LoCascio, James  

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I love this silly fucker; he is the best instructor known to planet earth; my grades with this guy weren't very good, but I know statics, dynamics, and fluids better than any CE I have ever worked with or for. I've been out of school now for 12 years and I still think I could pass all of his finals. He teaches the material and focuses more on the "why" than the "how"; once you know the "why" you will never forget it. If you want to go to grad school, don't take him because you won't get an easy A, and I figure, should you go to grad school you will eventually understand the material. If you want to become a real engineer, one who is responsible for protecting the public, your grade does not matter; take this guy and you will learn the material; if you don't you will get a well deserved F and you can take it again - what fun

Statics is a hard class, no matter who you are. Being a CPE, this wasn't exactly my arena so I was struggling quite a bit. At first, I didn't like his teaching style at all. I couldn't see a method to his madness in class and the hours and hours of homework (which is typical for statics) made it hard for me to realize. I think after the first test it started to make sense...he really drills the information into your head. I still find myself looking at everyday things like doors and thinking about their motion in terms of what I learned in that class. Tests were pretty difficult but curved. I found him VERY helpful when I visited him during office hours. I think I really nailed the final because I believe he is more rigorous than the other profs that teach statics (the final is designed by all of them). And...to top it off he brought us homemade brownies and some other good stuff at our final. I've never had a professor do that.

This guy was pretty tough, however, I felt he taught the material VERY well. All his lectures, examples, handouts were well structured and the all tied in with one another well. He does not assign grades on a strictly raw score evaluation. If you do well on the final, you'll do well in the course, no matter what you had going into it.

There's no doubt that I've learned a lot from this class. But statics is hard yet easy. Hard because there's a lot of forces to deal with, but easy because statics is mainly one equation. I think I've learned more from myself than the teacher. I learned a lot, but like most of the students, we depart the class with plenty of knowledge yet with a grade of 'F'. If it was any other teacher, from the knowledge I know, I think my grade would've been in the range of "A- to C+". His grading style is the poorest I've yet encountered. Like a negative sign error can throw your quiz down to a 'D' grade already. In fact, I've heard my classmates get a 'F' even though their answers were correct but failed to show every single step. When I mean every single step, that means not showing a variable equals a number and then using that variable for calculations. It means showing the variable AND showing every addition subtraction multiplication with the NUMBERS as well. That is ridiculous, any person with the right mind will see that how the answer was acheived. Also, the examples he show in class, he usually mess them up too, like negative sign error, or missing some Forces or whatever... If he were to grade all his examples he show in class, I think he would receive an 'F' too from his own standard. That sums it up to how bad this teacher is. Usually only 1 or 2 students get A's and the rest gets F's. If static is your first time around DON'T DON'T DON'T take him, unless you want a F. If static is your second time around, it will probably be easy and you will probably do pretty well in the class, but any teacher would be much easier, because they give you a more realistic range of grading.

Wrong rating, he should be rated 1.00. This professor is worst than Math Department's Dr. Luna. That sums it up.

Dr. LoCascio is a fine teacher, but his grading policy is mysterious and harsh. This quarter, I took 5 classes, including differential equations with Dr. Luna and Physics 133 with Dr. Schwartz. I got straight As (as I normally do), except for Statics, in which I got a C. Pretty inconsistent, eh? I think the grade you get in his class reflects more on him than it does on you as a student. There is quite a bit of homework, which is good because you will really learn the material. There are 5 quizes which are not difficult, but they are definitely a race against the clock. Statics ends up being fairly easy. You will learn the subject well, but you will probably get a crappy grade. Personally, I am going to take the class over again to remove this blemish from my record. I am not going to be taking it with Dr. LoCascio. Good luck.

LoCascio lays out his grading and it's fairly simplistic...although I don't know how much he really sticks to it. 10% HW, 5 Quizzes for 10% each, and the final is 40%. My quiz average was 68% (30, 96, 30, 85, 100%...you either get them or you don't) so even if I aced the final (which might have happened) I should have only been able to manage a low B...but I got an A. Do the homework AND the example problems he hands out, the quizzes are closer to in-class examples than homework. This class isn't about equations; it's about solving sometimes-complicated problems, which only gets better through practice. Get started on the problems early; 10 or 12 of these in one night is...bad. The final is common and ours was easy, 2 hours for 5 very basic problems. Be on time and all that professionalism jazz, you'll get on his bad side otherwise. I hope you like a twisted sense of humor, I enjoyed his. Oh yeah, he baked us banana bread on the night of the final...it was damn good, too.

This was my second time taking the class, and I really enjoyed taking it this time through. He makes class interesting by showing the class real world examples of statics problems and does lots of example problems in class. I did horribly on quizzes throughout the quarter, i think i scored below an F on all but one of the quizzes because i didn't do the problems like he wanted us to do them. When i finally started doing them his way i did better on the quizzes and the homework. Just make sure to listen in lecture and to write everything out like he asks, it gets you a better grade, and makes the problems alot clearer and easier. If you show you know how to do the problems i'm pretty sure you'll pass.

Dr Locascio is a great teacher and he really helps you to learn and understand the material. His lectures are finely tuned and are very clear with lots of good examples. Having had 2 of the other dynamics/statics instructors I think he is one of the best. He gives you a weekly quiz with no midterms. If you are a slacker and want to skid through the class, take someone else. If you want to learn and really understand the material this guy is for you. I felt I was better prepared than the students in the other sections for the common final, and if LoCacscio is teaching a section when you take the class you can bet that he is going to have a strong influence on writing the exam. He is infamous for failing people and he is a tough grader. Do things EXACTLY as he tells you and do well on the final exam and you'll do fine in the class. He curves the class as a whole, but make sure you're not on the bottom half of the curve which is usullay be big!

As a teacher he sucks. He has his mind set that his students must learn his way and it does not matter if the whole class is have difficulty learnning his way he not going to change. As a person he is nice. Although most of us don't care how a teacher is a person, only that they know how to teach the material so that the students understand it.

He will kick your ass. Do not expect to slide through his class. He is the drill sargent of the Engineering department. I have never been so happy to get a D in my life.

Dr Locasio is a hard teacher and he expects that from his students. He usually picks the hardest problems possible on his quizes. I did however learned a lot but yet my grades didn't show it. He expects his students to know everything. I however think that I should've recieved a better grade due to the amount of work I put in. ME 212 in my opinion was five times as hard as ME 211. I don't recommend Locasio if you want a better grade in the class.

Much to my surprise, LoCascio is not the monster everyone makes him out to be. He's WORSE! This man is the single-most rigorous engineer in the department. By the end of the course you will know what "Two mutually perpendicular mass-acceleration vectors, usually aligned along the coordinate axis" really means. If you really REALLY want to know the material, then this is the professor to take. Class sizes always drop to a mere 1/2 of what they begin with, and the average grade is a D (from what I hear). You WILL know the material, whether you fail or not. If you are looking for an easier dynamics course with a chance of hitting that high B or A, then be warned: this is not the professor for you!

You ME whiners don't know what a hard class is. Locascio is an ass and I don't know why he is pissed off at the world. If your bitching about his Dynamics class ok. But statics? It's funny to hear people whine when they only deal with steady state,

LoCascio didn't seem that bad until his first quiz. I spent so much time on the homework thinking it would prepare me for the quiz, but it did not. I kind of thought the purpose of homework was to prepare you for quizzes, but I guess Locascio doesn't think so. Not to mention he tries to scare you into thinking you will fail his class by repeatedly saying "Wouldn't want to do that or I'll see you next quarter". I don't think a top engineering school like Cal Poly should have people like this on the engineering staff. LoCascio is more concerned about upholding his brutal reputation than teaching you anything.

If you want to really understand dynamics, this is your guy. He teaches the course from the standpoint that the student either "get's it" or doesn't, so plan on bad scores for most of the quarter. Most of the course is just working through problems as a class. He'll even do them the hard way if that's what the class wants to do, which is great for learning how to approach the problems. There are five quizzes instead of a midterm. Each quiz is one problem worth 50 points and you get 23 minutes to complete it (which most likely won't happen). All of the grades are normalized to the highest and lowest scores, so it doesn't really matter if you complete the test or not(don't be surprised to see scores around the 25 mark). The homework is excessive, but necessary and will take more time than you have to give. If you can manage to at least attempt all of the problems, you'll be in decent shape. However, the format is "his way or the highway," so be careful to follow directions exactly. I do recommend LoCascio for any engineer because dynamics is important and a good understanding is what you will get from him, if you put in the effort. You'll also be very well prepared for the brutal common final.

Jim LoCascio is an EXTREMELY good professor. He is also very difficult. But I think he deserves a good rating. I seriously think he is the best teacher I've had at Cal Poly. Throughout the quarter I went to office hours about twice a week. He gets to know his students and he wants them to do well, even if it doesn't seem like he does. But he also wants them to work hard and really understand the material. I failed every single one of his 5 quizzes, and went into the final with a 39%. I thought I was definitely going to fail, but I came out with a C+. I felt extremely well prepared for the final, and ended up doing pretty well on it. My advice is: do all the homework, go to office hours and put serious effort into the class. And he will reward you for it. Thank you Professor LoCascio.

Locascio is the kind of teacher that gives Cal Poly its great reputation. In his class, you must not skip any step at any time on a quiz or you will suffer for it. He knows that students have a hard time grasping the depth of dynamics, so he focuses on the process. If you show the process on each quiz, you may just average a 50% on them (that's a very high average). If you take him, and I think you should, I have one word for you: Process! If you show him your correct answer as evidence of your mastery of the material, he'll personally get you a job at Chumash Casino so you get to work with numbers all day long. He's like the 'Dynamics Nazi' of Cal Poly: totally rigid about his class doing it his way. But later you'll realize that his way was the right way, and now that you understand how to do it the long way, you can take shortcuts without making mistakes. Oh, and expect to work 20 hours+ per week for him. And still fail every quiz.

Excellent professor; presented the material clearly and always kept a look out for misunderstandings in the students. If you missed a question he asked, he'd explain why it was wrong, then make a point of asking you a similar question each time it came up until he was certain you were okay on the material. The class was extremely difficult, but I came out knowing dynamics extremely well, which I need as an ME. He can be abrasive, but he seems to care about seeing students become good engineers, as that's what we're really here to learn.

LoCascio is a hard, but he is a great teacher. He presents the material very clearly. If you are willing to work hard he will teach you how to solve any dyanmics problems. He does not but any tricks or short cuts; but rather approaches problems with the basic formula and solves from there. I hear many complaints about him, but he is one of the best teachers I have ever had. He comes prepared to class and is helpful in office hours. (failed because I stopped doing the work) DO NOT TAKE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO WORK HARD

I took this class like many of the people above, thinking, "Oh, I'm not like those other tards who fail LoCassio. I've heard the stories, by I'm special. I'm different." Well it turns out that I'm one of those tards. I got a D+ and am taking it again and I have to say. The second time through (with prof. Nelson) is CAKE! I can do the hw in a minutes as opposed to hours. I guess I learned a substantial amount from L-dawg (call him that, he likes it) but I can't recommend him due to the fact he delights in being so difficult and living up to his reputation. It's frustrating having wasted time, but live and learn... One good thing about this class is you develope a pretty good comradery with the other Locassio students. It's definetely a bonding experience.

J-Lo is the bomb. Take him if you can... he is hard as hell. He is also the best ever.

J-Lo is a great professor. He is hard like everyone says, but there is a simple formula to his class: attend every lecture, do all the homework, and visit him in office hours when you have a problem. If you do all that, there's no way you won't pass. Everyone that failed must not have either 1) done the homeworks or 2) gone to office hours to clarify problems. office hours are great because he is a genuine person who cares about the students. he will try to get to know you. I don't know a single professor that cares more about the overall welfare of the students. That's why he gives his political talks many times at the beginning of class, because they always have something to do with student fees and issues that affect us. he knows that students are hard-pressed for time to keep up on every damn issue, so he helps us out. he does give a lot of homework that will kill you if you try to do it all on the day before it's due, so start early. he lets you have a crib sheet, but for his problems you should almost never need it. as long as you know the basic equations, you can solve the damn problem. I look forward to his classes and always leave feeling like I learned something. If you can't pass a class with him, then maybe you shouldn't be an ME. His classes separate the real ME's from the IT's. For real. Are you an IT or an ME?

A warning to all who are thinking about taking this professor. The average grade on his quizzes are very very low. For example, the average on the last quiz was 20%, and he is not curving. There are 5 quizzes counting for 50% of your grade, 10% is homework, and 40% for the final. He told our class that he has no quota, and has no problem with failing almost the entire class. Hard does not even begin to describe this professor. My friends and I got A's in statics with Thum, an excellent professor, and now we are failing dynamics solely because LoCascio's is a bitter old man who hates teaching at Cal Poly (told us himself that we go to an inferior school that teaches us nothing of value) and dislikes engineers in general (says difference between doctors/lawyers and engineers is that doctors/lawyers know their fields inside and out while engineers are basically ignorant on all but a very few subjects).

