Kirk, Colleen  

Mathematics

3.75/4.00

81 evaluations


MATH 141


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Apr 2002
Professor Kirk is a great teacher. She goes over the material slowly enough for you to understand and ask questions during the lecture, but fast enough that all the material required for the course is covered within the time frame given. I liked her so much my first quarter that I took her again for 142. The experience was the same although the material was harder. Homework is optional so you don't have to do it, but I would recommend doing it. Some of the quizzes have questions from the homework. She just has the quizzes to check up on you to see if you did do the homework. I would highly recommend Professor Kirk! Take her class if you can.


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
May 2002
Kirk is great. Take her if you can. She is organized, friendly, and clearly explains what is happening and what to expect. Homework is optional, but you'll regret not doing it if you don't. The reason I got a C was because I slacked off at the end of the quarter, and because her tests always seemed to be harder then I expected- Not hard, but you still need to know the material well. She does use curves if needed. Bottom line... A


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jul 2002
Professor Kirk is the best teacher that I have had here at Cal Poly. She is very well organized and she puts everything across in a straightforward manner. I had her for Math 141 my first quarter and I was so impressed with her teaching style that I took her again for Math 142 and highly recommended her to my roommate, who took her and now tells everyone to take her. She was so good in class that I never even opened my book either quarter and still got a B both quarters. Don't do that though, do the homework; she doesn't collect it, but it is very valuble to you if you want an A. I am planning on trying very hard to get her for Math 241. If you get the chance to take her for any class take it, as long as it doesn't leave me without a seat.


Sophomore
D
Required (Support)
Dec 2003
Her lectures were very straightforward and she makes it very easy to take notes. Don't let my grade fool you, I learned a lot and very much enjoyed this class. I just wasn't prepared for calculus and got behind at the start of the quarter and never caught up.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2003
Professor Kirk was an excellent teacher!! Don't let my grade deceive you because that was a B+. The only reason I got that was because Professor Kirk was always willing to help me if I was confused. She taught the material by using examples so you knew exactly how to do the homework. Her office hours are extremely helpful because she has the ability to quickly find what you did wrong with your work. One time she thought I was leaving because there were too many students before me and she chased after me to assure me that I would be helped soon. She is really determined to help those in need. She also had a couple review sessions here and there. What really took me by surprise was that on that monday before veterans day or whatever, she knew everyone was going to skip class so she went over the easiest material that day so nobody would miss out. There's either a quiz or test every wekk to keep you on your tose but that's what your graded on so it doesn't all depend on one thing. Take Kirk if possible


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Jan 2004
Simply The Best. Professor Kirk is a rare and unique teacher. For those who hate reading a math book, I recommend you take Professor Kirk. She is extrememly organized and can explain things very well. She knows math like the back of her hand. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating one bit. Ask her a question and she can come up with an example that can support your question and a scenario to show that what you propose might not work. She teacher very very very well!!! She gives no homework, but I recommend that you do it so you get comfortable with the material. She has a test basically every tuesday and they are extrememly fair. They basically keep you on track--a very good thing =). Her tests are not long and are not impossible to do. I would say the overall difficulty of the test were between medium and hard, not plain hard. She does curve a little and I think the curve only occurs if a lot of people do bad on a certain test. She also drops your lowest quiz score, so don't fret if you mess up on a quiz or completely miss one (like how I missed the first one =/). Overall, awesome professor! A+ rating from me!!! I wish I could take her again, but she's not teaching 142 this quarter =(


Freshman
C
Required (Support)
Mar 2004
Best math teacher i have ever had. She's very approachable and is one of the few professors on campus who actually makes an effort to learn all her students names. Her tests are pretty hard but what do you expect from a calculus class. There's enough homework and easy quizzes to keep your grade up. Take this class.


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Oct 2004
Professor Kirk's class is pretty much a typical math lecture. She spends extra time on areas that students may not understand and will go over any homework questions. I would definately recommend this professor if you need to take Math 141.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Jul 2006
In our class, she was kinda like a bat without sonar. She would crash into things and not even seem to notice she was doing it. It was kinda funny. She's easily the most attractive teacher I've ever had. Oh right, and she rocks at explaining calculus. I'm not entirely sure why her poly rating isn't even higher, the best part is she doesn't try to trick people on the midterms, she just sees if you know the material which you should if you study even a little bit. Homework is not collected.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Nov 2006
She is a very articulate teacher and very helpful when it comes to students difficulties. I would highly recommend her to anyone!


