2.8
Quality3.3
Difficulty35%
Would Retake99
Reviews35%
Would Retake
99
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
14
4
21
3
21
2
22
1
21
What Students Say
“He is a terrible teacher”
CALC150 - 2.0 rating“His teaching style is very fast paced”
CALC150 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
73%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
PRECALCCALC1
5.0
(1)CALC155
5.0
(1)PRECAL125
5.0
(1)MATH155
3.7
(9)MATH150
3.3
(22)Difficulty by Course
125
5.0
CAL150
4.4
MATH130
4.0
CALC
4.0
PRECAL125
4.0
Reviews (99)
explains very well but exams are a bit tricky.
No Comments
Teaches too fast.
Boring teacher, explains bad, poor teacher overall
his handwriting is completely unlegible and he teaches to fast
Ratings should explain it. He is terrible! Don't email him because he'll reply to you in a negative way.
Very easy, but that is only because I was studying on my own. As far as his teaching goes, he is horrible, and yes do not bother emailing him because I asked him for help and he brushed me off.
this guy cannot teach at all. His handwriting is horrible! His test are the complete opposite of what he reviews.
this guys teaching sucks like****. it would be easier to learn this class on your own.
He's a good guy although he's not exactly a great teacher. His tests are great, as long as you have some sense of math you'll do ok. His tests are multiple choice. So if you can study on your own take him!
There is definitely a hotness factor, but everything else they say is true. Tolerable mostly because of his sense of humor.
He is able to explain the problem in a good manner
OMG. He always teaches in huge lecture hall. Very unclear. Goes too fast. Writing is terrible. Doctors scribble neater. His tests are nothing like what is taught in class. Tests are 27 mc questions but are hard. Twists his words around. Doesn't give review but only asks people to ask questions.
He's overall a very fair teacher in terms og grading just fair. His interpretation skills can sometimes be confusing, but I recommend that you ask him questions so, you can get a more clear view of what he's saying. Hand Writing = Not Clear = Recommend that you ask him to clarify what he writes...
This guy know's what he's talking about but his hand writing is illegible, he goes too fast and he doesn't explain things too well!!! That's enough.......don't take him.
Very smart guy but my 3 year old sister has better handwritting than him. He moves too fast and does not explain the material.
he's a smart guy, but he's not cut out for teaching a large calc class. bad handwriting, sit in front of class or you wont understand anything. he's very strict with the grading, no curve, hard tests, no mercy. makes it very hard for people who just want calc 1 out of the way and are not Math majors
The only bad thing I can say about this professor is that his handwriting could be better. I took Calculus 1 with him after a 10 year gap since Pre-Cal, and was worried about succeeding in his class. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. Always available and helpful in his office hours.
He is a smart guy when it comes to the subject. If you are a person that struggles in math DO NOT TAKE HIM cause most likely you fail. He has bad handwriting skills and the homework he gives is hard. He goes to fast with the material and he makes the class boring. If you are smart and want a challenge he is the teacher for you.
He is a pretty excellent teacher. in spite of his pidgeon-scratching handwriting, his lectures really helped me move quickly through the homework problems. plus, his website, webgraphing.com, was an excellent resource. highly recommended.
No Comments
His handwriting is not the best, and his homework (have to hand in) is quite hard. but all you need to do is listen in class, and go to the tutoring sessions for the HW, and you can get an A. I really recommend this professor. Very clear, and helpful. (but u need to do the work and follow up on the material)
No Comments
He's so blase. His teaching method stinks. He even confused himself.
This man is so confused that sometimes he does not even understand what he has written. If you want to become crazy take him, otherwise go for anybodyelse in the department.
