2.3
Quality3.7
Difficulty20%
Would Retake92
Reviews20%
Would Retake
92
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
9
4
14
3
13
2
18
1
38
What Students Say
“VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND, HOMEWORK PROBLEMS ARE NOTHING LIKE WHATS ON THE TEST ANYMORE, CANT UNDERSTAND HAND WRITTING NOR ACCENT VERY WELL, IF YOU CAN HELP IT DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR UNLESS YOU PLAN ON SPENDING TONS OF TIME TRYING TO TEACH YOURSELF THE MATERIAL”
MATH1113 - 1.0 rating“Avoid this man at all costs”
MATH2306 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
44%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.15 avg changeRatings by Course
CALC2254
5.0
(1)DIFEQ002
5.0
(1)MATH2254
4.3
(4)DIFEQ2306
4.0
(2)MATH2252
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH2202
4.4
CALC1190
4.2
MATH1111
4.0
1111
4.0
MATH2306
4.0
Reviews (92)
Take him if you can, his homeworks are extremely helpful in preparing for his tests. If you have a question about something he will break it down completely to make it crystal clear without making you feel stupid. Would definately take him again if possible.
Great teacher, do the hw and B or A gauranteed!
Dr. Vona is a nice teacher. He doesn't try to trick you on the tests. Tests are very straight-forward and come from the homework. Attendance accounts for 10% of your grade and all you have to do is sign in and leave if you want to. Consider yourself lucky if you can get into this class!!!
He was a good teacher, but I've had much better math teachers. It took me a little while to get used to his teaching style (and his English). He writes his own homeworks, which are identical to his tests. He doesn't seem to care about students' success unless they show that they care.
I nice guy that knows his stuff. I've taken him for Diff EQ and Pre-Calc, and I have to say.. he's interesting. He has a hard accent to get past at first, but his strange sense of humor makes up for it. He's the only teacher I've met that'll compare Math to a video game~~"Don't think of application so much that you fail get a high score."
Best Math teach at SPSU in my opinion , take this guy if you can.
Best Math Teacher ever. His class was the first time, I've ever actually wanted to go to a math class. All of his homework is from material taught in class, and all test material is from the homework.
I took him for Ordinary DiffEQ. I liked the teacher, not his teaching. Within weeks he started teaching us partial DiffEO even though partial diff is NOT an "ordinary" DiffEQ. Couldn't keep on schedule and ended up skipping large portions of the material (Ch5). He also has a thick African accent that doesn't help when teaching a hard math concept.
He is nice and helpful. The tests are based on the homework, and there are no tricks. That being said I would not take him again. His hand writing is terrible and his notes make no sense. MICHAEL J. FOX HAS MORE LEGIBLE HANDWRITING THAN THIS MAN! When doing examples on the board he makes a lot of mistakes. This can make notes hard to understand
He's funny and has his own personality, but it's way to hard to read his notes and understand his accent. I like him, but don't want to take him for another math class.
Calculus 1 class. Not too hard or easy. Do and learn and have a passion for homework. Tests will be JUST like homework. study guide for 2 of the tests. small curves. got an A in class. Final not too bad (study tests).
This class is tough, but not nearly as tough as it could have been. Attend every class, complete every homework, and re-do your homework to study for each test. If you have any questions, ask in class or after class. I never tried to see him outside of class, but from what I hear, it's difficult.
Tests based directly off homework
Great Professor! He definitely has his own unique sense of humor. If you are dedicated you will succeed in his class. He is nice enough to write out solutions to the homework quizzes and tests and post them online. If you can do the homework you can easily do the quizzes and tests. Calculus is difficult but Dr. Vona puts his own spin on it.
Very easy professor. His tests are EXACTLY like the homework he hands out, but with a few numbers changed. Took him for pre-calc, calc 1, and calc 2 and made an A in all of them. Very knowledgeable of the material, though his accent is kind of rough, but you get used to it. Take him if you have the chance, you'll regret it if not!
There is NO HOMEWORK! He gives HW but it is not a grade. Study the HW and you pass the quiz. Study the quizzes and you pass the chapter tests! The best thing about it all is that he provides the answers to HW, quizzes, and tests for you to look over. You can pass without the book since he provides all the materials. DO NOT MISS CLASS! It is a grade
his writing is really hard to understand, his accent is also hard to understand.
VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND, HOMEWORK PROBLEMS ARE NOTHING LIKE WHATS ON THE TEST ANYMORE, CANT UNDERSTAND HAND WRITTING NOR ACCENT VERY WELL, IF YOU CAN HELP IT DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR UNLESS YOU PLAN ON SPENDING TONS OF TIME TRYING TO TEACH YOURSELF THE MATERIAL
I end up dropping the class since his teaching style is horrible. Constantly insults us about not knowing work (that he is suppose to teach). Accent is hard to understand and hand writing on the chalk board is unreadable most of the time. I do not recommend at all.
One of the absolute worst professors ever. You can barely understand him because he mumbles and has an accent. He is rude when students ask questions. He uses the chalkboard to write things but he stands in front of what he writes quite often so it's difficult to stay caught up with lecture notes. He has really hurt my interest in math.
If you want a good grade then don't take this guy. It will take you a week or two to get used to his accent and another week or two to read his handwriting. He assigns homework that doesn't go over what is being taught. Usually a chaptersection or two behind. He spends a day per chapter and doesn't review. Good luck trying to get good grades.
Please listen to me student. If you want to have a good experience with your math class do not take this man. He is rude, unclear, and angry. Take someone that can appreciate the human experience with learning, not someone that does not care what you do or think.
Easy going, funny in his own sense of humor. Tough grader and not very clear but tries his best to explain. Quizzes and testes are pretty simple, nothing from outside.
Cool guy. Quite hard to understand, but definitely does not mind helping you if you get stuck somewhere. Just need to show him that, you're trying to learn. If he sees that, he will do all he can to help you. I sat in his office and finished an entire set of homework problems with his help. He showed me on paper step by step how to do them.
Avoid this man at all costs. He is difficult to understand and is easily frustrated by students asking valid questions during class. The tests are pretty similar to the homework, if you're fortunate enough to understand the homework. If you do end up with him, use the solutions he puts on D2L; they help somewhat.
Not a native English speaker. Difficult to understand/to be understood by. He describes this class as a summary of college algebra+trig & expects everyone to be familiar with them. Shows up at last minute and a no show on day of 1st major test. He is of the mindset that if more than half the class passes he has "done something wrong". BEWARE!
He has an accent that is difficult to understand at first. I would say avoid if you can but if he's your last option it's not that bad. His study guides for his test and basically the same as the test. So as long as you can do the study guides the test aren't that bad. Still avoid if you can and find a better teacher.
He does not speak English very well at all. When he is at the white board teaching, he makes a ton of mistakes. Does not get student involvement. Vona started laughing when his whole class failed his last test. There is something wrong if the whole class failed. Do not take him. If you do, you must be willing to learn all the material on your own.
His accent is impossible to understand, the homework does NOT prepare you for the test, and his willingness to review topics the class doesn't understand is nonexistent. Don't bother asking questions or even showing up to class. Just buy yourself a Calc II textbook and spend hours on khan academy.
The man knows what he's doing but he is terrible at explaining it to where the students understand. He rambles on about how the material is easy and how we should be able to understand when all we do is go through each chapter and finish homework that's is 100% online. He never goes over the homework and never goes over past test.
Avoid this professor. To his credit, he has an incredible understanding of linear algebra, however he has no idea how to bestow this understanding to any other human. He stands in front of what he's writing, he vastly underestimates the time students need to work on problems, he does not give graded homework, non understandable. Just avoid him.
This professor was extremely tough. Couldn't understand his english well at all. Handwriting was rough. Calc II is already a difficult class that was made even more difficult by this professor.
No homework grades were given but he is a very generous grader so I think it balances out. His accent takes time getting used to for most people but it's an adjustment. I find that he gives out tests/quizzes similar to his study guide so use those as a basis for studying His lectures do get tedious but sometimes he points towards things to focus on
The semester went great overall. He's pretty lenient. He listens to his students' concerns. He let us use 3 crib sheets for the final exam. He gave everyone a third quiz grade of 100, and he dropped our lowest quiz and test grades. He also added an additional few points on all the tests. Just do your work, pay attention, and you'll pass.