Locascio is a very fun and enjoyable professor to have. You should take him because he teaches you to think, and that will have value for the rest of your life. He is even a fair grader; if you fail his class miserably up until the day of the final, but ace the final, you will get a B+ or A- in the class. He will fail you without thinking twice if you do not understand the material though, as he should. I highly recommend him. To the people who are so negative, switch your major. Seriously, if you cannot handle Locascio, you are not good enough to be an engineer. If you do not like dynamics, engineering might not be for you.

J-LO you suck ass. Just becuase you hate the school dosen't mean you have to take it out on your students

Success in engineering classes, I think, depends mostly on the time you put into it. To a much lesser degree, it also depends on the professor. LoCascio unquestionably holds up his end and absolutely demands that you do your part. His class is as much about dynamics/statics/thermo as it is about problem-solving methodology. He requires you to start every problem with complete diagrams, write the most general equation, show every step, and plug in numbers only at the end. This meticulous approach not only helps you find mistakes, but it also reinforces concepts, which means you learn better and are less prone to mistakes during, say, the final or in the real world. Do yourself a favor and take his classes and then follow through by genuinely trying your hardest. If you put in the due time for any of his classes, you will learn the material and you will come out a better engineer (and you will have a fantastic WATCH OUT list to keep with your textbook for future reference). My rating from Apr 2, 2001 still applies (for ME 211/212, at least), especially the bit about banana bread.

LoCascio is definately one of the best "Teachers" I have had here at Cal Poly. He teaching methods are fully aligned with the difficulty of the Mechanical Engineering major. ME is an extreemly hard field and LoCascio prepairs you for it. Treat his class as a rite of passage. If you can successfully pass this class, you can make it through the rest of the major. Personally, I did not enjoy the huge amount of time poured into this class; but if I can't dedicate myself to working through it, what the hell am I doing as a Cal Poly Engineer? If you can't pass, it's time to retake Dynamics, or rethink your life.

Locascio cares more about making everyone miserable than actually teaching them. He is a bitter old man with a black heart . Society should not punish people who kill people like Locascio.

Jim will make you feel like he cares about his student's understanding of the material. He is extremely paranoid of his students being out to get him (who knows why?) and plots anti-cheating schemes for his ridiculously difficult quizzes. The first couple of lectures he talks more about his stories of violent students and suicides because of his class rather than begining with some useful material. Jimbo has an old case of Napolean's Disease, or small man's syndrome. He tries to overcompensate for his lack of manhood and take it out on Cal Poly students because he knows that we will have more success in our lives than he will ever reach. I withdrew from the course because I refuse to learn from a professor that I do not respct in any regard. I will never register for a class with him again...Lesson learned Jimbo.

I took this class even after hearing all the horors of LoCascio because a lot of people on polyratings said he was the best professor they had and you learn the material very well. You do indeed learn the material, but he was one of the worst professor I have had at Poly. The average for the final was a 51 out 150 (lowest ever), and he still did not curve. He is not wroth taking, for there are many better professors at Poly that you will learn just as much but also get a grade you deserve.

I hate you.

Aloof, lonely, alienated, and sinister Goes the mind of a mad man who has never had dinner He spends all him time with the career That will never get recognized by a family so dear It

First of all, everybody is whining that Locascio doesn't curve... he nomalizes every grade - he takes the highest grade in the class on every quiz and the final and makes that score be 100%, then he does it again with the total grades at the end of the quarter. Since the same person usually isn't the one getting the top score on everything the grade set to 100% at the end of the quarter is usually pretty low. Also, he grades subjectively... that means that your points don't really matter as much as they do in your other classes, what matters is that you understand the material. If you can prove that you do and do alright on the final, you can easily get an A in the class. I had a B- (normalized, actually about 50% or so total) going into the final, got an A- (normalized) on the final, and came out with an A in the class (not an A-). Besides, you're engineers, your classes are supposed to be hard because you learn a lot... that's why you came to Cal Poly, right?

LoCascio is a great teacher. Take him if you want to learn not just get by. To pass dynamics you will have to study tour ass off and come to class prepared because he constantly calls on the students to solve class problems.

Everything you've heard about locascio is true. The worst thing about him in my opinion is the that fact that he always seems to be in a bad mood. He really does seem like a bitter old man sometimes. The first day of class he went through a 20 minute speech on how tough the class was going to be and that 2/3 of us weren't going to pass. The way he grades is a joke, too. I've never understood a problem, got the right answer, and still failed the quiz. On three of our quizes (out of five), the class average was below a 30%, one was a 10%. I agree with everybody else: aviod him at all cost.

Locascio really is something else. This class was the hardest, most stressful, largest workload I've ever had, and yet, I feel that I learned the material better than in any other class. Locascio is an amazing lecturer; he explains the material so clearly that even the people failing said they were learning. Unfortunately, he grades INSANE. He give no partial credit; you get full points for every correct step and no points for every incorrect step. None of his quizzes are overly hard, but because each has a 23 minute time limit and he grades so harshly, the highest average quiz score was 56%. One quiz, the average was 24%. This class requires tons of work and studying, but it is doable. And dont worry too much about indidivual quiz scores. I got a 12% on one quiz and still pulled an A- in the class. And, as a side note because I feel it should be mentioned, Locascio is actually very funny and entertaining in his lectures

i hate you locascio. i was above average, way above average on 3 of the 5 quizes. how do i still fail with that? i want to tear one of locascio's stumpy little legs off and beat him till he is nothing but a bloody pulp. i had never gotten lover than a B ever until now. locascio be warned, if i ever see your face again i will tackle you to the ground and shave that disgusting beard off your face!

Ah, the great debate on LoCascio... yes i failed the class, but i still dont think him a bad teacher. Expect about an hour per homework problem (there is usually around 12 per week). I learned a lot, but those damn quizes... after every quiz, he would go over it, and i could follow along easily, but for some reason, i blanked out during them. Also, like already mentioned, very harsh grader with no partial credit. However, i really believe he helped me in another way, to see why we are really here. Until now, my main objective at Cal Poly was to get thru classes somehow, then get fucked up on the weekends and have a good time. But he helped to put this important time in our lives into perspective, and how we really need to know this material if this is going to be our profession in the future. Now whether or not i will change because of this, i dont know, but I WOULD RECOMMEND LOCASCIO to people willing to put in the effort. Passing is definetly possible.

I know what you are saying or thinking. Either, 'I have to take this guy' or 'do I really want to take this guy'. JLo is awesome. He is a great professor and if you do what he says, and work hard (oh gosh, not work hard!) you will pass no problem. Yes he is a hard professor. Yes you might fail every quiz. Yes homework takes 12 hours a week (if you do them right). However, he will prepare you better than any other professor for the final, GUARANTEED. As it has been said, it is the first hard class youll take, but JLo is excellent at teaching it if you are willing to listen and work. He makes very good points and is right in saying that you NEED to know the material because you are an engineer. He is great help if you ask him questions after class or in office hours too. All you need to know, is work hard, study hard and listen and youll pass. Thats it.

JLO? You call him JLO? How pathetic. Get off his jock.

Taking LoCascio is like getting jumped by a pack of rabid ferrets. Its going to suck, but gosh darnit, after the second time you'll be a purdy tough ferret scrapper. And then you'll show those ferrets whose boss. Booyah.

Everyone seems to have negative comments about prof. LoCascio...but he has to be one of the best teachers I've had since I've been here. Yes, he's hard. but he knows his stuff. If you are willing to put in the time, you will learn a whole lot. He's also really helpful in office hours and he's a really nice guy. If you ever have a discussion with him, you'd find him to be worldly and wise. That may seem odd..but go talk to him an hour and you'll see. I think the only reason people complain is cuz they want easy A's. I found this much more rewarding though...

Locascio is the best. Oh, I mean JLO. A teacher that has a 30% average on midterms has got to be doing something right. I'd highly recommend him if you want to fail a class, since about 2/3 do fail as he says.

Professor LoCascio is the reason why Cal Poly produces some of the best engineers around. You often hear awful evaluations about him becuase yes, his class is EXTREMELY hard. The whole class usually averages very low quiz scores, so don't freak out; and the homework will drive you insane, so DO NOT procrastinate. However, if you stick to it and work hard, you will find the common final will not only be a piece of cake, but will save your grade. LoCascio teaches his students to do problems the RIGHT way, not the EASY way, so throw out any shortcut math equations you have in your head when you take his class. Although the work is tedious, you'll find that the 5 or 6 very long equations that he teaches you to memorize will work EVERY TIME for any problem. Students are often intimidated by his seemingly cold and intolerant attitude in class, but the key to passing this class is to go to his office hours. You will find that Prof. LoCascio is actually a very friendly, helpful guy that wants you to do well and become a good engineer. If you are willing to work hard, know your stuff and take your career as an engineer seriously, you need to take LoCascio. Although I know the work will be tough, I would definitely take another engineering class with him again.

To all you CE-205 students who never have anything good to say welcome to this P.O.S web site devoted to individuals such as yourself desiring a place to bitch about how hard your education is. Why the f..... did you come here in the first place, expecting to bone a bunch of hot chicks, party, drink tons of beer and smoke a few joints before class? Some advice to you, quit copying the solution manuals and turning it in as homework that you should have done on your own. Try to actually LEARN the material since that is what COLLEGE is supposed to be right? Or is it drunken stupors partying downtown in this faggot ass conservative hypocrisy so called upscale American town? Run by three jack ass never graduated from college idiots riding the real-estate boom and convincing everyone not to vote for the market place to secure his own interests. Anyway point being, you're obviously a bunch of spoiled self-centered mama's boys who still need to have mommy come over and change your dippers and tell you to do your homework, wash behind your ears, and grow the f.... up!!!! But since mommy and daddy have nothing but trouble of their own they send your ass off to college, pay the f...ing bills for you, and hope to god you graduate so you will quit sucking every last dime from their bank account. But hey you're going to be a big Know it all engineer soon right? You'll be so damn cocky having a degree from CalPoly that you probably don't deserve since all you did was bitch about how hard your classes were. That won't matter then cause by then you'll be telling everyone how smart you were in school and claiming that every class was easy, mean while your company is being sued because guess what....yep you f.....ed up my friend. You forgot to check that connection design and well the f...ing bridge just collapsed. Opps must have been the contractors fault....those f....ing idiots never get it right. Good luck people quit complaining that the teachers are making too hard, and do your own damn homework for a change!

Locascio is the best teacher you can ever have if you have a natural understanding of mathematical analysis. If you don't have a natural skill for that, give up now

LoCascio, he is a great professor when it comes to teaching you how to take a problem and work through it with a standardized method of solving a problem step by step. Where LoCascio fails is being able to conduct a class in which you have decent chance of passing! I took Dynamics with him not knowing what I was in for and tried very hard to pass, but his quizes and tests are very tricky. The next quarter I took it with another professor and got a B. This professor was worse but the tests were actually POSSIBLE to pass. The spread for an average midterm in LoCacio's classes was <1% got A's while >50% got D's or F's. DONT WASTE A QUARTER.

It's funny reading some of these reviews like "Locascio cares more about making everyone miserable than actually teaching them." I took LoCascio for Dynamics, Thermodynamics, and Fluids, and most of these reviews are just bullshit. The truth is, he is the first teacher most students take where you're expected to actually think and not just plug numbers into simplified equations. And if you have no clue, you can't just write down a bunch of shit and expect half credit. Most students can't take it; they're uncomfortable because he makes them realize that they don't know anything. He teaches you the fundamentals. Every engineering student should be required to take at least one class from him.

J Lo's a perfectly nice guy, if not a bit strange. I just don't want him teaching any more of my classes. He spends a majority of the class period asking everyone and their mother what they think (and who really cares what the kid in front of you thinks if he's wrong and the info confuses you even more). I could't follow the examples he was doing in class, so I got frustrated with the hw problems and began copying the soln. manual (which is not the best route to go with this class). So I passed with a D-, did a little dance because 2/3 of my class failed and I didn't, and was happy to be rid of him until my thermo professor took 2 weeks off the next quarter and J Lo subbed for her. I can honestly say he didn't teach me anything in that class either. His teaching style apparently works for some people, but the vast majority of us are just better off taking another professor.

LoCascio is a bitter man whose only love in life in convincing himself that he knows more than you do. Maybe hes not the worst teacher on campus, but I just plain can't stand the guy as a human being. If you're looking for a professor to constantly put you down and make you feel stupid, then this is your man. The people who say his teaching style is great are the ones who are going to end up just like him one day. LoCascio loves to tell you what's wrong with everyone but him, but if you ask me the real proof of how screwed up our society is is the fact that this guy is married with a kid. Jim LoCascio should never have reproduced. With a personality like his, it's no wonder why he complains about making so little money. Overall, this guy doesn't curve, is a total egotistical jerk, and should be avoided at all cost. P.S. if you're a girl, none of this applies to you. LoCascio loves girls, so wear pink and sit in front and he'll love you.

Ok heres the deal. If you are a ME major then you will need to know this stuff very well, so its not a bad idea to take this guy. However, if you from another major and can't afford to do 12-15hrs of hw a week for this class and hinder the rest of your studies here, it is not worth it. I agree, if you pass this guy you will know your shit, but not everyone is a ME major and needs to know this topic that well.

