2.1
Quality4.1
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake85
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
85
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
4
4
11
3
9
2
37
1
24
What Students Say
“although he is a great help in office hours his grading system is warped off the scales and class is so boring it makes you want to cry however he does have extra credit after each test which are also hard but if you put forth effor and he sees this he adjusts your grades accordingly”
MATH231 - 3.0 rating“WORST math professor on earth”
MATH103 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
CALC231
4.0
(2)107
3.5
(2)CAL231
3.0
(1)MATH430
3.0
(2)MATH103
3.0
(25)Difficulty by Course
236
5.0
MATH236
5.0
MATH
5.0
MATH448
5.0
MATH304
5.0
Reviews (85)
math for your dog while peeing on a tree, incredibly boring and good for nothing
an amazing mathematician who has no clue how to teach
No Comments
Knows what he is doing, but cannot get it across to us. He is confusing!
Horrible, Horrible teacher!!!
He's nice, he tries, but he just can't teach.
very smart.........can't teach a lick
Fudges the grades, grading on "creativity" in a math class.
Knows what he is doing, just doesnt know how to explain it to anyone else
he knows what he is teaching......not HOW to teach it...NOT GOOD!!!!
very nice and easy to talk to... fair grading scale
he can not explain anything
Horrible Teacher, Horrible Class, Man had noooooo idea what he was talking about
you should be failing already
SUCKS... Run for your life now!
Uses a lot of words to explain nothing! Avoid him if possible!
???
worst teacher in the history of teaching
No Comments
nice guy, BUT HAS NO CLUE HOW TO TEACH
Nice guy, poor teacher
avoid him at all costs!! doesnt know how to teach!
No Comments
Teaches straight from the book and is very repetitive. However, attendance doesn't matter (just make sure you show up for tests) and the tests aren't bad if you read the book.
worst math teacher ever
worst teacher i've ever had, and a complete A$$HOLE. Maybe he's good when he teaches upper 300 and 400 level math classes, but not Math 236. I took the class again with a different teacher and got an A.
I had him 3 years ago as a freshman. By far the hardest class I have ever had. I was lucky to get a D. He is much smarter than the kids he teaches, that is the problem. He will help you outside of class but still impossible class.
really nice guy...but sucks at teaching
Pretty easy. I never go. Just show up for tests. They arent even that hard. Weird grading system. Grades based on how well everyone did in the class on that test.
I really liked him, hes really sweet and old man cute. I never went to class, just showed up for the test and managed to get an A and I am HORRIBLE at math. Its not really easy- but if you put in a little effort its not that bad.
I can't understand the man's teaching, so going to class doesn't really matter. I learn on my own. Only take the class if you're familiar with Calculus beforehand. I'm only passing 'cause he graded a test wrong (very uncommon).
DO NOT take his class. he might as well be speaking another language because he makes everything seem so much more complicated than they need to be. i am typically a straight A math student and i will be lucky to finish with a C- or a D+
first off this class is so easy. he's not a good teacher often confuses himself or says something that does not apply. but read the text if you don't understand him, he posts his classes online so if you miss it no big deal. adn he gives extra credit.
Doesn't teach well, but will help you out if you go to see him. He'll tell you exactly what to study. I never go to class. Read the chapters the night before and you'll pass. I have an A.
GOOD GOD! this teacher is so bad! he doesn't care if anyone understands him, he just rambles on about nonsense and he marks down every answer you give on your test by at least 2 points for "notation".
He sucks and doesnt care if kids get it or not.
In all honesty hes a very nice guy out of class. But as far as teaching goes hes satan. Do not take this class, I don't know one person with even a B. Try for an override or just wait another semester before taking it with him.s
Asks the stupidest questions on tests, and expects students to know as much as he does without teaching anything. I don't think he realizes that we aren't math professors too.
I have taken Calc before and still am failing this class. On one test, I got 9 of 10 answers correct but got a D because of notation (I wrote the answer in the wrong place) - STAY AWAY!
Self-absorbed teacher not focused at simplifying or explaining the purpose of this useless subject.