He teaches methods not in the book, however 80% of the time his method is easier. He's very clear and easy going in calc 2 and 3. I liked him alot. I recommend him for Calc 2 and 3
Not a good teacher. makes everything confusing, and does not explain concepts clearly. confuses himself throughout problems dragging students down with him, and his handwriting is chickenscratch. i do not recommend him
even though his handwriting is bad, he is nice to his students. His exams require lots of thoughts. It means he wants to make it sure that his students understand clearly what they learn. His class is good for Math major'
His handwriting is awful and he doesn't explain clearly. He only goes over the example problems directly from the book...and puts the harder problems on the exams. :-/ His extra credit assignments are really hard (mind boggling!!!) and you must complete two to replace your lowest exam grade. DON'T TAKE HIM!
hes a nice professor but his hand writing is crap. the only thing good about him is that he goes over the test from last year. it wasnt for that i wouldnt have passed. as for everything else he is not clear and cant even understand him. amkes mistakes and his exams are hard. let me not mention his extra credit assigments.
he's a nice professor.. he explains very well and knows EVERYTHING. although he has a bad handwriting thats why dont afraid to ask. coz his x looks like 2 sometimes.. its THAT bad.. but nevertheless, a good teacher. easy A if you like math. if not, dont take this class then! and oh, he gives u 10min breaks!
HE is a horrible teacher! stay away from him. i do not reccomend him to anyone. tests are extremely hard and they are the only things that count. He always messed up on problems and confuses students. only thing good about class was 10 min break to get away from him. really hard class!
at first when i got in the 70s on his test i thought i was going to fail but i ended up getting an A..u just have to get used to his test..n he give partial credit on multiple choice..n his grading system makes it really easy to do well..study the textbook..the test shouldnt be a problem after that..Goodluck!
His a good teacher. explains things clearly, he gives ten min. breaks. there are 3 exams and the final. the exams are multiple choice, they are not too hard. the final counts twice. if the grade of the final is your highest grade it will replace the lower grade of the other exams. not a bad class
i have no clu how he has a bad rating i mean people like chruchill are intelligent if u wanna be challeneged but i care more about getting my A..his grading system makes it impossible to get a low score..very nice n doesnt have a million rule like chuchill which i droped out of :-D
He is very horrible! I mean, he is so confused, that he would make up to 3 mistakes in ONE EQUATION!!! The only way you can pass this class is if you go to tutoring or study by yourself.
He's teaching style is horrible. I could not understand one word that he wrote. Basically your on your own, do the hw and learn the material by yourself or form a study group with your classmates. Going to his class is pointless. Just show up for the exams, he does not take attendence. I do not recommend taking his class.
Dear Lord this class drove me insane. I was lost during the lectures and the tests didn't cover anything I was supposed to be learning in class. I only learned some of the material by doing the HW and studying, all of this by myself. If you actually want to learn something in this class, take a helpful professor.
to me, he is an usesul and nice professor. He would liek to make the hard thing into easy. His test is easy!!!
he is very boring, u can do everything u want but u cant help but sleep in his class. he needs to first inprove his writing, its completely ILLEGIBLE.
If you take him for precalc. you do not need to buy the text book. Just get a good scientific calculator, the tests are multiple choice so even if you do not know what the symbols mean just enter them into the calc, and check for consistent answers for that type of problem on the test. Got an A without going to class or knowing what trig is.
These comments are outdated! I took his class and the tests are NOT multiple choice. So far this class has been bad. If you take precalc with a friend you are better off, that's the only way I'm surviving. His handwriting is sloppy and he makes too many mistakes. I wonder if i'll even pass the final.. Solution: PICK ANOTHER PROFESSOR! - Jon Wuz Her
Not a great professor. He himself is confused by what he is doing. He is horrible The material is not explained well. Dont take him
Prof Cherkas really isn't that bad of a professor. Yeah, he makes little mistakes, but if you pay attention, you should be able to catch on quickly. It's a really easy class, and he's a very very very nice teacher considering the fact that he would accept late homework in order to improve your own grades.