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2007
At first, she seemed to take the class a little fast. But since i had not taken calc in high school, i realized its just the college, not neccesarily her. But overall, she's a good teacher, and if you go to her office, or just stay after class for a little, she'll help you with anything.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2007
She doesnt collect or grade homework, which can be good or bad since it can pad your grade. There are quizzes every week, but your lowest quiz score gets dropped. She posts review problems for the test which are very helpful. She also offers to do homework problems in class.


Freshman
C
Required (Major)
Jun 2009
She's a really nice lady, but I sometimes found it difficult to stay along with her during the tough material. Like for the related rates chapter I remember we only spent one class period going over problems, where my friends' teachers were spending at least 2-3. She's pretty good at recognizing student difficulties and she's really approachable. My big problem with her class was that the tests were so damn hard. I would do fairly well on the quizzes every week, and then study those for the test. But then she'd pull out some ridiculous problems from the same chapter, and it kinda seemed like she was trying to make it especially hard on us. But she is a really fair grader and gives partial credit on answers where it's deserved. Overall, I don't think she's the best out there... but DEFINATELY better than some of those other professors I've been hearing about.


Sophomore
C
General Ed
Aug 2011
Kirk is such a great math teacher! She gives you the most detailed worksheets for every single lesson of the course, you will probably never have a professor be that clear again in college. Shes pretty helpful and appreciates students who participate in class. This was the second time I was taking Calc 2 at poly because i failed the first time, and she clarified everything!

MATH 142


Freshman
D
Required (Support)
Apr 2002
Only take this teacher if you learn well by reading the book. Her lectures in class are right out of the book and when you go to her office hours she repeats what she siad in class. She doesn't adapt here teaching style to let all the students understand the material.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
May 2002
Great, great, great. Never had to read the book, never had to go to her office hours. Simple explanantions, and simple methods of working problems out. TAKE HER IF YOU CAN.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Aug 2002
She is the best math teacher I have ever had. She explains the material clearly with lots of notes in class I didn't even have to read the book. Her tests and quizes are extremely fair, she covers everything in lecture. She takes time to answer questions on homework and tests. If you expect to get out of class on time, you won't. She uses ever minute of lecture and gives plenty of examples.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2007
Dr. Kirk is a great great professor. She is super organized and gives great lectures. I didnt even have to read the book because she covers eveything in class. Her midterms are fair and so are the quizes. Make sure you dont miss a quiz because you wont be able to make it up. The final wasnt too bad either. HW isnt collected, but make sure you do it so you can understand the material. She is probaly the best math professor I've had so far. I would definetly take her again. She also looks a LOT like Sarah Silverman.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Apr 2009
Collen Kirk is a decent teacher, and you can pass with her. She has trouble conveying the information in lectures but is not bad. The one thing that I noticed is that she is scared of giving points out. She gives a half point bonus to the people who show up when less than two thirds of the class is their. Well that never happened.

MATH 143


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2008
OK first I would like to say that it is very hard to go to class at eight. Colleen has this system of giving out a half of one point which does nothing. But she sometimes messes up her examples and gives them to you. She is a bit confusing in class but if you go to her office hours she is great. Homework is not like the test questions at all. And this one time on the midterm she did this stupid thing where she made us get the derivative of a log base 2 of something, which i thought was retarded since we did not have to differentiate logs ever before in class. The quizzes are ok but make sure you do the homework before each one. Basically, she does not look like sarah silverman and go to her office hours everyday and you will be fine. and if you take this as an early morning class dont worry, you can even sleep in the front row.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2008
Professor Kirk is very knowledgeable and very good at explaining calculus concepts. While half of the quarter was review for me, Kirk made the new material easy to understand. There were 7 quizzes, 2 tests, and a final during the quarter. For each test and the final, she printed out a study guide of topics that would be covered and important equations to know as well as 10-12 practice problems. That was extremely helpful! Also, she posts the solutions to the quizzes and the tests online the same day you take it. It is easy to contact her should you have any questions. She assigns homework but doesn't collect it, but I highly recommend you do it. Some problems on the quizzes come from the homework. Take professor Kirk if you get the chance.