Ok, so LoCascio is horrible, this we all know. His weasly smirk and darting gaze may have convinced some that he was really a R.O.U.S. (rodent of unusual size). He wears socks under his Teva sandals and his oversized, untucked polo is constantly covered with a wafting later of yellow chalk. Some of you may recall how Ben Franklin first invented those special bifocal lenses back in 1784... Well he gave a pair to LoCascio as a bar mitzvah gift, and he wears them proudly. I got a B in this class because I taught myself Dynamics, as LoCascio was too busy jerking off his own mother. Oh yes, I did say jerking off because his mother is a hermaphrodite, and her inherent inability to explain the subtleties of reproduction helped him to become a failure at teaching other students how to learn. So thank you LoCascio, for absolutely nothing you blithe cockroach of a man.

Just some advice... If you barely squeaked by in Statics, don't bother scrolling down any further, just take another teacher. If you are used to doing homework the day before it's due, take another teacher. If you don't go to any of your teachers office hours, take another teacher, same thing if you can't take being called on in class... If you're an ME, Locascio is the best teacher for this subject-take him and be ready to work your ass off and it will pay off in the rest of your classes. If you're not an ME/CE... this may not be the teacher for you since he's trying to prepare them for industry. If you're a girl (which I am), be ready to be called on. It has nothing to do with him being a dirty old man, he's just trying to teach you not to hide behind the fact that you're a girl engineer. For those of you who decide to take him for dynamics the most important thing is to study for his quizzes like you would for a midterm... they'll make or break your grade.

Please pardon the smarmy overtones that will be found throughout this letter, but Dr. Jim J. Locascio should have instructed his subordinates not to place stumbling blocks in front of those of us who seek value and fulfilment in our personal and professional lives. To plunge right into it, he knows how to lie. It's too bad he doesn't yet understand the ramifications of lying. He divides the organization of his crazy initiatives into two halves that, apparently separate from one another, in truth, form an inseparable whole. The first half seeks to promote the abhorrent bons mots of the most avaricious hoodlums I've ever seen, while the second half is yet another morally questionable, temperamental blend of morbid defeatism and short-sighted larrikinism. Experience should probably indicate that the point at which you discover that of particular interest to me is the way that he continuously denies that life is too short to have to put up with him is not only a moment of disenchantment. It is a moment of resolve, a determination that I can reword my point as follows. Dr. Locascio exhibits the sensitivity of a bulldozer. Now I certainly do not want to sound discouraging, but his little world is far from reality. Whatever weight we accord to that fact, we may be confident that if he got his way, he'd be able to use rock music, with its savage, tribal, orgiastic beat, to mock, ridicule, deprecate, and objurgate people for their religious beliefs. Brrrr! It sends chills down my spine just thinking about that. I could accuse Dr. Locascio of using out-of-touch mendicants to get his way, but I wouldn't stoop to that level. He sees all the evidence, but he is reluctant to accept the conclusion that his musings may have been conceived in idealism, but they quickly degenerated into neo-disorganized antagonism. We are at a crossroads. One road leads into the light of a bright, shining future in which maladroit miscreants like Dr. Locascio are absolutely absent. The other road leads into the darkness of hooliganism. The question, therefore, is: Who's driving the bus? A complete answer to that question would take more space than I can afford, so I'll have to give you a simplified answer. For starters, Dr. Locascio's homilies are based on hate. Hate, priggism, and an intolerance of another viewpoint, another way of life. To believe that the moon is made of green cheese is to deceive ourselves. In closing, I consider this letter to be required reading for everyone who still cares that when the war against reason is backed by a large cadre of vitriolic, unbridled caustic-types, the results are even more unctuous. Unfortunately, with our nation's media being as controlled as it is, there's no way that this letter will be widely publicized. Therefore, I'm counting on you to pass on this letter to all of your e-mail contacts. Thank you.

Locascio is a very polarizing professor. I had an internship this summer, and several of the engineers had taken locascio, and all had failed at least once. I failed ME 212 when I took Locascio, and when I retook it a year later, I got a B without doing any homework. He will teach you the material far better than any other teacher, but you have 2:1 odds of getting an F, and a better than good chance of getting a shit grade even if you pass. Therein lies the dilemma. If you take him, you'll end up getting an A or a B when you retake dynamics with another professor, and you'll know the material really well. But WHO wants/needs to take ME 212 for TWO quarters? I'm getting around to writing this review because I may have to take him for thermo, and I'm deciding if I want to deal with that hassle. If you are an ME, it's your call, depending on how much you like pain and getting an F. If you're not an ME, DO NOT even think of taking Locascio. He's not worth your trouble for what, for you, will be a support class.

I am shocked at how high of a rating LoCascio has on here. Yeah, people always say they learned so much in his classes... but when it comes down to it, he's really a complete jerk. He's sexist and bigoted and should probably be fired. Does anyone really enjoy taking a class where the teacher brags about failing 2/3 of all his students? If that many people fail, couldn't it be that his teaching style is somehow NOT WORKING? I'm sick of people standing up for this guy because they feel like they learned a lot, even though they worked like hell only to get an F. Take other teachers for thermo or fluids - I learned much more with my other professors (Patton and Kean) in the ME department. Oh, and if your shy/quiet and/or a girl, and you do decide to take one of his classes, be prepared to be picked on all quarter.

Jim is tough on people that don't try, which makes sense because you need to put a lot of effort into a class like this to succeed. He rewards effort and improvement, and was always willing to spend extra time in office hours with me until I 'got it'.

I got a B- bitches. This class was like the twilight zone. I don

LoCascio is one of the best professors hands down. All the people below that you see complaining are just stupid mother fuckers that don't want to try hard in a class. Sure, I will admit that through the entire quarter I was stressed about how low my grade was, (most likely an F), but I kept trying. And what do you know; ace'd the final and he gave me an A in the class. Thats pretty damn fair if you ask me. Do you always go into a class and expect it to be easy? Is life easy? NO! So quit bitching and take LoCascio. To quote the great J-Lo, "get tough".

This man verbally attacks students during class. One student even cried because of him. I don't mind him, but he really doesn't respect his students. He doesn't make sure that his students actually comprehend the material and prides himself on how "tough" his tests are.

What a faggot!

This prof's got some serious mental issues...................

Locascio makes life hell but you will learn more than imaginable. This class really is everything youve learned since kindergarten, as you will realize during his 2 week review. Failed half of the quizzes given every 2 weeks but pulled some miracle on the final. Everybody should have this guy at least for the experience. Work your ass off and you will be rewarded.

One of the worst cases of foot-in-mouth disease I have ever encountered. Sometimes, the things he manages to say -- I mean, either the 'tact' part of his brain occasionally just flat out fails to engage, he gets too damn frustrated and tired to bother, or he really does have the compassion of a particularly sociopathic bulldozer. Based on *other* things I've heard him say, I'm not inclined to believe that last, but whatever. That said, on to his teaching style. If you have a lot of trouble paying attention in lecture, don't discount the possibility of taking his class because of the reviews. If your problem is laziness or apathy, then yes, go quietly away and take the easy 'A'. And don't design any cars I'll be driving, hey? On the other hand, if you're reasonably bright, truly interested, and unable to pay attention to a traditional lecture for fifty straight minutes to save your life, he might well save your sorry ADHD ass. I'm the latter. And I sat through every lecture of every class without spacing out more than half a dozen times in four quarters. Satan wore ice skates. Which is *why*, after taking him for Dynamics, I went on to do so for Fluids, Thermo, and Thermo II. Despite the fact that some few weeks into said Dynamics lecture he addressed the class at length about how educating [group-of-which-I-am-a-part] was a waste of his energy, the department's resources, my time, and the state's and my parents' money. Good thing it was past the drop date. So. Hidden bonuses (assuming you do your work, get your act together, and learn your shit): - You will sail through the intermediate version of whatever class you have him for, and get to smirk as the professor says, "and if you had LoCascio for Dynamics, you don't need this, but for everyone else...". - You will join the apparently elite LoCascio Survivor's Club, complete with bragging rights, being 'in' on the in-jokes made by students and faculty alike, and the ability to terrorize innocent freshmen. - You will never panic about a huge test again (stress, yeah. Panic, no). He will use up your next eleventy years' supply of test panic. I sometimes think this is a significant ulterior motive of his. - You will learn to admit that you actually don't know the answer to a question (and you will witness firsthand how utterly idiotic people look when they try and make something up because they can't do this). - You will gain the bonus feat "thick skin," and learn to keep your cool around insensitive bastards (disregarding the question of whether he is or not, as it's sometimes functionally identical) who happen to outrank you and whom you can't conveniently escape. - As mentioned previously, kick-ass Morro Bay Power Plant tour. - Finally: banana bread. (More mundane class things: he changed his grading scheme three times in the four quarters I had him, so I won't even bother. Also: it's literally impossible to finish some of his finals -- I've heard him admit as much -- So don't let your brain fly out the window when you realize this. I didn't go to his office hours all that much, but he went above and beyond when I did, and I know students who go back even after they aren't in his classes anymore to ask stuff. And, okay: four quarters, four lectures, two A's, two B's. And I deserved the latter for blowing off homework.)

holy shit, would everybody please stop calling this guy "J-Lo"! i had this guy three times, and as basically everyone has said, toughest professor at Poly, yet a decent instructor as long as you put effort into the class. that being said, i recently had a run-in with him, during which he did a great job of rekindling my hatred toward him as a person (not as an instructor). if you have an opinion slightly askew of his own, he will trample you like a frenzied bull with it’s nuts looped into a figure-eight, without giving you so much as a breath to explain yourself. if you can learn to not get in his way, and realize that his rants are not due to hatred for you but for life itself, then you can handle him and learn from his classes (and get some of that "toughened skin" and join that "elite club" others below seem to dream about).

If you have yet to see this fuck...here he is in all his glory: http://me.calpoly.edu/faculty/jlocasci/

Here is LoCascio's ugly mug if you haven't seen it: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=36078374&l=041b9&id=6419639

Just do yourself a favor and don't take him. I've never had a worse professor. He boasts in class that other Professors tell him that the way he teaches is overly complicated and counter-intuitive. He's a smart guy, and you can pass his class if you really want to (though its difficult), but you won't really understand dynamics, you'll only learn the process.

Don't know if he's changed but he once gave me the impression he is a racist. Once heard him use the "N" word while waiting in the hallway outside his office. The context was "...if they think I'm their 'N' they've got another thing coming..." This was in '93' or '94' when I was attending.

I've had hard professors before. I've taken hard classes. I've had professors that seem to want to screw you from the moment you walk in, and i've had professors that you know will give you an "A" regardless of how little work you do. But LoCasio is just strange. One moment, you'll swear there might be a little bit of hope, he seems reasonable, maybe even smiles a bit, curves that tests, etc... the next moment he's talking about how all of the class will be taking the class again. Where is the motivation in that? On a side note, Wiley textbooks really suck. for Fluids, Thermo, and Intermediate Dynamics. At least, you should have a text book you can try to learn from, if the professor fails you.

This guy is well known. I knew this entering the class, but only now have a full appreciation. VERY difficult. I recommend avoiding this guy, from now on I will.

Everything you've heard about LoCascio is true. What really perturbed me was that the ME department switched him in as the instructor at the last minute (most likely on purpose, otherwise this man would not have a job). I thought like a lot of people that I could do well enough to pass his class at least. Take him if you want to waste your time and money. His approach is very demeaning (to everyone), and he seems to lack the desire to actually TEACH. He starts every class wasting the first 10 minutes or so talking about some political issue, then moves on for 15 minutes or so reviewing the *same* useless crap every day, and then try's to really irratate students by writing on *all* the chalkboards, projecting material onto the BACK wall, etc. Then has you break into groups to try and solve something. All the while trivializing everything by saying how easy this material is. Well guess what. It is a junior level class, and the material is NOT easy. And to further irritate people, his office hours are like at 8:00 p.m. So, you've got maybe 10 minutes of each class dedicated to attempting to teach (on a good day). He actually told my class he didn't have time to cover one chapter, so we would have to do it ourselves...in 2 days time. The book is often of little help too. So far I have not found anyone who passed in my class. I really think he should be given walking papers, he is an experience that should be avoided at all costs.

Don't take him if you're a conservative. You people who think he's a good teacher are probably going to fail in the real world

Locascio teaches better than any professor at poly. He teaches how to solve any problem and prepares you for all ME courses. When I took Thermo 2 w/ Schollenberger I didnt learn anything new. The only reason I understood what was going on in thermo 2 was because I took locascio for thermo 1. I wish I could take locascio for all me ME classes.

Prof. Locasio is a wonderful teacher for dynamics. Do not take him for anything else. His classes are needlessly difficult and for dynamics this is good because it makes the rest of your classes seem like cake (and you get to know dynamics very well). For the other classes he does a poor job at making the material clear. For example, in thermo he takes approximately half of the period going over key terms (the same terms over and over again), which is fine, except when he doesn't cover the homework material because of it. Or having a full assignment due the day of the midterm and then no assignment at all for the week after. That is just poor planing, plain and simple. I have never been a fan of having all of my class grade determined in two tests. In dynamics he gave biweekly tests which were hard, but prepaired us for the only test that really mattered (the final). In thermo there is no such preparation. The midterm is the first real test you take, and it is worth 40% of the grade. The next test is the final which is worth 50% of the grade. So what it comes down to in my view is take LoCasio for Dynamics because he will prepair you for future classes. Don't take him ever again after that unless you want to lower your GPA and develop a chronic migraine.

