Great teacher, good sense of humor about subject.

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He is a funny guy. The assignments and syntax is very simple, however the exams are not. They force you to think extremly quickly -- class avg is usually around 60. I write programs 10x more complex for the Xbox with C++, but most likely will get a B.

He is an good teacher and funny as well. lectures are fun and easy to follow and he is very good about answering question.

His tests are pretty hard for me to get done in time, but other than that he's a fun lecturer. Explains everything clearly, and doesn't take it too seriously.

He is a great instructor. The lectures are entertaining and very very clear. The tests are SUPER HARD, though. Mostly, there is just not enough time to complete them correctly. Assignments are usually fun and not too hard for the time given.

Lots of examples used in class. Fun and interesting lecture atmosphere. Time alloted for exams is a bit short so make sure you know your material (read the darn book). Assignments are pretty simple, and prepare you for the quizzes and exams.

fun class, assignments were interesting to work on

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very good, funny

It's obvious he knows what he's doing, and that he actually likes teaching it! He's very kind, but he won't spoon-feed you a good grade. If you want that, you're in the wrong college at U of M.

Very clear with easy well defined assignments.

good at lectures and knows when to lighten the stress from learning by telling a quick joke or two.

Made a boring subject entertaining. Very good at answering questions, both in office hours and in lecture. His final wasn't killer, either.

He tries realy hard to tell jokes, but they aren't that funny, but he is still a pretty good teacher. He gives many examples in lecture and explains things fairly well, however he only goes over things once so make sure you take note of it and write it down during lecture.

I thought he was a really good teacher, of course I am strange and like programming. I do have to say that even when I didn't understand what was going on I still enjoyed the class. It was the only class this term that I wanted to go to. Also you could tell that he really enjoyed teaching.

Very easy class. Some of the topics he deems important do take too much time (we spent 3 weeks on binary and hex, something that could be taught in a day). Funny guy, and challenges everyone with the homework. Very charismatic.

He rocked, he told stories and jokes to keep the class paying attention. He was good at explaining things and his assignments were clear

very easy class and exams, explains some of the material unclearly in lecture, so you have to depend on the GSI's to make everything clearer for those topics. But he does give great hints before every exam and tends to take exam problems from questions in the book (which is online, you don't have to buy it!).

he was so entertaining! and explained well

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He makes this class fun. I especially enjoyed the stories about his own life. They make you want to pay attention!

My favorite professor. He is tremendous. He makes the class interesting and fun. However, it is very difficult material.

Bielajew is an amazing lecturer. Part of what drives him is his ecstatic interest in all things computer science. He's not only willing to answer questions, but also to stop class completely to make sure every single doubt is cleared. His classes are very open and comfortable, and his lesson plans are dynamic enough to support time for interaction.

First time teaching the class, and he did a pretty good job adapting to the needs of the students. His lecture style follows the text or a set of auxiliary notes that he will distribute. The material isn't easy, and you will have to work with classmates to do allot of the work. Always open to improving the course.

His class was my favorite class this semester. It was easy at times, hard at times, overall a neutral class with regards to difficulty. As a professor, he has a hard time answering questions, and usually goes off on tangents unrelated to the questions, but in the end, the questions are resolved and everyone is happy. Great Professor, great class

If Bielajew's teaching 101, TAKE IT WITH HIM. He's nice, easy, and you learn a lot. I had no programming experience, but after taking 101 w/him, I feel very comfortable with C++ and Matlab. Assignment instructions & help were clear and not too hard, and exams were on par w/the assignments. He goes on tangents a lot in class, but that's just funny.

this is the eng101 prof you want. TRUST ME. i'm so tired of listening to people complain about their eng101 profs. to avoid me pain in the future, please take eng101 with bielajew. you will have nothing to complain about, and we will get along just fine.

All exam quesltions are 'exacty the same' as the practice problems in his textbook without changing a single word. So many extra credits for assignments-a number of people got above 100 in the end. He truly loves this course and his students. But, redeem before choosing him because you might be addicted to computer programming.