Very nice guy but he spends too much time on proofs and doesn't teach you how to do the problems. Assigns homework on stuff that he hasn't gone over yet. Strange grading system though so i'm making a C when i should have an D or F
I never went to this class and still got an A. I did study before tests though. He posts the the lessons online so it's easy to figure out what you need to study. Easy class, easy material, easy teacher.
nice guy but horrible teacher. there's no point in going to class, he'll just confuse you even more. i had taken calc before and it was still impossible. grading system very weird though, i should have gotten a d or f but i got a c...take someone else
Stay away!! Math is my best subject and I didn't understand a bit of this (despite getting an A thanks to his weird grading). It's all about theorems that he doesn't give any meaning to. He never connected what we were doing to something concrete.
good teacher, very nice guy very friendly. weird grade system but if you know the stuff well you should be fine. thoroughly enjoy his class
His notes are online, he meets with you whenever you want, even if you DON'T attend class, and his wacky grading makes your grade higher than it should be. The only thing you have to do is study for the tests. To do well in any class you have to study.
I am not a math person, and this class was by far the most interesting and enjoyable math class I've ever taken. It's not hard, but you do need to study for the tests.
Um..KILL yourself before you take this class. Nice guy but races thru the material and is so unclear as to what the HELL he's talking about. Questions on the test are soooo weird I can't even describe them and the math you learn isn't even applicable in the real world. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS OR HIM
DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS, although he was nice the class was boring and incredibly hard. weirdest math class that I have ever taken in my entire life...
Nice guy, horrible teacher. If you don't understand one concept, you might as well give up because there's no way to figure out what you don't understand AND learn the new stuff. I would not recommend this course or teacher, even though I do like the guy.
Carter Lyons is a very nice guy. Very friendly and approachable, you can joke around with him before class too. If you can comprehend the material you'll do fine.
On the first day of class he said, "I'm not a teacher, I'm a mathematician. To me, math is an art." He's an awful teacher, wait! I wouldn't even call him a teacher. He just pulls numbers out of the sky and uses them and never explains why. Worst teacher ever! If you have him, switch immediately.
awesome teacher. nice guy. very approachable. connects math to issues in daily life, so that people can understand. if you take notes and attend class regularly you'll do great. easy grader. gives take home tests. no attendance policy. overall super class...wish i was a math major
yah so since i suck @math-obviously i chose 103-right? wrong- this class is weird, its not math its freakin mathematical concepts-no calculators-WTF? unorganized teacher and boring as hell class, nice guy but this was my hardest class. however i am getting a B- hes got a great curve, but dont take
Extremely nice guy, just not the best professor. Class seemed like it was going to be interesting and easy at first, but it became confusing. It's hard to figure out how u are doing in the class because his grading scale is so odd. Struggled to make a C. No attendance, but you MUST go to class!
AVOID AT ALL COSTS---Nice guy...but he could care less how you do or how hard you work. Class was boring and didnt make any sense at all. I was totally lost everyday.
very nice and willing to work with you during office hours, but very bad lectures. must attend class, though all the notes are disorganized. expect to teach yourself.
Do not take this class unless you have to. This class is very confusing, and the teacher moves extremely fast. My notes were very disorganized due to his style of teaching (all over the board), making it impossible for me to study at home. He is a very nice person, and his grading scale does work out to the student's advantage. Stay away!
TERRIBLE!!
not a good professor. I taught myself all the content of the course, and realized only at the end that going to class really isn't necessary since his notes are pointless to understand. If you want to teach yourself, this class still sucks, but at least you get the satisfaction of hard work....
smart guy, but has no idea how to teach. id have been better off driving down I-81 and throwing my money out the window than paying JMU tuition for class. taught all material to myself from book (which is also not the best math book either). has curves on tests and getting a C in class is not out of reach... but you won't learn anything
Terrible and confusing as hhhh. He'll go on forever abotu why something is without giving it any context, and in the end you learn nothing. Expect to teach yourself everything from the book, which is very time-consuming. He will assist you after hours, but overall DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. Find someone else.
He is a nice person and will help you outside of class but he is terrible at explaining things. His tests aren't that hard IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE MATERIAL. But understanding the material involves understanding him which is the hard part. The only graded assignments are 3 tests and 1 exam . He has no attendance policy but if you miss class, you will
If you can NEVER take a class under this man! He is very nice but, very, very hard to understand. Wants all problems to be done the hard way and will accept nothing less. Tests you on the information about once a month and they are all very hard. Go to his office hours as much as possible if you cannot avoid taking this class.
Good guy, pretty confusing but i dont think he is nearly as bad as everyone else is saying.
if you aren't a math person, don't take him. if you are a math person, still don't take him. he doesn't explain how to do anything at all, he just gives you theories and expects you to know what to do. very nice man but awful teacher.
