Smith, Terry  

He is great teacher I just did not try

Dr. Smith is wonderful!!! He adjusts Lab grades according to the department average, so if you get one of the harder teachers, you are not penalized for it. Dr. Smith takes time out of his busy schedule (his own time, when he's not being paid!) to come in and review with students before an exam (even on Sunday nights.) He is willing and able to sit with you during his office hours (and outside of them) and answer any questions you may have. One day I went to see him with a question about an upcoming test and ended up sitting there just chatting with him for over an hour. He is a very nice man. Unlike some other Soil Science professors, Dr. Smith will not make you cry, or call you names. He is very encouraging. Dr. Smith makes sure that students are aware of and learn the information that he will be testing on. He is a very good teacher all around. I would recommend that any student (especially non-SS majors) make sure that they get Dr. Smith for any SS classes they are required to take. He's the greatest!

Dr. Smith is such a great teacher. You can tell he likes to teach and is so enthusiastic about his class. Really take the time to go ask him questions after tests and stuff because it will help a lot. This class is way hard so I would definetly recommend the S.I. class too. (you can probably get away with not buying the book... all the test info. is covered in lecture) dont miss class!!

Smith is one cool guy; he throws rocks at you in one of the first lectures. He gets the material into the minds of his students in bite sized pieces. Sure he may have a quiet voice but when he gets into SOIL he hard-core in your face. He sometimes will grade on curves which helps the class out TONS. He has 5 HW assignments so do well on them. Three mid-terms and a final round out his class. His final doesn't have a large enough % value to totally screw a grade but then to also help it; do well on the mid-terms. All I can is that he made SOIL fun for what it is. Get this guy even if he only teaches in the mornings it'll be WELL worth your while!

This was my first quarter at Cal Poly and I had a few friends recommend to take this teacher. Terry is one of the best teachers I have had during my academic tour. He really loves what he does and has a great sense of humor. Dont be nervous about soil science if you are taking his class. You probably do not need to buy the book because all of the test information is given out in class notes. You will be glad that you took his class.

Dr Smith gives very clear and easy to understand, although sometimes boring lectures. He always answers questions very throughly, and will take the time to clear up any confusion. There are homework assignments about every week, which are an easy way to get points. If you go to his office, he will go through the entire homework with you. There are 4 midterms, so the material is pretty fresh in your mind when you take the exam. He posts previous exams so you have a pretty good idea what sort of stuff you need to know. Overall, a great instructor.

What can I say about Dr. Smith that is not bad. This is the 2nd time I had to take SS 121 and he made it great. He has fun with the class. He presents the material clearly. He does have a soft voice but sit up in front and you will get everything. He understands that soil science is not the easy that is why he has plenty of office hours. Even if you stop by and it is not office hour (e.g. lunch) he is willing to put things aside to help. His tests are all hard so study! He does do examples from the test if you pay attention closely. His homeworks are self explanatory. But do them because with out the homework points you will be down a grade. If you have a chance take any of Dr. Smith's classes DO IT! One more good advic to give he grades on a curve so work hard or hope the class does bad. Good luck!

Terry is a great guy, too bad i just didnt get Lab. He knows everything about soils you can possibly imagine and is really just a nice teacher. he loves soils and its actually quite fun in his class. only downfall, the beginning of the class is just reading through the lab almost word for word...hes great though. ask him any question on soils and he'll give you an answer. he's on of the most approachable teachers ive met at poly and literally one of the smartest. he makes you think but totally helps you get your thought process down. and he's funny too. there's a quiz every class period on the lab before, and theres lab homwork every week. dont slack off! he tries to make everything lab fun and interesting, but sometimes the material is just drole! g-luck!

Not the best teacher! He tried to cram too much into the quarter. We had three professors for the class because he had an emergency surgery opperation. The first 6 weeks we had one test that most of the class did very well on and the we had 3 MORE!! Including one in dead week. Thanks DICK! Take Hallock if you can he is a much nicer and more of a professor than Smith

I can't give you my grade because the quarter isn't over, but I have to forwarn those of you who are thinking about taking his class. He's a nice person, but that DOES NOT make him a good teacher. I'm in both his lab and lecture-which clearly hasn't helped me, or anyone else out. He doesn't get it that no one else in the world is aroused by soil. He doesn't prepare you for the tests, he does put out a previous test-but don't study it because that guarantees that you'll miss everything. Let me wrap this shin-dig into this one last thought. You have some coloring projects for homework (which he grades by the way) and he grades you down for coloring out of the lines. Happy teacher hunting.

Sure; Terry is a nice guy and gives out his home phone number to students. He seems to care that we learn the materials. BUT, he drones on and on about the most boring subject in the world --> DIRT !!!! Too many lecture exams late in the quarter brought my grade to a C. Take him if you like to sleep thru lecture.

Great teacher, lab quizes could be a little bit tricky. I went to his office hours every single week and he was always willing to sit with me and help me with any questions that I had. Highly recommended and a truly great guy.

He is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG................If you have a short attention span DO NOT TAKE HIM. WASTE OF TIME, I HATED THIS CLASS! The class was only an hour and it honestly put me in a bad mood because he was so so so so so so so so boring!

