Williams, Douglas  

Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering

2.07/4.00

16 evaluations


BRAE 121


Freshman
B
Elective
Aug 2001
Dr. Williams is a nice man. He is generally helpful and responsive to students. He gave us 1 quiz per week, a midterm, and a final, as well as a lab grade. The course was interesting, particularly the lab.

BIO 213


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2001
Dr. Williams gave one of the weekly lectures in ENGR 213 (see Dr. Dan Walsh). He gave long, uneventful lectures and showed a long, uneventful video shot and narrated by himself. He wasn't afraid to laugh at the dumb parts of it though. He's the one who screwed up the reading assignment and then gave us a midterm-sized quiz. But overall, he was okay.

BRAE 325


Senior
B
Elective
Jan 2004
Dr. Williams really enjoys teaching and cares about his students. His assignments and exams can be challenging because they make you think! He makes you look up information, instead of just plugging numbers into equations. This may upset some students, who are lazy, but it is the way things are done in the REAL WORLD. Dr. Williams made an effort to get the students involved, but methane and animal wastes are not very galmourous and exciting in most students opinions. It you give Dr. Williams a chance and try to get involved in the course, you will end up learning a lot and probably get a decent grade too!

BRAE 348


Junior
B
Elective
Mar 2003
Dr. Williams is a very nice guy. He grades fairly. He needs to work on his teaching technique for this class, though. He focuses too much on statistics, and looking them up. Instead, he should give students the numbers and let them run with the math and problem solving on their own. Also, he should ignore trivial information. For example, he asked us to identify a couple of things seen in a video. It's not important what the details of the video were, if you know the substance what was discussed. The most critical thing he must do, is to ask questions very carefully. His assignments were full of ambiguous questions. You need to state clearly what it is wanted and the units the answer should be in.


Senior
A
General Ed
Mar 2005
Dr. Williams is not super inspiring in the classroom, but I was incredibly inspired by his passion of the subject matter, especially how he puts his beliefs into practice. Overall, I thought the class was tremendously easy if you did the work. (I got an A and I'm in liberal arts.) His labs were sometimes hard, but he practically sets up the equations for you to solve. I worked with other students and got full credit on all my labs. It's pretty easy to get an A on all the midterms if you do the reading, go to class, and study the labs (and it also helps that all of his tests are open book, open notes). But I would recommend this class to anyone because it teaches people to truly evaluate the effect of energy on our society, where it's going, what it will cost us, and how dangerous American energy policy is coupled with the consumers' uncontrolled consumption. Dr. Williams really provoked me to think about my actions as a consumer, and the effect I'm having on the rest of the world. I'm absolutely fascinated by renewable energy.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2005
I thought this class was cake. I really don't understand why I recieved an A- instead of an A. If you just go to the labs and print out the lecture notes you'll do fine. The midterms are open book and open note, but be sure you know how to do the calculations. He sometimes throws out curve balls on some mini-midterms. But you shouldn't have any trouble with this class!


Senior
N/A
General Ed
May 2005
I don't know what other people are talking about. This guy is very straight forward and easy to follow. He does not have a crippling stutter. His tests are very fair and relevant to the material. Overall he is a good instructor


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Sep 2005
Ok, so the man is a dork. Plain and simple is his way. Not a performer, or your best bud. The man has a personality as if he jst woke up in a corn field, and doesnt know where he is. But guys, he is great. Presents amazing material with passion. Dry wit, but bright as hell. If you like the topic and want it strait and rather simple, take this man.


Junior
N/A
Required (Support)
Apr 2012
I literally have no idea what's going on in this class or how to study for it, all he does is read slides with random units of god even knows what please someone help


Junior
N/A
General Ed
Jun 2012
This professor is definitely rough around the edges but he does know what he is talking about and has good intentions. Teaching is not his strong point but for this class it really does not matter. Every test is open book so you should be able to figure it out on your own. I found the labs to be a little more difficult but 99% of the time the class gets out early. some students stay and complete the lab before they leave...if you do that it will be easier because he is right there to answer questions. It is seemingly impossible for you to fail this course

BRAE 402


Senior
B
Required (Major)
Nov 2004
This teacher did not know the material at all, he read directly out of the book. He was un-professional and un-prepared for class. The lectures are one hour long which he struggled to fill, mostly by saying "uh". We timed him and tallied the count, he said "uh" over 400 times in less than an hour. "uh" dont take him if you can. He knows poop power, but has trouble getting the point across in ag materials.


Senior
A
Required (Major)
Jan 2005
Who hired this guy?? Dr. Williams is by far the worst teacher I've had in my four years at Cal Poly. He comes to class unprepared. Most of the quarter was spent listening to him read to us because he didn't know enough about the material to even teach it. Dr. Williams is one of those teachers who have realized that they cannot get fired so they no longer give a shit about anything. Don't bother trying to go to his office hours because he's probably asleep. I'm serious...I found him asleep in his office on two different occasions. Someone needs to put a stop to this madness and fire this guy!!!!!


5th Year Senior
A
Required (Major)
Jan 2005
What an idiot! Since when is cow shit an ag material. Its waste just like the time I spent in that class. I would have liked to learn more about actual ag materials, but this douche bag can't teach to save his life. A little side note, his stutter is just as bad as his breath. However, I did enjoy going to The Shack afterwards and erasing all the boring shit we learned at the Dairy from my memory. D-D-D-Don't t-t-t-take Dr. Williams if you c-c-c-can avoid i-i-i-it.

BRAE 433


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Nov 2000
This class was a complete waste of time. I gained nothing from this quarters experience. He can't even grade his own tests accurately. He has no background on the information and shouldn't be teaching this class.


5th Year Senior
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2001
This guy has passion for what he knows. There is no one better to talk about waste, alternative fuels, etc. However, with other teachers retiring, and cal poly not paying enough for teachers to live here, he has taken on classes he knows nothing about. I really do feel sory for him. He could be a little more organized, but still. Let the guy teach what he knows. Don't make him teach for Cavaleto.


5th Year Senior
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2001
He know about poop but he don't know shit about structures.