Freshman
A
Required (Major)
Dec 2008
Professor Kirk does a good job of presenting the material in class and making sure it makes sense to everyone. Even though the material in Calculus III had already all been covered before by my AP Calculus BC teacher back in high school, I still felt like I was learning something when I showed up, and not necessarily like I was having it beat into the ground. She is incredibly helpful and willing to make adjustments for "Special Circumstances." I can't say much more than that because I didn't show up to class 50% of the time... though I tried, really I did! Taking a 7:00 AM class is a bad idea. Don't do it. Ever. You'll sleep through your alarm every time...


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Feb 2009
When I saw her the first day, I was trying to figure out who she looked like. Then I went home one day, filpped to comedy central and saw her evil dog-loving clone! You'll figure it out. Her homework is optional, but it's not optional. What you will notice is if you don't do the homework, it will have an impact on your quiz grade. Make sure you take time to memorize the properties of converging and diverging series.....that will kill you in the end if you don't. She is a great teacher and finds the easiest way of explaining material in class. Her tests can be tough, but she gives a lot of partial credit. I really enjoyed her class and I recommend her to anyone!

MATH 241


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Apr 2002
I would HIGHLY recommend this professor. Kirk explains material clearly and spends most of class time showing examples instead of proofs. The homerwork, which is not collected, is very similar to the examples, the quizes are just like the homework, and the exams are like the quizes. She also provides study guides and practice exams; I always had a good idea of what her expectations were. Kirk is friendly and engaging in class and helpful during office hours. She also seemed to be a fairly generous grader.


Freshman
N/A
Required (Support)
May 2003
Not only is Kirk a good teacher, she's got to be the absolute hottest teacher at Cal Poly. Most definitely, the hottest.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2003
She is terrific. The best math teacher I've had at Poly. Homework is not collected, but you should do it because there are weekly quizzes and that is pretty much where she gets the problems. There are normally 6 or 7 quizzes with the lowest score dropped. There are two midterms which she hands out review sheets for before. The final is comprehensive, so study, that is why I came out with a B and not an A like I went into the final with. She explains everything very well and is very approachable and open to questions. If you get the chance, take her!


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Nov 2004
So far, I enjoy having Professor Kirk as a teacher. She explains fairly well, she is super nice, and her tests and quizzes are pretty straightforward. However, the only downside is that she doesnt collect homework, so I have had a tendancy to fall behind on the material.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2004
Colleen Kirk is a pretty good professor at this, the final course in the Calc series. She seemed to emphasize heavily the scientific and especially the engineering applications of what we were learning. This is great if you're an EE or a ME, but I'm a Computer Scientist, so I really didn't care. I memorized the equations and tuned up during lectures. The class is very easy, at least it was for me: homework is assigned but not graded, quizzes are given weekly and are worth 22% of the grade in this class and are not at all difficult (I never studied for a single one and the lowest grade I got was 70%--and only once), the tests make up the rest. The exams cover, respectively, partial derivatives and multiple integrals, and the first is ridiculously easy, the second, not as much, but still doable. The final covered the entire quarter, but there was a definite focus on the extra engineering math we looked at. Kirk is a very nice lady and an easy grader, and the class will probably be fun to all you real engineers out there, but I'm a CSC, dammit, and I don't care about vector calculus. The class was a bore to me, but that's not Kirk's fault, she almost made it bearable. Let's face it, though: if you're taking this class, you probably don't have a choice, so go with Kirk. For all you other CSCs out there, do 206 instead. It's a smarter option for us.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2005
Dr. Kirk is 100% helpful during class and office hours. There is a quiz the last day of every week, but homework is never turned in. The quizzes add up to one test, and the tests are much like the quizzes. She tends to pull some of the more tricky problems for tests, but the quizzes have 1 of the 2 problems directly from the homework. I went into her office hours a few times and she is willing to slow down as much as you need and repeat herself, whatever it takes to get you to understand. She gives review problems for her tests too. She uses Blackboard to show answers to quizzes, tests, and even homework problems. Wonderful!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2005
Welllll, what can I say about Professor Kirk? After having taken five math classes at Cal Poly, she is by far the best math professor I've had, and I had Matt White for 142 (almost as awesome). Kirk's class has a pretty straight-forward format: Assigned homework that's not collected, weekly quizzes, two midterms, and a final that's worth about 150% of a midterm. She explains the material in an easy, straight-forward manner, and is more then helpful in office hours if you need something explained. The most important thing, I suppose, is that she wants everyone to do well in her class, and curves the class accordingly...and what can I say, she's pretty easy on the eyes.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Feb 2006
She is the best teacher i have ever had for any class here at cal poly. The way she writes notes and presents lectures leaves absolutely no room for doubt or confusion. I never read the calculus book, which was refreshing after having to read it for calc 2 and 3. I want to have her for every one of my engineering classes. I wonder if the boots she wears every day to class are comfortable, but i know one thing, they're really hot. The only problem i had in that class was deciding to either do the integrals or stare at her.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2006
Prof. Kirk is easily one of the most awesome math teachers that I've had (along with Patton and Alongi). She manages to present the material in a seemingly-hard subject into a way that anyone is able to understand. And as a plus, she quizzes and tests you on whatever she tells you in class. Her quizzes and tests are straightforward, and won't really test you on any conceptual stuff. Occasionally, a quiz or test problem will be a problem from straight out of the homework, so it's a very good idea to do the hw (even though it's not collected). She's also a very nice person and very easy to talk to, and genuinely cares about her students........ I seriously want her to teach every single of my EE classes now! (she probably now knows who wrote this haha)


