2.5
Quality4.2
Difficulty30%
Would Retake84
Reviews30%
Would Retake
84
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
18
4
11
3
6
2
17
1
32
What Students Say
“The material provided in class was not nearly as difficult as the questions given on the exam”
MAT129 - 1.0 rating“He would explain things too much in simple chapters, then fly through the harder ones”
086 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
59%
Textbook Required
40%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.49 avg changeRatings by Course
141
5.0
(1)MAT095
5.0
(1)CALCIII
5.0
(1)085086
5.0
(1)MATH129
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MAT145
5.0
MATH141
5.0
MAT002
5.0
MAT134
5.0
MATH009
5.0
Reviews (84)
N.B. This rating is for his online classes.
No Comments
horrible
THe worse teacher I ever had in my life! He is very unfair, very unclear, and never shows up for classes.
No Comments
I hate math, and this guy seems a bit clumsy and strange, but apparently the only one who teaches finite math. Nevertheless, he appears to know his stuff, gives pretty clear explanations, and seems willing to help students understand the material.
This guy cannot teach! I would not take his class because he grades really hard and he doesnt even know the material he's teaching.
Contrary to many people's opinions, I really think he is a good teacher. Despite the fact that it is a little hard to pay attention in his class cuz of the way he talks, he knows his material, and DOES make sense. Many say that his grading is a bit harsh, but in my opinion, way he grades IS justified. Take it only if u arent such a complaining baby
I am surprised by some negative comments here. This man is a good teacher overall. I never got out of the class without understanding what is being taught. He explains things at a low pace so you can understand not just memorize. Go with him for any math course you won't regret. The grading style is better than Omar.
this is a good teacher overall. although he makes many small errors in his examples his teaching emphasizes fundamentals so everything is easier to understand. he can be dull at times but his lecture notes are the most helpful things ever I still use his lecture notes today for many physics/science applications.
Horrible teaching style, very disorganized and while it makes sense what he teaches in class he grades very harshly. I wish I would have known this before I took him. Don't take him!!
Beware!!! His grading is capricious!
He was in class for less than half the classes, and we ended up with five professors. I think he would have been fine had he lectured. His grading was harsh but we didn't know what he expected of us! I did ok, but I still want to retake the class because I feel like I missed some subjects.
Terribe teacher. On quizzes would give the hardest questions from the homework and they were things we never did in class. Very very hardsh grader. There are 4 of us left in the class from everyone dropping.
This professor was very hard. He gave questions on the quizzes and tests that were not talked about in class. Graded not fair.
you pretty much are a horrible teacher.
Everyone basically fails every test due to the homework and worksheets not being similar to the test questions.
not helpful, doesn't care
Does nothing to show how topics apply to real world topics beyond assign homework problems of this manner. Made it extremely difficult to follow subject matter. I retook this class with another professor and felt like an entirely new course since Professor Smith's class had seemingly no method to the madness and needless to say did much better.
Doesn't put the effort into the class he expects from students. In calc 1 (MAT 128 F-) he didn't grade homework and made tests and quizzes 100% of the grade everyone dropped. Finite math (MAT 141) the material was a lot easier but is still the case he at least did random HW checks, tests 60%, final 25% quizzes, HW & worksheets 15%. AVOID
Very clear and organized. Knew the material. He explained things well. Tests sometimes had very hard problems on them but it was a small portion of the test. My biggest complaint was he didn't put grades up online (although he did return tests and quizzes). Seems aloof but is willing and able to answer questions.
First, he is a great and fair professor, flow him, you will learn a lot. Don't expect do nothing and get a good grade. Ppl say his exam is hard that's cuz they don't study well, everything are from his hw and notes. I got b at the end because I never finish my hw on time, so I took lots points off, which is I deserved,and I''ll still take his 229.
This class was very difficult. He was helpful but it was still hard to keep my grades up.
Mr. Smith did a good job of explaining things in lecture, but dont miss a class. u can get lost in any class. i recommend this teacher, but u have to do ur part as a student. gave me skills, i did know i would need later in life. thanks again for being awesome.
Great teacher, he clearly knows the material. The tests are hard, you have to know the material really really well to do good, like legit. Either way though you will learn a lot. If you want a good grade though be prepared to study.