Try? There is no try. Only do.

LoCasio is a great teacher. Sure, he may call on you a lot, but it keeps you on your toes. I was called on numerous times...it could be cause I was a girl...but it doesn't matter to me cause when I didn't know the answer, it caused me to be determined to find the answer and never forget it. His intention is not to humiliate but to help you to learn and keep you focused. I wish I could have taken him for dynamics...perhaps I would have done better. All I can say is do the hw and do it on your own and not copy it. Also, go to office hours; he's very helpful in office hours. don't be afraid to answer questions in class. Besides, thermo, ME 302, is an easy class. just remember the 1st and 2nd laws and you'll do fine.

Show up to class. Do they homework. And you'd better damn well listen to this one: do NOT use that goddamn solutions CD. I didn't have to touch the thing, and I did far better than the engineer wannabes looking at their solutions every 3 seconds when they say "I just want it to check my answers." He posts the answers outside of his door. Not to mention he's extremely helpful given you've put some effort into it. Greatest lecturer I can think of. Cheers prof LoCascio!

Locascio went over important material repetitively in class and told us everything we needed to know. He had in-class examples at least once a week and taught us a lot about the book we were using and the charts we had to know how to use. Its a hard class, and I think that Locascio taught it well.

i think locascio is hard. i've never worked so hard for a D- ever in my life but I think that he teaches well and now that I look back at it, I think thermo was really easy. It's just 2 equations and as long as you dervive em you'll be fine! I think he's really cool just a hard grader. if you don't know what you're doing you might as well leave your paper blank.

LoCascio is by far one of the best teachers poly has to offer. Yes he is hard, ridiculously hard, but you actually learn the material. If you care at all about your major, you should take LoCascio. If you just want a high GPA, take someone else. If you want to be a pussy, take some else. He is very demanding and his class requires that you put A LOT of effort in on your part to understand what is going on. I haven

An amazing lecturer. You will know thermodynamics if you take him. But his grading scheme is crazy. This is the night before I take the final. I am afraid. Very afraid.

Well. Locascio is a good lecturer in the way he presents the material. However, what he many times fails to realize, is that this is the INTRODUCTION to thermodynamics. I felt that this would be a good class... the second time around, because thats pretty much what he expects to happen. A lot of times, he tries to squeeze so much information during each class period, that you are left lost - simply because it is too much. I am not exaggerating when i say 50% of the class failed. Most of the other people that "passed" got D's. I STRONGLY DISAGREE with his grading scheme - basically 100% final. How the hell do you learn from that? The purpose of having exams is to make mistakes, learn from them, and then do better next time. Well, when your entire grade depends solely on one test, you are unable to gauge how difficult the test might be - or gauge how you stand based on your previous performance. Overall I think he was a good lecturer - although many times disorganized. However, his crazy grading scheme takes away from his quality as a teacher. I don't know why he has this kind of grading scheme. Maybe because he is lazy, or maybe because he wants more people to fail. I don't know. But ultimately, I would rather have taken another professor and gotten at least a C in this class, rather than have worked my ass off for a D.

He is a good lecturer and presents material in a reasonable, logical manner that is easy to follow. He will ask everyone in the class at least one question per day, more if he knows your name. I actually like this method because it makes you pay attention. He would be one of my best professors if it weren't for the fact that his grading scheme is retarded. You need to get 1/2 the highest score on the final to pass. Sounds easy. I understand thermo, but here I am retaking it this quarter. Literally 60/90 students that took the class with him failed. I don't understand why he does this, it really just shakes your confidence in your abilities. I've never gotten less than a C at Poly until this class, and honestly I don't think this class should have been the exception. Don't take him. I'm sorry to say that because he is a good teacher, but he really doesn't understand what he is doing.

The first time I failed his final, it was because i didn't know crap about thermo.. with his teaching style the only way to learn it is to actually do ALL the homework, even tho there's a ton of it and it's not worth anything at all. But this quarter (my 2nd) I actually did understand the material and did all the homework and studied 4 days for his f'ing final. And i failed again. DO NOT TAKE THERMO FROM THIS MAN. He's a nice guy in lecture and you do learn the material, but YOU CAN'T PASS THE CLASS. Two Fs, and this is from an ME major who prior to this class had a 3.25 GPA. Wait until you can take thermo with another professor. That's what i'm doing for my 3rd round of Thermo.

In all honesty, Jim is the best instructor I have ever taken in my entire scholastic career. That being said, I will do everything in my power to ensure that I NEVER take another class with him again. I learned more in his thermo class than any other class I have ever taken, yet I completely and utterly failed. His lectures are very stimulating, but His final and grading scheme favor only those with doctorates in ME, not ME undergrads. Jim is a great guy inside and outside the classroom, But I can't afford to fail courses, especially Major courses, simply because I am not an expert in a subject that is supposed to be intro level. I had a great time in his class and learned a lot, shame It won't happen ever again.

For everyone who complains about Dr. Locascio's teaching method and grading scale are a bunch of pansies. First, its amazing that in a class you actually have to do all the homework. What a weird concept right? Next you have to actually show up to his office hours and ask questions then because there is no time during the lecture. Dr. Locascio's test was one of the hardest test that I have ever had to study for and the way he allocates the points in the class is heavily weighted on the final. I can honestly say that after his class I could open up the thermo book and attempt and, more than likely, complete the problem. His teaching style is nothing like I

Thank you for giving me a D. I'd rather not know what I'm doing while in school as opposed to on the job. Locascio is a Drill Seargent. Contrary to my grade, I feel competent in Thermo because of his teaching style. Do homework problems so fast that no heat transfer can possibly occur during the process. Know your shit. This is your chosen profession.

I don't think I've been so happy in my life to earn a C-......... let's just say that when I registered, it showed up as "STAFF" as the instructor, and on the first day there were hella ppl trying to crash the class, and when this bastard showed up, pretty much everyone scattered like ants

Biggest douchebag in the universe.

I passed his class the first time around and learned a lot, but damn it was pretty demoralizing.

i basically agree with everything everyone has already said. locasicio is an ass, and he knows it. he teaches the class like everyone has already taken it and should already know whats going on, which is kinda true because about half the class had. this is the only class ive ever gone over my notes before every class to try and be prepared for one of his questions. be prepared to answer questions in class and for him to make fun of you and ask you why you havent killed yourself yet for not knowing the answer. also make sure you know everything you have ever learned in school since about 3rd grade. his midterm is one question, which really has about 9 parts to it where you cant go onto the next part without finishing the one before it that and takes about 3 hours to finish instead of the 1 he gives you. be prepared to start studying for the final at least 2 weeks before the test, especially since he doesnt finish the material until the second to last class and theres a ton of homework for the last chapter and pretty much every problem in the final has to do with the last chapter. with that said though, i learned more in his class than i ever have in any class here at poly. and i dont think im just going to forget it now that the final is over, im going to know this shit for life. so in that respect, i would say that hes the best teacher here. his lectures are actually somewhat interesting and he keeps you really into it. so for all of you out there who are going to go way out of your way to make sure you dont get him when you havent had a class with him already, i have news for you, you are a pussy. you chose your major in engineering, and you chose to go to cal poly but your afraid of a challange. im sure never having to try really hard at something in college will really help you in a couple years in the real world. get up off your lazy ass and try something hard. this is cal poly, were supposed to be the best engineering school out there, there should be a line out the door for locascio the first day of class. oh yeah, one more thing, I GOT A FUCKING B MY FIRST TIME TAKING THE CLASS AND FIRST TIME WITH LOCASCIO. you, yes you, the person reading this right now, are my bitch. put that up your pipe and smoke it.

This teacher prides himself on his high failure rate.

If I had to pick anyone to kill this guy would be it.

Hey do you know where I left my keys yesterday... I locked myself out.

I took thermo with J. Lo twice. Failed both times. I did ALL the homework, got good grades on it all, but I just could not pass his final. Even tho I learned a lot and think he's a good lecturer. On my third time round taking Thermo (from Pascual) I got an A, partially cuz it was all review. I def. learned the material like I said, i just couldn't pass his final. Now i'm stuck taking him again for ME 303 and it's gonna suck balls. Nothing against J.Lo, but if I had my choice, I would never take a class from him again.

LoCascio tromps so much ass its not even funny. He commands the knowledge of mechanical engineering with the powers of his beard. Also included in his kick ass beard, is a finly tuned bullshit detector. If you are a lame ass and can't take the heat of core ME couses, he will inform you of your inadequacies and help you get on your feet if you so choose to acknowlede his advice. Plus he organized a kick ass tour of Morro Bay's power plant. Take LoCasio, "This is your chosen profession".

LoCascio is a great professor. I had him for Thermo 1, worked my ass off because I had obviously heard his reputation, did most of the homework, and got an A in the class, even though I didn't think I had done very well on the final. Then I took him for Thermo 2, went in cocky, didn't do all the homework, and got a D. I learned thermo very well. I haven't had LoCascio for anything else but I would definitely recommend him for Thermo, especially the first one...just know that you will have to do a lot of work, but you will end up knowing the material extremely well. Then if you take someone else for Thermo 2 it will be cake..

All I can say is WTF, I have taken lots of ME courses but he is the worse teacher I have ever had. His teaching style is terrible to say the least, if you dont have the solution manual get it because you will have no idea what is going on. If you get a good grade in his class its because you busted your ass learning the material on your own outside of class. His lectures are repetitive and rarely does examples to help relate the equations to problems. This is my first poly rating because no one should go through the hell his class is, that\'s my two cents on the guy.

The only professor that could fail Chuck Norris PERIOD!

I used to like Thermo. And then I met this guy. I used to love life. And then I met this guy. I used to talk to people and have friends. And then I met this guy. I used to have a soul. This guy devoured it like a hungry cave monster with infra-red vision- like those cavesnakes that have IR vision and eat bats. You know what I mean? I saw it on Planet Earth, it was in the Caves episode. That was a cool episode. Seriously, though. All that bat guano was disgusting. But not as disgusting as taking this class with this guy. I can\'t even call him a guy, because you have to be human first to be a guy. This *thing* that teaches this course is a demon. A demon that doesn\'t present any material and then tests you on it. What the mother-fruck. Seriously, if this guy isn\'t tenured, or even if he is, I want to smash his face into a board that has potruding rusty nails. And then I\'ll walk up and be like, \"Boom. I just thermodynamic\'d your face, bitch!\"

I dont know what to say really. some hate him some love him. im kinda in between which is weird considering his notorious off the wall teaching style. im a civil so i dont care all too much if i know thermo perfectly. if youre a civil, dont take him and just get a good grade with less effort. if youre an ME take thermo with locasio. you\'ll know your stuff. i guess thats the best way to put it

before locasio handed out the final he offered some home made bananna bread and said: \"as many of you know, i am Sicilian and in my family we feed people.............before we shoot them.\"

So I got an A in his thermo class. Here\'s how: Do all of the homework, which takes a while. (I recommend finding the solutions manual or purchasing a subscription to Cramster.com. This help immensely, but don\'t just copy the work. Try to figure it on your own, and when-not if-you get lost, look for the next step. Each problem in a homework set has roughly the same approach, so once you get the hang of it, they aren\'t too bad. It is merely time consuming.) Make notes when you don\'t understand how the solutions made their next jump, and then go to office hours and get clarification. I personally hated his lectures. He is very fast, and I have trouble focusing on what he says while trying to copy notes. I coped by copying the notes exactly the way he wrote them, and after looking through them, I would go to his office hours and get clarification. His office hours are great, just don\'t be intimidated when he calls you stupid for what you\'re doing wrong or don\'t understand. You are stupid when it comes to Thermo. That is why you are taking the class. What I found was when he over-exaggerated how dumb of a mistake I made, I made a mental note to not do it again. It\'s unorthodox, but it works. Anything that he introduces and then says, \"It would be a good idea for you to do such-and-such,\" do it. They end up being exam questions. He also stresses a few major points in class while writing notes. Take a red pen and star them in your notes. They will be on your exam. Other than that, realize he is from the East Coast. Easterners are confrontational people who have strong opinions about everything. He has no problem being blatant, which was somewhat refreshing, honestly. If your ever get a chance to talk to him about a nonacademic subject, he is completely different. He just holds the bar high. So deal with it, take his criticisms with a grain of salt, and go to office hours. You will learn Thermo.

While many student's don't like Dr. LoCascio's teaching style, he is by far on of the best teachers I have had at Poly. Pay attention in the lectures, GO TO OFFICE HOURS, and do the homework. As frustrating as he can be, if you jump through his little hoops you will know thermo like no other, and you will have a sound knowledge of where everything comes from.

Took him for thermo on a bad rotation. Lively, interesting lectures places him ahead of most profs who simply regurgitate textbook examples for 50 minutes. Yes his tests are fucking TOUGH compared to other profs. I respect his expectations but it isn't fair when it comes to getting your grade. Those who suggest taking him to learn thermo "well" only prove themselves as unmotivated students. Apparently it takes a hard test to require hard study. I say take someone else and study hard regardless of your professor. You will thank yourself when it comes time for the EIT exam.