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2006
Kirk was the best math teacher I've had at Cal Poly, along with Choboter. She presents the material clearly, and i mean clearly, so that anyone can understand this subject. The hw is not collected, but it would be wise if u did it because the test questions from the tests and quizzes usually come from or are closely related to the hw. Her tests are also not that hard; they test you to see if you understand the material, unlike some midterms and finals in other classes where they seem to be like your testing for your fucking Phd. She's really nice, understandable, cares for her students, and just straight up fucking awesome. HIGHLY recommended.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2006
i personally think professor kirk is a really good teacher. she explains everything really well. her quizzes were fair and tests were generally easier than others. i would definitely recommend her for any of your math classes.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Jan 2007
The best Math teacher I have ever had. She is really good at making Calculus seem simple. She doesn't make is seem really complicated and elite. Her test and quizzes are really fair. If you do the homework you will do well on the tests and quizzes. I learned alot and it is easy to pay attention in class because she is pretty good lokking for a teacher.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2009
Kirk tried to make Calc IV as simple as possible, and it really helped. She\'d give out handouts for each section and you just had to fill in the info she wrote on the overhead projector. You have a quiz each week and 2 tests plus the final, but as long as you study, you\'ll do fine.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Feb 2010
I have to agree that Professor Kirk is my favorite professor I\'ve ever had. I have an enormous crush on her. She\'s so awesome! I have her for two hours twice a week which was intimidating when I enrolled, but she makes me actually prefer it that way. Tuesdays she essentially has free office hours for the last 15 minutes of class. She lets people ask questions on homework, and everyone else can leave if they want. She is extremely smart and does anything in her power help her students understand what she\'s teaching. Other professors lecture, she actually wants every single student to learn the material completely, and it works. She also has the most endearing nerdiness ever. I love it and I look forward to her class every week. If you can\'t fit her class in your schedule, change your schedule.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Feb 2010
I\'m still in the class. Professor Kirk is super organized. During lecture she hands out notes that she wrote on each section, and you just have to fill in some blanks and do example problems in your own notebook. She\'ll name each step of the problem (like step one: sketch, step two: convert to polar coordinates, etc). I have it tuesdays and thursdays for 2 hours. Thursdays we take a quiz, and she\'ll return it to us on Tuesdays and immediately post the solutions on Blackboard. She saves the last 20 minutes of Tuesday\'s lecture for any homework questions, but most people just leave. She doesn\'t get offended by that. Homework is collected twice throughout the quarter. It\'s only worth 5 percent of your overall grade and she tells you a week in advance when it\'s due. The only criticism I have about Kirk is that she gave us one hour to do 8 problems on the midterm. Other than that, she\'s a great teacher.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2010
Professor Kirk is definitely the best professor I have had at Cal Poly. She is so smart and knows her stuff really well. She is so helpful and is a teacher who is genuinely concerned with her students\' success. She spends a lot of time making sure that everyone understands the material. At first I really disliked the fact that she assigned a lot of homework and collected it, but in the end it really helped. She grades the homework VERY easily and gives almost everyone a 5 out of 5. Warning, do not fall behind on the homework. She assigns about 10-20 problems per section, but only collects it twice a quarter, making it very easy to put off until a couple days before. DO NOT fall into this.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
Mar 2010
Prof Kirk is really cool and nice. She seems a little nervous in lectures but she really does present the material clearly. She prints out notes so you aren\'t sitting down coping pointless theorems. She is really nice you should def take her!