Brian knows the material well and does present it in an understanding way in class, but he is the toughest grader I've ever had and does not use online resources. He will not cut any slack when grading tests and he does not post homework assignments or anything online. So if you do not go to every class you fail. Not recommended whatsoever.
Overall I think that Brian is definitely helpful when you ask him questions one on one in his office hours, but the lectures are long. They consist of him teaching a concept and then continuously doing related problems. I personally don't like the paper back books parkland created because they aren't very helpful when you're off campus.
He would explain things too much in simple chapters, then fly through the harder ones.
Brian is an excellent professor, he is always there for you to answer any questions that you may have. He also provides very clear lectures, however he is a though grader. I recommend him.
It's clear he doesn't care about his students through his grading and his annoyed monotone delivery. He is totally unforgiving with his grading. Avoid at all costs.
He is really amazing! He explain things clearly and very helpful!! He is a great professor.
He teaches with monotone lectures and never asks for questions, you have to get his attention for questions. He's always willing to take a step back and explain the process in the simplest terms once asked too though. His tests use the hardest homework problems, but the homework isn't graded. The in class notes aren't enough to learn from though.
Lectures are long. Shows the most basic problems in the notes and saves the hardest questions for the test. There is no graded homework, so your grade is riding solely on tests and quizzes. Very tough grader and doesn't provide any insight on what you should've done if your answer is wrong; he just marks it wrong and moves on.
Brian does an excellent job with lecture. Calculus is hard and requires a lot of work. If you go to his office hours or email him - he is good at answering questions. His tests are tough. He grades based on your ability to solve the problems. So, if you make small mistakes - its not the end of the world. Do the homework problems and review.
HORRIBLE TEACHER! do not take any classes with him. I studied and did the homework but it didn't help. I failed every quiz and test then had to drop the class. He's a really tough grader. Almost everyone in my class failed or had to drop. WORST CLASS EVER.
He wasn't a bad teacher but he did grade harshly and gave little to no partial credit. This was my first non A.... if that gives you a clue. You really have to keep up with the homework (even though it isn't worth points) to do well. Also when I went to his office hours often he wasn't available or had to leave early.
Took his class one semester, and out of the 30 something people that started it, only three took the final. His lessons consisted of putting up an equation briefly, barely going through it, then would put up the two most basic examples with little to no interaction with the students. Would not recommend him at all. Worst professor i have ever had.
He didn't explain the material that well at all.. he walks you through some easy examples in class but then when the test comes its unrecognizable to the material. he isnt that great at explaining the actual underlying concepts and yet expects you to fully be able to grasp the difficult problems on the exam. I just thought he was kind of lazy
His lecture was fine. He teaches easily and answers everything. However, there are lots of homework and they are harder than anything. And his quizzes and exams are very tough even though they are mostly based on homework and in-class exercises. you need to understand everything to get good grade. If you want to learn, he can a good choice.
Brian Smith was the worst professor I've ever had. His lectures were so boring, that students would actually fall asleep. Would never take one of his classes again.
Brian is probably the only professor I blame for anything wrong in the course. He left mid-semester and didn't contact us at all during that time. Teachers that substituted him taught us something and Brian tested us on something completely different. He even made the exam more difficult as if he actually hates us. His H.W is ridiculously long.
The others are upset about the work load. He does make you work a lot, but 229 is a 5 credit hour course. Most everything he taught was clear if attention was paid during the lectures. He was always willing to clarify. He did leave for half of the semester but would readily reply to emails. Work for the grade. It's definitely doable.
The material provided in class was not nearly as difficult as the questions given on the exam. Multiple times he worked a problem out on the board and had a student later point out that he had messed up the problem at some point. There was a difficult exam the day before the final which minimized the amount of time to review all the course material
I will try to be honest but fair with Brian here, he was not a good teacher what so ever. The class structure and his style of teaching was very confusing. He was the reason I dropped my first and only course. However, outside of class he is brilliant and very helpful but I don't recommend to take his class. Take Wayne clark instead if possible!!