Prof Bielajew is a fantastic professor. He's funny and witty and never makes the class boring. He energises all of us, even though his class is after lunch and everyone just wants to fall asleep. A pity he's not teaching ENG 101 anymore...

Prof Bielajew is a great professor! He teaches well, his exams are extrememly straightfoward (from the notes or the quizes he gives) and he keeps me awake in class. He is fairly funny, though not outrageously...

Overall, a very high quality lecturer. He makes a valid attempt to connect to the class, and in all, his lectures are worth attending.

He was a great teacher. However, he went off topic a lot and didn't always remember that this class is INTRO to programming (meaning he forget some of us had had NO programming before). Lectures were useful, though towards the end, it got harder to see why...until you got to the exam. Exams were SUPER straightfoward and if you read the notes u win

He is fun in class, but serious after class. Even one who has no programming experience can catch up. After all, I like his class.

He's hilarious! Plues he has taught this class over 3000 times and he can count the people who have failed it on his fingers and toes! He teaches programming in a weird way. He won't so much teach you programming language as much as teach you how computers think. It's very interesting and I would have a hard time falling asleep in his class.

Funny guy. Lectures can be pointless, but once in a while he'll throw something at you that will be on the exam that's not in the book so it forces you to go. He takes a lot of time teaching you how things work in memory, which you don't need to know, in addition to just straight code. That's when you zone out. I would recomend him for 101.

Keeps it entertaining.

I think a great thing for the college of Engineering is that instead of using their worst and most boring profs for intro classes they introduce you to guys like prof. Bielajew. He brings in some really cool info from his specialty and is a charismatic guy. Basically he makes a class that could be taught in a day the most interesting it could be.

Bielajew was a good professor who knows what he's talking about, but his lectures can be pointless sometimes and not relative to the work you will be doing. He enjoys showing you quirks of computer programming and possible ways to break a program. GSI discussion clarifies everything he doesn't touch on. Easy class with previous experience.

It was an okay experience. His presentations are fantastic and clear to understand, I would reccomend newcomers to attend this lecture

Excellent class. The professor explains material well and makes class interesting & lively. It isn't too hard, but sometimes it involves a lot of work. He doesn't spend much time on MATLAB, but he does a great job with C++. And the class is less focused on theoretical concepts of programming as it is on algorithms & basic syntax.

I hated programming but he was a cool professor

Lectures were somewhat entertaining and quite useful. Lab was a very important part of class.

Very good professor. His lectures are very clear and relevant to the projects you're doing. He also jokes and does random things during lecture which keep you awake and tuned in. He is very knowledgeable of the field. He starts the lecture with questions on anything related to computers, and answers every question. Definitely recommend him.

Entertaining to listen. Explains material well. Don't get discouraged if you don't understand him sometimes...he really goes under the hood of what is happening, which you really don't need to know.

Very clear prof.

Good prof. First programming class I took, and I didn't have a problem with it. I found his lectures to be quite clear, and I liked the (free!) book he taught from. Homeworks and programming assignments weren't too difficult. I even skipped a bunch of lectures and still came out with a good grade.

pretty good, seemed to like to tell why computers are "falable". just be sure to pay attention when he writes code, and understand the concept behind his explanations.

Pretty good teacher, added humor during lecture which added interest. However, there were many lectures that were not of any use for exams or assignments.

Decent prof overall. Knows programming in and out and uses good examples. Class can get fairly boring though.

Bielajew is the easiest of the ENGR101 profs, and by far the most amusing. If you're looking to take this class while doing the least amount of work (and with a funny prof!), Bielajew's class is the one you want (PS. It's pronounced B. L. I. F.)

Bielajew is nice, helpful, and funny.