Lenient with hw due dates. Major things he grades you on is 5 tests (includes final) which always moves to a later date in the week, but he drops the lowest one and final can't be dropped and attendance count for a small portion. He is what you would expect as a college professor when Highschool teachers hype them up to be a step up from Highschool
Never showed up for three of the 1 hour 40 minute lectures, went extremely slow at the beginning emphasizing review of calc 1. Later on he was cramming multiple lectures into one lecture to make up for his shortcomings and pushed back tests. This resulted in us learning series in less than 3 weeks. Accent hard to listen to, handwriting is illegable
Overall this is the most straightforward professor I've taken. The material he teaches is literally what you are tested on. No loopholes or extra stuff. He does have an accent and doctor's handwriting but if you're paying attention you'll catch on. If not he teaches directly from the book. You do have to study and practicethe material for his class
He is a really theory-heavy professor so I would watch some organic chem tutor vids about the concepts before because he expects you to think on a very high level and doesn't explain basics at all. His lectures are good and he's very good about answering questions, he also gives a tiny bit of extra credit but doesn't curve so don't rely on that.
HE CHANGED UP THE FORMAT OF HIS CLASS. His class is on a hard subject, but I took this class knowing I would at least have a "cheat sheet" to use on tests. HE HAS GOT RID OF THEM. His lectures are extremely hard to listen to and he is extremely rude and avoids answering questions. Avoid this class if you are bad at calc or know you'll need help.
From student to student do not take. Does not explain formulas, doesn't answer questions (becomes angry), does not respond to emails, rude, does not give feedback. Teaches a hard subject yet does not make it easier to understand nor is he helpful. Late to class a lot. If you cannot teach yourself, do not take. If you're bad at math, do not take.
If you are good at teaching yourself this is the class for you. I did not really understand math very well coming in, but it is expected that you have a very extensive knowledg. he also has a very heavy accent and does not like to repeat himself. He is a super nice guy and is fairly lenient when grading, but I can honestly say I still know no Calc.
Don't recommend this prof if you haven't taken this course prior. Accent+mask made it hard to understand. Didn't clarify many things; made things confusing. Nice guy, very lenient grader. Study guides are a lot like the tests. Counted attendance for F-T-F class, but not online: don't think it affects your grade, or not by much. Bad at comms
He's a nice guy, but not a great professor. He mostly just works problems out on the board but it was hard to understand, especially with the accent and the mask. His class wasn't too terribly difficult and he's a lenient grader. But there are defiantly better options. Attendance was not mandatory.
This guy is horrendous in every way. You cannot understand him, you cannot get ahold of him outside of class via email or even calling him. Class is a waste because he doesn't teach. He will change test formats at 5 am the day of a test. He is all over the place. If he is your only opinion, legitimately wait. He is the worst teacher I have taken.
This man talks so quietly I've given up trying to listen to his lectures. This class is easy if you can self-teach yourself. Nice guy, although sometimes some attitude comes off when you ask questions. The main issue I have is that he grades scratch paper and enters it in as a separate grade from tests, it's completely unnecessary.
Its understandable that English aint his first language but I can speak for most when I say no one understood him . He makes simple stuff so complicated. I was lost the entire semester.
He's an okay teacher, I wouldnt recommend him if you are not good at math. He rarely responds to emails and can be late to his office hours and class. The accent doesn't bother me as much as his low speaking voice. He gets loud but may lower his voice and its hard to hear what he's saying. I would recommend this class to straight A students.
He doesn't teach the material, he talks through already worked out problems and expects you to know the rest. There is a lot of homework and you can keep doing it until you get a good grade so those help your grade. If you do decent on the test you should pass. You can not get ahold of him outside of class.
He's a nice guy but he overcomplicates things and makes it very difficult to understand. I get English isn't his first language but his accent makes it hard to understand the lectures but on top of that he talks pretty fast so that makes it more difficult. overall take this class if you are good at teaching yourself because he will barely help you.
Professor knew his stuff but was not good at teaching it. My class struggled to understand him and his lectures, and upon seeing our low grades, he blamed us. He would go in to long lectures about how other countries expected engineers to be good at math but would not teach the course. He blamed all failures on students.
Never responded to a single email, Graded extraordinarily hard given we were completely disallowed from using calculators. Homework took roughly ~100 hours to complete over the span of the semester, which is graded for performance. The attendance was mandatory, but his teaching was completely invaluable. He did not explain nor assist any student.
I'd highly recommend sitting in the front of class due to Dr. Vona's heavy accent. Like many others have posted your likely going to be teaching yourself the majority of the content since Vona works out problems on the board expecting you to get it in the 30 seconds he explains it. 3-4 tests, 1 final, hours worth of hw counted as completion grade.