He is a really tough professor, however he knows what hes talking about. If youre looking for an easy class, hes not a good choice for you. If youre looking for challenges in learning something new, he is a solid choice. Do homeworks (not graded) and youll be fine in test and quizzes. His class makes you really work for it.
He's the driest professor I've ever faced... he grades incredibly harshly for the dumbest things. If you do scratch work in the margin of the test, he will grade it and penalize you for errors even in work that you don't end up using.
The problems in the lecture notes are so much easier than the questions on exams and quizzes
Worst teacher I've ever had. Withdrew as soon as I could.
Absolute worst teacher at parkland.
I was in a motorcycle accident a few weeks into the semester and had to miss a week of class, due to being hospitalized. When I returned to class, he handed me a test and told me that it was over things they has covered while I was gone and I needed to take it that day. I walked out and dropped his class that day. Also can not explain well.
Most ruthless grader I've ever come across. In my opinion, he explained some of the concepts really well such as Counting and Cryptography. Keep in mind that if you rely on partial credit, you won't get any.
Good at explaining concepts and also good at answering questions. You'll have weekly homework and quizes (all quizes + homework are 15% of your grade, the rest is based on tests and your final). A bad test with the grade on your final if its higher. Has printable fill-in-the-blank notes if you want them. Getting an "A" is work but possable.
He's a good instructor. It's just his exams and quizzes do not match what he teaches. If you have a very difficult question on the homework/quiz, expect it to be on the exam, every question. I spent about 12-18 hours a week studying and I feel like it didn't matter. To me the grade doesn't reflect what you obtained in the class.
Brian Smith is a tough grader and his course isn't easy, but in all of my college experience so far, no professor has taught me more than Brian did.
good instructor but grades harshly. gives detailed feedback where you lost points so you can hopefully do better next time. I never got full mark on any of the quiz even when I was super confident.
Avoid Prof. Smith at all costs. He is very knowledgeable, but his exams/quizzes are impossible. I have compared his exams with other professors who teach the same class at Parkland and his are twice the difficulty. MAT 143 is inherently a difficult class, but Prof. Smith makes it unattainable. I would recommend taking this class with another Prof.
Hes one of the best professors Ive ever had. He knows what hes talking about and his lectures are amazing. His quizzes and tests reflect the lectures. Overall, he grades fairly and is one of the best professors Ive ever had.
His lectures were top notch. If you do the homework and attend lectures youll get an A. By far my favorite professor.
Here's a big warning: This professor gives quizzes with only 4 problems on them and grades them harshly. If you don't get the exact same answer as him - you will get a 0 on that problem. Your grade can quickly get tanked by these awful quizzes. Avoid him if you can, take another teacher for 143.
Smith gives a ton of homework problems, the quizzes only have 4 questions and he does not give partial credit if you have a wrong answer. I have never had a grade as bad as the one I have in this class. The exams are nearly impossible to get a good grade even after studying. All exam questions are wayyy harder than any homework or example problems.
Just don´t have him as your math professor and you´ll be fine, by far the worst class in my experience, he is just not good, and sometimes too harsh, don´t even let you explain the situation.
Awful all around. DO NOT TAKE HIM!!! He is by far the worst professor I have ever had. I am a 4.0 student and was failing this class. I even listened to all the lectures, took down ALL the notes + some, emailed him anytime I did not understand something and studied for days before the tests and still was not passing. If you can avoid him I would!
Worst professor I have ever had. Grades incredibly hard for no reason. Do not take a class with him! He is a horrible professor and Parkland should be embarrassed to have him on their staff.
This class is already hard and this professor seems to like to make it harder. He didnt want to put in the work to actually help me, I emailed him & he replied w/ make note cards. His class was labeled as a hybrid thats bs because the days that we actually went into the classroom he would NOT teach, we would take exams/quizzes on those days.
Professor Smith is the best math teacher I have had in my educational career. His lectures are top-notch, he is able to explain mathematical concepts in a way that is easy to understand. He is a tough grader which helped me improve my attention to detail and analytical thinking skills.
By far the worst math teacher I ever came across. Literally wouldnt wish my biggest enemy to take his class. Your grade never reflects what youre getting out the class. Harsh grader that grades your work not the actual answer. Not good at breaking down whats being taught. Lecture notes are easy problems and exams are 10x harder than the notes.
