Rowland, Art  

Computer Science

1.14/4.00

30 evaluations


CSC 124


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2001
This guy was boring!!!!! But I don't blame him, the course was an hour and a half, 2 days a week, and it was all lecturing. I slept during 75% of his class. Anyway, he's a nice guy, but boy is he boring!!!! Drink lots of coffee before attending

CSC 231


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
Nice guy. Good Teacher. He kept his plan flexible when we weren't able to move as fast as his original sylabus had planned. Explained everything quite well. Good class too.

CSC 234


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Dec 2000
ok, i did not fail his class, but i came damn near failing it. as many said before, do not take him if you do not know c and unix already. the book is never put to use (anyone out there knows why we needed to waste money on it?) his explanations seem to make sense, that is until you take a test, where he puts all those simple steps he taught you into one problem and makes it look like you have been sleeping in class all that time (which you probably were) drink coffee, coke, smoke pot and take drugs, anything to keep you awake in that class, take notes, go over them many times, ask everybody (but him, he does not understand questions and then he answers the wrong questions as well)or just sleep all the way through and get a C


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Oct 2000
I think everyone else has said this pretty well... He sucks! The class right now is split in half.... Half already know C and unix and are bored out of their skulls (its a good hour 20 minutes nap though.) The other half don't already know C or Unix, and are compleley confused. I find myself explaining a lot of things to other students. The other day a bunch of us had a study session, and we summarized 3 weeks of class in 10 minutes. Don't take this class unless you already know C and want a good nap twice a week. Tip: If you have a laptop, bring it and play games on it. Its a lot more interesting, and the teacher won't know. BTW he's completely deaf as well. Have fun!


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2000
This class was weird. I have assolutely no experience in C and I recieved a B. How the hell did I do that? I don't even know. His tests never went over the pages of notes you take. He just seems to teach strings. If you only get one thing from this class, it's how to print strings. It's a tough class because he goes so slow and goes over so many oddball things that you never seem to understand the material. Plus, his lectures are hard to stay awake too. However, I got D's and F's on the tests and I still managed a B. It was a slide through class, but I still don't know jack crap about C.


Freshman
B
Elective
May 2000
He's a nice guy, but his lectures are kinda boring. He goes slow and teaches strings and string manipulation to DEATH! If you're taking it to learn a little about C take someone else, if you're in it to pass as a requirement, he's ok if you can figure out the first assignment you'll be fine. and LEARN STRINGS! Quizzes and tests were ok, again, know strings and you'll be fine.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
May 2000
This was a sweet class! I can't believe a teacher can successfully put to sleep an entire class three times in a row!!! Never been done i think. Well I had no previous experience in writing c and i walked out of the class with a B and still don't have any clue how to write c. Have fun taking him!


Sophomore
B
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
AVOID HIM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sophomore
B
Elective
Jul 1999
He sucks......take someone else....


Junior
A
Elective
Jul 1999
well, I had C before and It's a waste of taxpayer money to pay him for the job it doesn't perform,,,, Not good..........


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2000
I still don't know how to write c and I recieveed a b+. One of the hardest midterms I have taken in my entire life but thank god he curved it. I had no previous writing in c language and heard the other teacher was even harder. He was alright but boring.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2000
This guy talks a lot about industry and how wonderful it is, and to be honest I think that's where he should be. He's very out of touch with how students learn. Does he honestly think we don't know what a key board is? He jumps from teaching about the keyboard to programming, skipping many important steps in between. Having had no previous background, I was lost most of the time and had to rely on help from Computer Science majors to do the assignments. The first real assignment was due the sixth week of class and then one every week after that, including one for extra credit. The quizes are hard, the midterm is easy, and the fianl is a little harder than the midterm. If you want to do well on the midterm, try to get ahold of one from a previous class, it will be almost exactly the same (I say this from experience). I've heard the other teacher sucks too, so I guess there's not much choice here.


Sophomore
B
Elective
Aug 2001
DO NOT TAKE Dr rowland if you have never been exposed to C programming. He doesn't explain anything in class. However, he can be helpful during his office hours.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
I pity anyone who hasn't had previous C programming experience and is taking that class with him, because he DOES NOT make much of an effort to teach it. Mumbles a lot, doesn't do much to get ideas across. I could tell that many of the people around me were just sitting dazed and confused, and whenever one got fed enough to ask a question, he wouldn't understand what they were asking. Plus there's no real tie-ins with a textbook so you either understand the material in lecture or you never do. My advice is to stay away.


Junior
N/A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
He goes over the stuff REAL slow in class, so he'll have sleeping in no time. If you realy want to learn C don't take him. He is a realy nice guy I'll have to say. But I never did see that "funny mouth thing", Maybe because I was always stareing out the window or sleeping.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
I think he was a pretty good teacher. He explained the material well and gave excellent examples. I think I learned a lot for the little amount of time I spent outside of class. The homework programs were usually given once a week and dealt directly with the new material of the week. This was the only homework in the class and usually wasn't much. With the exception of the first program, which I had a lot of difficulties with, they usually took about 2 hours and weren't too hard. The homework programs are worth about half of your grade. I think I averaged B's on the tests, but recieved an A in the class because I did all my programs and also the extra credit one. He was very good spirited and friendly and yes, he did that funny mouth thing. If you have to take 234 I would definately reccomend him.


