This guy makes the most boring topics seem fun with witty, relevant references and you can tell he cares about our learning experience. His labs are super helpful for tests and he touches on them in lecture to help more. He's really into class participation, though, but it's mostly for extra credit!

Professor Kauffman did a great job explaining the material and keeping the class interesting. The exams had the right amount of content for the time provided and the projects were laid out in an easy to understand manner, no wasting time trying to understand what exactly he was trying to get you to do.

All computer science professors should strive to be like Kauffman. It was obvious from the beginning how much effort he put into his examples and programming projects. Barring a few hiccups (which were more than excusable considering this was his first time teaching the course), Kauffman was a fair, entertaining, and hardworking professor.

Professor Kauffman was the best CSCI professor I've had at UMN. This class was so fun to go to - he put a lot of thought and work into his lectures and examples and explained everything super clearly. Open resource tests made you actually apply what you learned instead of copying word for word from slides. 10/10 would take a class with again.

Chris is a great addition to the CS department at UMN. He has a passion for teaching that shines through, and his lectures, projects, and exams are well prepared for and very fair. If you attend lectures and lab, it will be crystal clear what he is expecting you to learn, and there will be no surprises. Might not even need the textbook with him.

Chris Kauffman is the best professor I have ever had - including high school teachers. He really cares that you learn the material and understand the concepts. He goes out of his way to hold extra office hours when students have questions. He keeps you engaged in lectures and offers some extra credit. I would take any class he teaches if I could.

He always went over homework in the lecture and made sure to take questions from everyone and was very aware if certain assignments were difficult. The lectures slides were a great resource. He was also funny and approachable.

Excellent teaching style, lectures are interactive and entertaining, good at explaining complex concepts. Frequently seeks and considers student feedback to improve course. Assignments are written elegantly and detailed, usually no ambiguity or vague instructions, and are satisfying to complete.

Chris is one of the best computer science teachers I have had. He genuinely cares about the students and asks for feedback on the course and how it is run. His assignments are hard, but he clearly lays out what you should do and if you come to class you'll be fine. He has super engaging lectures especially for the material that he is teaching.

Overall he is a good teacher. A lot of homework and it might be hard to get help due to the demand of office hours. Exams are hard but not too bad comparing with many other CSCI classes

Chris Kauffman is one of the most enthusiastic people when it comes to teaching CSCI. Even the most mundane topics become interesting when he sprinkles bits of humor and fun into it. He really made me want to continue my CSCI career, as he made programming fun!

He's one of the best professors I've had. Definitely works to keep you engaged. You need to work for your grade though. This class is not easy.

Chris is one of the best professors in the U. He has a really good sense of humor and he is really passionate about teaching. The class content can be boring and tough to understand but Chris can explain things clearly and to the point. Also his projects are fun and challenging. TA's office hour is usually very busy.

Easily the best professor I've had. Probably should know some code before taking the class despite the math only prerequisites. He is willing to explain anything he taught that you don't understand. Cracks jokes and tries hard to keep the lecture going (despite the 160 minute long classes). Make sure you participate and "earn your card"

His lectures and amount of work put into it is amazing. Genius at programming. Only annoying thing is that he favorites people who participate a LOT, so make sure you do that if you really want that A.

Gives dry material in a non-boring way. Very easy to pay attention to, is clear and fun to work with. Participation gives you up to 3% in this class, got me the A.

Great Professor

Really cared about my learning and wanted us all to pass. He knew a lot of us by name too.

Best professor I've had so far as a Comp Sci student period. He is very friendly and the best lecturer I've ever met. Keeps the class's attention and is always to hear out questions and comments. Tests are super fun and definitely fair, would highly recommend him!

Kauffman is the best. This is the second course I've had with him. I'm taking him again in the spring. If you have the option, take a course with him. About the only issue is he updates his powerpoints frequently so I wouldn't recommend printing them out/taking notes right on them. He doesn't note what he's changed either. I hope he works on this.

One of the best profs I've ever had. He's hilarious and very accessible outside the class. Also, he did a great deal of programming in C so his understanding of the underlying system is impressive. The difficulty is normal, but great professor.

Kauffman is a very funny guy, and seems to want his students to succeed. 2041 with him isn't super challenging. Averages for every exam were around 85, and you could turn in a project feeling confident that you would get 100%.

Really enjoyed his 2041 course, learning OCaml and functional programming was legitimately interesting and fun. His assignments are really well written and aren't vague or unclear regarding requirements. The exams were good overviews of the coursework (challenging though fair), and Gradescope + Piazza was awesome.

