Perks, Gary  

it's all good

Mr. Perks is outstanding at presenting the material in class. He goes pretty slowly because he's more focused on discussing the theory on why you use every method, which is a great thing. EE 112 isn't an easy class, but with Perks, he doesn't make it that hard to understand. Take him if possible! This guy is awesome!

Excellent, very organized and through.

Great lecturer, very clear explanations - easy tests!

Pros: (1)Quite organized with his lecture notes. (2)Encourages the asking of questions during class. (3)The weight of your 2 midterms and 1 final are all proportional to the score you get on them. For example, you get a D on the final, but an A on your a midterm, the midterm will have more weight in determining your overall grade. (4)Forgiving grader for exams. (5)Friendly guy. Con or Pro: he's very meticulous and picky about how exams are conducted. Something horrible probably happened in the past, so now he runs tests like an air traffic controller runs Chicago O'Hare Airport on Thanksgiving holiday. If you get to see his syllabus, you'll see all of the rules and regulations for taking tests in his class.

Outstanding professor. He does a ton of examples in class so you know exactly what to expect on the tests, and his tests are weighted so the best score has the highest impact on your grade, it's a great system. Also took him for IME 156, will take him again whenever I can.

Super hard but good professor, very helpful.

Dr. Perks is very approachable and friendly, he explains things very well and is of great help during office hours. His tests are a little tricky, but not as bad as some of the reviews imply. Attend class, do the homework and you should at least get a 'B' as I did.

Terrific teacher, very organized and clear lectures,tough but fair tests, very approachable and helpful during office hours, A+ professor.

good teacher, but tests are hard and he doesn't scale.

Perks is a great, enthusiastic EE professor. Although 112 is just an intro circuits theory course, Professor Perks does a great job of making sure his students have all of the necessary fundamentals of circuit theory down, and what to expect in future EE classes. Very clear when going over new material and does a love of examples in class so you know what to expect on the homework and on tests. His tests can be quite challenging but they're fair and they cover all the material a CPE or EE student should know for this course. Just take his testing policies seriously and understand that he's probably had several terrible cases of students cheating in his classes in the past. It's not really that big of a deal for a professor to take cheating seriously. Overall, an awesome professor with a great attitude, highly recommended.

Perks is very...perky! (No pun intended). He is a super nice guy and really teaches the material well. He is VERY VERY picky on how things are done in his class. The homework has to be on ONE side of engineering paper, and only ONE problem per sheet. He's very particular with his test procedures and rules, but he is a very fair grader. His in-class examples are easy to understand and he speaks well. He's funny, too. The homework is hard, but the tests are very fair and a bit easier than the homework. I had him for IME 156, and I took him again for 112...he's a really awesome guy! I highly recommend him for any class you take.

I expected Perks to be more animated in lecture. I had him for IME 156 and I was excited to have him as a lecturer. While his lectures are clear and his tests are fairly straightforward, he can be pretty dry and his jokes seemed forced. Overall, he is a good professor.

Perks is a little overrated, but still an overall good professor. He can be a little condescending at times. And if you ask him a question, he assumes you are asking something he has already gone over in class. I realize that Perks gets tons of stupid questions a day, but he shouldn't just assume everyone is incompetent. Anyways, Perks grading policy is great. 35% 25% 15% 15% and 10% for homework, where there are 2 midterms and the final is cut in half (4 grades total). So your best scores take the highest percentage. No curve that I am aware of, but it allows you to get a good grade even with a lousy midterm. Good guy, great grading scheme, above average lecturer. I'd take him again.

Best prof for circuits, heard he's hard on Freshman but lax on upper-level classes. He really knows his stuff and has a great student friendly grading scheme. highly recommend, hope to take him again next year.

Here's the low down on Perks, go to all his lectures he explains very well, very clear and concise. Do the hw, it was on-line for the first time last qtr with masterengineering.com and while it was extremely time consuming I felt it was worth it as far as how the tests were represented. The average on the two midterms were 72 out of 100. The final average which counts as two midtems was an 82 or 83 - I didn't think the final was easy so I was somewhat surprised the averages were so high - so maybe he scaled although in the course syllabus it says he doesn't. I agree with most of the reviews, Perks is very good teacher, he's a little old school in his approach, but his grading scheme definitely favors students. I can't see how anyone can get less than a B if you put him the expected effort. I think the majority of class got As & Bs since the final course average by my calcualtion was about an 80. In summary, I recommend Perks, but don't expect an easy class and he does have old school rules - attendance and makeups (which he doesn't give no matter what).

Perks was a great teacher for circuits 1, and his grading scheme makes it almost impossible to fail the class. Also, if you do significantly better on the final, he'll boost your grade up. After getting a solid A on the final, I went from a D+ to a B+ in this class due to his grading scheme and him boosting me. I would say he's an excellent teacher, and that you definitely should take him.

Gary Perks is a great lecturer. And with that statement, I conclude my "long" list of positive things about him and his Spring 2013 EE112 course. Not sure why there are professors and lecturers out to fail you at Cal Poly; never in my entire life have I received anything lower than a 75% on a test. In this class, I received two 51%s on my midterms and a 60-ish% on the final exam. Over a 100% homework grade. I came out with a solid F. For a lecturer that has been in the works for so long, I thought he would have noticed that something was wrong when our class' test scores ranged from 94% downto 16%. It's not that I took this 2-unit bad boy lightly (as a matter of fact, I put a large amount of effort into doing well); the way I and very many of my peers see it, is that Perks finds joy out creating impossible exams that he makes tougher every quarter, slashing said exams viciously with blood-red Sharpie swords, and, whilst handing his slates of pure evil back to students, watching our bright and studious faces melt in a fashion similar to that of burning candle wax, until they mold into lookalikes of rotting, discouraged, meaningless creatures. TLDR; his tests are ridiculous. Circuit analysis is not always easy; that's the nature of the beast, and we EEs and CPEs should be well aware of that. However, combating this intuition is definitely not helped by the fact that Gary takes NUMEROUS points off your 50-point exams for very, very VERY minute "errors". Errors include forgetting things that other associates/professors in the league will never even ask you to include (I've confirmed this with numerous upperclassmen EEs), things he barely touched over in class (you all know he didn't teach us shit for Max Power Transfer), and small miscalculations (-4 pts. for an extra factor of 10?). And on top of all this, you're presented with a lecturer that tries to be so "fair" he becomes unfair. Sure, he may look like a nice man every now and then, but his policies and strict nature make him virtually unapproachable to students. I went to one of his office hours in the middle of the quarter and asked him about a homework problem on a topic he barely covered; his reply? "If you had done the tutorial, you would know how to solve this question. Did you do the tutorial?" "Yeah I did." "Well, then go back, review that and try the question again. Don't bring this back to me." Well, thanks Gary. Thanks a lot, you helpful, helpful man you. I sincerely that hope I'll never get a professor like him again.

Excellent prof, easy tests.

a really good professor

Gary has been my professor for several courses, he's the best. Highly recommended for lecture or lab. He's a little strict on grading, but extremely fair. He has a good sense of humor to.

super chuill!

Perks is GREAT. His class was two midterms and a final, weighted in a 40%-30%-20%-10% way, where your best midterm was 40% and lowest was 10%, and the final counted as two midterms. He taught the class very well, mostly using examples, and he made the class as enjoyable as it could get. The homework is optional, but you should do it for sure. Practice makes perfect. I would take him hands down.

The redeeming quality about Perks is his grading style. As most have mentioned for this class is that he has a 10% 20% 30% 40% where all of the grades are the exams, and the final counts as two. The highest counts for the most and so on. In terms of teaching, he is okay. After the first exam of receiving a 53%, I knew I needed to learn on my own. I ended up having to watch his online lectures as well as an online class from the Colorado School of Mines to be able to do well on the exams. But, if you are skilled in EE and do all of the homework and then some, you'll do fine in the class.

fine fine professor

I got an A and absolutely loved this class. Very simple and straight forward, two midterms and a final. The grading scale is 40%, 30%, 20%, and 10% where your final counts for two of those categories. The highest scoring exam will go to the 40% and so on. Exams were straightforward as long as you attend class and do the practice problems from the textbook. Highly recommend.

tough but fair, I learned alot - exams are tricky but fair, extremely picky grader - but great at presenting material in class, very organized - easy to follow.

He is very clear and is the perfect professor to introduce you to EE. He will make sure you start off with your feet firmly planted in the ground. Make sure you practice or pay for it later.

