Peuker, Jennifer  

Mott was horrible. She seems like a nice lady but her class was horrible. She grades your first lab report like you've been doing them for years and then gives you a failing grade on it because you're "in college now." Her grading system is very unfair especially when other professors for this course grade the class in a much fairer way. Good luck if you get stuck with this professor.

I took this professor for ME128. I feel that she spent a very disproportionate amount of time focused on HVAC engineering, because that is what she knows. She constantly plugged the program, the two TAs were in the HVAC club,... Additionally, I don't think she has ever even been in a shop anywhere, let alone on campus, since she told our class we could do CNC in the shops with a yellow tag, which is not true at all, and lacked much basic hands-on tool, or even general mechanical principle, knowledge, such as how to identify bearings. We did an engine dissection in this class, and I would be terrified if she got within 10 feet of my truck with any tools. Additionally, she grades harshly on the labs, and due to the moronic Freshman Service Project (which I think she developed and runs) we were placed in groups on the first day, that we did everything with the whole quarter. I didn't get to know any other MEs in that class except for those in my group.

This professor claims she has had extensive experience in ME, however in lectures and labs it is clear that she has not had a lot of experience. When asked a question, Peuker often looks up answers in her notes/answer keys. In class it is clear that she favorites certain students, so it is scary to even ask a question because students fear being looked down upon afterwards. She is extremely harsh and picky about the format, grammar, and detail provided in lab reports, but she does not give any information about how she wants her students to present the very specifics that she is picky about. She shows unnecessary attitude in the comments she writes while grading. The freshman service project does not teach anything related to mechanical engineering and appears to be more of a volunteer project students are forced into. Also, students must pay for their own supplies for their freshman service project, which is hard for some of us who are already struggling with monetary cost. While Peuker is an intro to ME professor, she does not seem to care about forming any sort of personal bond with her students or even learning anyone's name. It is understandable that this is not required of a professor, however as the professor of an major intro class to freshmen, I feel like a professor could be very helpful and motivating if they were to get on a more personal, friendly level with each student. Overall, Peuker is very unapproachable, she grades by her own personal preference, and I have not learned a single thing about what mechanical engineering is through this "Intro to ME" class.

Dr. Mott is not helpful at all. If you have a question regarding what a certain part of a machine does, she will most often tell you to look it up online instead of explaining it to you because that's her job. There is little help with any assignments. Thankfully, the class itself is a pretty free A.

In this class, I enjoyed the labs and I enjoyed exploring the various types of engineering, but I did not like how during the labs, we were expected to know all about the topics and we were graded on how much we knew from the labs. We had to fill out worksheets and lab activity reports after each activity and it was difficult to do well on these. Additionally, she grades harshly on the lab reports that we did.

I don't understand why Peuker has so many bad reviews for ME 128. I took it with her Fall Quarter 2016 and it was an awesome class. You do a lot of fun labs, like learning how different springs work, taking apart a handrill, and disassembling & reassembling a lawn mower engine (that one's super fun). In some reviews, people said that she talked about HVAC a ton, but that is not the case. There is one lab on HVAC, and while it's not super interesting, it's only one lab out of the whole quarter, and she doesn't mention HVAC much outside of that lab. Some people complain about their grades on lab reports and say Peuker is too picky, but that's usually because those students are sloppy. I was a bit sloppy on my first report and my grade for that lab reflected it. When you're writing lab reports, you need to be precise, clear, and neat. First quarter freshman (including myself) aren't usually very good at doing this. But don't be afraid to take Peuker because she wants you to be precise, clear, and neat. It's an important skill for MEs to be able to write good lab reports. If you read her directions carefully and write your report following basic grammar rules, you should be just fine. It's not that hard if you put in a little effort. In class, I thought that Peuker was very approachable and helpful. Also, when we had questions about something we were working on in lab, she wouldn't just give us the answer. She would give us hints to help us to think through the issue, instead of just handing out answers, which I thought was really good. We learned to think through things instead of just being given the answer. I also liked how she put us in groups. It was fun to get to know the other MEs in my group and to work together with them on projects, and I learned a lot about working as a team. (I don't know why other people on this review page have complained about being put into groups. Lab classes typically put you in a group; you don't just hang out with whoever whenever you want to during lab.) For the Freshman Service Project, you'll be planning & putting together a lab that teaches elementary-school-age students about engineering (you'll be doing your project at the school or on campus when you take ME 163; in 128, you're just planning it). Some people think it has nothing to do with mechanical engineering, but that's not the case. During the FSP, you teach the students to employ the engineering design process, which is *fundamental* to mechanical engineering. Basically it's "ask what the problem is, brainstorm a solution, prototype your idea, test it, then improve on it." I think it's really cool opportunity to teach younger students about engineering. Also, for this class (at least at the time I'm writing this review), you have to choose between taking Jennifer Peuker and taking Sarah Harding. I would highly recommend avoiding Harding. My class had her as a substitute one lab, and she was very stern. Another time Harding was talking to Peuker before our lab started, and Harding was very judgmental of her students. So try to avoid her if you can--she's not a very kind person. Peuker is a lot more helpful and encouraging. She won't put you down as much as Harding will if you make a mistake. So if you can, I would recommend taking Peuker. Get to know your teammates and enjoy the fun labs!