He knows how to teach. He makes student participate more which helped me a lot with understanding.

Excellent professor who is very knowledgeable about the subject and does a great job teaching it. Clearly cares about teaching and makes a serious effort to do it well. Makes really helpful practice exams and slides covering the material. Also has an excellent sense of humor and enjoyable to listen to. Probably my favorite professor so far.

Chris is one of the best CS profs I've had. He is so thorough with his lectures and hw assignments. Get ready to work tons of hours on his assignments. Get started early and get help from TA's before the rush. He really challenges you on the assignments, but the tests for his class aren't too bad. It's open source, but I would still prep.

Great lecturer. Great slides. Lot of opportunities for extra credit. VERY HARD homeworks.

If you think this course is difficult, that's 2021's fault. Professor Kauffman really wants you to pass and get a good grade with a good understand of the course objectives. He is the professor makes me believe my suffering worth it.

Pretty solid professor. The good: Great lecturer, has good slides, the projects and labs help you learn, tests are open resources The bad: Projects are wayyyyyy too long even the TAs were dead at the end of the year, the final was unreasonably hard out of nowhere.

Kauffman is a true gem in the CSCI department at the U of M. This guy has some of the funniest slides while being one of the most fair and reasonable professors out there. His lectures are great, his projects are tough-- but doable. Start early on them! Always him if you can, you won't regret it!

Any class with Kauffman will not be an easy A. He is a great professor, but the projects are always quite difficult and require some time. Exams are pressed for time, but open resource.

Professor Kauffman gives excellent lectures; each concept is explained clearly, and the lectures aren't ever dry. He goes pretty quickly, but it's not a problem if you're paying attention.

Lab assignments are very straightforward and very helpful especially when you didn't get it the first time during lectures. Lectures are also very interactive and have plenty of opportunities to get extra credit.

Best CSCI Prof I have ever had.

Kauffman is a very clear, energetic professor. His courses usually have 3-5 projects throughout the semester.

Amazing teacher, makes computer science come alive. Easily the best professor I've had of all my computer science professors, by far. Clear assignment directions, his assignments aren't hard, they're more just straightforward. Kauffman gives you everything you need to succeed.

Chris is a great lecturer, he knows how to teach! He also makes the projects fun to do. At the end of the semester, you will learn a lot.

Wonderful person and professor. Really understands the material and wants you to feel the same way. The assignments are very hard but really help to teach you the current material at hand. Would definitely recommend this teacher.

Kauffman is the best prof Ive ever had in the CS dept. He is so knowledgeable and his passion is clear. He doesnt put up with any funny business, but his class is still fun. Projects are tough and lengthy, but they teach you everything you need for the tests. Plus, classroom participation earns you a little bit of extra credit. Hes the best.

Great professor. He makes sure everyone understands and gives other time.

Hands down best prof at umn

He has really hard projects but the exams are very straight forward and based off lectures

He's very respectful, style may not be for everyone but out of most umn professors, he's the one to take for 2021

Very respectful and hilarious during lectures.

Chris Kauffman is in my opinion in the pantheon of great CS professors at the UMN-TC. Puts a lot into his lectures and projects, and it is very clear what the takeaways are for each chapter/unit. A very easy A if you pay attention and work for it.

Prof. Kauffman is a really engaging professor, and is well organized. Projects are the bedrock of this course, and are given automated tests and very clear manual inspection criteria. All of his slides are posted online, and the homeworks and projects are very informative towards what will be on the midterms. (I took this last semester)

Fun and engaging lectures w/ excellent examples! Homeworks/quizzes are not difficult. You can earn back points by discussing errors with him/TAs. Labs are short and to the point; remaining time are used as add'l office hours. Long projects, so start early! Fair exams, no surprises. Clear grading criteria. Def my favorite CSCI class and professor!

ABSOLUTELY GREAT PROF. Reasonable workload + get Quiz point back with TA + extra credit on project&hw + attention to the lecture A

Amazing professor! I found the class to be hard due to the complexity of the topics. He is pretty incredible, no matter what level of a programmer you are, you will learn something in this class and will become better out of it.

Kauffman is an absolutely amazing professor. His quality of teaching didn't decrease at all with the switch to online instruction. If anything, I think I learned more from the lectures, since he was able to be better prepared and fit more into lectures. His projects were borderline games (such as defusing an assembly bomb). I hope I have him again.