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Nov 2010
Take her if Possible


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2010
Kirk is an amazing professor! I had her for 4 days a week and 7am every single day. Her teaching made it worth coming to. She gives us notes which is amazing! Her notes really helped with homework and her homework relaly helped with the midterms! She even give us study guides and solutions to the study guide!


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Major)
Apr 2011
Professor Kirk is by far the BEST math teachers that I have had so far. I am still taking her class right now but I have to agree with other reviewers. She presents the material very clearly, extremely helpful during office hours. Weekly quizzes, 2 midterms and 1 final. She is very approachable for questions. Take Kirk for all your math classes!!!


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Jun 2011
Professor Kirk is amazing. She is very clear in lecture. Her tests are very similar to the homework and she's willing to help her students. I would recommend taking her for any math class.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Jul 2011
Professor Kirk is by far the best professor I've ever had at poly. The only problem with professor Kirk is once you take her for math, you are incredibly spoiled and all other teachers look impossible and unhelpful. She gives out lecture packets, and instead of frantically coping down notes throughout the entire lecture, you get to fill in the blanks and actually listen to the subject matter. This is a huge help, especially in math, where it often takes a lot of concentration to grasp the concepts. There is a quiz each week, 2 midterms and 1 final, and they are relatively easy, as long as you do the homework. The best piece of advice I can offer is MAKE SURE TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND THE PRACTICE TESTS! There were usually questions directly off the homework on the quizzes, and every single exam had one question directly off the practice test. Professor Kirk is also really helpful during office hours, and is more then happy to go out of her way to help you. TAKE PROFESSOR KIRK AT ALL COSTS!


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2013
Dr. Kirk is very organized. If you take this class, you will know what to expect from her. She lets you know what the homework is ahead of time (you have half a quarter to complete 1 homework set). She hands out packets of notes for you to fill in the blanks. If you do the homework, you should be fine for the quizzes. The tests are a little bit harder than the quizzes since she tests you on problems that she briefly covers in class. They also tend to be on the harder side of the homework set. Know derivatives and integrals of sinx, cosx, tanx, cotx, secx, ln x, 2^x, etc really well. She doesn't curve that much. Her class isn't that hard though. As long as you do the homework, you should be fine.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2014
Kirk is, for most part, a good professor. Not great, but good. She's great in the sense that she is very organized, speaks clearly to the class, and moves at a reasonable pace. She gives print outs of the notes, but expects you to work out the example problems. She is very good at explaining things, so ask as many questions as you can. The main problem I had with her was that she's TOO EASY. Her quizzes are similar to the homework, and the tests are just like quizzes and homework, with maybe a twist or two in one of the problems. I did almost none of the required homework leading up to the second midterm, and I got a 98% on the test just because I went to class and didn't fall asleep. I am nervous for how future classes are going to go because I don't think she challenges her students enough. She also drops a quiz, gives extra credit, and will let you drop a midterm if you do bomb one but do well on the other and the final.


Sophomore
D
Required (Support)
Mar 2014
I was underwhelmed by Professor Kirk. She has a very high rating, but a little too high for myself. She is good, pretty good, but not 3.77 good. I was expecting Retsek-like quality. She was very well organized and was very clear in class, but I was left in the dark on class expectations. Some quizzes were much more difficult than others. Her tests were much more straightforward, so DO THE HOMEWORK WHEN ASSIGNED AND REVIEW IT BEFORE A TEST. She will put problems similar to the homework on the test. The downside is that she absolutely LOVES word problems. Spend time studying from word problems and not just your basic problems. If you understand word problems, the basic problems will solve themselves. I didn't do too well in the class and I know I could have done better if I didn't wait until finals week to learn all of Chapter 16 again. However, her final was much more difficult than her midterms hands-down. I've never felt as bad as I did leaving that final. Weird functions and strange 3D graphs that made basically everything hard to visualize. Would I take her again? Sure, why not? I will just have to do more on my own than had made out to be.