You Shithead.

I'm writing this as an ME graduate from three years ago. I took three classes with this guy (well...four I guess because I had to repeat the first one) and I still shudder at the thought of his classes. Even now, with perspective and three full years of gainful employment as a mechanical engineer I will say that he was the worst part of my education. I have yet to meet any senior engineer/boss that likes to put people on the spot and then mock them for wrong answers. His classes do not prepare you for the real world, the main benefit is that after one of his classes you can truthfully say "well, if I survived that I can survive anything." but his manner of teaching made me so anxious that I was more worried about what he was going to ask me next than actually learning the material. However, like others said, if you put in vast quantities of time it becomes more bearable. But should a single 3 unit class take up more time than the rest of my full course load? All that said, he actually is a nice guy if you get a chance to chat with him. And I'm sure his teaching style does push some people to learn more than they otherwise would. But it's not for everyone and it's a damn shame that it's near impossible to leave Poly without taking him at least once. I would absolutely avoid him if you can. If you can't and he makes you feel like you can't succeed in the world because you don't get an A in his class - he's probably wrong.

Do not take him, I don't care what these reviews say below.

This guy sucks. Over 70% of the class failed his final..which was worth 55% of your grade. Good luck! However, you do learn how to apply thermodynamics to real world problems. Even though you think you know thermodynamics, if it doesn't meet Locascio's standards, you fail. By the way, don't expect to finish any of his tests.

Jim Locascio is a brilliant person, intellectually. BUT I cannot in good faith recommend him to any student that has to take Thermo, ever. I worked hard for Locascio and failed, along with 70% of my class. The final is worth 55% of your grade and incredibly difficult. His lecture does not align with the homework and often devolves into lectures about ethics. He tends to waste time writing the same formulas on the board and then deriving them differently for different situations, but he hardly ever does any actual example problems. If you fail his midterm he will tell you to stop being an engineering major... Let's see, what else... Oh yeah, he's a complete fucking douche bag in OH. Don't take Locascio. Just don't.

I have never written a polyrating for a teacher before but after seeing how pretty much all of his polyratings are negative, I thought I would share my opinion. Yes, he is a very difficult teacher, but with that being said, if you want to really learn and understand the material, he will push you to really understand it on a fundamental level. Many people say he is not that good of a teacher, to these people i would say wake up you are in college. He is not going to hold your hand and walk you through thermo, you have to put A LOT of time into learning the material yourself. He will always help you out whenever you need it and he is there as more of a guide. I loved how he would derive the main equations in class (the ones the book would just present) and apply everything we learned to a practical application. If I had the choice of teacher, I would honestly choose him over any other teacher to teach all of my ME classes. Some people are not ready for the challenge and those are the ones that dislike him. But if you really love what you are learning and want to know it better than anyone else, take him.

Professor LoCascio is one of the best, if not the best professor I have had at Cal Poly. It is motivating to have a professor who challenges students to challenge themselves. He has developed his lectures to be engaging and effective. He does an amazing job of presenting the derivations of fundamental equations for thermodynamics and fluid dynamics in such a way that why you are doing what you are doing is clear, not just what. He is also very precise in his speech, which is beneficial for following along in lecture but also an excellent example for aspiring engineers. LoCascio is a genuine and compassionate human being. Very few people you meet at Cal Poly will care as much about you and your future as he does. His expectations demonstrate the respect he has for students, the university, and the engineering profession. I put in many hours outside of class on homework and studying for exams. His exams are extremely fair. He is a very intelligent man and is acutely aware that you will not finish his exams. He designs his exams so you have choice, not for you to finish. I recommend that all engineering students take as many classes with LoCascio as possible.

Easy money

I have very mixed feelings about this professor. My entire college career I have felt as if I was a great student. I felt like I was up to the LoCascio challenge. J. Lo definitely kicked my ass. I have never spent so much time on homework. I had 5 engineering courses this quarter and could not keep up with Locascio's so I decided to focus on all of my other classes and I would retake thermo the following quarter because there was no guarantee that I would even pass. Despite me failing the course, I do feel like I learned thermo from LoCascio, however, I feel that his class can be greatly improved. He needs to provide more examples because he only talks about the theory. I don't understand why he makes his test impossible to finish and has a ridiculously low average. He fancies himself with his derivations and knowing all of the thermo charts. I do agree that students need to stop trying to "plug in numbers and get an answer" and actually understand and learn all of the material. He also goes off on long tangents about random stuff. One thing that I found hilarious was the random connections he made with his "hints". One class we were talking about irreversible process and he said one of his hints was "Martin Luther King", the class was so confused, the answer was "mixing". -_- I will miss all of his random stories and nonrelated hints. If you think the midterm is hard just wait until the final! During the final, on the last 30 minutes, he hands out an additional T/F test. He explains that for each one we get right we get 10 points, leave it blank we get 0 points, and if we get it wrong we get -10 points. Who does that?! and these are not your average multiple choice questions. they are extremely difficult conceptual questions that are 6-7 sentences each. During the final he did give us banana bread that his wife made. He mentioned to us that you should "always feed something before you execute it"- LMAO! I knew then that I was going to fail. Despite the dramatic GPA drop and having to repeat the course, I feel as if taking LoCascio was actually a great life experience for me. I have never failed a class until his. I now feel comfortable spending a ridiculous amount of time on a homework assignment. I also have this special bond with all of the other previous LoCascio students. No one else will understand what it is like to take your midterm and final on 11x17 paper. Bottom line is that LoCascio has extremely high standards and no soul. He has no problem with failing the entire class. I would say that all ME's need to take him. It will challenge you and break you down so bad that maybe if you are strong enough to rebuild yourself a new being will form and go on to be one of the greats! "THIS IS YOUR CHOSEN PROFESSION" "YOU ARE NOT IN 7TH GRADE ANYMORE" A quick moment of silence for all of the students who failed his class over the years............^oo

Easiest class you will ever take in your academic career. All you need is the Alphabet Equations, your best friends Tds, Continuity, 1st Law, Second Law. That's it!

went into office hours every week...and still did horrible on exams.He just made me even more confused on the material. I thought people were exaggerating when they told me to drop because I got locascio... trust your friends, he's ridiculous and will talk about the state school system for 40 minutes and 20 minutes on thermo

Locascio teaches the most difficult but most rewarding class I have taken at Cal Poly. He is extremely bright and cares a ton for his students. A lot of the reviews he gets say that you should take a different teacher but I would encourage anyone that's not looking for an easy A but instead to get a deep understanding in a critical part of our profession to take locascio. It is a stressful class (I had a C in the class going into the final) but for me it was a realization of what I was capable of with a great teacher pushing me to improve. Also his homework assignments towards the end of the quarter take forever so don't procrastinate on those.

Professor LoCascio gets a bad rap. He knows it, and everyone in his classes know it, but he doesn't really care what people think of him. He just teaches the same way he's been teaching. I had LoCascio for Dynamics, and I personally enjoyed his class so much I decided to take him for Thermodynamics as well. Here's how his classes work: you are given homework assignments each week. If you just sit down and diligently do your homework, you will fully understand the material, and you will do fine in the class. If you expect to just breeze through and half-ass the homework, you will not do so well. Additionally, especially for thermo, just do the work EXACTLY as he does it in class. Don't attempt to teach yourself alternate methods from the book or solution manual, because those will teach you to skip a lot of steps and you won't do well. Keep in mind, LoCascio is by NO means an easy professor. If you want to get by easily, you're better off avoiding him. If you actually want to thoroughly learn thermodynamics, however, LoCascio is definitely the best option. He's a nice guy who really cares about every student. I enjoyed attending his classes, as they were always interesting, with little bits of clever humor throughout. Also, his banana bread is on point. Don't take him for the banana bread, but definitely factor it into your choice (okay maybe not). In conclusion, LoCascio is easy money if you're good with numbers and problem solving sense, and bad if you're lazy. But if he's the only option, don't cry, because he's not the evil man a lot of these reviews say he is.

Professor gets a bad rep for ruining GPAs; and that's quite true. However, he truly cares about the success of his students in the professional world and expects a lot from them in the classroom. He's a genuinely nice and kinda quirky dude. Extremely helpful in office hours too.

WARNING: Prof. LoCascio and I had an interesting relationship, and even if I really do believe students who pass his class know more about Fluids/Thermo than any other engineer on the market, that's not why I'm here. After spending time with LoCascio (office hours etc), we spent a lot of time talking about his teaching style and world view. So, when I decided to apply to [Grad School], I decided to approach him and ask for a letter of recommendation, because I knew it would be honest above everything else. I explicitly said "If you don't feel as though you can recommend me for whatever reason, please do not hesitate to decline." He happily agreed to write me one. LSAC seals the recommendations so I never knew what he wrote... Until I was chatting to my current dean for admissions. I asked her if she remembered what he had written. It's been 3 years, and my ADean has read thousands of applications since then, but she still remembered how disrespectful LoCascio was to me in the recommendation. He berated me, criticized my work ethic, and said I was unfit to handle the pressures of law school... Although I am happy at my current institution, there is no doubt in my mind that his letter precluded me from admission to some schools, and other scholarship opportunities. For those of you whispering to yourself "Well you asked for honestly" know that I worked my god damn ass off for 4 years to get where I am. I asked him "please don't write one if you don't feel like you can recommend me for admission." Prof, you claim to have the best interests of your students at heart, but what you did was petulant, unprofessional, and downright disgusting. You had no god damn right to try and take my future away from me. You should be ashamed of yourself. You claim to give a damn about student's mental health, and yet you cut at the very core of their own will to succeed. I put this in a PolyRating, not because I'm scared of telling him. If he read this he'd know exactly which student wrote it. I'm writing it so you all can understand the gall and character of the man. If you want to learn thermo, take him, but be prepared to "see him next term." Jim, If you are going to hold yourself out as a proponent of mental health, take a hard look in the mirror. You failed, and after all that talk about your own son, we expected more from you.

Absolute worst professor I've ever had or will ever had. Hates his students and presents material unclearly and scattered. No examples or applications ever. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. He is the devil and everything you've heard is true. Should've been fired years ago and a disgrace to Cal Poly.

The guy needs to add some practice problems or something. I was completely lost since day 1. The homework isn't worth much and you don't get any answer key so there's no telling whether you're heading in the right direction unless you go to office hours. THE KEY STRATEGY TO PASS THIS CLASS IS TO STUDY THE GRAPHS! Ignore the tables even though they give you exact values. On the tests (midterm and final), he will give you the graphs and no tables. I was completely screwed because I did the homework based off the tables. Use the motherf***ing graphs!! I told my friend this when he took LoCascio sometime later.... BOOM! He got a B+. As long as you can navigate through the graphs, know which equations to use for particular situations, you'll do fine.

Professor LoCascio is hands down the most difficult professor I have ever had in my academic career. That being said, I am writing this because the man will not be teaching at Cal Poly much longer, and I feel that people deserve to know the truth about his classes and to have the chance to take him before he leaves. Taking at least one course with him, especially Thermo 1, will likely change your entire perspective on engineering. He teaches from the bare fundamentals upwards, starting with basic concepts and deriving equations, then to in-class examples and relates these to real life. He doesn't just throw property tables at you without any true context like many other thermo professors. He teaches for understanding of a topic, not just direct problem-solving, and if you can get the first part down, the problem-solving will come to you much easier (thermo 1 is NOT a very complicated topic, just is difficult to grasp at first - learn the charts!!!). The example problems in class are extremely valuable and doing the homework is 100% necessary in order to understand the material, and to do well on his exams. If you can look past the constant complaining of all the students who aren't willing to put in the work into his class, you'll find that he is an amazing professor who actually truly cares about his students. As someone said before here as well, I wish that all professors at Cal Poly taught to the same caliber as LoCascio. After taking his class, I've sat through many of my other classes wishing that the standards were higher because Professor LoCascio taught me what it's like to truly understand a subject, not just how to be able to pass a class on it. If you take him, you'd better believe that it's going to be a hell of a lot of work, and that it's going to be extremely difficult. But I personally wouldn't trust any engineer who's taken him before and said that they regretted it.

I HATE THIS GUY!!! JLo expects you to gain an instinctive knowledge of the subject matter, but all he does is babble on about current events, repeats the same fundamental equations, and says how easy all of the material is. He expects WAY too much out of cal poly students taking a ten week course, does he not realize that we are engineers and we are taking other difficults classes as well?

I had Locascio once before for ME 212, and failed that too. However, I'm three years older and possibly three years wiser, so here goes: He focuses on the basics, but the basics are critical. If you take him, you will learn a shitload about thermodynamics, solid mechanics, whatever it is you're taking him for. However, taking a class with him is like drinking from a firehose-unless you come in with a monster stomach, you're gonna spill most of it. I'm taking this class again with him right now (I registered during the initial rotation because I knew I was going to fail). Just like everyone says, he's much easier the second time around. My advice for those considering taking LoCascio, or Loc-Dawg as I call him: See if he'll let you audit the class. You get ZERO credit for the class, but it won't fuck up your GPA, and when you retake it the next quarter, you can ace whoever else has it.