He's really helpful in office hours. Sometimes he messes up his work on the blackboard and it can get really confusing. Assigns work before he teaches it. Expects you to learn on your own. Do the homework even if you don't understand it. If some one in class asks too many question, tune out of the conversation, it'll only make things worse.
although he is a great help in office hours his grading system is warped off the scales and class is so boring it makes you want to cry however he does have extra credit after each test which are also hard but if you put forth effor and he sees this he adjusts your grades accordingly
WORST math professor on earth. and I'm an expert on bad ones...i had Yesilcay for MATH 220. But this guy is WORSE. Impossible to follow and totally abstract. DO NOT TAKE ANY CLASSES WITH THIS PROFESSOR
Mr. Lyons is a really nice guy. He helps more out of class than in class so I recommend going to office hours; i basically lived there. His math class was VERY abstract. It seemed, at times, that the information he gave came out of no where. If you get him, go to hours and ask a lot of questions because you will have them.
Worst techer that I've had at JMU. He knows the material but cannot teach it to save his life. I highly recommend David Walton for 232.
Flat out worst math professor ever! Don't even think twice about taking this man's class! You'll regret it! He doesn't care about teaching his students. He is so confusing and his tests are ridiculous and don't reflect what was discussed. He is condesending and actually laughed at me when I came to get help because what I had said was so "stupid".
To be honest, this guy is the absolute WORST professor i have ever had. He is not helpful, he doesn't make sense, and his grading policy is entriel unfair. Whatever you do, steer clear of his classes.
This class was horrible, and so was the professor. He doesn't seem to care at all about his students, tests are off the wall with randomness, including the take home parts. It is extremely difficult and I would recommend staying away from this professor when taking this class!
Worst class I've ever taken. Tests are impossible and he can't teach. DON'T TAKE HIM!
I loved this man! I just wanted to give him a hug everytime I saw him....like a grandpa. Defintely see him during office hours. very helpful if you ask
This class shouldnt have been that hard, but he has made it incredibly hard. Pulls questions from the test out of nowhere. Moves really slow thru the chapters and then has to play catch up at the end. He really is a nice guy overall, but just is not good at being clear when explaing things.
VERY VERY HARD. He is rude and does not teach the material well. His tests are ALL proof, but none you could study before hand. Every proof on the test is a brand new one. If you want a C, D, or F on your transcript then take him. Almost impossible to get an A or B. For every test he gives an in class AND a take home!
Very clear and he provides you all the information you need to pass his tests (which are hard). The thing is, it's up to you to work with the materiial and get yourself ready. It really takes hard work outside of class to get ready for his tests (both in class and take home). He was always very patient and helpful during office hours.
Couldn't stand his class at all, dropped it the day of the deadline. He goes of on wild tangents to solve simple problems because he wants you to fully comprehend the purpose of calculus. Very smart man, on time all the time. If your going to take this class then I suggest that you make sure the rest of your schedule is fairly easy. Good luck!!
Very tough class. He doesn't care to relate to his students at all, just walks right in and starts lecturing. Very very smart man, but too smart to teach someone who doesn't understand calculus well. Tests are very tough, but you get a take home portion that can help. Attendance isn't mandatory. I wouldn't take his class again.
He's a nice guy and really tries to teach the materials, but its extremely difficult when he explains it in the language of the nerdy mathematical world. But honestly, he's a really nice teacher, just confusing. Try to learn from the textbook if you have him....and avoid 8AM classes!!!
Not the best class in the world. He is a nice guy, but never cancels class, always lectures from beginning to end and is very scatter-brained. The material doesn't seem like it should be challenging, but he makes it confusing. Get another professor if you can.
This class was really hard for me. There is no notes but the textbook, and if you wanna learn about Philosophy then take this class if you wanna learn about math then dont. waking up at 8 am four days a week to come to this class was a waste of time! by the way he doesn't add up the points on the test. he gives you the grade he thinks you deserve.
He seems like a nice guy, but is extremely unclear. He spends a lot of time daily, explaining things just to find out he made a mistake and then will sit there clueless trying to find out where he went wrong. You will have to teach yourself and going to class can sometimes confuse you. Thankfully there is no attendance policy.
Class Info
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.17 avg changeRatings by Course
CALC231
4.0
(2)107
3.5
(2)CAL231
3.0
(1)MATH430
3.0
(2)MATH103
3.0
(25)Difficulty by Course
236
5.0
MATH236
5.0
MATH
5.0
MATH448
5.0
MATH304
5.0