Freshman
B
Required (Support)
May 2014
Kirk is a wonderful professor, if you can, definitely take her. She was so clear in class, and told you exactly what you needed to know for homework and for exams. She did collect homework, but as long as it was complete you got points. There were quizzes every Friday, but they were short and almost exactly like the homework. She gives handouts, which I think is valuable because instead of taking up a huge notebook, you can just have it there, plus you don't spend as much time writing stuff down. She was so helpful in class and was extremely clear with everything, so try to take her class if you can!


Freshman
N/A
General Ed
Jun 2014
Professor Kirk was a very awesome teacher! She was very helpful in office hours and she is extremely organized and gives the class detailed notes of each topic. Definitely try to get her if you can. The only bad thing that I can think about the class was that the final was a little difficult in my opinion.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2014
Great Professor. Very organized and explained things extremely well. All the quizzes and tests were straightforward if you did the homework and the notes.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Dec 2014
Colleen Kirk (aka Sarah Silverman) is da best math teacher of all times. She give u handouts which is hella chill and she supah nice and hella chill. She is nice and her quiz and test r nice and fair and hella chill. Homework is not too overbearing and helpful 4 preparing for quiz and tests, which is fair and nice and hella chill. Overall v nice and fair and hella chill. Sarah ur so great and nice.


Sophomore
N/A
Required (Support)
Dec 2014
You must take Professor Kirk. She teaches the material so clearly and is such a good person. She genuinely cares about teaching. She is so helpful and awesome. Also she prints her lecture notes for the class so you can actually pay attention to her examples and keep up. ANDDD she does BINGO before the midterms to help prepare for the tests and if your wins you get half a point extra credit towards quizzes. I really hope I can take her again.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2014
Great professor that gives you a ton of supplementary material that's much useful than the book for learning the material.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Jan 2015
Excellent professor. I highly recommend you take her. She has quizzes ever Friday, which are fair and easy if you did the homework and paid attention in class. Her midterms were fair not too hard. Overall, she was a good teacher who presented the material clearly, and in a way that was easy to understand.


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Dec 2016
Kirk is a really good math professor- she presents the material very clearly and explains every little thing. As long as you pay attention in class you'll do fine. She assigns HW every day but its not due until the midterm- would recommend doing it at least weekly to stay on top of things. Its easy to get lost towards the end of the course but she's pretty understanding with grades. I'd take her again.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2017
Professor Kirk is an awesome teacher. She really knows how to explain material in a way that makes sense. Her tests are easy if you've been studying, and if you do the optional HW then the quizzes are hella easy too. DO THE HW!!! I learned the hard way on the second quiz. Probably only bad thing about Kirk is that her lectures are pretty boring. She's not the most entertaining professor, especially at 8 am.

MATH 244


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
This class is so easy if you hard half-way decent at math. She gives tons of handouts, and easy notes. Do homework for practice, and it is easy to do well. I got 10/10 on every quiz and A's on Midterms no problem. She is very clear with everything. A stress-free teacher.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2009
There are a lot of topics in Math 244 and they are very widespread, so it was no surprise that Dr. Kirk couldn't really go too in depth into each of them. Her policies are very straightforward, she still gives quizzes nearly every Friday and the lowest grade is dropped. Lots of partial credit. She bombards the class with very useful handouts on a very regular basis; there is at least one for every section of the book you go over. Overall I recommend her, and my advice is to keep up with all of the homework. A lot of her quiz problems came straight from the homework and there is no way you can do well without doing them.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Sep 2009
Excellent! One of my FAVORITE teachers ever. I had her for two math classes, MATH 142 and MATH 244, and both classes were outstanding! She is so clear, knowledgable, and willing to help. I always enjoyed going to her class and taking notes on her amazing lectures. She is an AWESOME Professor. Take Kirk! You'll be so happy you did.