He's not the worst teacher compared to the rest of the pre-calc and calc teachers in Hunter. He's really susceptible to making the tests you do best on to weigh the most. The homeworks are simple enough and if you just look over the material he suggest you go over as well as the reviews he does before the exams, you'll do well.
his writing is horrible and he does make little mistakes, but he's human. he's very clear with the material being taught and sticks to his syllabus. word of advice: do not cram! there is just too much to remember and too many formulas and identities to have a successful cram session.
decent professor. tests questions sometimes are taken from textbook. i didn't go to class because it's not mandatory. but his grading is very forgiving. Has anyone ever gotten partial credit for a multiple choice? for him, he gives partial credit. just study from the book and you'll be ok
Taught like he was there for the paycheck.
Very good professor. I don't understand why those poor evaluations comes from? He is a very kind and patious knowlegable professor. Good. Take him if you have chance.
When first reading his ratings i was terrified to take him... but he's actually not bad at all. He's a very nice professor who has an AWESOME grading system.... I ended up getting an A+ :)
If you're only decent at math, you'll do very poorly in calc,let alone his precal class;a majority of the students did bad on his exams; handwriting is bad;he makes many mistakes each lesson;I had to teach myself via the book and other aid since his classes got confusing gradually;fastpace- I wrote down stuff before even I understood what I wrote;
Take him. Very good professor. Nice and kind. I did terrible on my final. He gave me A. Because I did a lot of extra homework. He counts it. Very generous curve. Take him if you have a chance
I had the fortune of getting Professor Cherkas for calc 1. He certainly was not easy, but I wasn't expecting a walk in the park from a class where only 1/3 of the people pass, statistically. The exams were difficult, but prepared you for the final, which was also very difficult. Cherkas explains concepts clearly and doesn't assign much homework.
I did not understand anything of what he was teaching in class. For the exams he gives you a sheet telling you exactly what topics are on the exams (and some problems come from your notes) so i just memorized the exact steps he took when doing the problem and got 100s on his exams :)
prof barry is nic wth a clas of 100+ stundt wth more thn those who took cal 1 alredy. he rushes throgh thngs.i got my grde by doing evrythng on my own using math center. and homewrk i thnk its nt allot.he doesnt curves. nice persn bt frustating and annyng whn those who took cal 1 alredy r sitng next to u and sayng the answrs whn prof solvs the qusn
Nice proffesor unclear at times, recommend the math tutoring lab,not great but you could do a whole lot worst
Nice guy. If you don't understand something meet him during his office hours and he will explains it well.
His exams are based on questions from the textbooks and overall you will be forced to study on your own because he doesn't help. It's a self study class.
Calculus is not a subject that everyone can master with the bare minimum of time and effort. Cherkas is a good professor if you like to learn math by practicing examples. Yes, exams and quizzes are made up of problems from the textbook, but he goes over almost every single one prior to the quiz or exam-just keep up and practice a little on your own
Nice Guy. Decent at explaining. No Hw. Weekly quizzes. Drops lowest Exam. However, you're going to have to rely on yourself to learn the material. If you need calc, take him.
He has a dry personality but other than that he's a smart man and he is straight forward. He give 10 quizzes that average up to an exam grade, 2 midterms and a final that counts twice. The average of 4 grades determine your grade. You must be willing to dedicate time at home to go over everything because it is calculus 2.
Nice guy, an ok teacher. My only gripes are 1. the final was a lot harder than his exams 2. his handwriting was hard to read on the bb. If you need 155, take him, but be prepared to learn the material on your own as I did.
Prof. Cherkas is phenomenal! I went from a B- in Math 150 to an A in Math 155! Its a must to attend all of his classes, miss one and you're way behind. His grading system is very fair. You can replace your Webassign quizzes for in-class quizzes. Exams are fair too. He is a must Have!