She is the worst ME professor right now at cal poly, she did not know the material plus she had us read the material and then she would give us a quiz, something she calls the iRap. Then she assigned you to a group and that was your group for the rest of the year, we could also take a quiz with the group something she called the tRap. Anyways, the whole class period it was nothing but discussing the answers on the tRap with your group. Also, when someone would ask her something about the chapter, she would give a vague answer and elaborate on something completely irrelevant, signs that she did not know what she was talking about, besides this, she would get upset for asking questions. Please! avoid her!!!!!!!

Good teacher, unstressful, and easy grader. You will need to read the textbook, but so long as you don't slack off on that, you learn a lot. A lot of people complain about lectures because they are more like math classes: do problems in class, with reading and problems at home. I personally thought she was fine, so long as you aren't lazy.

-gives you every opportunity to succeed -primarily concerned with you learning course material -reasonable expectations for amount of work to be done outside of class -understanding approachable and easy to talk to -clearly presents course material -no curve balls on tests or grading (i.e. do the HW and you should be fine) Bottom line Professor Mott/Peuker is a great person to take for Thermo II (compared to your alternatives she is a saint). As long as you do your HW and study even the smallest amount you will do just fine and likely enjoy the class. I wish more of our Engineering Professors would adopt a teaching philosophy like hers. She is focused more on mastery of a few core subjects instead of hitting everything outlined in a curriculum and overburdening you with extraneous assignments, projects, and tests.

Peuker does not give any lectures. The first two weeks are spent writing down what you want to "get out of the class" and other irrelevant surveys. Then you have to read the book for any and all information on the subject. When the reading is due there is a quiz on the subject matter before covering it at all in class. By "covering it in class" I mean she gives your team a work sheet and you figure it out yourselves. Then she shows everyone your grades with your team number on a powerpoint at the end of the quarter to prove her method is "working". She treats her classes as experiments and requires you to sign a waiver to have your grades put in her "study" so she can get tenure.

The class was held in groups the entire quarter. This worked pretty well, but there were some times where a normal lecture would have been preferred. When people had questions she answered them well and did a good job of preparing us for the material with the quizzes. Hard to really rate her as a professor since the class was different from any other, but I think she did a good job.

She is not only a terrible lecturer but she also tries to write really hard tests that cover material she didn't really teach. I would really not recommend this class. You should definitely research other professors who do things the classical way and actually teach you the subject. You definitely have better options out there...

While I received a B in this class, I learned literally nothing about heat transfer. Hands down Pueker is the worst teacher I've had. She herself knows almost nothing about heat transfer, and she's never had any real world experience. Her performance is unacceptable simply because Heat Transfer is a subject real engineer's have to know. If this had been taught by somebody who had practiced in the field we might have learned something. But I'm going to have to retake this class 'even though i passed it' so that I can consider myself a real mechanical engineer.

Honestly one of the worst professors I've ever seen. Would not recommend for any reason.

Jennifer Puke-er. Yuck.