Junior
A
Required (Support)
Jan 2010
Professor Kirk is the BEST TEACHER I\'ve EVER had! A lot of my engineering professors don\'t even come CLOSE to how awesome she is. She\'s extremely organized and is willing to help out with any questions you have. 244 wasn\'t an easy class nor was it terribly difficult but having a great teacher is definititely a huge factor in how well you can do in this class. She had handouts for practically every topic that we talked about and they had parts where you can fill in with the examples that she uses. I have to admit, there were almost TOO many handouts... they took up a whole binder! But in the end, the midterms and quizzes were all quite easy and the final was reasonable considering how much she helps you along the way throughout the quarter. TAKE KIRK!!


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Feb 2015
Although I could have done better in this class -- it doesn't take away the fact that she's such a wonderful professor! She is extremely organized in her notes and her handouts make studying so much easier. She is very helpful in office hours and takes the time to work out the specific problems. her quizzes are very similar to the homework and her midterms are fair. Overall, her teaching style is straight to the point with a variety of examples!


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2017
A lot of comments for MATH 244 say that Professor Kirk is a super easy teacher and you don't have to try too hard to do well. While I did get an A, many people did not, and if it were not for all the time I spent studying for that class I probably wouldn't have either. I was in her 8 AM section and she gives quizzes EVERY Friday morning to make sure you don't miss class. I skipped one and went into her office about 45 minutes after class ended and she wouldn't let me make it up. Luckily she drops the lowest grade but make sure you don't get into her 7 AM every day or you are going to be in for a rough quarter, unless you are really a morning person. Overall, she was a really good professor, she taught super clearly, was always there to help, and is a super nice person! I also loved her notes as you could really study those and be fine for some topics. My advice for this class would be to make sure you show up to class every day and keep up with the homework because if you don't you will fall behind and have a difficult time. Also, make sure to go to her office hours, I went all the time and although her office smells a little, its worth her help, she'll go over anything really well! The 2 midterms were also a lot like the homework and the final was hard but it wasn't anything unfair, just some of the harder topics we went over during the quarter. Take Kirk!!


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Jan 2018
Professor Kirk makes an effort to maximize classtime. She provides many handouts before midterms and finals. She provides the notes for us to fill in during class. We're basically provided all the resources we need to succeed; she's the a student's ideal professor LOL. Also a plus Professor Kirk is a super sweet person. She's very approachable and helpful, really makes an effort to learn students' names in a class of about 50.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2018
She's an amazing professor and I even had her at 7am. Everything was straight forward, and her quizzes were taken from the homework. But if you didn't have time to do the homework, you could still do okay (it was easy to get A's when you did the homework, B's or C's when you didn't) and you didn't have to do busy work ever. She knows everyone's name which is very impressive. Highly recommend, worth it no matter what time you have to take her. Glad I listened to the poly ratings and suffered a 7 am because it was worth it


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Apr 2018
Provides outline for notes, is clear about what she expects on tests/quizzes, teaches well. Professor Kirk is fantastic overall and very helpful if you go to her office hours. Fantastic professor, would recommend 10/10.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
May 2018
Kirk was a really good professor. She had weekly quizzes with material that was covered by, if not on, the homework. Her exams were not tricky and she graded fairly. Homework was not required, but you definitely need to do it in order to do well in the class. Her lectures are very straight forward and she answers questions clearly. She gives you note outlines so you rarely are writing your own notes; This has its pros and cons, but in a class like this, it made it move faster and made it easier to follow lecture. She is a good professor and definitely worth taking.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2018
Hands down the best math professor I've had at Poly. She does a fantastic job of hitting on what's actually important in each section and what will be tested on. The BEST THING about Kirk is that for every single section, she gives out handouts of notes that you'll fill in with her during class. For the most part, the notes are pretty clear and are great to look back at before quizzes, which are almost always problems from notes or homework, and they're never too hard. Homework is assigned but NOT collected, and it's not very lengthy anyways. As for the grading breakdown: 2 midterms (25% each), Final (25%), Weekly Quizzes (22%), Attendance/Participation (3%). No surprises here! Great professor, I'd highly recommend her.