Perks is a genuinely nice guy. He tries to know your name if you go to class. Everything else about perks is just so average. He teaches this class online, take that one, it will be a better time. His lectures are pretty much the same as the online videos except he doesn't actually solve the problem in class but just gives the answer. His online vidoes are thus better because he actually solves the problem. His exams are significantly more difficult than other EE 112 professors and you really need to know your stuff to get above a B on his exams. His homework is for the most part fine but there is homework due online normally 3 times a week. If you can, get the answer book because your going to get stuck on a few and have no clue what your doing wrong. He will not extend due dates of homework so don't even try. There is some supplemental extra credit homework that can account for this. Take a different professor if you can...

Perks is a legendary guy but the online homework he assigned was pretty dumb. The due dates were never made clear and the problems did not adequately prepare us for the midterms and final. Speaking of, the midterms seemed to be a sample of the hardest multi-step problems Perks could find. He's a great guy, and he did a great job in another course I took with him. He also taught more in this 112 class than most other teachers, so he actually prepared you for upper-level circuits classes. However, the midterms made the class harder than necessary and made getting a good grade in a two unit class feel like a four unit class.

Professor Perks's material is extremely well planned out, and as long as you come to lecture, you'll have everything you need to succeed in his class. A lot of my classmates got As, and although the 2 midterms and the final had certain problems on them that were challenging, they were still doable if you had put in the time needed. There is assigned homework, though you get many days to complete it and it is usually pretty straightforward. Plus if you ever need help, Professor Perks is always there and he replies to emails quickly. Overall, take his class!!

Simply the best

Great class, fun interesting

Perks is a great professor who I thought did a good job at presenting the information for the class. Much of the material I already knew, which probably helped in that sense, but even if you didn't I think that you're in good hands. His class I think is layed out really fair, and is not that difficult. If you have the option to take Perks, I definitely would.

Gary’s a nice guy. And here comes the hugest “but” ever. I’ve taken Gary’s class twice and what I can say is he means well, presents about half the necessary material to complete labs, and fails to help students through most class difficulties. Between the words “as per course syllabus” and an apathy to genuine uncontrollable hardware issues, Gary makes his class more similar to IT work than anything else. Spending ridiculous amounts of time on labs is not uncommon and occasionally a hardware issue will leave you dead in the water with Gary’s advice being “did you try simming the module”, “I haven’t encountered this error before, but that seems like a ___ issue. Use another professors irrelevant troubleshooting video for another lab to try to figure it out” or my personal favorite “if you have to take a zero on this lab it’s not a big deal, APCS only full lab demos count” Un. help. ful. Moreover, he is unyielding when it comes to assignments. If it isn’t turned in on time, in the right place, with the right assignment, consider it a 0 no matter what valid/invalid excuses, accidents, or uncontrollable errors may have caused the incident.(except labs, he lets you burn for weeks on those) If you see Gary as your 133 professor, switch to any other professor, unless you want to wade through a sea of BS for a whole quarter with no boots.

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

gary explains everything in simple terms. i pity you if you got rinzel (watch out for his dog it barks at cheaters during midterms) I got 69% on all of the midterms and still pulled off an "a" gary is laid back and very helpful

Having Professor Perks as your lab instructor in IME 156 was definetly a good experience. He's a really down to earth guy and not intimidating at all to talk to or ask a question you may think is stupid. He doesn't expect students to know how to use any of the lab equipment and walks you through (which wastes A LOT of time of students like me who are already familiar with tools). Grading wise he was much better than some of the other IME professors from what I hear, as he's not as picky about little things but focuses on the overall picture. He is however, very picky about you being on-time to class so don't be late. I definetly recommend him over other IME lab instructors.

Mr. Perks is a very easy going teacher. He is definitely there to help you and not give you a bad grade. His lectures are very easy. I recommend going to lectures because his quizzes are almost verbatim off the lectures. I skipped a span of lectures, and I think that was the only quiz I did bad on. The lab part of the class was very fun. It was a good alternative to just reading books and doing equations. Just don't be a fool when you put everything together, and you will do just fine in his class.

This guy is awesome. He explains some pretty dense stuff in a very simple way. He uses powerpoints for all his lectures and brings in models of what he is lecturing about, so you know exactly what he is talking about. He is a little nerdy, but thats probably a good thing for the class he is teaching. The guy genuinely likes teaching. I wish I could have taken him for lab too.. take perks if you can. end of story

The class material is very boring. However, Perks did a good job presenting it. He brought visuals, told some good stories and kept me interested. He clearly enjoyed the topic which made it even easier to pay attention and learn. His midterms were both scantrons. They are easy. He tells you what pages of the reading and what topic on those pages will be on the test. Just skim read and memorize those patts for the test.

This class is designed to familiarize students with basic electrical manufacturing terminology and processes. Although the book is poorly written, he directs you to exactly what to know a week before each test (there are 3). My advice is to hold off on the reading until the week before each test. Then read the specific areas he tells you.

Good instructor, always helpful in lab. Lecture tests are multiple-choice and easy.

Awesome class.

The lab portion of the course is the best part of the course, lots of hands-on. I didn't score as high on the power supply project as I would have liked because I relied on what my friends were doing and didn't read the lab manual as closely as i should have. The lecture part of the class I found to be not too bad. The text isn't the easiest to read, but most test questions come from lecture and professor posts his Powerpoints on Blackboard for students to review.

Perks is a great professor. He brings a lot of interesting industry experience into his lectures and does an excellent job presenting the material.

Labs are fun, lectures are boring. He's really anal and nickpicky about the small details on your power supply project, so don't rush. But don't work too slow either or else you'll eventually end up rushing things towards the end of the quarter and might not even finish. Lab quizzes are given out every 1-2 weeks and are pretty doable. Just understand the instruction manual and you should be good. Lectures on the other hand are absolutely pointless. The material presented during lectures is usually too confusing/hard to understand and digest. You'd have to be extremely interested in the subject to stay awake during the lectures. There are midterms and final each for the lab and lecture seperately. Not reading the book will probably get you a C.

Perks is great in lab, very helpful. Lectures are sometimes boring, but overall a great class. Perks was very willing to help troubleshoot my power supply outside of lab hours.

IME 156 was way easy and Gary was a really chill professor. Yea he can be a little anal about being tardie to class and what not but overall I think he's a nice guy and I recommend him.

The lecture for IME 156 is a super boring class, so I don't really blame Perks because the material is just boring. He just has a power point presentation that he reads to you all year. The tests are sorta hard, but he tells you exactly what will be on them. The lab is great. He's really helpful and easy to follow. I recommend him for this class.

Perks is a pretty cool guy. He does a great job at presenting the material, although his lectures can be pretty boring at times. However, he has stories and movies to help you try to stay awake. The tests are not very hard, but a 100% will still take a great deal of work. He's very timid, so it can be a little hard to hear him some times :)

Fun class. Good professor.

Gary's lectures were sometimes boring, but much more organized than the book's format. The lab portion of 156 is what makes the course. The power supply project is fun to do. The TAs are of great help and Gary was very patient with all my questions.

He is a very nice guy but Perks is very anal about his grading on the final project, I will admit that mine wasnt perfect but he was still harsh. Follow the guidelines exactly on the syllabus. The class was pretty fun and Perks was super helpful whenever I got stuck.

I only had Perks for the lecture and not the lab. He was always enthusiastic about what he was teaching and brought examples of what he was talking about to the lecture which made a huge different. This lecture is always offered either 7-8 or 8-9 in the morning but Perks kept it interesting and didn\'t bore people to sleep. The tests are fairly hard but he posts all of his power points and the two videos that you watch in class online as well as posts exactly what pages from the text you should study for the midterms so you don\'t have to study the entire few hundred page book but instead a few dozen specific pages. From what I\'ve heard, he is very strict in his lab section. I had Malone who was great.

Gary was always willing to help and helped me fix my power supply over break. IME156 has been by far the most rewarding class I\'ve taken at Poly my freashman year.

He only offered his IME 156 class at 7 am and 8 am. I was in the 7 am class, so that could also explain my lack of understanding. Perks did not really teach it well. He had slides that were helpful, but the lecture as a whole was very dull and hard to stay awake. And in his office hours, he was still a bit confusing. There were two midterms, and then the grade with this class was combined with the lab. I think Perks would be better off teaching EE classes instead of IME.

i wish i had him for the lab section, seems like a great teacher but i didnt get to see him in all his glory.

i realy liked this class. i though perks was pretty fair and helpful overall. he\'ll usualy answer your questions and help you if your stuck. i recomend him above the other 156 professors

A fun lab. Horrid Lecture. Basically, don\'t go to any of them, and just print his powerpoints and read what he tells you for the midterms cause he can\'t teach shit. READDDDD the directions for the Lab, easy points if all done right.