It's funny, everyone that complains about him are EXACTLY the people he talks about in class. "when I fail someone its because if I let them pass and they get their degree, i think they have a reasonable chance of making something so bad it will kill someone" - J Lo. If you're taking thermo or dynamics from him and you don't understand, switch to business now please so you dont kill us all.

I take it that there isn't a mrs. locascico, cuz no woman would put up with such a douchebag.

Professor LoCascio is an excellent lecturer. If you want to learn a subject well, take his class. He also has extremely high academic standards. His tests are very hard. He assigns a lot of homework, but doesn't require that you hand it in. Do the homework and go to lecture and you will learn the material. Focus during the test and don't get overwhelmed by the fact that it is practically impossible and you should pass his tests.

James LoCascio....Yep, he is hard. And not in the casual sense. Nothing about his teaching style is a joke. You will work...endless hours of work. If you choose to do the homework, chances are, you will never see it again. This homework will also do little to prepare you for his exams. His lectures do a lot. They scare you, throw you off guard, make you feel inferior, and make you memorize laws of thermodynamics. In all seriousness his lectures do make much sense and he relates them to real world applications which is cool. But his "game show" lecture just sucks. I can't think of a better way to describe it. He will pick you based on your clothing, or hair styles, or gender...and he will ask you questions till you are wrong. You will learn to blend. If you are in arms distance to anyone who has answered incorrectly, you are now a target, and you will feel the guilt and shame of not knowing. It might be our "chosen profession" but I am no means an expert on something I am in a class learning. It is hard to put into words Dr. James LoCascio...fear...and discipline. Go to his lectures...every single one...and try not to panic on the exams. You won't finish, and your only comfort is that no one else will either. Try not to fail as bad as everyone else...and you might just pass. Maybe...if he likes you.

ok... the last guy obviously has some structural writing and syntax issues, not surprising from the engineers around here, who can't tell their head from their own ass, and whom i would never trust to design anything i use. here is a more definitive summary of the class Dr. Locascio... Wow.... what do I have to say about this guy?... By the end of the quarter I was soo sick of listening to his lectures. Around week 7 it was almost as though he just stopped actually caring. Fundamentally, i don't think he really sincerely cares at all about his students, rather, he is fascinated with own image as this 'notorious' professor. I think he has some kind of bipolar thing going on, because he will have moments where he is completely open minded and supportive in class which really made me feel, like wow, what a great guy, then you show up to his ridiculously cluttered and overturned office for some legitimate insight while he sits there looking at you like a deer in headlights... if you can somehow locate an infinitesimally small area to set your work down within this chaotic environment, he really gives you the "why the fuck are you here" attitude, peppered with his usual moments of friendliness and coolness. email him? forget it. he will get around to it when he feels like it. very little respect for students, and very little respect in general... wow.. truly a great role model for all of us. by the end of the quarter I was so over his mentality... how this man got married is beyond my wildest dreams... must be a very confused woman. I got a C in the class... would i take this man again? definitely not. Not worth the spiritual trauma. I have had professors with a civil and friendly mentality (ghandour, kennedy, mcfarland, ludin) who I have found to be much more enjoyable and respectable. will he ever change? no. he is far too stubborn to give a fuck about what anybody says, and nobody has the balls to stand up to his ridicule. In summary, learn the lessons of Locascio, i.e. (a infinitesimal attention to detail, extremely complete work, a sincere understanding of the mathematical and physical theory behind your work, and overall completeness as an engineer) on your own, and apply these principles to the professors that actually show some respect and civility within our school. You will be much better off. I am a very hardworking student, and I take engineering very seriously, I mean, people's lives can be on the line from your work. even with all of this, I would never take this man again, i am not interested in meeting anybody who agrees with this man's moral ideals. In a world where education is predominantly verbal, highly educated people find it all but impossible to pay serious attention to anything but words and notions. There is always money for, there are always doctorates in, the learned foolery of research into what, for scholars, is the all-important problem: Who influenced whom to say what when? The personal spirit and art of being directly aware of the given facts and intricacies of our existence, are ironically overlooked

wow. a truly great asset to the engineering department of cal poly. have never learned more in one class

LoCascio is the man - hands down. Never will you learn more or feel more accomplished than after you have succeeded in one of his classes. Truth is he expects you not to be a moron - and the truth is - you shouldn't be. He's putting engineers out in the world that will be able to fend for themselves. More than thermo he teaches you how to critically analyze a situation and then to step back and admit any flaws in your assumptions and assert if they are acceptable. You may not get the best grade - but what does it really matter?

Here\'s the deal children: I took Thermo 2 with him last quarter. The most important thing is to figure out how to take his tests. He gives you 3 enormous problems for the midterm, and the same for the final, except 4 problems. Out of 350 or so points, the highest score will be about a 175, so don\'t stress. Just pick the problem you know the best and dominate it. One problem can be worth 175 points so just do really well on that one problem and scrap for points on the other problems. Yes, his lectures are fast. Yes, his lectures are repetitive and not really applicable (he never does examples, just theory). Just do the homework, and study for his tests a lot.

LoCascio is actually a pretty good professor. His style is to allow you to see where equations come from and why you are using them. That means everything gets brought down to the most basic equations and derived.Looking back to Thermo 1, I wish that it was taught this way too. LoCascio is also not a mean guy, but he can be seen that way to some. If you have thin skin you probably want to stay away from him. Lastly his test grading style is not my preference. You better hope you dont make any big mistakes early because its basically a race to do as much correct as possible and to get lucky and do what gets you the most points the quickest. LoCascio is probably best if you got him for Thermo 1 and 2. Otherwise it's a huge shock seeing how much work is required for a single problem in thermo 2. I got a much worse grade than I would have hoped or given myself based on what I knew, but what can you do. Try to skip him if you didn't have him for thermo 1 and like to memorize when to use equations, skip him if you are thin skinned, take him if you like knowing where everything you use comes from, take him if you want to know the material the right way, don't take him if you want an easy good grade. If you do take him, don't slack because you won't survive. Start off right from the start.He gives you a homework (/test) example of how problems should be done and he really does expect that you follow it.

The first day of class, he asks people random questions about mechanical devices, engines, etc. If you're a BMED major like myself, you probably don't know jack about a good portion of these things. An honest answer of "I don't know" to any of his questions sends him off on some tangent about how admitting you don't know things will show people you're ignorant. Well, no shit man, that's what saying "I don't know" means. I'm ignorant about something, please explain it. But no, in LoCascio's world, being ignorant is a severe crime. You need to know things whether you learned them or not. In his divine opinion, it's better to lie and say, "I forgot the answer." Well, now you're both ignorant and a liar, which is better I suppose. I felt like Spicoli being lectured by Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High. I DON'T KNOW. Underlined. Anyways, prepare to die in this class. I'm glad I dropped it the first day, because 10 more weeks of that crap would have gotten old very quickly. See, that's how bad this guy is, I took one day of class with him and had to write an essay on how much it sucked.

Professor LoCascio is one of the best professors I have ever had. He engages the students while he is lecturing and gets you to think about what you are supposed to be learning. He may be harsh at times, but entertaining at others. More professors should be like him. He does grade rather hard, so be ready to work harder than you have worked your whole college career. I do have to say that I worked extremely hard. On all homework I received A’s. The first midterm I got a D and I thought for sure I failed the final. His midterms and finals are too long to finish in the time frame given so don’t be worried if you don’t finish. What you do have to worry about is how much your classmates finished because they set the curve. I recommend going to every office hour he has. He is willing to help those who are putting in an effort to learn the material. He is not afraid to fail people so you have to take him seriously and study your hardest while completing all the assignments. My favorite quote from LoCascio regarding problem solving, “Don’t say plug and chug, you don’t hear doctors say OK Now I am going to rip and sew!”

LoCascio is hard. Get over it. If you want to learn, take his class. If you want to just pass or get an A, go do something else (don't take another professor, go be a business major). If you want to figure out thermo and have a full understanding of the subject matter, LoCascio is the way to go. His midterms and finals are heavily curved (e.g. out of 400 points, but curved to be out of 225). So while you're taking the tests you feel like you've failed but so has everyone else so no worries.

I honestly thought I failed the final after taking it, I was looking on PASS for other Thermo II sections since I was sure I was going to get an F in the class. Ended up getting a B. Locascio has been the hardest professor I have ever had during my time at Cal Poly; you will spend A LOT of time for his classes, only to fail most of the assignments. Despite this, I would say that I know more about Thermo than any of the other sections, easily. In that regard Locascio is also one of the best teachers you could possibly take, it's just going to be A TON OF WORK AND STUDYING. I would personally recommend him, he conveys the material well, although may put you down if you don't answer a question correctly. Just shrug him off if this happens, it's meant to get the students actually thinking. If you think he's too hard then I don't know what to tell you. Life doesn't exactly get easier by always choosing the less strenuous road, sometimes you just have to tough it out. All in all if you actually want to learn about Thermo take him, if you want to get by with doing as minimal work as possible don't take him.

LoCascio is one of the hardest professors I've ever had, but I felt like I learned a lot in his class. The homework he gives is REALLY long (analyzing an entire power plant) and his exams are always too long to finish, though he curves them a ton. If you already have time consuming classes/other hard classes that quarter don't take him, otherwise just man up and take it with him. Odds are you won't be able to get another instructor anyway since those sections fill up instantly (the LoCascio effect).

I definitely recommend taking his class. I enjoyed Locascio's lectures and stories, and he is very clear and repetitive on concepts and examples. He calls out people in class all the time and you just get used to it, you just can't take some of the things he says personally or seriously. Also for the final, I knew it would only be possible to completely finish one problem and maybe start another, so out of about four problems you really only have to master two of them and it's pretty obvious what problems will be on the final.

Don't take LoCascio for Thermo II. But if you can, definitely get to know the man in some way. His class is the hardest I have ever taken, and his final left me in tears, but the man knows so much about so many things and he cares very deeply for every student and every person he meets. Listen to his stories, laugh at his jokes, but DO NOT take his class.

There's not much more to say then hasn't been said about Locascio's thermo II. The class will work you to death and he has very little sympathy for students. Expect to be called on and hope you don't sound like a bumbling idiot because if you do, he will consistently call on you because it's funny. The man is a great teacher, however, and if you put in effort, you will learn thermo (through fear and necessity). He has no problem failing you - the class is fair and passable, you just have to put in effort. The class is all about risk/reward. Put in work, and you will pass; complain and pity yourself for having to take the class and you'll fail. Last tip - learn the PV, TS, PH, and HS diagrams and you will pass. He puts a lot of emphasis on these and they give underlying insight into problems if you can complete them. Seriously - don't put them off and go to office hours if you can't complete them.

It is arguable that mechanical engineering is the hardest major at Cal Poly, and so far, this was the hardest class I have taken. But we didn't choose mechanical engineering to skate by without a challenge. Of all the classes I have taken at Cal Poly, this is the first one I have walked away from feeling confident that I really know the material, I mean REALLY KNOW the material. I know there are a lot of bad ratings on Professor LoCascio, but he is a professor that wants every student to succeed. Just don't expect him to give good grades away without putting in a substantial effort. I would say I averaged about 30 hours per week outside of class to earn the grade I did, as well as attended most of the office hours he held. If you're willing to put in the work, his class can prove to be very beneficial to your understanding of thermodynamics. He is intimidating, he is passionate, he is proactive, and he genuinely cares about you learning the material presented in class. If you really want to learn, and you really want to feel a sense of accomplishment, take his class and work hard. You won't regret it.

My biggest complaint for LoCascio is that he purposefully makes his exams so long to the point where he expects no one to finish. The high score on his final was a 295/800. Though, after his grading distribution, this score was over 100%. The people who did relatively well on the final typically got the most of their points from a problem which consisted of a Brayton Cycle. Therefore, you can get a good score on LoCascio's final exam by getting a lot of points on the easiest problem (or the problem you understand the most). In effect, you can pass the final (and even the class) with a decent grade but with little to no understanding of some of the other concepts such as psychometrics or chemical reactions. LoCascio's final exam is flawed and he should reevaluate the overall structure of not only the final but the class as a whole. However, I still find a modicum of decency in his ability to teach and offer help in office hours. Saying anything otherwise would be giving him too much praise.

You have heard the horror stories from upper classmen, and are now here to read the polyratings because Locascio is the only professor teaching Thermo II next quarter. It is unavoidable. You are terrified. You are trying to plan a schedule that allows you to have at least 3 hours a week to cry because of this class. But honestly, the class is not that bad. You will learn A LOT. You will spend A LOT of time on the first homework assignment and the power plant project, but will be able to chegg the rest as they are from the textbook. Locascio genuinely cares about students learning and he is a great professor. Go to all his lectures, take good notes and most importantly GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Even if its just once every few weeks. His grading is incredibly arbitrary and having him like you helps a lot. The midterm was 1 question. Final was 3. Just pick one or two questions on the final and kill them and you'll pass the class no problem. The only way you'll fail is if you get so worried and worked up during the test that you forget that he literally gives you like 50% partial credit on a problem JUST for writing continuity and 1st and 2nd law. When youre taking the tests, relax and just solve symbolically. Don't even bring a calculator, it will be too tempting just to crunch some numbers and write an answer. Just remember you only need about a 15% on the final to pass the class. I'm not exaggerating. You need 50% of the 4th highest score which is usually around a 30%. YOU CAN PULL OFF A 15%. Overall, the most I've ever learned in a class. I know you don't want to take him because of what you've heard but just go in with an open mind.