This guy could put you to sleep in the middle of a nuclear war! He drones on about the most boring subject---DIRT. Oh yeah, SOIL! His monotone is so bad that it's best to stay home from lecture and get notes from others. He posts old tests to study, but dont study them cuz they are not going to be the same ones that you take. If you want to learn some practical soils in a fun setting, take another soils prof like Appel or Hallock. Ok, Terry is a nice guy, but a real bore for lecture.

Dr. Smith doesn't give the most entertaining lectures. He's very soft spoken. But his handout book is very clear, and he also does mention exactly what will be on the tests. Don't study the questions verbatim off of the sample midterm outside his office. That's just the "type" of questions asked, not the questions asked. Basically I just would read ahead, go to lecture, re-read while typing the important notes into my computer, and that's how I studied. The tests are pretty hard, but if you practice the problems ahead of time, you'll be good. He does not give constants when you do calculations, to be prepared to remember all of them. Go over them until you don't have to think about it and practice the problems that he assigns as homework. He's a very helpful guy and if you pay attention you'll do fine. It helped that I had Chip for lab, who gave us quizzes every week. If you can get that combo of teachers, I highly recommend it.

Extremely boring teacher, within 10 minutes of hearing him talk your already day dreaming or really dreaming. Doesnt clearly answer your questions. Take someone else for this class

Terry Smith Loves soils. The class is not too bad. Just try to stay awake and make notecards. I didnt open the soil science book once. Either way he trys his best and is so excited about soils.

This guy is great. He presents the material clear. Don't buy the books because everything on his tests are covered in lecture. His tests are very hard but it's not impossible to get a good grade. The final is not to bad either.

Hard class, great teacher. He is the nicest guy I have had the chance to work with on campus. He really loves his job, teaching.

better than sex.

Dr. Smith, was one of the best profesors here at cal poly. he presents the course material very clear. if you have any problems he is always willing to help during class and during his office hours. i recommend taking this class it is fun and interesting and you will learn a lot.

Smtih kicks ass. Lecture is slow and mellow with easy material. You just have to remember it really good for the tests. Smtih likes to have fun with his students and not just drone on and on like many professors. In lab he reads the manuel word for word and it is excruciating since you could do the lab by yourself. Smith is awesome with his students and will help you out at anytime you need it. I don't know how the other teachers are for this class but take smith if you want a good teacher.

like others said; Smith is a nice guy. But there's too much math in this course and not enough pratical fertilizers information that you can use in the field. Please get rid of all the ridiculous math and get real about the application of fertilizers! But i hear that he's better than Ruehr for 221.

Dr. Smith is a friendly professor who is always willing to answer any questions during class and outside of class. I highly recomend Dr. Smith if you willing to learn and ask questions.

Smith thinks that calculations are more important than real fertilizer industry information. I used lecture notes from last year and he doesn't change a word. Most of his information is outdated, since I am told that most fertilizers in CA are added with irrigation water or used as foliar spray. Take Dr. Ruehr's fertigation class if you want to learn some real useful info.

Please do all the fertilizers industry a favor and retire. A nice guy but so boring and out of touch with the latest fertigation techniques. D for dun.

Amazing teacher. Some of his teaching techniques are old and sometimes slow, but the material is awesome. He will sit in office hours with you forever. Dedication to his students.

I love Dr. Smith. He tells you know everything you need to know for the exams and even gives you old exams that are very similar to the exams he gives in class. Dont even bother buying the book because you dont really need it. Go to the office hours, if you get to know him you'll find out hes a really funny guy!

WOW. Some people need to get a grip. Dr. Smith is not the most exciting lecturer, but the lectures are easy-going. I had him in the morning and it was NOT as bad as people make it out to be. He makes jokes throughout the lecture, and is super nice. He's a great lab instructor though. The directions are very clear, and he's really great with clarifying any questions you have about the process/parts of the lab. You usually can get out early with the lab, so that's nice. He's very willing to take extra time to help you with your lab reports and going over anything you missed. If you are really courteous he might give you extra points for re-doing some problems you missed. I only got a C because I didn't try as hard as I should have the first half of the quarter. If you can get Appel, great- but don't be disappointed with Dr. Smith, you can get an A.

221 is tough. It's not your typical EHS class, but maybe the most useful class I have taken at Cal Poly. 322 is almost as good. The work load, particularly the labs, is even more time-consuming than 221. He's a tougher grader in 322 as well. Also, like other professors I've had (Steinmaus), his advanced class involves more theories, and isn't as useful. It's still a very valuable class if your career has anything to do with growing anything.

Dr. Smith is one helluva fantastic instuctor. I did not give it my best, but still gleaned so much information from this class. Expect to work relatively hard and just enjoy his very interesting lectures and labs.

Dr Smith really is a great guy, and you should enjoy some of his pranks, but drink coffee before class because it can get pretty boring for some people. Good instructor for the most part, but runs his lectures off of projector slides rather than PP. So just take really good notes and study throughout the quarter. He posts sample exams on his window (not BB like most) so just take pictures of those and study them along with all of your other notes. If you fail a homework or lab report miserably then he will let you resubmit it and will even let you turn in your work late a couple of times if you are really having to cram for things (or just forgot).