He doesn't really answer questions but explains around them, which is annoying. Attendance is a must because if you miss one lecture you're way behind. Hand writing is hard to read but as long as you keep up in class & copy notes, you'll do alright. If you aren't the best in math, STUDY!!! a lot, most of the problems in class are on tests/quizzes
I LOVE HIM.. REALLY GOOD PROFESSOR AND LIKE TO HELP WITH GRADES... TESTS ARE SAME AS YOUR NOTES... EASY A
Easy class ....... just study for what he taught in class and practice his suggested problems and easy A and even A+ is possible!
you actually learn during the lectures. Usually teachers assign homework then go over it the next day. He doesn't. He goes over it the day he assigns it. Which means that attendance is mandatory, but I think it's a better way to teach HOW to approach problems you've never seen before. web assign is a pain.Use the ebook video explanations instead.
As others said, be prepared to self study. He just goes over a ton of examples in class very very fast but doesn't breakdown concepts and explain things well enough. It's hard to understand his handwriting as well. Grading system is fair, though wish he curved tests. Could be worse, but could definitely be better.
His lesson is basically doing the practice problem with you and shows you how to do them. buy/rent the textbook. He can tell if you are actually doing the practice problems or attending the class by going to the class sessions. He does gives pop quiz from the previous lesson. Overall, as a professor, he is doing his job correctly. Recommend him
The other comments do not do justice to Dr. Cherkas as a professor. Yes, his handwriting isn't the neatest, but he clearly knows the material and is willing to help you, if you ask questions or during office hours. Homework is not mandatory, but necessary for practice. You create your own question for pop quizzes. Study review sheets & notes.
A MUST FOR CALCULUS STUDENTS. I'm not sure if he treats all classes the same but he is one of the nicest professors i've had at hunter. He allows index cards and phones during the tests, he prepares you for the tests in a good fashion. He tells you exactly what you should be learning for every chapter. Pop quizzes are based on last lesson.
He is a terrible teacher. His handwriting is terrible, he breezes through the material, will not solve problems to completion, and is lazy when it comes to teaching. Unless you had prior exposure to calculus 1 or are good in math, I would ENCOURAGE you not to take him.
Great Teacher! Easy going and kind. If you like to learn independently, pick him!!!!
Unless you have taken calculus in highschool, don't go in to his class expecting him to teach you the material. He merely practices what comes out of the textbook. But if you have taken calc before, definitely take him because he's very generous about tests. He allows index cards that you can write anything on. And pop quizzes are easy to ace
IF YOU HAVE NOT had any exposure to calculus before, you MUST dedicate time to study personally (watch videos online). It's essential to understand that the course itself is pretty tedious in certain areas and prof. Cherkas goes over the material VERY quickly and may not explain things in depth. His hand writing is pretty bad. Also, participate!!!
Professor Cherkas is a nice person, but i wouldn't recommend him as a teacher. His teaching style is very fast paced. During the lecture he would just do practice problems from the textbook, but rarely answered the students questions. In this class you must self study, hard. Attendance isn't mandatory but he gives pop quizzes once a week, randomly.
Likable very nice person. He's a very considerate grader, curves a lot. He gives extra credits, lots of opportunity to get your grade up. He allows limited notes on tests. Having said that, only take him you are the sort of person that likes to self study because you will not learn much in his class, he has the worst handwriting imaginable.
Horrible hand writing, speeds through explanations, does not curve a lot on tests, and makes exams extremely harder because of the index cards he allows. Highly do not recommend if you have not taken calculus in high school.
He was not very clear during his lectures. The textbook (which he provides for you) is used for the first half of the class and is helpful. Second part of the class is strictly just epsilon-delta proofs and is based on his notes, so the class gets harder. There is an extra credit assignment that really helps with your overall grade.
The reviewer below said it best, the first half of the class is fairly easy since you can follow along with the textbook. Once the material shifts away from the textbook the class does get more difficult because Professor Cherkas' explanations are not as thorough as they can be. It's new material and a new way of thinking so it can be hard for most
Generally unpleasant to deal with. Unrespectful behavior behavior. Will report him to HR for sure.
Cannot teach at all, you won't understand a single thing in class. Better to learn everything on our own. Please take someone else.