Hardest class I have ever taken, and he is an insanely tough grader. You want to pull out your hair and scream in this class. He created the most difficult final exam I've ever seen. I understand it's a Calc 3 class and its supposed to be challenging, but he put the last midterm the DAY BEFORE the final! Who does that?! Oh btw, there's NO CURVE.
I failed the first exam pretty hard. But I put a little more effort and managed to get an A on everything after that. Smith's video lectures are amazing and he responds pretty fast to any questions you may have. Everything that is expected of you on exams in clearly covered in lectures/homework/quizzes. I thought he was a fair and good professor.
Excellent lectures, helpful in person. If you do not do the HW and study, you flat out won't even come close to passing the class. The professor expects you to understand the material and not just memorize formulas or recipes. His exams are written in a way to fight against those who try to memorize everything and fail to comprehend the concepts
You will leave class knowing absolutely no math. I don't understand one thing we learned this semester and whenever I talk to my classmates they say the same. Not only does he not teach you but he'll give you tons of homework and grade them as heavy as the quizzes.
This class was insanely hard to get a good grade in. There are no curves on anything. Attendance is not mandatory, but you should probably go if you want to know what is actually going on. He responds quickly to emails, we also did not end up using the textbook, as the slides were available online.
lots of homework. Allows you to take a long time on exams.
Excellent professor, solid class. Although there was a lot of homework, you could easily get help from him or other students through the discussion boards, which he strongly encouraged us to use. His lectures were always clear and helpful. Grading was tough but very fair. There were also some small extra credit opportunities at the start and end.
One of the worst professors I have ever had. Notes did not help with any of the homework or exams. Gave no feedback on homework and graded harshly. Didn't give any points for attendance, but good luck if you miss. Exams were nearly impossible even after studying for several days in advance and having what I thought was a well enough understanding.
Online class but in person exams. Very hard exams notes will rarely help. I asked for extensions on homework due to family issues and surgical issues with myself, he told me no. Lectures are long and a lot every week. Harsh grading.
Absolutely horrible professor. Seems like a nice enough guy, but I went to his office hours a few times when I had a very low grade and he seemed very condescending. So much homework that this class will take up your whole life. Almost nobody understands anything the way he explains math. My first bad grade in college. Do not take, I beg of you.
Brian is by far the best math teacher I have ever had! The lecture notes, homework, and quizzes are good reflections of what material on the tests are like. I do recommend coming to class because he doesn't post the filled in notes on Cobra.
This course was way too hard, took it thinking it would be easier than my own colleges course. turned out to be a bigger nightmare. be ready for 10 hours of homework a week and like 10 more of studying. he grades way too harshly and theres not at all lenient. exams are extremely difficult.
If you take this professor, you need to be very good at math. I am not talking about just understand the math, you will need to be fluent at it like knowing how to breath. Otherwise, you won't be able to complete his test and most definitely get a C at best. There are a lot of homeworks because if not, that "Fluent like breathing" won't happen.
Not bad at all. Friendly and willing to help.
Yes the class was a bit tricky, but he was willing to assist during office hours!
Professor Smith seems nice, but she's a terrible teacher. I struggled with math, and even hours of studying couldn't help me pass. There's almost no extra credit, no cheat sheets, and exams come fast with no review problems. This class made me switch to a major with less math.
Genuinely one of the worst professors I have ever had. Lots and lots of homework. Very harsh grading. I did an assignment with 40 problems on it, didn't do one problem and got a 60 on it. He “randomly selects” certain problems to be worth more than others. I would refrain from this guy at all costs, take Kevin instead.
I cannot stress enough how awful of a professor he is. I've always caught on to math pretty quickly, but not with him. I had to ask ChatGPT for help and it couldn't even solve the homework problems with his provided answer. Exams are near impossible even after studying for days in advance. By the time finals came around half the class dropped.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
59%
Textbook Required
40%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.49 avg changeRatings by Course
141
5.0
(1)MAT095
5.0
(1)CALCIII
5.0
(1)085086
5.0
(1)MATH129
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
MAT145
5.0
MATH141
5.0
MAT002
5.0
MAT134
5.0
MATH009
5.0