Professor Kauffman is one of the best professors I've had at the U hands down. All of his lectures are easy to follow (even when the topics get murky) and he is always easily accessible for help. Lots of opportunities to make up lost credit.

Great & clear lectures, homework that supports the learning, fun projects, responsive, and an overall great professor. The textbook is unnecessary (and verbose), and the material is covered well by the lectures. Of course, some of the topics are complex and may require a bit of questions or Googling, but Prof. Kauffman and the TAs are very helpful.

Kauffman is an awesome professor who makes a difficult subject like machine architecture much easier to understand and follow. His lectures are clear, and if you go to them and participate, you also earn bonus points that could be used for late work/extra credit! He is very accessible, so I recommend taking classes with him if you have a chance!

There are weekly homework and labs and about 4-5 projects. The projects are kinda hard, so start early.

One of the best lecturers in the CSCI department. Lectures are clear (and entertaining) with plenty of example code, weekly homework walks you through implementing new concepts from lecture in C, and projects are a lot of work, but very do-able. Exams are fair, mostly stuff from recent projects and homeworks, and open resource too.

Great lectures. Projects were very well designed, with amazing test suites included.

He is an amazing teacher but you got to work hard to get a good grade. Readings really help in this class.

Kauffman sets you up for success. If you honestly complete every lab, hw/quiz, and project, you'll be more than prepared for exams. His practice exams are super helpful/accurate for what the real exam will be. The course is a lot of work, but if you put in the work you'll learn a lot and get a good grade.

Kauffman is a gem in the CSCI department. If given the option, take classes with him.

Kauffman is a great professor and adapted the course online very well after the covid situation. Projects can be tricky but you learn a lot and the tests are very fair.

Easily the best prof I've had at this school. He teaches what you need to know about the course but also several other practical skills. He does have a temper that pops up sometimes, but it's completely overshadowed by his competence. His approach to the class is very calculated in a way to optimize your learning, and he always aims to improve.

More CSCI courses should be run like his. His grading puts the majority of the work on projects, grading based on mastery of course concepts rather than cramming for exams. I can say that I was not as stressed for this course as I would under other professors, plus I definitely learned more than I would have with other profs. Phenomenal professor.

Probably one of my favorite CSCI professors. His lectures are engaging, and his homeworks and labs are laser-focused towards helping you understand the lecture/exam content with no busy-work. If you understand the homeworks and labs and complete stuff on time you will do just fine in his classes.

Kauffman has a clear enthusiasm for computer science content and it bleeds over into his teaching. He cares about students learning and enjoying what he teaches because he wants them to share his same positivism regarding the subject. That being said, his tests and projects are fair in that they're doable, but you're certainly going to exert effort

Taken this calss in spr2020, great prof, inspiring class and reasonable homework. 5 projects for 2021, some of them is time-consuming, most of them reasonable. Exams are based on the practice exam, project codes and slides content. As for textbook, it is not necessary since kauffman's slides offer enough information for this class

Excellent professor. Lectures were clear and enjoyable, lecture slides themselves were helpful, though not detailed enough imo. Projects were very time consuming, exams were challenging, grading was fair, labs were very helpful, and there was a decent amount of extra credit available. Transition to online due to covid was smooth.

Hands down, the best CS at the U and its now even close. You will learn a lot, and he teaches the course for every level of student, not just those you excel in CS. You would be lucky to take a class with someone like Kauffman.

Great prof

Chris is an amazing proffesor. He takes time to make sure you understand the material and helps with your projects as much as possible. Highly recommend.

Good prof, listens to feedback and teaches well.

He provides a level of intensity rarely seen in academia. He's not fake-happy-enthusiastic, but he definitely has his coffee, every morning, without fail. If you simply go to lectures, pay attention, and ask questions, you'll pass. He's all about engagement.

Amazing prof. Can explain concepts in great detail at the right level for students; also just very enthusiastic, funny, just all-around enjoyable to listen to. Easily the best prof I've had in the CSCI department. Management of the online class was pretty good with no big obstacles. Would recommend 1000%.

Easily the best CSCI teacher at the U. Makes a what should be a hard CSCI class fun and not too difficult. Focus on the projects they are time consuming, but if you know what you are doing it should be easy.

Best CSCI teacher. Tests were reasonable and were based on lectures and projects. Projects were tough, but manageable if started early and very helpful in understanding material. Getting help on projects was a little difficult with long wait times in the virtual setting. Grading was very transparent - effort corresponded directly to higher grades.