Papa Locascio https://photos.app.goo.gl/MyKEr8FGCfabPa5E2

The hype is real. This will be one of the, if not THE, hardest class you'll take. One thing to note is that the final is pretty much all that matters in this class. You can ace the midterm, do all the homework, and fail the class if you do not do well enough on the final. I just barely made the cut-off. The material itself is not what's so difficult, it's how it's taught and the expectations LoCascio has. The final is T/F and then 3 large problems. Pick the problem you think you'll do the best on and kill it. After that do whatever you can to scrap for points. To pass the class you need 50% of the normalized 100% score. Roughly a third of the class fails, so study your ass off. On the positive side, you'll never be more excited to receive a C- in your life.

Honestly, everyone reading this review has already heard of the frightening JLo, and you're probably terrified to take it with him. I was so stressed going into this class because of everything that I had heard, but honestly it's not horrible. Yes, you're going to work your ass off in this class and there is a lot of homework with very specific criteria. Yes, he is a very harsh grader and dumb mistakes will cost you, but you will learn the material so so much better than with any other professor. Everyday he asks the same questions over and over again to drill the concepts of why certain things occur and why we can make certain assumptions into our heads. The first class you'll feel like an idiot because he will call on you at least once and you probably won't know the answer. By the end of the quarter you realize it's not bad to just say you don't know rather than saying something completely wrong. And your grade truly is based on the final; I failed the midterm and got a B on the final. What does this equate to? A B in the class. I'm sure me doing all of the homework had something do with this. If you do the homework and truly take time to learn the material, you'll realize that the material isn't that hard, you just need to know how to work every type of problem without any mistakes. Even my friends that have failed the class agreed that this class isn't that hard, it was all because of a mental lapse on the final or something similar. And many of my friends that failed were overbooked for the quarter as well. Last thing is GO TO OFFICE HOURS. He's so much fun to talk to just about life and everything about cal poly, he knows so much. Overall, he's gonna work ya to death and you're going to have some shitty nights with some homework, but you'll feel so accomplished when you pass because you put the necessary time in. Don't take more than 12 units and you'll be chillin

He drills the material into you so that you have a good sense of what's going on in a problem without having to bust out equations. He has custom problems that thoroughly cover what is taught in class and are similar to his midterm/final. His lectures are average. Not good, not bad. He's very nice and helpful if you visit his office his alone. If there's a group of people, he will spend half the time helping people and the other half roasting someone in the group/talking about unrelated topics. His grading is awful. It's apparent that he prides himself in giving low grades. In the midterm he gave me less than 20 points out of 400 because I didn't compute the numerical values of the answers. He told me that my process was correct, but it wasn't worth anything until I got the numbers. If I plugged the numbers into my calculator, I would have earned close to 200 points, which with the curve would have been at least a B. The final is designed to take more time than is given on the exam. The purpose is to screw over people who don't write as quickly or choose the wrong problems to do. I walked out of that final knowing how to do at least 90% of it. I got a D+ because a few people were fast enough to do 50% of it. His grades don't reflect a student's mastery of the material. His grades reflect a student's ability to write quickly and not run into one of his unfair grading rules.

You guys all all wrong. I heard about Locascio when I transferred and tried to push thermo 2 as far back as possible to avoid taking it with him. Somehow I decided to register and check out how the class was with the thought of dropping after the first week because of all the things I've heard. I found myself enjoying his lectures and how he breaks things down and doesn't skip steps (keep in mind I took thermo 1 over a year ago and earned a D). Almost every class lecture he spent 10 min reviewing what we went over in the previous lecture which I think was very effective to learn the new material. He calls on students in class to randomly answer thermo/life questions, and if you are the shy type this can quickly become your least favorite class. My advice, get over your shyness. But I digress, furthermore, everyone fails the midterm and final but he normalizes the grades, so don't feel bad if your midterm didn't go well, it never will. Lastly, I feel like I didnt have any insight on what would be on the midterm since there is so much material but it doesn't matter because I feel like the grade of the final exam dictates your final grade. He is one of my favorite professors at Cal Poly. He goes out of his way to to print out all the handouts which are thick packets of 11x17 paper and has a very cool personality when you approach him after class or at office hours. He wants you to learn and succeed and he understands that not all his students will be working at a nuclear power plant upon graduation, so relax and do you best to learn the material and you'll be fine. I would highly recommend taking him for thermo 2.

JLo was, without a doubt, the absolute best professor I have had at Cal Poly so far. This is a great man. He can be harsh in lecture when he roasts you for 15 minutes in front of the whole class, but it'll sure help you remember the material a whole lot better so you don't look like such an idiot next time. He is completely different in office hours than he is in lecture. When you talk to him outside of class you can see how much he really does care for his students. He wants everyone to succeed, and he tells you how to do it, you just have to listen to what he says. As far as the class goes, the final is the only thing that matters, but you need to do the homework and especially the in class assignments to do well. One of the problems on our final was almost identical to an in class problem he handed out. I would strongly recommend JLo; he'll change the way you think and you'll learn more in 1 quarter than you will with anyone else. Also he makes banana bread for the final and it's the best thing I've ever had. I stayed late so I could grab another one after everyone left. Take him while you can. Long live JLo.

Basically the only new thing you learn in this class is psychometrics, other than that it is just new ways to apply thermo 1. If you don't want to get roasted by locascio, read the book before lecture. His lectures are almost verbatim from the textbook and all the in class examples are also the examples in the book. His office hours are pretty useless, you can get a similar experience by just looking up angry faces on google. His tests aren't too bad though. There is a solution manual to the book online (not chegg) that shows you some pretty neat ways to solve the homework problems, I would just study problems from this manual to prepare for the tests.

Someone on this site seems to have Locascio's back. As of writing this, there is not a single negative review after 2015. I know I saw some, and I wrote one myself, but it got removed. way to ruin the integrity of the site. Anyways, here's my review again. Lectures: Locascio is a good lecturer. He explains the material clearly and makes sure that you have a good physical understanding of what's going on. Something with both pros and cons is that he calls on people a lot. It's good in that he forces you to be an active learner in his class. The bad thing occurs when calls on someone that doesn't know the answer. When they say something like "I don't know," 95% of the time he either helps that person through the answer or moves on to another person. 5% of the time he starts bagging on the student for not knowing and spends 5 minutes talking about how if they're going to fail and have to retake the class. It was especially bad one of the times he called on one of the girls. Overall his lectures are good, but he could really do with less tangents. Homework: His homework is ok. They take an extremely long time to do, but at the same time it's very good practice. It's usually around 20hrs/wk, but if you already know the material well it's about 10hrs/wk. By the way, the homework grades don't actually matter. In our quarter we had 5-6 homework assignments, and only the first two were graded. Even though they were graded, they didn't actually contribute. The vast majority of students' letter grades matched exactly with the grade on their final, regardless of how good or bad their homework or midterm grades were. Office hours: His office hours are great if you visit him alone. When you visit his office hours alone, he's very supportive and will do his best to answer your questions and help you out. His office hours subpar/bad if there's a lot of students. He frequently gets sidetracked into conversations with students about irrelevant subjects like politics or history despite a line of students waiting to ask him questions. Every so often, he does the same thing I wrote about for his lectures: spend 5-10 minutes telling a student that he/she is going to fail and have to retake the class. He never even comes close to having a condescending tone when speaking to him one-on-one, so I get the feeling that he only does it when there's a group watching so that he can send a message to "toughen up" or something. Grading: Horrible. His method of grading does not accurately reflect how well a student understands the material. He has homework and a midterm, but they're just for show. Only the final matters. I feel this is actually a good thing, since if you bomb the midterm with something like 13%, you can still get a A- in the class if you get an A on the final. The awful part is how he grades. His final consists of 10 multiple choice worth 10 pts each and 3 long problems worth 300 pts each, for a total of 1000 pts. Each long problem is designed to take roughly 1.5 hours, and he gives you 2 hours to take the final. The problems are not long because they're difficult. They're long because there are many steps and lots of number crunching. Therefore it is not difficult to get one problem done and part of a second problem done. However, Locascio curves the grades based on the top 5-10 people across all sections. If they get two problems done, the people who finished one problem get 50%. The people who did 1.5 problems get 75%. That sounds reasonable if those students only knew half of the material, but that's not the main reason for the disparity. It's based on how the fast the students can write. Again, the questions are not conceptually difficult. 80% of the time spent on a problem is writing down the equations and number crunching. Regardless of your understanding of the material, your writing speed ends up being the biggest factor determining your grade. That's entirely unacceptable, and I'm pretty sure he designs his test this way on purpose. Limiting the final to two hours and making you derive the equations from scratch without doing more than a few steps per line. His grades aren't a good indicator of his students' understanding of the material, but it seems like it's designed this way so that he can give lower grades and seem like a "hard" professor. Overall: 1.5/4. Other people on this site will tell you that despite his difficulty, it's still a rewarding experience because he's great at teaching. I agree that he is good at teaching, but what the other student's forget is that there are teachers who teach the material just as well without busting your grades to have a "tough" reputation. Chen is one of those people that come to mind. I'd like one of those other students to audit Chen's lectures and say with a straight face that Locascio's are better.

Honestly, everyone should take this guy. I learned more in his two week thermo 1 review than I learned in a whole quarter of thermo 1. I gained more relevant experience doing his Diablo Canyon Power Plant Analysis than I would have by doing book problems ad nauseum (that particular homework assignment was actually probably the most educationally effective thing we did in this class; plus he lets you choose your own group members and it can actually be really fun). Also, no one ever talks about this, but his class is really fucking entertaining. I took it with only three other guys in my class, and Locascio created this really great environment where we all felt free to ask questions and crack jokes during lecture. He's got a great sense of humor, and if you ask a question he will explain it until you get it. Yes, it does take a certain type of person to do well on his tests (I never did, obviously). But if you follow along with the handouts he does in class and go to office hours with questions on the homework, you CAN pass, and I honestly feel like the dent it put in my GPA was worth it. This was hands down my favorite class I've taken at Cal Poly. One quick tip: on a T-s diagram, constant pressure lines are steep, positive slopes. Come into class knowing what constant lines look like on T-s if you don't want to always look like an idiot (it took me till halfway through the quarter to realize this).

I would think that some (or most) of these positive comments on here have probably come from LoCasio himself. Unless you have a glorified enough GPA that you need to take down a couple notches then why would you take him for any class? Ok so you take him 1,2, even 3 times for the same class that you failed, and according to the posts on here you now have a \"great\" understanding of the materail. Well I could take any class with basically any teacher multiple times and have a \"great\" understanding. The reality is that there are effective professors out there that can do the same in one quarter by being good at what they do. Some show passion in their students while presenting the material well, and some like LoCasio just don\'t. Lets face it we all have busy schedules and take many classes, that is college right? Being good in all the subjects makes you more well rounded as an engineer than being great in one and have to settle on the rest. I would never take another one of his classes because I have had professors who are just flat out better than this guy! Some make great professors and some flat out don\'t. He should be contributing his knowledge to the trade, not teaching at Cal Poly. Sorry buddy but you suck, you must like the summers off with flexable schedules and the SLO area. Something you wouldn\'t have as a thermal engineer. Am I right? Now I am trying to refrain from going off on this guy in a disrespectable way, but whats the point.

this is sooooo dumb

Locascio is one of the "See you next quarter!" type of professors. And if you are a girl, he will appreciate your prescense even more...since he likes to question the idea of girls in the engineering field. He even questions girls' driving. If you ask him what's going to be on an upcoming quiz...he will arrogantly answer,"Anything from kindergarden until today's lecture." Be prepare to take this class over again or maybe just as a review for the next quarter. By the way make sure to go to his office hours so that you will be introduced to the concept of Happy Mother's Day Mom

Professor LoCascio has a nice personality and is really good at driling the fundamentals but is not recommended as a teacher. I learned a lot in his class but unfortunately my grade didn't show it. He assigns a lot of homework but the real problem are the exams. He gives exams that I don't think a professional engineer could complete it in an hour. Even though the exams are normalized the average grade is a D or F. After I got my D I went and talked to him about it and found out that 3/4 of my class ended up with D's and F's. I'm not the only one either. My roommate had him for Dynamics and ended up taking it over again the next quarter :)

LoCasio seems pretty arrogant. But he has a certain right to be. He keeps drilling that engineers aren't equation junkies and that we need to understand what's really going on. I always looked forward to going to his lectures because I knew that I'd learn something. Typically, people get very very poor grades on his exams. But his final isn't unreasonable and he'll feed you. His mantra seems to be that they pay us the big bucks because we know what is a reasonable assumption.

I love LoCascio. I think he is the greatest teacher in the world. I wish every class I had was taught by him. I hope that every engineer at Cal Poly can experience the joy of taking LoCascio.