Fun class, best taken at Poly so far. Gary is very helpful and knowledgeable. He has loads of industrial experience. Overall learned a whole lot and my power supply worked!!

Great class and Gary is very friendly and was a big help fixing my power supply when it didn\'t work the first time. He came in on an off day to help me troubleshoot it in one of the EE labs, very helpful professor.

READ the damn lab manual! That thing will teach you how to build your power supply. And all of the lab quizzes are based on that too. Perks is a nice guy that will answer your questions clearly if you ask. Triple check everything before you solder something or else you might screw up your whole power supply and ask questions when you're not sure of something. I had no soldering experience and I got a 98 on my power supply so its not too difficult. I got a 5 or 6 on all of the quizzes and a B on the final lab quiz and still got an A in the class so don't stress to much about those. Overall, this is a really cool hands-on class so enjoy it! Read the lab manual and ask questions and you're fine.

high marks all around

Perks is very nice and knowledgable, he's able to explain rather complex material (for a freshman anyway) in simple terms. He's my favorite EE professor, I highly recommend him for IME156. It was a fun class and I felt I learned alot - Thanks Gary!!

Professor Perks is an amazing professor who truly knows his stuff. He's always willing to help students out and he's very great for office hours. I'm really glad that I had him for this class and will probably try to take him in the future if I have the option to do so. Highly recommended!

This class is awesome, you make apower supply basically from scratch. I had never buildt a project like this and it was a ton of fun doing so and i felt I learned a ton too. This class was much more helpful than EE151 (which is a waste). Perks is a great teacher, very patient and helpful. He has strict policies, but is super nice and helpful. This by far was best experience at Cal Poly my first qtr. I would highly recommend taking Perks for this course, you'll be glad you did.

A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Like a comment below, READ THE LAB MANUAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Class is really cool and Perks is very helpful and knowledgable - would take him as a professor again. He says he teaches lower level circuit classes, so I'm going to sign up for his EE112 class when he teaches it. Overall, a great professor.

Perks is fantastic for this class! Patient. Fair. Gives few directions that are ACTUALLY CLEAR at 8am in the morning.If you want an A in this class with Perks, the hardest part is reading the lab manual. So read the lab manual.

Had this professor for EE 112 and now have had him for IME 156. Definitely a better teacher for IME 156. Basically the class is all about packaging PCB's and different components. He posts all of the lectures on PolyLearn the week of the lecture and reads directly from them. There are also 2 movies in class. Go to class though because he makes hints as to what's on the midterms. There 2 midterms in the class, which are not cumulative and no final. Midterms are 50 multiple choice questions, based on lecture and the book. You will need the book for the class if you hope to do well in the class. The midterms are pretty hard, but a lot of people don't do well. Don't buy the book though from the bookstore; I found it online for free on Scribd. Overall, a good professor with above average difficulty tests.

Fun Class!

He's an alright teacher but if you miss a midterm you will fail the lecture section. He will give you a make up test and he will deduct an automatic 20 percent (so if you get everything right you still get an 80%) and the make up exam is no longer multiple choice but short answer. This is inclusive of all excuses. If you lose a limb in a freak car accident I'd still show up for the midterm because this heartless, paranoid bastard will do everything he can to make your life as difficult as possible.

Awesome prof, an even better person. You will learn alot from this guy although your grade may not totally reflect it. Cool dude!

Like some of the comments said, he can be heartless. The lectures have fairly interesting material, but can be dull sometimes. The midterm was extremely hard, and mostly on lectures and not readings. Although he did not directly teach the lab portion, he set it up very well and it was very fun and I definitely learned a lot from that. I guess how good the lab was cancels out how dull the lecture was.

Fun class, very helpful knowledgable prof.

Gary is a great professor. He knows his stuff, but more importantly he is passionate about the subject. You'll learn so much more from professors with passion. I had this class on Fridays at 7 AM so it was by no means an easy class to get up and go to. However, I found waking up to go was worthwhile. His lectures are very straightforward and you can easily follow along with the slides. And for the few times I accidentally slept in, it was not a problem. He posts the lecture PowerPoints online and that (as well as this book) are what the questions on his tests come directly from. He makes the class easy as long as you put effort into it. Highly recommend this guy.

Gary is the nicest professor I've ever had. He's always there to help you if you need it, no matter what. Throughout the course, you'll be making a power supply that basically just lights up a few numbers when you plug it in. it's a fun experience, unless you get behind. If you ARE behind on the power supply, he has a few tools that he'll let you use in his office and he'll help you get ahead again. If you are taking IME 156, definitely try to go for him. Do it. (helpful reminder: he loves soldering and does a mean Steven Tyler impression)

I had Gary for both IME 156 lecture and lab. I'll start with the lecture. When I took the lecture, it was at 7 in the morning, so I wasn't awake to really focus. When he says that everything on his powerpoints are on the Midterms, take him seriously. I focused more on the book than his presentations for the first Midterm and failed. He'll crack a few jokes here and there, tell some interesting stories to liven up the lecture hall. If you don't like lectures, he posts his presentations online for you to download. If you decide to skip out on the class, maker sure you show up for the video days. He hands out questions, plays a video, and you answer the questions. A lot like high school. The stuff in the video and the questions you answer are on his tests, so I highly recommend going to theses. The lab was a different situation. The lecture is almost 200 students in the hall; the lab has about 20, so you really get to know him. I have found he is easy to talk to and approachable. He is there not only to teach and supervise, but to help you if you need it. He very talkative when he has a small captive audience, so expect to spend about 30 to 60 minutes of your 3 hour lab listening to him go into detail about today's lab. Besides that, I really enjoyed the lab with him as the professor. Also, if you have him in the lab, he recognizes you in the lecture, which can be a plus in some cases. If you have a question, I suggest going to his office hours. In the lab or lecture, he is answering other students' questions, so he might not have much time to help you. You have more one-on-one time with him in his office. Overall, I really liked the guy. Easy to talk to, helpful, and got me in a good routine for success coming in as a first year.

I had Perks for lecture and lab. I 100% agree with the rating below me. Try to get Perks as your lab instructor; I think it's an easier chance of getting a higher grade on the chassis. Some of my friends didn't get good grades on their chassis because they had other instructors instead of Perks, but I felt like our chassis's were the same quality. Also, Perks opened up the lab on the weekend only for strictly his classes, something instructors may not have access to. (extra time to finish up your lab) Things to expect from the course: 100 more dollars to buy the materials for the lab, weekly quizzes from the lab itself, a separate lab final, and a fun time in lab.

Gary is a nice guy, but his class is tough to get an A in. Midterms for the lecture are pretty brutal, be sure to go to every class if you want a good chance to pass. Even though he puts all his stuff on Polylearn he slips in questions on the tests that have nothing to do with Electronic Manufacturing that he only says in class. Lab is pretty mundane at times but is worth taking. Lectures are pretty boring but its important to go in order to get a decent grade on the midterms.

Perks is funny, but you have to pay attention. He doesn't seem to take shit from anyone or like questions in general, but if you don't take what he says personally, I think it'll be fine. He is very explicit about what the material is, and especially about what you need to know on the exams. He literally said which pages he was taking the information from. Just make a ton of flashcards and memorize them. He is fair in lab, you spend the entire time making this power supply, and it's a bit scary because I had no idea how to use any of the tools, but I made friends with the people that did know, and it was easy enough. Just be careful not to wire something wrong because stuff will break. Overall, he is a good professor and is very fair, would recommend for 156

Decent prof, great class!

Perks was a pretty good teacher. I had not taken any EE courses so I was unfamiliar with many of the componets we used in the IME lab but Gary explained everything pretty well. From what I've heard, Rinzel is not a great teacher, I had him for the lecture and that's what brought down my grade. There's a lot of reading, and he only narrows down the study guide to about 100 terms or so. All in all, Gary Perks is a pretty good teacher and I would suggest taking him.

Great class, excellent professor!

Great class! Lab is best part of course. Lecture, at times, cab\\n be boring. Tests are all multiple guess and are super easy.

Awesome lab teacher, he was very willing to help and make sure you understood how to do it. Definitely would reccomend him to anyone, his pre-labs are very helpful and if you do them, sometimes the only thing you have to do in the actual lab is put together what you've already done so you can get out of there in under 2 hours. Make sure you get a decent lab partner, but do the work together because the final requires you to know how to do basically everything at a basic level, but it's not hard at all, was essentially a rehashed lab.

