese and German. He is incredibly brilliant. He knows what he is talking about and does many examples in class. He is also great in office hours. And about the accent, he does have a thick accent but after the first day honestly you can understand what he's saying. Do the practice tests, go to class, and study and you'll do fine.

Yes he does have a heavy accent and sometimes his grammar isn't perfect but as long as you aren't afraid to ask questions he will gladly help clarify. He is really passionate about what he teaches and is SO smart! Also his practice tests are extremely helpful I felt it was hard not to do well as long as you go to class and do the practice tests he gives! Great guy.

It's honestly so laughable that people on here didn't think Zhang was knowledgable. He is by far one of the most brilliant professors at CP. If he has trouble clarifying, it's usually because he's skipping steps that the student should know from prior classes or course material. He's quirky and funny (really cheesy jokes), but he's also very passionate about chemistry. He lets you be really independent for your learning, which is good or bad depending on your habits. Always do the practice midterms and quizzes. Those help on the midterms a lot. Also his accent isn't even that bad, and if after a week you still can't understand him I would say it's because your language skills a lacking, not his.

No matter who teaches Chem 351, its a hard course. But, Zhang is super organized with lecture slides you can print and take notes on and that makes the class really easy to follow even though it may be hard to understand his accent. He also allowed us to make our own equation sheets with whatever you want on them and we had take home quizzes that were pretty difficult but definitely better than in class quizzes since you could ask him questions and ask "your peers." Overall I think Zhang is a good professor who is super helpful in office hours and prepares you for his tests with problems in class and the practice exams.

Zhang can give you the opportunity to learn in a deep way the concepts behind a course. He appreciates when his students are engaged and put in the effort. If you do your homework and you THINK you will do well. He's a great teacher and makes learning fun and rewarding if you genuinely are up for the challenge. Also, Dr.Zhang is one of those people who knows a great amount but is never arrogant. He appears to be really humble. He also knows when you aren't trying so just because he's not easy to figure out don't think he's not highly observant of you. He's very aware when a student is not putting in the effort even if he doesn't say it out loud.