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2019
She is, by far, one of the best teachers I have ever had. The class is not too challenging but I cannot imagine doing well in it if I had a teacher who wasn't so organized, helpful, and kind. She is extremely approachable and very fair in her test difficulty and grading. If you read her notes before a quiz, do the optional homework, and pay attention in class, there is no way you will not do well in this class. Thank you so much for such a great quarter Mrs. Kirk. I hope I can have her again for future Math courses. :)


Freshman
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2019
Dr. Kirk is an incredible instructor that knows the material very well and makes sure her students do as well. The materials she provides - namely the handouts and bingo reviews - are second to none and just goes to show how serious she takes the class.I believe Dr. Kirk doesn't spend too much time on the important concepts but this isn't her fault as there are far too many concepts to cover in the short quarter we have.Dr. Kirk is a great instructor and I highly recommend her to anyone looking to take the class - even at 7am.

MATH 317


Sophomore
C
Required (Support)
Apr 2003
Prof. Kirk is a good teacher. She really cares for the students and is helpful in her office hours. She will always take time to clarify something in lecture if there are questions. We had weekly quizzes that were based on homework, but homework isn't collected. I would recommend doing the homework earlier than the day before the quiz so you can get help in her office. Tests were slighlty more involved than a lot of the homework but not overly difficult. She is good, go for it.

MATH 344


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2012
Professor Kirk is the professor that any engineering student dreams of. She barely deals with any theoretical aspects of the class and sticks to straight computation. Her teaching methods are excellent and her tests are a cake walk. As long as you keep up with the light homework load this class is a breeze.


Sophomore
B
Required (Support)
Jun 2013
I went into this class thinking I got a great professor after reading the polyratings. However, I found her to be the worst math teacher I have taken. I am not sure if it's my learning style, the time I took the class (7-8pm) or what, but I could not understand anything she said. She hands out a packet of notes every class which is nice, but I learn more if I write it down myself. She also talks a little too fast. The material is hard and I ended up pushing a lot of the work back which hurt me but I learned everything the day of the final (not recommended) and got a solid B. She doesn't grade homework and she gives a couple midterms and weekly quizzes, which I did like.A


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Dec 2014
Good notes, good presentation, good job answering questions in class and OH. Overall one of the best math teachers I've ever had. And OMG she is beautiful. Like impossible to stay focused beautiful.


Junior
B
Required (Support)
Feb 2015
TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!!! I can't stress this enough. I personally hated 244, so I thought that 344 was going to be 10 times worse. I was very wrong. Professor Kirk is amazing at what she does. She is organized, precise, and does great examples. Her tests and quizzes are very fair and based right off the homework and handouts. She doesn't try to surprise you with stuff you haven't seen before on her tests. I learned a ton from her, and never felt lost or stressed over this class. She is basically the ideal teacher.


Sophomore
A
Required (Support)
Mar 2015
All the reviews are true. Hands down, Kirk is the best math professor I've had at Cal Poly and perhaps the best professor I've had in general. She's clear, helpful, friendly and beyond fair. Her quizzes, two midterms, and final were extremely fair if you studied. Linear II material is by no means a walk in the park but Kirk makes it as painless as possible. She's so good, you will actually enjoy learning the subject material, and for a class like Linear II, that says a lot. Bottom line, TAKE KIRK. You will not regret it. (PS- she does look like a cross between Sarah Silverman and Cher)


Sophomore
A
Required (Major)
Mar 2015
Professor Kirk is the epitome of the perfect professor-- straightforward, approachable, organized, truly invested in teaching/helping her students. She also has experience in the field so her practical examples allow you to understand the math at more than just a technical level. Her notes handouts offer examples which are very helpful to review before the quiz each Friday. Although she posts recommended book problems(that you should do), she does not collect them-- Because there is no homework due, I highly recommend you study for the weekly quizzes. The two midterms were entirely fair and straightforward. Overall, Professor Kirk is one of the best professors I have had here at Cal Poly. Take her if you get the chance!

MATH 501


Graduate Student
A
Required (Support)
Dec 2010
Kirk is a great professor. She explains thing very clearly and is always willing to help her students. She grades very fairly as well.


Graduate Student
A
Elective
Feb 2014
She is a fine professor. That being said, I have no idea what we did in this class or how I could apply it to actual engineering. She presented material well enough, if you can stay awake. Staying awake would be a challenge in any 2 hour night math class though. Tests were very fair (half take home), I'd recommend her.

ES 798


Freshman
B
Elective
Nov 2016
he sure does like his women, wet!!

MATH 999


Graduate Student
Credit
Elective
Mar 2007
She looks a lot like Sarah Silverman.