Great Professor. The material is very challenging but you'll actually learn it with him. Exams are tough but he prepares you for them. Expect to work in this class but thanks to Prof. Bieljew you will learn a lot. Unlike 311 the textbook is actually used in 312 but his notes are often more helpful

Overall he is a very good teacher. He is a little odd sometimes and cracks really corny jokes, but he is pretty good at keeping you interested usually. My only complaint is that he sometimes spends too much time on algorithm design and neglects syntax. Overall though, he is a good teacher. Exams are not too hard if you study and attend class.

I was told to take 101 with him because he was easiest -- however, after having 2 exams with averages of 71 and 69, I was wondering if people mislead me to take him. He made the final much easier, which I think was a fair way to help balance out grades. Assignments were not too hard, however lab seemed like a waste of time to be honest.

One of the best professors I have ever had. This guy brings all his wit to his lectures and keeps you entertained throughout. Projects are not hard, usually fun, and are relative to the exams. READ HIS BOOK!

GREAT professor.Never took programming before pretty sure i was going to hate it but i actually LOVE IT now. He is funny, makes lecture really interesting, with a lot of extremely interesting and helpful examples. The assignments are not bad, some of them are really easy and fun. For exams however, better know the stuff well! READ HIS BOOK!!!

Great Professor. Stresses creativity and applications. Wish lab could be more useful, but turned out to just be a time to work on projects... almost nobody listens to the GSI but are rather stuck in their own "computer world". I wasn't sure whether I was going to take another class on Matlab before, but now I'm certain that I will. =)

Very tough and difficult Professor, but has a great deal of respect for students. Enjoys teaching so much that he doesn't do much research any more to devote more time to his lectures.

Excellent professor- truly excited by what he teaches and wants students to understand. Difficulty and amount of material makes this class difficult, but Professor Bielajew handles it very well.

Amusing, a bit eccentric, but very excited by what he teaches. Wants the students to learn and understand the material. Computer programing is very logic based. If you can think like a computer, this course should be a cakewalk. If you have difficulty understanding logic, it may be tougher, but the professor does a great job explaining it all.

Professor B is so passionate about his teaching. The projects he assigned throughout the semester were so fun! I came into Engr 101 having absolutely no programming experience whatsoever, and the class was scary at first, but it has turned out to be my fav. class. Definitely go to a GSI's office hours whenever you need help with anything.

Great teacher who truly cares about his students. He loves the material and makes it interesting. Before this class I had a slight interest in computer programming. Now I find that I like it a lot more. Instead of focusing on mundane syntax he focuses on the bigger picture.

He's a great professor that knows his programming. He knows a lot of the theory behind it and pushes to teach that to the students, so programming makes more sense.

Overall, Prof. B is a pretty good instructor. He's pretty funny at times, and although lecture can be boring, it's quite instructive. Lab is where most of the practice is done, but the examples he does in class are helpful. Lots of questions from his online book and assignments show up word for word on exams, so make sure you study this stuff!

Good professor. Exams follow a pattern so figure that out. His assignments are more to make you think than doing long lines of code like other classes do. Also he makes the subject interesting (and it certainly isn't always interesting).

Came into the class knowing absolutely nothing, left with a wealth of programming knowledge. Bielajew is a great professor and really knows the subject matter. Keeps lectures interesting by showing practical applications or funny and silly programs. The HWs can be tricky but there's a lot of help from GSIs. Exams aren't too bad either. Great class.

He is one of the better profs I have had so far, the course doesnt allow for much useful teaching, the majority of learning will be done in lab+assignments, Its different from other sections but its much easier, exams aren't that hard as long as you understand the quiz 101 is a hard class in general so be ready to work, take his class over others!

Very good teacher. Provided that I was a novice programmer I pretty much enjoyed his classes and learned quite a lot about programming.

Good teacher. Kept it interesting.

Kept lecture very interesting with humor

very helpful and nice, pretty easy if you just do your work and put in some amount of time. much easier than other engr101 classes

The professor kept the info interesting and kept everyone awake with breaks and cheesy humor. And Excellent prof.

Good class. Would answer any question. Very helpful. Korny jokes. Never keeps you late. From what i hear: best of the 101 professors. Assignments are originally boring but definitely get interesting.