I've had Perks for 4 courses, CPE169, IME157 and two circuit classes. He was great for all of them. He's very knowledgable helpful and fair. Get on his good side during office hours bt showing effort and he will do anything he can to help. I like how he doesn't take any BS from the whiners and cheats. If you want to learn, he's the man.

I just had him for lab but he was really helpful whenever my partner and i had questions. Do the prelabs!!! it will save you time in lab and you will probably understand what you are doing better overall. I studied the wrong thing and got a D on the final, but did well on my lab reports so ended up with a B+ overall. There is really no reason you cant get an A otherwise.

I'm a M.E. and I HATE^2 E.E. I have always had a mental bock on this subject, making EE very difficult to understand. Gary worked hard to not overwhelm non-EE students and make the subject fun as well. GO ZOOMER AND THE HEATER MONSTER!!!

This is that absolute best teacher I have ever had!!!! He CLEARLY explains electronics so that anyone can understand them. He grades very fair on the tests and like to crack jokes in class. Take him for any class he teaches, it is very rewarding.

Gary is a very nice guy. However he is not the greatest EE professor out there. He gives 3 mid-terms during the quarter and no final, and has a strange curve system but it isn't bad. Of those 3 cores of the class, Gary eplains the 1st part (review from Phys 133) well, the 2nd part not so well, and the 3rd part horribly. The few times I went to office hours, he gave me very obscure advice and hesitated to actually review and clarify my questions fron the previous lectures or homework.

not a bad teacher, sometimes it could get boring but when you did practice problems in class it went fast.....those practice problems are a good idea of test questions. He can be a funny guy.

Gary is great professor. He is laid back, funny, and easy to understand. He keeps the class simple and doesn't get lost on derivations and tangents. Very straight forward, but make sure to keep up on the homework since he doesn't collect it. I got 100% on the first 2 midterms!

Gary is a great prof. He clearly explains the material in simple terms. There is no way you could be confused if you go to his class every day. He has a subtle sense of humor that makes class fun. Although he's out of his office a lot, he's willing to schedule appointments any time he's free. He really goes the extra mile for students. I made a point to take him again for EE 321.

Gary struck me as a good professor and taught material clearly. However, his tests were difficult to study for. I did the homework, yet did poorly on the first two midterms.

Although Gary is pretty good at explaining the material I wouldn't rate him too high as a teacher. You have to watch out for his tests! They are very challenging and differ a lot from the easy problems he covers in class during his lectures (not to mention the fact that he doesn't give you enough time to solve them). At the beggining of the quarter, and throughout the quarter for that matter, he will sell you the idea that the course is pretty easy... You better not believe him!! If you buy into that idea you will be doomed!! Make sure you do the homework and make use of his office hours as much as you can!! Remember: Do not expect his tests to be as easy as his sample/practice in class problems!!! He will always give you a twist that will screw you up!! Ahh one more thing! The textbook and the solutions he posts (usually online) for the homework are full of mistakes!! That actually drove me crazy this quarter!!! I wish they changed that textbook!! Keep that in mind when you are going through the homework.

If you have the opportunity to take Perks take him.

This guy is a really chill and layed back guy. He really knows the material and clearly conveys the material. By the end I was suprised how much we covered because in class it felt like we were going so slow. He covers things like three times. But this really makes it so that you can remember the stuff. the homework is optional and there are 5 tests. The final is two of these tests and so basically he has 2 midterms a final and one other seperate test his grading system is not very complicated but is very fair. If you were to mess up fully on a midterm then it only counts for half of what the other three tests count for and the test that you do the best on counts for twice as much as the middle three. He does inclass excersizes that help a lot. Overall just a really good guy. Just take him for any class because I know he will be cool. HE GOOD

Prof Perks cares about his students does more than the minimum as a professor. He gives 3 quizzes plus a final that counts as 2 to evenly weight the material. He also makes your best quiz worth more and your worst quiz worth less. You couldn't ask for a more fair teacher.

gary perky is very knowledgeable of ee and lays the material out so it is very easy to understand. he emphasizes the key concepts and goes over example problems in detail so you know what you are doing. he explains the material so well that don't even need to read the book except to write down the homework problems. his grading system is sweet. your top quiz score is worth 40%, second highest score 30% and third higest score is worth 20% of your grade. you get the drop your lowest quiz score and the final is optional. he doesn't collect hmwk but his quizes come directly from the homework. he also has the sollutions to the homework posted online. he is very approachable and helpful during office hours.

Gary Perks is a great teacher. He clearly explains the material. The tests are not easy you really have to know what you are doing and do the homework even though he doesn't collect or grade homework. He is very nice and helpful if asked. I have had a hard time understanding EE but I know it would be much worse if Gary weren't there to explain things.

Perk's lectures are about as good as they get. The guy really knows how to convey material across to students. Homework in this class isn't graded or collected. Perks still assigns hw and expects you to do it on your own. The solutions to all of his hw is posted on blackboard. Of all the solutions that I've come across, these are by far the worst. They a) use alternate methods to solve problems that are not looked at in class b) have answers that are incorrect about a quarter of the time c) are in different formats(solved by hand and then by computer) d) skip several crucial steps in understanding the problem and e) are sloppy when hand written. In addition, Perks assigns a good number of problems that are completely irrelevant to test material. I think Perks should write up his own solutions if he's going to post them at all. The solutions really costed me time trying to figure out what they heck they were doing. The tests were totally fair and easy. Try and snag the previous quarters' exams and you'll really be in like flint. The tests are often similar and really provide a good study guide. Also- I knew what was relevant when doing hw because I had the previous quarters' exams. Perks takes the three best of four quizzes and scales it so that your highest score on a single quiz is counted more that the others. He also throws in a complex number quiz worth 10% of your grade. The other three quizzes are 40%,30,20 respectively. The final is optional but I think there should really be a final in a class that is a pre-req for other classes(EE 321 for AERO and ME). Don't let anything I'm saying lead you to belive that Perks isn't a good teacher. You should do anything to get into his course- a note on that - he makes a waiting list based on e-mail - so if you want him, e-mail him early on before the quarter starts. He grades fairly (an A is 86.45 %) and is really chill in office hours.

The breakdown for the course is this: Homework is assigned for every lecture but not collected. Four quizzes during the quarter. One complex math quiz. One optional final. Your grade is based on: complex math quiz (10%), your 3 highest quizzes (40%, 30%, and 20% respectively), and the final is added in if you choose to take it. Gary doesn't give make up quizzes, posts solutions to homework on blackboard. Bottom line- put in work during the quarter, it will pay off come finals week!

Gary is a great teacher. I took the holy trinity of 201/251, 321/361 over the summer (ok, so that's not three, but anyways). Each class/lab pair was condensed into half the quarter...a great way to get them out of the way. Class was fairly laid back, many chances to get good grade. He is a partial point pirate on labs. A 1/4 points off is not unheard of. Don't take it too seriously, because he rounds up anyways, so it really doesn't count as anything, except to call your attention to it.

Perks knows that all students have off days, and thats why he drops your lowest quiz score. Your highest quiz score is worth 40%, your second highest is worth 30%, and your lowest is worth 20%. The complex numbers quiz is set at 10%, but that quiz is ridiculously easy anyway. Put in a little work to get a B. Study a couple more hours and you get an A.

As said below, Professor Perks' grading system is amazingly tailored towards giving students good grades. He is awesome at taking some relatively complex material and dummying it down. If you can work hard for the first 7 weeks or so, then come finals, it's a free ride. His quizzes can be tricky, but nothing you haven't seen. I'm looking forward to taking him again next quarter for 321.

I wish that there were more teachers like perks at cal poly. He is very excited about this subject, he conveys the material in a simple and easy manner, and his grading system if fair, what else can you ask for. His quizzes can be tricky and do the hw problems even though they are not required because they sometimes show up on quizzes. Also, if you can't register for this class, he is really good at adding people because he finds out before hand who doesn't have the pre-reqs(phys 133 and math 244) and drops them from the class the first day.

Perks is an okay guy I suppose. His lecturing gets the job done, but on many instances he goes off on a tangent from the way something is taught in the book. So basically, if you need help reviewing something, the book wont help. Go to class, tahts your only saving grace as his tests are very difficult and he grades harshly. Everyone seems to think he is a great teacher, I disagree, he's just a prick who's got a snotty EE attitude.