In this class one will be in for bizarre lectures where halfway into the lecture he gives strange anecdotes because students aren't able to understand what in the world he's talking about. His notes and lectures assume too much of the students and aren't helpful. The infamous ALEKS is going to be your teacher here, if that's not your jam, beware!
The way to describe how our professor teaches is simple He will start by lecturing the class and pointing some stuff out on the board we should take note of. Then it's like he shuts off. He'll turn around and talk to himself and face the board for the rest of the class. I would never take this class again and highly recommend that nobody takes it.
I've never gotten anything but A's and B's in my life and I had to drop this class. He just sucks at teaching and comes across as rude when you ask questions. His handwriting is horrible and he doesn't explain how the content works for the most part, he just kinda sits up there and works problems. Just pick a different calc professor. Too stressful
Do not take this professor, he wasn't the greatest at teaching. He almost ran out of classes to teach material so he made us teach ourselves the last part of the class. He doesn't grade too harsh but for Calculus 2 or any class he teaches, just take another professor. I worked very hard to receive my A, but I had to study extremely hard.
His class was not bad, just take notes of definitions on screen and learn to apply it. He works out problems a lot (which helps) and gives a doable amount of homework that is related to the subject. Overall, nice and funny guy and the class is not hard. Had a good experience
Has a very strong accent but it is manageable if you listen. Give ALEKS homework every week. Go to the math labs for help. He drops your lowest text grade and replaces one test grade with your final grade. That helped me a lot. As long as he see you trying then he will help you. Easy to get into contact with. Not a bad class like I thought.
Professor mumbles and slurs his words and solves his math sometimes in his head. Professor also assigns homework on content he hasn't covered yet. Do not take this professor if you're trying to understand calculus. I already took calculus in highschool and struggling now because of his different methods and lack of explanation.
Pros: Cons: - Gets questions wrong frequently - Answers questions with another question - Chicken scratch handwriting - Constantly extends homeworks because he doesn't teach fast enough - I've taken Calc I and Calc II in highschool and I don't know what this man is teaching - Does math in head and doesn't explain it
Professor is teaching us content he did not teach last minute, the class before the test. FML
He's a good professor with a heavy accent. He explains things very in-depth which makes him go behind schedule, which makes him push back HW. His tests are relatively easy if you pay attention to the group work problems. 5 tests, the lowest grade gets dropped. HW and quizzes are online and easy. If you pay attention and do your work he's great.
This professor would just sit there in front of the class and realize a worksheet by himself and expect us to learn that way. He was not interactive and would get mad if we didn't know something. He technically did not teach us anything. Class was always a pain because it was hard to understand him and simply miserable to be there.
Mr. Vona is difficult to understand, his accent does not make it any better, because he mumbles when speaking, trails off, or is completely unaware of where the rest of his class is. His handwriting is difficult to read, and he erases the things he writes on the board quickly after writing on it. The homework does not correlate with tests.
This professor is overly sarcastic, but he cares about success by providing study guides that mirror the test format & questions exactly, pushing HW due dates if needed, curving tests, and reviewing the class before a test. His heavy accent was not a problem for me. You must put in the effort by doing the HW and study guide to succeed.
DO NOT TAKE HIM!
Prof. Vona is very intelligent and understandable if you lock in. People overexaggerate his accent a lot, which is weird. He's clear about grading criteria and gives you a heads-up. He doesn't really interact with the class that much, but it might just have been my class. The class didn't really do me well bc of mandatory attendance.
This was one of the worst professors I have ever had. Professor Vona was a very poorly skilled teacher. His lectures often went over class time and did not take answering questions. Attendance is not mandatory at the start but as the class goes on it will become mandatory, as 9% of your grade is attendance. If you enjoy teaching yourself, have fun!
Dr. Vona is a cool dude. But a horrible professor he makes things more difficult than they need to be. I will never subject myself to this type of teaching again, he just talks himself through the problems rather then teaching us the work. HORRIBLE, and he has an accent which wasn't the problem for me his teaching was.
Do not take this dude even if he's your last option. Few students emailed the math department to tell them about the issues in all of these reviews, yet they couldn't do anything about it. He emailed the students to basically stop crying about it. About to his final in a bit. Guess what? Probably about to fail with a cool freaking 30. DO NOT TAKE!