I recommend you have a little bit or java or c++ experience - you're expected to figure amd find out some coding things on your own. Much of class time is dedicated to running and analyzing programs rather than covering the basics of typing code.

In fairness to the Professor, a student accused the Professor of being sexiest, in favor of women, not men. I thought it was a brave move on his part to confront the issue, and his accuser to take it to the Dean, if he was serious about it.

TAKE THIS PROFESSOR!! Projects are easy enough for you to have a social life, but hard enough for you to feel accomplished in the concept. GSI's put in extra effort to explain concepts. It is hard in beginning but gets better as you understand more. You work from his book & its free. Read the book and do all the problems...you will thank me later.

I had no idea what computer programming was before this class, but Bielajew still made it possible to do well in this class. By the end, I really enjoyed it! Projects aren't too hard and only the final exam was really hard. He is more concerned with learning about the concepts than the nitty gritty details which was great.

No complaints. If you follow along with the material and put in the time to do the homework properly, you'll succeed.

I really enjoyed Professor Bielajew's class. I learned a great deal from it. I suggest going to lectures because he often talks about codes on the exams. The projects are very easy and he is really helpful if you're confused. The exams are completely far, but challenging. He gives practice quizzes that resemble the exam. Also, read the book!

I absolutely loved this class!!! I came in with a little bit of programming background and this class just added to what I already knew.

good professor

I had prior programming experience but it seemed like he was an excellent teacher for new programmers. He was always clear when discussing somewhat complex topics, an overall phenomenal teacher. poipoipoi

He knows what he's talking about, and he is eager to answer questions.

Be sure to attend the lectures often, a lot of important syntax and information he teaches in lecture is not in the book.

Be sure to attend his lecture. Overall a very good professor

Amazing professor. I had C++ experience before coming in, but was still able to learn new material even the first few weeks of class. He is very thorough and answers a lot of questions that students might have in class. Make sure to attend lectures and do the practice quizzes, doing so will make the exams seem like a piece of cake.

Very fair and straighforward teacher. He cuts the BS and gets right to the point. His exams are very similar to practice exams, so do the practice exams to prepare. I highly recommend him to anyone interested in programming

Hello, He is very good professor, explanations are very clear. And he keeps class concentrated on the topic by telling interesting facts about upcoming project and sometimes by making jokes. I found him very interesting.

Important to attend lectures...sometimes. That is, when he isn't speaking in 'wingdings'. As a beginner programmer, it was difficult to understand what was going on. However, he answers all questions and responds to emails (A+ on that). VERY approachable, and if you're having any trouble, don't be afraid to ask.

Have to go to early lectures but not really after that. Everything is coding so if you can do that, the class is quite easy. Bielajew is very nice and entertaining to people who actually are interesting in coding but doesnt "teach" exactly and is kind of boring

Great class! His lectures are really interesting, and he shows you all the quirks to be found when you are first learning programming. The projects are straightforward, all you have to do is put in some time to get them done. The exam preparation materials are excellent, and as long as you attend lecture and do the practice exams you should do well

His practice exams go over what you will need to know for the test. The assignments teach you the beginnings of programming. This prof is good.

This professor teaches a lot of code without a computer, but if you pay attention, it is pretty easy to follow. He uses his own textbook which is online and easily accessible. The Lab is very important to go to and teaches how to use the code you learn in lecture. Overall, the class can be fun and interesting if you pay attention.

As a student who has never programmed, I found that Professor Bielajew is encouraging and his lectures are disorganized, but useful. However, he gets distracted during lecture, which makes the class hard to follow at times. I'm not the best programmer, but overall - if one does the practice tests, assignments, and the reading - the class is easy.

He is one of the best professors around for engr101 but matlab wasnt as well explained with the kind of clarity that C++ was

Fun professor, taught us what we needed to know and was VERY straight forward about what was on the tests.

Not a bad teacher. He would clearly teach for 30 minutes and then spend the rest of the class showing off his programs. Helpful if you needed a question answered and if you just look at the practice tests you should do fine on exams.