This guy is such a ass. He may come across as nice, but he talks to non EE's like they are idiots. He will tell you about his quizes and saying that hes trying to sympathize with students cuz hes taking classes at cuesta. Bull, hes just an ass anyways, he doesnt even have a PHd, and he's a loser to boot. Just cuz this guy has a pathetic home life on internet chatrooms doesnt mean he needs to be a total asshole to his students.

Perks is a really nice guy and a good professor. You take 4 exams, and a final that counts as two. Equivalent of 6 exams, but you only keep your top 3. Highest grade counts as 40%, second highest 30%, third highest 20%, and a not droppable 10% quiz. The final is optional, but it you choose to take it, it will count as at least one exam. I only passed one of his exams, but aced the quiz and barely got a C, so I didn't bother with the final. No pluses or minuses.

Alright, so the guy is a bit goofy, but he is really friendly. now as an ME, i despise all EE shit, and though i did get a little confused on one or two parts (mostly with the 251 lab), i thought Perks did an awesome job with us. he know most of us do not like EE and have to take these lame classes for our major, and therefore he was extremely generous with his grading. that is, he graded somewhat strict on the quizes, but when he took all your quizes into account for your final grade, he weighted your best the most, and your worst quiz the least. i recommend Perks, and am gonna take him again in fall for 321.

Good professor, need to know the material in order to do well though.

Perks is an above average lecturer and covers material thouroughly. However, I found his tests to be difficult. Luckily, he occasionally puts an assigned homework problem on his quizzes - so that helps. However, his questions and the problems he comes up with are sometimes wacked! I hear that other profs that teach EE201 (Hartman, Behpor for example) have easier tests, but you don't learn as much. So, if you just want to pass take someone else other than Perks.

Perks is the bomb!

He's a jerk and overall a fucking douchebag.

Possibly the best EE professor at Poly.

First midterm piece of cake.

Perks is a great teacher. He is one of the best teachers that I have had at Cal Poly. He explains everything clearly and makes everything easy to understand.

Excellent professor, took five week summer course and learned alot in a short amount of time, grading system made course less stressful over five weeks. I plan to take the follow-on electronics class with prof. Perks also. Highly recommended.

Excellent professor, very organized - explains material very clearly. Doesn't collect homework, but one exam had an assigned homework as a problem. Gives 2 midterms, a final that counts as two midterms and a review quiz on physics material. Drops lowest score and weights remaining 40-30-20-10. Overall EE201 was an unexpectantly enjoyable class. Far better than any other EE professors.

I put in NO effort for this class and am kicking myself because it would have been so easy to get an A or B. He has a 40-30-20-10 grading scheme that really helps your grade. Do well early and make it easy on yourself. He's a good guy and does teach well. EE just sucks.

here's the thing about perks, he's great for some people and not so great for others. your performance in the class does not always reflect how well you understand the material. his tests are only 25 points. this means that 1/4 point is 1%. He does take off the same amount of points for everyone, but when he does take off points, they bring you down a lot. on a midterm, 3 points could be the difference between a B and a D! he's very nitpicky about small things and doesn't like to argue points. he covers his butt at the beginning of the quarter by saying he won't argue points, you realize later what a douche move it is. so yeah, if you can complete his test EXACTLY how he wants you too, you'll get an A. he wouldn't need to adjust the grade cutoffs if he graded fairly. i would suggest not to take him.

Perks is awesome! I plan to take EE321 with him also in the fall.

As much as EE 201 is not a hard course, Perks made it even easier. His lectures were clear and he made them a little fun with anecdotes and applications to real devices. Also his exams are straight forward. If you can do the hw problems, you should have no problem doing well on his exams. Plus, his grading scale drops one exam. So if you have a bad day, it may not affect you at all.

Gary was always very helpful during office hours. He has an amazing grading scheme. Does not give makeup tests or extra credit, but drops lowest midterm and weights test in students favor. Enjoyable class even though I dislike EE stuff.

is good

Great teacher!!!

good choice

Given other instructors who teach this course, Perks is by far the best and sometimes funny.

I don't know why some people below me complain about Perks' grading. His tests are very stright forward and fair. He weights four midterms (the final counts as two) 40-30-20-10 and homework is not collected. I found his class the right amount of work for a non-major class and I felt as though i learned the material presented very well. I would highly recommend him as a teacher, he's not easy - so if you're looking for an easy 'A' or not working to pass, probably should not take him.

Perks is a greta instructor, very good at explaining material and answering questions during lectures. His tests are intense but fair. I did not do so well on his first midterm, 47 (avg was like a 60). However, his grading scheme gives you a chance to really improve your grade alot. I studied my ass off for the first part of the final, he gives the final as two separate midterms which I liked alot, and just about aced it and eneded up with a B. i hear spring qtr there's a large lecture section of 201 with mutiple-choice tests, sounds easier - I might have gone that route if i'd known.

I am the type of person that does not do well with EE type things. It just doesnt click for me. However, Perks was an AMAZING teacher. He presents all the material very clearly and does enough examples that you can learn it well. His grading scale works totally in your favor, so that you can get the best grade possible. He is a little anal about some things (like he wont rephrase a question during a test and he makes you bring your ID), but hes a fair grader and super funny. I'm planning on taking him again for EE 321 and 295 if i can!

Perks is a really great professor, he knows how to explain circuits really really well. He sometimes comes across as a hard ass, but just know it's a facade, he's really a big softy. Say you like Boston sports team and it will earn you some brownie points. I'm actually a Sox hater, but I wouldn't tell Perks that.

Gary is one of the best profs I've ever had for a class at Poly. He's very knowledgeable and personable and can be very entertaining sometimes during class. He has a very student friendly grading system and although his tests (quizzes) are time stressful, they're fair. Highly recommend for circuits.

Really great instructor!!!!

Gary is one of the best professors I've had here at Poly. He's clear, fair, and hilarious (in a nerdy way)-- overall the definition of a great professor. I actually had him for one of the huge IME lectures back in freshman year and he was good for that, but he was incredible in a regular classroom environment. He changes his course set-up each quarter, but the quarter I took it we had two midterms and an optional final. If you are happy with you're grade before the final, you don't need to take it. Thanks to Gary, he gives you the option to have less final to worry about, which if you took on a hard quarter like this, is a godsend. He also makes his expectations very clear at the beginning of the quarter (i.e. grades, points back on tests, etc.), so you can avoid situations like the review below. I'm taking him again next quarter for Electronics and would have definitely waited as long as I needed until he taught it. 11/10 would take again. Gary is the man.

Prof Perks is a cool guy. His lectures are awesome and straight forward. I really appreciate that he writes all his notes and thoughts on the board and explains them. Downside; I'm sure there's been a fair share of cheaters but, this guy is WAY too paranoid about cheating. I asked him for the numerical answers for the HW before it was due, not to cheat and fudge my answers but to check if I was at least in the ball park. Otherwise, HW would be of no use to me if I do not know if it is right or wrong? He refused to share that information as he is afraid students will cheat. This is a detriment as our book is paperback and does not have Back of the Book answers. Which brings me to the next point of contention, this guy's HW grader? How in the hell did he grade? Did he grade on the process or the correctness of the answer? I would constantly get chewed out on HW due to my answers, which brings me back to my original point of contention. If you try to challenge him on anything, he gets pretty flustered. Also, midterm two???? We spent several weeks on a subject and then decided to not put that subject on the exam. Which is a mind -$uck because that's what I studied for the most part as I expected that to be on exam 2.

excellent, excellent, excellent, optional final and nice smart guy. Took flipped version and it was well organized and Gary answers questions very clearly and easy to understand. He could circuits to my three year old nephew.

Lecture tells you exactly what you need to know, does a ton of example problems. He also has supplemental videos posted if you need them. I don't recommend the flipped classroom setting because it seems like more work but I think you'll get the same thing out of the class. The homework's not terribly useful; do the example problems in his online videos instead (skip the lecture IMO). Also, and this is totally awesome: your grade is 2 midterms + a final, but the final is optional if you're cool with the average of your two midterms.

before this class, i was terrified/sucked ass at EE. then i took an online flipped classroom with Gary. if you are an initiator, this online class is for you. watch the videos, do the problems before class, use class time for questions, and that's all. the quizzes are HW level problems, the midterms are the hardest HW problems. put in the time, and you get a good grade. no curveballs. ALSO YOU CAN TEST OUT OF THE FINAL. 10/10 would do EE magic w/Gary again. :D

Nice guy, excellent professor, very helpful during office hours.