Freshman
B
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
Does not talk to the students just talks to himself. Does not explane anything


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Aug 2001
I'm probably going to be the only one defending him, but I think he was a good teacher. He doesn't really teach you anything, but he does explain things if you don't get it. He can also put any of us ADHD cases to sleep in about 2.3 seconds. He doesn't teach you what you want to learn either. If you have no interest in programing at all, but have to take the course, learn stuff besides strings. Otherwise you'll go nuts. I'd take one of his classes again. If you get to know him he really is a funny old man. O yeah, he does some funny thing with his mouth, you get used to it.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2001
Although I got a decent grade in this class, I felt Rowland didn't even listen when people tried to ask him questions. I had never taken a class dealing with programing, but Rowland seemed to ignore the fact that there were people like me in the class. Towards the end of the quarter you will be writing programs all the time...with many long nights and frustration. I recommenend taking another teacher if you are able to


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Feb 2001
He's a nice guy.. Shouldn't be a teacher anymore though. he should be staying at home playing with his pets or goign shopping. !!! I learned absolutely nothign in his class!!! in fact i think i got dumber just being there! no joke. you can't understand anything he says and the class really sux


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Apr 2001
If you like to sleep during class, take Rowland. He is a very nice old man, who does not teach. He is boring to the point of suicide. There is a ton of tests and quizzes of his floating around and if they don't come your way, you're screwed. I learned nothing from him.


Sophomore
C
Required (Major)
Nov 2001
This teacher is "absolutely unforgivable", If you want to finish a few books or catch up on your sleeping please feel free to take this class as it will provide you with that time for 1.5 hours twice a week. If youd actually like to learn C however DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER!1!!! Let me repeat that once just for mr.palmpilotboy "DO not take this teacher".


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2002
There was one good thing about this class--he curved the grades in the end to give people a chance to pass. But the lectures were horrible. He could not understand students' questions and could not comprehend why some could not immediately get everything. Toward the end of the quarter he began repeating his lectures, which should have helped people catch up, but his teaching was so bad that it didn't. I got a good grade in the class because I had some math and computer background. But I completely understand why others had so much trouble. Don't take this prof if you don't have programming background.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2002
I have no previous knowledge about C and unix whatsoever before taking this class. After the quarter, I still don't know how to program. Dr. Rowland, I must say, is a very kind man, but he doesn't understand student's difficulties and can't present the material well. HW was 40% of the grade, so must do well and do it PERFECTLY CORRECTLY. Horrible and painful lecture but very flexible. 4 quizzes, with the last 3 packed in the second half of the quarter. 8th week mid-term, one of the hardest mid-term I've ever taken. If you already know C, take him, good sleeping class and easy A; if not, try to avoid if you think you can find a teacher who can teach.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Aug 2002
Thank god for his curve!!! I did not think I would ever get a passing grade in his class. His lectures are incredibly boring, but you have to go because he quizzes right off the stuff he says in class, and dont even bother buying the book. He never writes on the board in any type of order; rather its some random words here and there, so when you go to study and look at your notes it is complete nonsense. The one and only quiz I passed was by writing every single thing he said, which just exhausted me and really was not worth the 10 point quiz. He's a nice, old man but he just needs to stop teaching and retire already!!!


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Aug 2002
I had trouble with this class because i am a GrC major, never taken a programming class before, and i was stuck in a class with 3rd year aero engineers. I was way over my head. I learned a lot. Rowland does not always explain things very clearly. i was very confused and had to spend a lot of time outside of class trying to figure out what was going on. the programs are tough, work on them with people who know how to program. i think the only way i passed this class is because i did ok on the programs and i went into his office hours at least once a week. If you know this programming stuff already, i think you will do fine.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2002
Professor Rowland was a really nice guy. He just has a real problem realizing that most of us have never programmed before and he would never explain anything thoroughly. It seemed he never started at the beginning of a topic... always in the middle, which as you can imagine had most people lost. The ONLY reason I got an A was because I was on the phone with my dad every weekend while he walked me through the programs. The quizzes, midterm, and final are really hard but he curves them a lot. Make sure to do well on the programs because they are worth 40% of your grade. Teh other problem is that for the first half of the quarter it seems like you do absolutely nothing... then all of a sudden you have program after program after program. It was kind of stressful.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Feb 2003
This guy was the worst lecturer I have had at cal poly in 3 years, he also had the worst attitude of any educator or professional i have ever seen, do not take him at all cost. He is boring, cannot explain anything, was highly un-available in his office hours and grades the programs in an unfair manner, the only saving grace is the tests are not that hard.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2003
Ok, first off Rowland is old, really old, so don't be shocked when you walk into his class. He does seem to think that everyone knows something about coding before they walk into his class. I had never touched computer programming before this (short of simple calculator programs), so it was hard at first. However, all of the programs are fairly easy even though he doesn't cover everything in class. The tests are cake too. He does have a problem with getting stuck on one topic for the entire class, for instance he got so hungup on some irrelevant thing in the first few class sessions, I didn't even know how to connect into the mainframe to write the first program! Bring some other work to class and take advantage of the fact that the material isn't too hard.


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Apr 2003
Take lots of caffiene before entering class if you desire to stay awake. His lectures have no cohesion or flow or what you might refer to as 'usefullness'. One class period i sat and watched a kid who spent the whole time trying to not fall asleep. He put his head on his hand and it slowly lowered as his eyes closed, only to jolt himself awake before he fell out of the desk. This went on for a whole hour! I was happy to get a C since i did not put much effort into it and failed most quizzes and the midterm. If you know anything about C and Unix you should do fine. If not, do like another evaluator said and 'avoid him like the plague!!!!'