I rarely put time into this class outside of the classroom, but still managed a B+. There is no curve and that is okay because Dr. Mott/Peuker is such an easy grader to begin with. Her exams offer a lot of partial credit as well as an opportunity for 5% of extra credit. A lot of my learning happened during group activities in the classroom so if your group is not at all helpful, be sure to request a change. Homework was optional so I did it the night before the exams. Overall, a decent professor (although sensitive at times) and a laid back class.

This is the third class I have taken with Professor Peuker, but the first lecture. I was somewhat negative going into the class because of poor ratings even though I did not have a problem with either of the prior labs. However, I honestly enjoyed Peuker's unconventional teaching style, learned a lot, and have made use of this courses scattered curriculum. Professor peuker is approachable and a great teacher. While some people are put off by a different learning model, I found it worked very well for learning and I was never bored in class. What you should know: 1. This class is graded very fairly. You will do fine in the class with moderate effort while learning quite a bit. 2. Read before all quizzes (although might not do well on them), work with your team in class, and review in-class problems before the midterm and final. 3. The lab is pretty great and low key. You work on one thermal system project with a partner throughout the quarter. Its a great review of EES, fluids, thermo, and heat transfer. The lab is set up so you don't have to do too much outside of class. 4. If you are planning on taking the FE, this is a great review that covered a few miscellaneous topics on the test not covered in other courses.

Dr. Mott was one of the very best professors I had at my time during Cal Poly. As a professor, she cares about the success of her students. She spends time reading articles and studies regarding teaching and employs them in class. Her notes provided are excellent (sometimes missing slides) and allow for you to pay attention in class and not just frantically follow along. The resources on polylearn she provided allowed for less confusion and more comprehension of the material, and group work helped everyone learn more. As a human being, she is full of kindness, enthusiasm, and abundant energy. Save for the week when she lost her voice, Dr. Mott spoke clearly and loud enough for everyone to hear, answered questions well, and was able to make fun of herself. We enjoyed your class very much and hope for the best.

She seems to be going with the name Jennifer Mott currently. I just did the required reading for our first "module" (topics that we stay on for a couple weeks. It's engineering econ right now). She herself wrote the econ reading that has vocab and formulas haphazardly scattered throughout the 21 pages. The "upside down" method to teaching and required reading is fine, but my issue right now is how many mistakes there were in her article. Every page seemed to have a calculation error or incorrect formula and it was pretty distracting to go through. She has a policy that if such errors/ambiguity in assigned readings cause you to miss a problem on the quiz, you can write an appeal to get the point back. I now understand that she has this policy so that WE can be her free editor and find errors in her article. Even though this is probably the goal, she will most likely spin this as something along the line of "the errors are good for you since they force you to pay attention, critically read and challenge the writing." Her method of teaching is different and it's still definitely unrefined, but I hope she can improve it over time. Besides that, she's a good energy'd gal.

Without a doubt the worst teacher I have had at Poly. She doesn't understand the material she teaches and even if she did she wouldn't be able to teach it. She gets so nervous in class when people ask questions that she starts sputtering and not making sense when she fails to try and answer. Her incompetence then leads to anger. It's a cycle that happened every class. Not only is she terrible teacher but she is mean too. Cal Poly should be better.

she just said "we determine valve angle, which is a function of valve angle." that should tell you all you need to know. sheesh

Great group leader. Hi HATERS!!!!

Useless professor. She never teaches and just puts you in groups where it feels like kindergarden. Ask her an either or question and she'll say "yes." She truly believes shes an effective professor when she wastes gobs of time. She'd be fine for a freshmen community college class, just not here.

This class was actually ok! After reading her reviews I expected the worst. Dr. Mott was knowledgeable about the subject and was helpful in office hours when help in lecture wasn't enough. Maybe she got better at teaching the class? I can see how learning in groups would be annoying for a Thermodynamics or Heat Transfer class but it worked well for the most part with Thermal Systems Design. It's probably her teaching style as opposed to her ability to teach that led to such a low rating. Thank you, Dr. Mott. For everything.

Dr.Mott/Peuker is fucken awesome...one of the very few ME professor who isn't stuck up. She is very helpful in office hours and really cares for her students. She believes in working in teams which I would admit was not very effective for me. Other reviews on here portray her as a shitty professor, but she's actually one of the best I've had. She's all for helping her students learn the material.