I agree with the comments below, Gary is a great professor - attend class, do the homework and you\'ll do well on his exams. He\'s very clear in class and will answer any of your questions during office hours. One of the best EE professors I\'ve had so far. I hope he teaches more upper level EE classes in the future. I had him for IME156 and he was a great teacher for that class also.

He is a good teacher. Just like any other EE teacher, class examples are easy, homework is harder, and the exams are really hard. He does curve and also does this interesting thing of weighing your highest exam as 35% then 2nd highest as 25% and then 15%, 15%. The final is 2 midterms. If your exams were low, then basically you go into the final with 60% of your grade on the line. Kind of scary. If class average gets to a 75% of higher, no curve. Otherwise, he will curve in the end.

That C is a C+ and should've been a B+ because homework is 10% of your grade and I didn't do any of it. That being said, I'd definitely recommend Perks for any class. He's a really knowledgeable guy and portrays the material well. EE 211 is conceptually easy. With Perks, expect a 2-3 hours of HW due every class meeting, which he may or may not collect and then may or may not grade. But it's 10% of your grade, so fit it in your schedule. Tests are challenging, but nothing unfair. He has 2 midterms and splits his final into 2 midterm-sized parts. He then weighs your 4 exams according to how well you did on them: 35%, 25%, 25%, and 15%. My one complaint would be that he's pretty anal about certain things because he's VERY paranoid about student honesty. He also gives you a shotgun scattered formula sheet, with the idea that if you know the equations and how to use them, you'll know which ones they are. True. But annoying. Still, would recommend.

i had gary for both 112 & 211, he is very very good at explaining concepts clearly. I felt I learned alot ans could have gotten an 'A' if I had more time to study for the final (three finals same day - suck). He has a student friendly grading system of midterms and you can really up your grade by doing well on his final midterms. Overall, I don't think there's a better circuits professor, I hope he teched upper-level classes.

Perks is really good at explaining difficult concepts, his tests are definitely challenging. After getting a couple of Cs on midterms, I studied my ass off for the final and ended up with a B.

He's a terrible person. Good lecturer. Actually decent lecturer. Has no feelings or sympathy. So my grandma actually passed away and I had to miss a midterm for her funeral. He didn't let me retake the midterm no matter how much i begged. Fucking dick.

The best EE prof by far, especially for lab. Gary is very organized and explains things in a manner that is easy to understand. If you get to know him, he is very personable and helpful even if you not in a class of his. He's definitely the prof to take for circuits as he knows circuits inside and out. Highly recommended!

Perks is super chill and incredablly clear. His tests can be tricky but overall very fair. He tells funny stories at times and keeps a circuit class interesting, highly recommended.

Prof. Perks has one of the easiest grading schemes I've ever seen. That said, he is one of the more annoying professors I have taken. After drawing in a current I got a negative value, which means a current in the opposite direction. When I asked him about this he said my answer made no sense I explained to him that negative currents are currents in the opposite direction from the drawn current. His responce was literally "Those are just numbers and arrows," right, and you are just making noises with no meaning... Also writing question marks around the power equation when he asks for power was fun. Finally a final from 7-9 am in a 7-10 am slot is rediculous. But other than being a bit annoying, he is actually pretty good.

Excellent lab instructor, very knowledgable & helpful - although can be picky grade at times.

Great lab instructor, nice guy.

Gary is always helpful in lab. There is a quiz at the beginning of every lab that is just like the prelab problems due that day. He also goes over the lab after the quiz, so I always felt I knew what to do for the lab. Overall, one of the least stressful labs I've taken at Poly.

I didn't really like Gary Perks for the lab. He barely goes over anything and expect you to like know what the hell you are doing. You meet once every week and there is a PRELAB HW that is done on engineering paper before class (Huge chunk of your grade!). The PRELAB seems not that difficult but it gets to be when you start getting into other types of advanced DC/AC things. I did not have him for lecture but I heard that it helps out with the lab. In the lab, you are to read and be prepare to work on the procedures from PRELAB. He only collects 1 PRELAB from the group randomly. The most annoying thing is that he doesn't give any demonstration because he says all are in the PRELAB. I was struggling because I had no freaking clue what the hell was going on. Luckily my group knew what they were doing and were able to helped me out a lot. The results needs to be typed and there is stupid discussion question that is hard as hell. We spent good 3-3.5 hours finishing the lab for the whole quarter. He grades fairly, but there is no extra credit or some other stuff. There is FINAL in the end 3 questions (30%). He teaches the lab section (1 freaking unit) class like a goddamn 3 unit class!! Overall, he wasn't a major douche bag or anything and if you ask him about stuff he tells you. I think he grades little harder, but i recommend to take the lecture class with the lab together or at least take LEC class with the lab.

No complaints, good professor - excepts you to do the work before lab, our group finished about an hour early each time, no stress lab report due at end of each lab. Perks is laid back and helps if asked.

This guy has temper. anger management issues.

phenominial lab instructor, easy A

Gary is the homie. I had him for the EE 251 lab that usually goes with EE 201. Great teacher, clarified pretty much all the questions I was left with from lecture (with another professor). Very organized, available, and great at explaining concepts. We always had to turn our labs in by the end of class which was nice because you didn't have to worry about finishing a lab outside of class. Final was three reasonable questions that didn't try to trick us or anything. Overall, couldn't recommend Perks enough, great guy.

Gary Perks is an outstanding teacher. He posts up the main points and formulas of the day before prior to each class. This really helps keep the process of learning smooth. he's not one of those instructors that would get stumped by a student question. His examples are funny and relevant and make the class pass quickly. you'll never wonder what's going on because he explains all the technical terms you'll need to know.

Even though I didn't do so hot in his class, I wouldn't have any other teacher teaching this class (and I wish I did better). He's really thorough about your understanding of the subject matter and he goes through a lot of examples so that you understand what you're doing. The tests are fair with 10 multiple choice and 2 problems. And as others have mentioned, his lectures are smooth because he reviews a bit from and references past lectures about 10 minutes into the class. All in all, he's a great teacher and I would recommend you take him.

Gary Perks is a rare breed of professor. He can explain relatively difficult material with simple understandable clarity; so much so that most anyone can understand him. For that, I give him high marks, as there are very few professors anymore that can actually accomplish such a feat. Be warned: Gary Perks is not an *easy* professor. He comes off as being that way, as he has a highly-refined (student-oriented) grading system, no homework due, and is such a bloody good lecturer. However, his tests are often challenging. Especially ones with multiple choice. His multiple choice exams are very difficult to do, as he uses lots of strange and difficult terms that he know most people will not understand/remember. All of the test problems he creates (besides redone homework problems) have a conceptual twist to make sure you truly understand the material. Often, the trick is relatively easy. But it is very easy to trip on, and can sometimes lead you to self-destructing the problem, or at least catch you off guard, and that's where a lot of people screw up. Go to his office hours, as he is always social and willing to help. Ask questions in class, because he will dumb anything down to it's bare-bones simplicity to make sure you understand. But don't think he will just give you an easy 'A' because his lectures, homework, and everything else seem so bloody easy. A lot of people I know made that mistake, and paid a hefty price.

I think Electronic is much better than Circuit Analysis. In this class you apply what you learned in 201 to real applications. Perks teaches pretty much the same way as 201. I like is "weighted" grading system but hated his tricky multiple choice questions. I think everyone missed at least half of them which drops your grade at least one letter on each quiz.

Gary Perks definitely knows how to present course material clearly. Gary explains or is more than willing to explain anything the text leaves out. His grading is more than fair, as he drops the lowest out of four quizzes throughout the quarter. Make sure to do the homework, as some problems do show up on his quizzes (so simple). Take advantage of good teaching skills by taking any course taught by Gary Perks!

Perks is a great teacher with a generous grading scale. He knows the material very well.

I think somewhere down the line of this teacher's pitiful and lonely life, he lost sight of why he became a teacher. You would think the reasons behind becoming a university professor would be to help students learn and further prepare them for the future. Gary Perks is a complete ass that makes fun of you behind your back if he can't see your point of view. I know because I was standing right outside his office while he was barraging me with insults to another student. This kind of behavior should not be tolerated. Thanks for nothing asshole.

I had Perks for EE 201, also. While not as easy as that class was, this one is completely do-able with him. He's got an amazing grading scheme (I again didn't have to take the last quiz or final), and he's very good at explaining difficult concepts. I'm amazed at people who whine about him being hard. He's not. He takes some work, of course, but what class (especially a 300 level) doesn't?