Respect yourself, take another proffessor.
Professor Cherkas teaches way too fast, making it hard to understand anything. The class is all over the place with topics, not following any order. Plus, his handwriting is disgusting and it's a struggle to figure out what's going on. AVOID PROF. CHERKAS, trust me...
In my experience as to having get taught by Mr. Barry Cherkas, I have found that his lectures seem to be very fast paced, making it challenging in order to being able to grasp certain aspects in his class. As well as the insufficient amount of explanation on certain topics made the class more difficult then anticipated. Would not recommend.
Easy enough class if you understand the content and put in work to learning outside of class. Professor is kind and generous with grading, but sometimes his explanations of more complex topics can be confusing.
Very kind and caring professor, and lectures are very helpful with a lot of practice questions. Participating in this class will help you understand the material a lot more. The tests are pretty difficult, but he puts in a lot of partial credit and multiple choice problems, as well as a curve. If you understand the material, you will be fine.
Take another prof / have some knowledge of calc beforehand
Honestly not the best at teaching however, he is a very leniant grader. He curves a lot on exams so everyone passes. My best advice is to do all the homework and participate as long as you try you will definitely pass!
just not that good
avoid professor at all costs. he does curve exams like crazy but that's only because the whole class fails with a 40 median. Teaches with slides and skips steps, bad handwriting (I am not talking about script), and unable to hear him sometimes. If you don't know any calculus knowledge beforehand, good luck.
A little sleepy, but knows calc really well. Extra credit for participation. Grading is 90% exams, among 3 exams plus a final, lowest grade gets dropped. 10% is Lumen hw, not horrible but not exactly what we learn in class. The curves are amazing. He's a very kind person, but you need to put in a lot of effort to do well.
This professor is VERY lenient compared to other math professors, he even gives you partial credits on a multiple choice as long as there's work and it's filled in and curves your exams. The tests however are slightly tougher than what the homework is given, and he also encourages people to ask questions (said at the beginning of the semester).
The professor's teaching style was very bad and made learning calculus frustrating. Exam grades were so low he had to curve them by over 40 points, showing we weren't prepared or the exams were too hard. What he taught didn't match the tests, leaving students confused. I regret not reporting this sooner, but now it feels too late.
He used a laptop trackpad to write and projected it to the class lol, wasn't this way the whole course though but his handwriting isn't the best. Tests were easy, would study more for the final though it was harder. Also not a great teacher you'll need to study yourself, seems to be a trend at Hunter.
Do not take this professor at all. I was taking his class and this guy cannot teach at all. He is very lazy, does not want to give examples to help us learn, and whenever he would write an example, it would be complete gibberish. DO NOT TAKE!!
He's a great guy, but I agree he is not the best teacher. However, wants to make your life easier and curves a lot. For those who are not quick in grasping math concepts, the course will be extremely hard. Prof is willing to help if you ask him for it, but he's very relaxed and not gonna be involved if you don't ask.
HORRIBLE! Horrible Handwriting! Horrible Prof! He is a nice guy, but cannot teach AT ALL! If you know nothing about calculus, be prepared to study and teach yourself everything (I recommend Organic Chemistry Tutor). Get the first topics down packed because everything builds off that! AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! If you can't, good luck is all I can say.
He teaches from slideshows, and tends to move pretty quickly. So if you are the type to need the steps written out with hand, this is not the class. On the other hand, he gives cheat cards for exams, curves grades sometimes, and encourages students to ask questions if confused. If you are good at math and self teach, u'll pass easy with index cards
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
52%
Textbook Required
73%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.16 avg changeRatings by Course
PRECALCCALC1
5.0
(1)CALC155
5.0
(1)PRECAL125
5.0
(1)MATH155
3.7
(9)MATH150
3.3
(22)Difficulty by Course
125
5.0
CAL150
4.4
MATH130
4.0
CALC
4.0
PRECAL125
4.0