This guy is infamous. I heard that he fails most of his students, but knew I wasn't one of those types. Well guess what, It was the first class I ever failed. He's bitter, and if youre a pessimist like him, you might enjoy his humor. You'll develop a great sense of humility by taking his class, and be able to laugh about having your education drawn out a few more quarters because of him.

Avoid him like a plauge. By the end of the quarter the class was half empty. I'm takeing the class again and this quarter and I recognise 4 people from last quarter that actually stuck with it till the end. A day in class goes something like this: He walks in and wastes the first 10-15 of the class talking about the political issues that currently interest him. He then proceeds to spend the rest of the period deriving one equation making sure to do a full cross product for every simple moment. He of course uses both chalkboards so everyone can crane their neck sideways. After a while I decided that I would learn more from the book than by him so I stopped going to class. Only problem is that he never sticks with the syllabus and doesn't email about changes, so I would show up to hand in homework and there would be a test or vice-versa. If you don't prove everything you write with original equations like in F$#%$#ing high school geometry you get no credit. One I got the answer right and he gave me a 3/50! We are not physicists, we are engineers! Assumptions need be made under the constraints of time and money. I'm not stupid. I am retaking the class with a great teacher Dr. Pascual and Aceing it. I WANT MY MONEY BACK!

I have NEVER worked harder for a 3 unit class. But I learned everything I needed to know. If you want to learn, take this man, invest 3 hours a night doing the homework, pay attention to class, and be a SERIOUS college student. Half-assing will not cut it here.

Here he is... the biggest douche in the universe.

I took Locascio for dynamics a few years ago. I thought he was okay there. I barely passed with a C-. I told myself back then I would never take him again for a class. Due to some misfortunate curse, he was the ONLY professor teaching fluids, so I had to take him again. I think I barely passed dynamics because he taught us one general equation that solves everything in dynamics. Unfortunately there is no such approach he can use for fluids. So know when to use which equation. He at least gives us a general approach for solving problems. His tests, as usual, are insane. Don't be surprised if you get like a 38/150; most of the class does too. The one piece of advice I can impart is to go to office hours as much as you can. At least there he's willing to offer some extra assistance. If you're shy, sit in the middle. If he knows your name, expect to be called on often. If you're a girl, expect to be called on every 10 minutes. If you're lucky enough to have another professor teaching fluids, TAKE HIM/HER. Trust me. You'll be glad to not hear the daily rambling about his salary.

I want to stuff him into a dead cows body, Launch the Locascio filled cow carcass to Arkansas, Off a Giant trampoline, Through the hoop at Madison Square Garden, NOTHIN' BUT NET!

He would look like a frekin gnome if you put a red hat on his head. But anyway, I feel like he tries to make better engineers out of his students by making you think and not just plug numbers into equations. However, he's going about it the wrong way and the way he runs his class is just horrible, nobody knows what the hell is going on. The grade is only based on your midterm and your final, so all I can say is try to get enough points to get a D-. Good luck...and if you can avoid him and take someone else, do it!! it'll save you from a quarter of hell.

Some of you need to switch out of engineering and into a major where your talents for writing colorful libel will be more useful. Growing up wouldn't be a bad idea either. Yes, he's a hard professor. I failed his class last fall. I retook it this winter and earned a C. And I really know my fluid mechanics. Professor LoCascio actually wants you to learn something. A common saying of his is, "This is your PROFESSION..." And he's absolutely right. Engineers actually need to understand things, and he is passionate about helping you. He gets the class involved in lectures, which is bad if you're a shy person, but there's always a few people that consistently have that "deer in the headlights" sort of look on their face when they get called on. So you won't be alone. However, his lectures are very engrossing, and I never found myself checking the clock to see when class would be over. Homework assignments are long, but engineering is not a spectator sport. You'll never learn the material if you don't do the homework. If you haven't figured that out yet, you will. Exams are fair. Long, but comparable to the homework in difficulty. So what makes him so hard? I'm not sure... maybe it's his reputation? I'm not a great test taker, and the first time around I panicked on the midterm, but in retrospect it didn't seem that hard. He's a tough grader, and doesn't accept BS work. Anyways, I say take him. Maybe you'll fail the class. So what. Better now than in industry where failing means deaths and law suits. You'll work hard, but you'll be a better engineer in the end

This guy is a fucking idiot. All he ever talks about is how the athletic program should be droppes... Baaddaabbaaddaabaaa... Cry me a fucking river you fat piece of shit... "Coaches make more than I do..." Yes, they do, that is in most part because you are expendable... When was the lat time 10,000 people came to one of your lectures. Exactly, maybe some jocks kicked his ass in high school and he has still not gotten over it. Take someone else unless you want to hear ranting and raving the entire quarter from some fat shmuck.,..

I am in this guys class right now with a football player that just got picked up in the draft. 71st pick overall actually.... Well that being said he loves to give him a hard time about the athletic program, and chris being the bigger man just takes it. You can say He definately has the last laugh now, He is taking his $1 million dollar check all the way to the bank, maybe he can give the department some money to fire locasio and get a real teacher in his place.

I agree...All he does is rip on Warren Bakers Son and call him a fat ass... Get a life man

FUCK YOU, YOU CONDESCENDING PIECE OF SHIT!!!!

LoCascio presented the material damn well! He definitely has a reputation amongst other professors as a mean and disgruntled old man. But, to me, he is very intimidating in the classroom but very friendly in office hours. He teaches you the fundamentals of problem solving and how to apply most of what you learned in your college career to the course material. But, as a grader, what you have heard is most likely true. His grading scale is very difficult. I got a 36% (normalized!) on the one and only midterm, which is pretty close to the class average. I must have done well on the final to bring my grade up to a D-. But, out of five problems and 10 T/F on the final, I really only completeled 2 and half and didn't even have time to check out the T/F. I am sure that of the 2 and a half I completed, only one was correct. Take him if you want to learn, not if you only want to pass. I worked my ass off for that class, and I barely passed. But, I passed him on my first try, bitches...whoo hoo!!

Hey Jimmy, I'm the guy who walked out of your class because you claimed my best friend who drove his motorcycle into a telephone pole on Highland committed suicide. You insensitive piece of shit. Didn't you ever consider that people who knew that student would be in your class? Thanks alot man for offending me, getting me to never show up to your class again, and feel the need to throw you into a telephone pole yourself. Oh and by the way, when you talk shit about the athletic, get the names right. Our Athletic Director's name is Alison Cone, not Alison Cook you fucking retard.

So I'm about to sign up for Thermo with LoCascio, making my third class with him. The thing about LoCascio is that he cares in the ways that matter. The reason he's so demanding is that he has a lot of experience. He's seen the mistakes that students have been making for years and wants to avoid that, so he drills everything into your head in the way that gives you the fewest chances to screw up (ex. evaluting ALL cross products as determinants). He's very straight-forward about what he wants, so you have no excuses, and he'll get you big time if you mess up because he wants to solidify concepts and methods. He cares that you learn the material fully and honestly, and that's what matters, more than your grade. He's very passionate about making sure his students learn, and that's what we're supposed to be here for. He also cares about his students in general, office hours with LoCascio are always great. Basically, you came to one of the greatest engineering schools in the nation for a reason, if you wanted to coast through your degree, you should have gone to Chico. Quit your whining and take his class.

WHAT THE #*&$#^ IS WRONG HERE!? Why does every ME professor get such terrible reviews from everyone, and the ones that dont just say he was okay or not that bad? Now Im not calling anyone a liar here, in fact I agree with most of them because Ive had these same idiots for teachers. But can we please agree that the entire ME staff couldnt teach someonethe difference between a thermocouple and their own ass? These people might have been on top of the game at IBM or Raytheon or where ever Cal Poly dug them up, but knowing your stuff isnt enough here! You have to be able to TEACH IT here you boneheads, something that isnt so easy. The only exception Ive found so far is probably Throncroft, who actually puts some dedication into teaching. Locascio, you are an insensitive prick, which is fine because we dont have to like each other. But you DO have to quit talking down to people who ask questions and start doing more relevant examples, more comprehensive tests, and MAYBE shut up about things that dont have to do with fluids, just wasting our time. Do you ever wonder why we all hate you? Is being considered a good professor by anyone but yourself something that you long to achieve?

You take him, you will fail...you might as well wait till he is not teaching the class you want because you will fail it. Be ready to have your GPA killed by him.

Holy shit LoCascio...I HOPE YOU READ THIS!!! I've read some of the other reviews and I 100% agree with them. This douchebag was a piece of shit professor I unfortunately had to experience...Worst professor hands down here at Cal Poly and probably in the State of California. This Dr. Douchebag did not know how to motivate his students nor teach for that matter; only to scare the living shit out of them. Normally I would tell this guy to go blow a sausage but I'm sure he does that already so go have sex with a woman James.

This guy is rediculouly tough. He has the old school attitude that he is only doing his job if he fails over have his students. To give you an idea, average before the curve on the first midterm was 15% (that's a D- by the way). That being said, I passed after a quarter of hell. When I took the EIT 2 years later, fluids was one of my best subjects. In other words, you will know your shit if you take this guy and put in a little effort. He comes off as a dick, but he actually does care that poeple get to know the material. You still probably want to avoid him if you can.

A god walking amongst ants. Dr. LoCascio is the truly the dogs bollocks. You know what they say.... "If you can't take the heat... then you probably shouldn't try to transfer it."

This guy is a fucking asshole! His class got me kicked out of poly (among other things) But was doing really well until I kept getting him as a professor whem the department would trick people into taking classes with staff listed as the professor, DONT FALL FOR IT!!!

Yeah its like everybody says: he's a hard but good teacher. Fact is the school is overcrowded and you'll probably have to take a class from him sooner or later so you might as well do it. I took 344 (Thermal Systems) which is a hard class and he made us start every problem with the first law and derive it from there. He's hard but he makes you good. Also his tests are miserably hard and you always feel like you did awful (which you did) but then he normalizes it and is pretty generous with credit and whatnot so it's not that bad. He usually offers each individual the choice between doing the homework and not doing the homework. Do the homework if you want to pass because like I said his tests are nuts. Also he's a pretty funny guy if you like dark humor. Be sure to call him J-Lo and mention how much you love the football team. He likes that.

I belive LoCascio to be an average teacher. Of my 10 years of college I have recieved my lowest grade from him, but in return I can say that I understand most of the material that was taught. I have had far worse teachers and better grades while learning nothing. His lectures are pretty organize (starts off with current events) and has good methods when working problems and his tests appear fair. He is always availible during his office hours to answer any questions you may have. The down sides are that the test grading seems kinda rough and homework solutions are not posted, so in order to see solutions you have to go to his office hours. There was an optional homework plan but none of the homework was easy and consumed a fair amount of time. I belive that if you put your time into this class, try to understand the material, and ask him questions, you will do decently. Also, it helps to have a strong thermo background when taking ME 344.

Loc Dog is a great prof to take. He has this reputation as being hard so all those morons that have been slipping through the cracks of Cal Poly avoid him. You finally get a class with 15-20 people in it. He shows you a simple step by step approach to solve ANY problem, not just the special one in the book or on the test. So yeah you have to "Derive" it from the first law, but it works every F#cking time so it is worth it. His tests are not hard, they are just long. Here is how to pass them (He will tell you the same) Just do some of the work and do it right. I never wrote a number down on a test and I did just fine. Basicly if you are smart take this guy and he will tach you more than you could believe. Slackers find someone else.

Interestingly, this was my first course with Locascio -- and I'm an ME. Locascio was reasonable in his expectations, but somehow I felt he graded a bit too subjectively (i.e. he decides if he likes you or not, and then decides how hard you must work to get a good grade). The good part is that the thorough lab reports required that you understood what you were doing and why it was important. The bad part was that I worked my ass off and ended up with a B. But overall, a 1 unit lab won't ruin my life or career, and I'll graduate with "The Locascio Experience."

This man is bitter. After reading through most of the evaluations of him, it's obvious he's caused plenty of grief among engineering students. He's one of those dedicated few who has given everything to a job that gives nothing back, and he resents it daily. He doesn't enjoy failing students, that much is clear. He wants success, and sets the bar higher than most can achieve. I accept his perfectionism, but I pity the man because he lives as most geniuses seem to; alone and despised. This is a man that seems incapable sympathy with students, and who believes he holds all the answers. Nevertheless, he is a little man who feels powerful while intellectually belittling others. Those students move towards a bright future, and as this man's life winds down, I can only hope there is some salvation for such a cold, hard heart.

AVOID AVOID AVOID! His grading scheme is ridiculous. You will put 15 - 20 hours in a week for this 1 unit lab class and he will still give you C's and B's. He also treats many people disrespectfully which just makes everything worse. In lecture classes he will often only pass half the class.

Player for life. SOCKS. SANDALS. CHALK-COVERED POLO. Forget SUPREME cause this guy is the most baller of them all. Serious note. He inspires greatness in his students and those who say otherwise are not worthy of cal poly engineering. No other professor has such a following and respected quality. Whether or not you succeed in the class you will be prepared to do great things nonetheless. Great things are not for all but if you want to reach your potential, take Locascio.

What else is there to say? Fine person, nothing interesting. Class was meh... Blah, blah, blah... Fine person.

this guy's the biggest racist turd that's still floating in the human gene pool i seriously hope someone beheads this sorry excuse for a human being