I had a pretty bad experience with EE 201 (with Wang) and wasn't expecting 32 1to be any easier, but it was. Perks makes everything in the class very understandable. I never left class once thinking, "what was he talking about?" He gives 4 30-minute quizzes and the lowest is thrown away. the final is optional. Since i did good on the first 3 quizzes I didn't have to take the last one (given on the last day of lecture) and was done with the class by the beginning of week 9. I'd definitely recommend Perks for 321, and i wish i could've taken him for 201 as well.

Three Reasons to take Perks for the lecture: 1) English is his primary language. 2) He doesn't collect homework. 3) The final is optional and effectively a make up quiz to boost your grade. I didn't have him for the lab, but I can imagine him requiring more work than the Grad student instructors. Overall it was a pleasent conclusion to my EE course requirements.

Oh man is this the easiest course ever! his grading scheme makes it almost impossible not to get an A!! there is no homework and the final is optional. there are 3 30 min quizzes and 3 15 min quizzes. The 15 min quizzes are given on the same day as the other quizzes. The 1st 15 min quiz is 10% of your grade. The second 2 combine to be worth 1 30 min quiz. Then the lowest quiz score is dropped. But does it stop there??? no! Finally he makes your highest graded 30 min quiz 40% of your grade, then the next best is 30%, then the last is 20%. His lab is every bit as easy as his lecture so make sure you get him for 361 as well.

Take Perks!!! I love taking his classes because he explain things so well and the class is really easy if you just put a little bit of effort. I only did the optional homework to study for the tests the day before because he sometimes puts hw probs on tests and studied from my class notes. I took him for ee 201 and knew that if I had the option to take him again I would. Perks is a GREAT teacher and I would defn recommend him!

He gives four tests, drops the lowest and the final is optional (but the final is super hard). The tests are fair - about 12 multiple choice problems then some problems that you have to work out. The last of the first tests is the easiest. I STRONGLY suggest that you print off the overheads on blackboard and bring them to class to write on. Also, the HW is not collected but is the best way to keep up on the material. Most people get As and Bs.

Definitely recommended. He knows what he's talking about, makes the material easy to understand, and he has a few amusing stories that make the class more interesting. The tests aren't that bad, and and they're the only things that count toward your grade, so it's difficult to do poorly in the class. Overall, great prof., and you should definitely take him if you can.

Perks is a good instructor and may come across as being easy, but as the previous person stated, you need to know the material well in order to get at least a B (77 or above in his grading scheme). He doesn't collect the homework which can be a good thing, if you're somewhat motivated and not a lazy ass like me.

Clear, concise lectures. Fair tests, take Perks.

I just studied from my lecture notes and used the reserve copy of the text in the library for homework problems and pretty easily got a 'B'. His lectures are clear, as many others have already said. His tests are not easy, but I found if you write down what he says more than a couple of times during a lecture, it usually ends up on a test. Also, he gives a review quiz at the beginning of the quarter that counts 10% of the course grade. Don't blow it off like I did, it was the difference between an A and a B for me.

Mr. Perks is a good instructor, no question about it but the problem is that eventhough he has what may appear as an excellent grading form don't be so sure that you can easely get a good grade because I did study for his test and it is so easy to make a little mistake that can really make a big difference on your grade. So, becareful with his test and don't think that it will be an easy class because that is the idea you get the first day of class. If someone already took his final plese tell how is it, if it is hard or easy because I may have to take it to get a better grade.

Soo, same as the other people, 1 EE201 quiz 4 midterm 1 optional final. So tips to do well in this class unlike me. Go to class. As obvious as it is, this was one of those class that if you go to class you do well on the test. Its hard to get a A on a test if you dont have every word of his notes. Sometimes the book doesnt have things that he writes up in class. The other thing about his test is that you really really need to know the subject. More than any non EE should know, in my humble opinion. He will test you on the text, sometimes as much as half the test is this stuff. Therefore, treat it like a psych class or whatever class needs you to memorize a bunch of stuff. Hell maybe try going out of the engineering mold and use a highligher on the book. ee201 Quiz will mostly test you on node voltage. Lastly, the final, it was about on par as the midterm. I've heard it was hard in the past but when i took it not soo bad. Study those transistors, he loves using them for almost all tests and final. Good lecturer take him if you are really interested in the subject.

Teacher is booring as hell and won't help you at office hours unless you know the answer. I recomend going to the IEEE. Anyone in there will help you with anything in his class.

Great prof., strict policies - but extremely fair grading scheme. Highly recommended.

I learned and understand more about circuits the first two weeks of Gary's 321 class than I did during an entire quarter of 201 at my JC.

He is very clear in lecture but can be kinda boring (it is EE though). His tests are pretty challenging because he expects you to understand the material well enough to solve problems you haven't seen before either in lecture or on homework. But he has a grading scheme that your best midterm counts 40%, next is 30, 20, 10% is next lowest or your quiz score, and the lowest midterm is dropped. Also, the final is broken up into two midterms, one on the last day of class, one on the day of the final. And if that isn't enough, his grading scale is shifted also so an A is 100-86.5 or something. and everything else is shifted down too. I didn't even have to go on the day of the final cause I had secured an A already.

Perks is a great lecturer. His classes are well organized, clear and to the point. However, beware, his tests are much more difficult than the material presented in class.

Worst policies for students ever- can\'t challenge any parts of the grading on midterms. And, the class is entirely based on midterms. He also has the most overcomplicated syllabus I have ever seen; it gives the impression he does not want to interact with students one-on-one at all. His midterms are much harder than the material presented in class. He just covered what we needed to know for one of the problems in the midterm, one lecture AFTER we took it. ME\'s are only taking it because they have to, he grades like we have been EE\'s for two years. I never post before the class is over, but just wanted to give you a chance to save yourself the headache. Take a break Gary, don\'t be so serious. And your jokes really aren\'t that funny.

Perks is a terrific teacher and a nice guy. He\'s not easy, but if you go to class and do the homework, you\'ll have no problem. Oh, and pretend you\'re a Red Sox fan for brownie points.

Material is not my favorite, but lecture is amde bearable with practical examples and sometime funny stories. I thought tests were fairly easy, although not like homework. Overall a good teacher and fair grader.

WHoooooHoooooo

Gary Perks....Where to start??? In all honesty he is not a horrible \"teacher.\" He is able to get the material across to the students pretty well actually. BUT!!! This class is COMPLETELY based on midterm grades. So now you\'re probably thinking \"ok cool, I\'ll just go to class whenever and take the tests. Cake!\" Well think again. His tests are NOTHING like what he teaches you in class and NOTHING like any of the homework problems assigned. He takes a generic problem taught in class and twists it so that it is NOTHING that you have ever seen before. He is VERY anal about how your answer is worded and will mark an answer wrong if it is not worded to his liking. One other thing, he makes about 5 different midterms with DIFFERENT problems on each. So when your friend gets a test that seems 10x easier than yours, well you\'re just SOL. Bottom line.....Perks will ream you good and HARD for very little things on the tests. Study your ass off on the topics covered in class, but be prepared for MUCH HARDER midterms!!!

Perks is a great teacher. His lectures are clear and organized, sometimes he\'s funny but in anerdy way. His midterms are tough (the average was about 60), but he scales at the end. I thought I had a \'C\' and ended up with a \'B\' (he only gives whole letter grades, but to your advantage .... C+ or B- = B, etc..). I would definitely recommend him over other EE profs for this course, expect to work though.

like most comments below, Perks knows his stuff and presents it in avery clear organized manner. He could teach this stuff to a 3-year old. However, his tests are not easy (tricky?). I got an \'A\' but studied my a.. off for the final - which he gives as two separate midterms. Hint: Make sure you can do the exercises he posts on blkbrd, they\'re old exam problems and his test problems tend to be variations of these or so it seemed the qtr. i took his class. Overall good prof., but not easy tests even though material presented in lecture is easy to understand.

I really like his teaching style. The spinal tap video clip is hilareous.

Although he is anal about some things when it comes to tests and test procedures, he is a really really good teacher. Highly recommend him.

Tests are difficult, but Perks is very fair and a great teacher. Highly recommend.

This is the only class I have ever failed in my life. He has extremely high expectations and very difficult tests even though this is a class for non EE majors. Avoid this guy at all costs.