Great teacher. Go to lecture and read the practice tests and you might even figure out a few of the questions on the test!

He is a very enthusiastic professor who is very passionate about programming.

As someone with experience with C++ the first 2/3 of the class were easy, but I still learned some things so it was still interesting. Matlab felt rushed and not as clear, though. Lectures tended to feel really long but he had a music break half way through which helped.

He is a pretty good prof and a really good person. Cares about students' success. Teaches what is necessary for exams, tho not necessarily all projects. Sometimes, class felt a little like "hey, look as this cool thing I did" and not a typical organized lecture. Tad erratic. His book is GREAT. One of the best prof's I've had in Engr. Take him.

I had no experience with C++ until this class, and he made it fairly easy to learn. Make sure you read through the assignments because they are long and it is easy to miss things that may cost you a lot of points. Matlab was rushed and unclear. Everybody kept saying, look it up on your own time. Would have been helpful if they actually taught it.

Taught C++ gloriously. But, his matlab lectures were not up to par. Very, very rushed and tough to understand even though it's supposedly "easier". Final matlab project had difficulty of the final C++ project...but we only received about 3 weeks worth of matlab lectures vs 3 months of C++ lectures. Overall decent prof.

Great professor, treats the class like what it is meant to be - an INTRODUCTION to programming class. also gives interesting applications of the material.

Taught C++ well. He made some successful jokes and lots of not so successful ones, but he definitely is great at programming. C++ was good, but Matlab was pretty rushed. He seems to go over a lot of excess material, but his programs are manageable and fair for beginners.

Does a decent job explaining everything. Occasionally goes off topic and sometimes shows code that beginners struggle to understand. Book is very helpful and lectures are worth going to. Can be hilarious at times which is a bonus

Very solid professor. His engr 101 is one of the easiest classes I've ever taken from elementary school to college inclusive. My only real complaint is that he let's his GSIs grade you however they want, and my GSI chose to grade on participation. Might as well grade me for penmanship while you're at it.

Super easy class. Almost too easy in fact. Even though I got an A, I left the class still feeling like a complete novice programmer. I wouldn't have minded seeing some more advanced topics in the class.

Profesor Bielajew kept programming on an understandable level. Not going to lie you have to put in the work but believe me it is worth it in the end. He keeps things fun with the projects and the dude has a good sense of humor. Don't be afraid to go to office hours or talk to him!! He is extremely helpful

Homework can be a bit rough at times but he is very fair and straight forward. You can tell he cares a lot about the undergraduate class. Had more than a few mind=blown moments in this class. If you put in the work you will do well.

Bielajew's lectures are a little bit incoherent, and he does not really explain what is behind his codes and programs. Yet he has some funny jokes, and can answer higher level questions. Projects take a lot of effort, but the GSI's are helpful and you learn a lot. Exams are extremely fair, and Bielajew makes sure you are prepared for the exams.

Professor Bielajew was great, really funny guy. His first couple lectures were very helpful, after that I mainly learned from labs. His class is admittedly much easier than the other 101 sections, but I came in with no programming experience and now I feel pretty confident in my abilities. I recommend him.

As a freshman with no prior coding experience, Professor Bielajew made the transition into C++ and Matlab very easy. I learned more in laboratory section than I did in lecture, but Bielajew was enthusiastic about teaching coding and did his job extremely well. I feel prepared for advanced coding courses after his C++ preparation.

The Prof is a great teacher. He's very knowledgeable and can answer basically every question you throw at him, and he's very helpful during office hours. Not to mention his exams are arguably the most friendly. He was funny and informative during lecture, but most of the learning was done in lab, so definitely go to that.

The class was very informative and I learned a lot of information. The class handled students of many levels of prior knowledge. I had never coded before this class. The lectures are mostly examples and I learned a lot in Lab. Textbook is past lecture notes that are hard to understand if you have never coded before.

Knows what he's talking about. Loves to get off topic.