Best CSCI professor I've taken so far. Makes lectures interesting enough where the students will pay attention and lectures usually have really good information. Usually gives 4-6 projects per semester which will definitely take time and effort but are very rewarding in helping you learn and get prepared for the tests. Definitely recommend!

This man is goated

Kauffman is a gem of a professor. If you have an opportunity to take any of his classes, hop on it before you end up waitlisted. He provides a lot of extra credit, as long as you answer questions in lecture. As long as you raise your hand, you'll probably get called once or twice. He has a lot of energy, and explains very clearly in lecture!

Most challenging csci class I've taken thus far but very manageable and very fulfilling. I've learned alot of useful information in this class. Kauffman is very energetic and gives great and easy to understand lectures. Will take him again if I have the chance

Absolutely the best teacher i've had so far at the U. You can tell he has a real passion for the content, so he teaches it well. Lectures are very helpful and easy to follow. Weekly homeworks and labs are usually easy and are almost exactly what shows up in the long projects/ all exams. Take this class with Kauffman if you have the chance.

Great professor with interesting lectures and projects that were difficult but well put together. Start projects early and utilize office hours to get programming help. Tests were fair.

Dense course material. Brilliant professor who's able to explain the concepts well. Gotta be attentive for the entirety of the lectures, because if you miss the explanation for something at the beginning of lecture, you'll be lost for the rest of it. Supplemented course material with weekly labs, homework assignments, and five BIG coding projects.

Kauffman is a solid professor, but he seemed a bit burnt out in this class in comparison with machine arch (csci 2021). He wasn't able to get us test cases for the second project until the last minute which made it quite stressful. He's a really good guy and a great professor. I just felt that our class was sort of an afterthought sometimes.

I've had Kauffman before and he's a great professor. I highly recommend him. This year was a bit different. Halfway through the sem he burnt out and things lagged behind. We lost a project due to too many delays, then our final project was delayed and tests came out the night b4 due. He gave us 1 more day... He's a good guy, not the best semester.

Like some other recent reviews say, Kauffman did get burnt out towards the end of the semester, and it did affect the class a little. That being said, he is still a great guy and a fantastic lecturer. He makes great projects and as long you make the effort to understand their contents you'll be just fine in the class.

Very solid professor. Easy labs and projects and fair exams. Plenty of opportunity to collaborate, gain extra credit, dig deeper, etc. Wish we would have gotten a second project in this course but he had some personal stuff. 10/10 would take again tho

Chris is super funny and down to earth his lectures are enjoyable. However his slides are pretty dense which I didn't connect well with. Projects take A LOT of time but are manageable just be prepared for them. Exams were oddly inconsistent in difficulty but there's extra credit galore. Don't sleep on the hw/labs they are good for studying/projects

I cried many a time throughout this course, but Kauffman is very fair and an interesting lecturer, he does speak very fast though. There is a ton of work with labs, homework, projects, and exams, which was nice in some ways, but exams were worth significantly more than everything else despite projects taking up the majority of my time (and tears).

Kauffman is one of the best CS professors in UMN. His instructions for projects are very clear, and if you like lower level code, then 2021 is the class for you.

Kauffman is the best CSCI lecturer. Explanations are crystal clear, his slides are thorough, and he has a personality so lectures are interesting. Lots of hw, labs, projects, but all are made to help you learn the material (which there is a lot of). Exams are standard difficulty. Take 2021 with him you will not regret it!!

Amazing! One of the best instructors in UMN

Kauffman is my favorite prof in this university! He is passionate about what he teaches and explains things very well. The projects for this class are hard but a great learning experience. The exams are reasonable difficulty and he prepares you well for them. He answers questions well and inspires us to learn more!

The professor is great, even though the class is difficult. The tests are not easy but he gives great practice exams with very similar format. The project (4-5 per semester) are time-consuming but very well explained and super relevant to course material. The effort Kauffman puts into the class to make it enjoyable is very respectable.

Definitely the best computer science professor I've had so far, and everyone I've talked to agrees. If you pay attention in lectures and start assignments/projects early you can get an A. His lectures are great and the projects are just the right difficulty. Skimming the textbook before lectures make it a lot easier to understand the details.

Kauffman is great for this course. He actually made me interested in CSs most boring subject - computer architecture. I felt like I really learned from this class. His organization is awesome. Only downside was exams were decently difficult, but doable

Although scary at first, Kauffman is incredibly detailed in his lectures and slides. I never laid a finger on the book nor had to go to office hours. Projects are time consuming and difficult, but achievable. Don't procrastinate! Grade weighting is fair. He also has a point system for extra credit (helped me get an A). Take with him if you can!

dude is arrogant and crass but honestly it doesn't even matter because he's insanely good at what he does. his lectures were like the concepts were just being downloaded into my brain.