Wouldn\'t it be nice to have a class that is easy but you still have fun and learn a ton? This is what EE 321 with Gary Perks was like. As an aerospace engineer, I\'ve become really interested in electrical engineering from this professor. When test time rolled around, simply paying attention in class and doing one or two practice problems was enough to ace the exams. Gary Perks is seriously the best professor I\'ve had at Cal Poly. He knows a ton from industry and teaches you exactly what you need to know. His style for EE 321 is to take you from basic DC/AC circuit analysis and show you how computers are put together. The class covers diodes, npn transistors (BJTs and FETs), operational amplifiers, digital components, and memory access and storage. This guy is amazing for lecture! I really wished I had been able to take his section of EE 361, I probably would have learned more than I did Prof. Chinichian\'s lab section.

Go Perks! "Zener diodes are the lamborghini of diodes"

Great class, easy tests = easy A

Easy final, very helpful during office hours if you show effort.

highly recommend, awesome

Teaches the material well, but is a picky grader. Also likes to test on small details that he randomly says during class, so good notes is a must. On one of the finals, he asked which circuit was used in homework problem 8.xx. Glad that tests how much we learned about electronics...

He's a great teacher, who enjoys teaching and really loves EE. He does a great job of explaining the material but is a picky grader. His greatest fear in life is that someone will cheat on his test. You have to show him id, along with different test keys and he just sits there and stares you down the entire test. As said before some of his multiple choice is pointless, like what circuit did we use in this problem of the hundreds of assigned problems.

Clear, informative lectures, I actually took alot home from them. Awful textbook, but you'll need it for the hw. Perks has a very forgiving grading scheme - but beware. His tests are challenging, especially for a non-major course, however not they're not unreasonable. If you fully understand the tougher hw problems and his examples you'll do fine. 25% of his tests are on theory which cover random facts he goes over in class, so make sure to attend lecture. I spent one full day to study for each midterm and that was enough time to go thru all the hw+examples and earn me a B in the class. I felt like I learned a ton too. Heck what more can you ask for.

I've been in three classes taught by Perks; 321 - 201 & IME156 and I've enjoyed each class. He really cares that you learn the material, he will answer all your questions and makes really good analogies. As many comments have stated correctly below, his tests can be hard - but if you do the work (especially his Blackboard exercises and go to class and write down the things he emphasizes, there's no way you get less than a 'B'.

First C I've ever gotten. It was my fault but the grade was just because I forgot to review ONE small topic for the final... which kinda ticks me off. He also does not give +'s or -'s but honestly, an overall good professor.

Perks is a really good teacher, he explains the information really clearly and spends a sufficient amount of time on difficult information. He is really helpful in office hours but doesnt really like to spend much time explaining things. His grading policy was really fair there were 4 tests, the lowest grade you received was weighted 10% next highest 20%, 30%, and your highest was weighted 40%. His scale was also lowered by about 5%. He is super anal about tests and takes off points for almost everything. If you dont do exactly what he wants he will take off a lot or almost all points!

Yes, Perks is a picky grader. Yes, Perks has some insane policies - especailly in regards to testing. But the guy can teach, I learned so much about electronics from this guy. He explains things clearly and logically. Also, he is very helpful during office hours if he sees you're making an effort. If you go to his office hours unprepared, he will shoe you away. Overall, if you make an effort and do the work, attend class - you can't do worse than a 'B'. I would definitely take him again! Thanks Gary.

I didn't do as well as I thought I would, but I learned alot from Perks, he is a really good teacher - organized, speaks clearly and loudly - keeps class interesting with real world applications and an occasional interesting story. I would highly recommend for anyone who has the time to do the work and take the class seriously, it would be hard to skate through his class even with his very student friendly grading system. I felt his tests really test whether you know the material or not, you can'e just memorize and he doesn't allow students to bring a cheat sheet. He supplies test notes/eqns but mostly what he provides is useless. Overall, take him if you interested inlearning electronics.

Pretty easy class, perks is straightforward & has a sweet grading system. Four 30 min quizzes and an optional quiz during last week of class as a makeup. Overall a good professor, can be entertaining at times and is great during office hours if you have a problem - would take again.

Gary is the definition of a good guy. I came to Cal Poly for laid back but genius teachers like Perks. His analogies and teaching style makes it very easy to distinguish different concepts from each other, which made him one of my favorite professors ever. Until a couple months ago, I claimed to hate everything to do with EE. I now find a lot of it amazing, thanks to him. I would take him again in a second. If you don't care about how much you learn, or think you might fail, take Chinichian. But I had no problem passing when I spent about 2 hours a week of studying outside of class. One thing I wasn't a huge fan of is his grading. He only gave solid grades of A,B,C,D, and F. No +/- grades. There were 4 quizzes, around weekly small homeworks, and an optional final. If you are hapy with your grade come week 9, you just don't take the week 10 final.A

Perks is a fantastic professor, take him if you can.

One of my favorite teachers ever! Gary is passionate about teaching and is one of the more interesting people in general I've met. His lectures are concise to the point and sometimes he can be very engaging with his personal stories and antedotes.

Gary is an amazing teacher, yes he actually knows how to teach instead most EE professors that just talk and babble. Perks is excellent during office hours and if you get to know him, he has lead an interesting life and has many many fascinating funny stories. He's one of my favorite teachers ever, not just at Poly. Take him for circuits and electronics if you can - none better.

WOULD NOT SUGGEST HIM EVEN WITH HIS HIGH RATINGS!!! I liked Gary as a teacher, but he has anger problems. I went into his office hours to ask about why I had missed points on a test and he never even looked at it and straight up started screaming at me for no real reason. I didn't know what to do. Other students were also in the office and defended me which made him even more upset. I didn't say anything mean to him or anything and it ended with him saying get out of my office or I will call security. I reported him to the department head and the head was very upset with him. This guy has a serious temper and is not understanding at all. It all started because he made a mistake on my test and he would not change his mistake which caused me to get a B instead of an A because he gives no (+/-) grades.

Even though Electronics was just a survey class, it was very powerful. So powerful, in fact, that I'm now considering exploring this field of engineering if and when I attend graduate school one day. Regarding Perks: he was a great professor, could be less than enthusiastic to listen to at times, but was always helpful in office hours.

Class was taught reverse style, homework in class and watch videos home. This was my first experience with this style of teaching and it worked for me. There are on-line quizzes before class and weekly quizzes in class. Perlks does a good job answering questions - I wished he had been my circuits professor. I learned more about circuits from Perks during class time than when I took EE201. Highly recommend, good guy, smart and very personable.

hella take gary perks yo

Gary Perks may be a peon, but he is a straightforward lecturer and is a professional. I would call him doctor ANY day of the week.

Gary is the best teacher in the EE department, hands down. He presents the material very well, and his videos are super helpful as well. I hated EE until I took this class, and now I love it.

My third class with Perks (call him Gary), he's the man - great great lecture. Always prepared, he gets to class before most students do and clearly talks at the beginning of the class what material will be covered. If you take good notes and study notes before his quizzes (pay special attention to worksheet problems) you'll get at least a 'B'. Very student friendly grading system. Highly recommended.

I was in a flipped section and it was great!

Great professor, very knowledgable and super clear, easy B if you put in the effort.

Had a 'C' going into final and ended up with an 'A' as optional final exam was totally fair. Only reason I had to take final (final was optional although I don't think Gary makes final optional every qtr) is had an overload of units this qtr so putting time into this class was a challenge. Perks is a great instructor as most ratings talk about and is extremely fair and if you keep up with work (as I didn't until the last three weeks), it really hard not to end up with less than a 'B'. Highly recommend if you want to learn electronics!

chill class - has a fun project.

quite good

Lab with Perks is straightforward. Do the lab and put your data on a template he provides you. Each week he collects a single prelab from your group so make sure your group members do their shit. Depending on your 302 lecture teacher, there may be a point around the 4th or 5th week where you may be lost if your class hasn't covered root loci yet. However, he'll provide you with some very helpful notes that will get you through those labs. Final is written only; soooo easy.

He is very helpful in lab and always willing to assist in setting up and finding problems with setting up circuits.

Good professor. Extremely helpful during lab, makes sure you know what to do during lab time. Knows how to troubleshoot circuits and explain why circuit wouldn't work the first time. Lab final was a breeze, just like prelabs and postlabs.

Provides great help in lab and during office hours.

Gary is an excellent teacher. He's always willing to help if your circuit doesn't work and explains things as he is helping you. One of the best lab experiences i've had a Poly and it's a support lab. PCB design part of lab was great.

Perks is awesomw for lab. He'll explain exactly what you need to do and what to watch out for before the lab. You complete the lab report during lab, so there's no lab report write up to worry about between labs. I found Perks to be pretty chill on grading. The lab final was written (no practical) and was very much like the prelabs and postlabs.

perks is the man, very informative, easy A lab.

boo