If you wanna cry yourself to sleep every night & teach all the material to yourself take him. He writes on a small whiteboard next to his desk making it impossible to see anything if you aren't seated at the front. He mumbles his way through the problems & then expects you to understand it right away & embarrasses you if u ask questions. don't take
This is definitely a difficult class don't get me wrong, but if you do not put in the hours like said in the syllabus, you will struggle. ASK QUESTIONS IN CLASS. He cannot read your mind if you are confused. ATTEND HIS OFFICE HOURS AND GO TO MATH LAB!!! He provides so much help and explains everything so well if you go! Don't wait until last minute
All the other reviews are true: Dr. Vona mumbles a lot and his handwriting can be hard to read. Most of the time, I ended up teaching myself the content through ALEKS (homework is through ALEKS). He is a very nice guy and can be lenient. However, if you are not good at math, I would not recommend. If you are good at math, the class should be fine.
i hate this dude. he made me pass calc 1 so now i am in calc 2 with no understanding of wth is going on. Please i repeat do not take this man even if he's your last option.
He does lecture all wrong. He mumbles through the problems and expects you to just, understand them. I remember when a student next to me asked a question that was a pretty valid question. Dr. Vona proceeded to sarcastically answer and make fun at his question as if it was the most obvious answer in existence. Don't take his class.
I'm about to take test 3 in calc 2, all because he passed every failing student so his reputation with the board wouldnt get ruined. Bi vona, thank you for not teaching me calc the correct way and for putting me on this unsuccesful path to my future, with hate from Cartersville, GA. Yours truly.
To be honest, his teaching methods are worse than his accent. He'll do a lecture and then put you into groups to practice and immediately gets frustrated when no one understands the content and solves them himself. Grading is pretty generous; don't think I ever got less than half credit on any quiz/exam problems. Exams also got a ten point curve.
Professor does a great job at giving you plenty of material for his course, through homework and study guides that help with the exam(s). He cares about his students passing, the more practice you do the better.
His thick accent and quiet mumbling can make it difficult to understand his lectures. That being said, he can occasionally crack some jokes, and his study guides help prepare for the tests well, but overall a rough and frustrating class.
test heavy
I should've dropped the class after reading the other reviews, but I decided to stick it through bc I like math...BAD IDEA. He skips whole lessons/chapters bc he assumes you should already know the material. He will not explain things well & is very sarcastic He writes & erases quickly on the board Something you'd take as a last resort No ex.cred
I took AP Cal in high school so I'm familiar with it. He does honestly care about his students and wants everyone to succeed. So, if you don't know cal then DO NOT take him because you might fail, but if you do know cal then take him because he is a good professor and isn't strict. Does drop lowest grades in HW, tests, and quizzes.
Definitely should have dropped this class. I feel like I didn't learn anything. Very nice man but a very terrible teacher. Do not recommend.
He wasn't a super bad professor, just wasn't good at explaining the problems on the board. If you're good at teaching yourself, I definitely recommend him. Most of the assignments were online and the website used it was pretty easy to teach myself and I just attended occasional lectures to make sure I was learning at the same pace he was teaching.
Heavy accent, poor handwriting very bad teacher. You have to learn on your own he just lectures at the board and doesn't get any class participation. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR
dont do it
don't take him
Pretty bad teacher, learning going to be done mostly on aleks. His lectures go by really fast and his mumbled speaking and heavy accent doesn't help understanding. You might aswell take this class online because that's what the entirety of the class does. Don't take him if you struggle with learning with a teacher just find a better one.
dont do it if you can help it
His lectures are extremely dry. He was more so just talking at his students it never felt like a true learning experience. His accent takes time to understand. Because of HIS understanding of the material he struggles to identify exactly what his students are having difficulty understanding. I would highly recommend you take anyone else over Vona.
Do not take this professors class if you are not comfortable or good at teaching yourself. He mumbles a lot during the lectures and he shows more than he actually explains. Your going to be teaching yourself a lot during this class through akles. The test are weighed heavily compared to everything else and one bad test grade will ruin your grade.
Lectures aren't helpful for the most part, he mumbles a lot and tends to not explain things thoroughly. If you have to take him it's still very possible to get a high grade, but be prepared to learn most of the material through ALEKS and other outside resources. If that's not for you then I do not recommend taking him.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
77%
Textbook Required
44%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.15 avg changeRatings by Course
CALC2254
5.0
(1)DIFEQ002
5.0
(1)MATH2254
4.3
(4)DIFEQ2306
4.0
(2)MATH2252
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MATH2202
4.4
CALC1190
4.2
MATH1111
4.0
1111
4.0
MATH2306
4.0