Class was much more enjoyable because of prof Kauffman. You can tell he's passionate about the material and has a quirky sense of humor which keeps lecture interesting. Projects are difficult but only worth 2-4% of grade per project. Good opportunities for extra-credit for those who participate in class. One of my favorite profs in the department.

Great lectures. He explains things in a way that make sense and is very articulate. Some other professors don't explain things well in lectures, you won't have that problem with Kauffman. True, it is a hard class, but I learned so much that I find myself not even caring about my grade very much.

Individual projects were tough but doable. Going over the practice tests were helpful to prepare for the Exams. Overall, the exams tested your comprehension with some coding questions. Kauffman is hands down the best professor I ever had.

Hands down one of the best professors at the U. His lectures are so entertaining and well-structured that I honestly looked forward to attending this class every day. Getting an A is not easy, but you have plenty of room for mistakes and Kauffman will reward you if you put in extra effort. He's just a great guy and an awesome professor.

Awesome professor in every regard. The class is difficult but he is great and does his best to help you understand.

Professor Kauffman was absolutely fantastic. He did an amazing job explaining all of the concepts, provided crystal clear grading criteria, and was very helpful in providing feedback. I would highly recommend taking him if you have the chance.

Kauffman is a great professor. The workload in this class is crazy though. The projects aren't worth that much, but take up so much time. To be completely honest, this class makes me want to d1e

Before taking 2021 I heard that Kauffman was one of the best professors in the CSci department, and honestly, I would agree! This class was very well structured and is designed to help you succeed in every way. I would recommend him to anyone and I wish he were teaching my 4061 class next semester.

The best professor I've had thus far. The negative reviews about his "bad attitude" are from people who fished for engagement points and got called out for it. Projects always prepared me for exams, class stayed on track, lectures were crystal clear. Zero complaints, give this man a raise.

The ideal computer science professor. His lectures are logical. Both labs and projects can let you learn a lot. As long as you follow up the course normally, you can get a good score.

He was a bit rude, but very caring & helpful. His lectures are very neat and informative- downside being a lot of content over small periods of time. I had to rewatch every lecture. Exams were fair and open note. Projects were easy after the second or third one. He gives you everything you need to succeed, you just have to put in work.

Kauffman had a fun lecture and was actually pretty good at making jokes. His projects were interesting to complete and the exams were very similar structurally to the practice ones he does the lecture before the exam. He explains the material clearly, and really puts in effort to helping students.

Great professor and great lecturer. Can tell he's passionate about what he teaches and his students. By far the best professor I've had here at the U. Now, this class is incredibly difficult and time consuming. Be ready for projects that take you 20+ hours to complete and for exams that you will fail unless you study.

This class (CSCI 2021) was pretty tough, but Professor Kauffman was amazing and made the class very enjoyable! His lectures were interesting and often very insightful. I definitely recommend that you choose Professor Kauffman for this class!

amazing person, its a joy being his student. the lectures are amazing, the HW and labs make sense and not hard, before every midterm there is a practice exam that is similiar to the actual exam. funny and good person. I recommend without a doubt

Kauffman is the best CS professor I have ever had. Lectures are clear and well-structured, content is straightforward and exams are only comprised of content you should have learned from lectures or projects. I HIGHLY recommend him!

He was good at teaching machine architecture. Lectures became boring towards the end of the semester. Projects are often a lot of struggle and frustration. The prof and the TAs prepared us well for tests and labs which was a plus. Really easy to see where your grade comes from each assignment shows the percentage of final grade that it counts for.

Professor Kauffman is by far one of the best professor's i've had period. His lectures were by far the most engaging ive ever had. normally in lectures i feel like Im gonna fall asleep and/or skip, but this is the most useful and most engaging lecture ive ever been to. he has great humor, best CS professor, you will be missed Professor Kauffman.

Kauffman is an exceptional lecturer. Resources are all posted on his website, and there are a *lot* of resources. Lecture recordings, slides, important parts of the textbook, and office hour schedule all made available. Still an incredibly difficult class, but it at least felt like Kauffman wanted me to succeed.

Really good professor who makes a naturally boring-ish subject digestible.

One of the best CS profs I have ever had! He made a pretty hard and boring course actually enjoyable. Altho be warned the projects take a lot of time, however, they actually help you with exams as they closely follow the projects.

Probably one of the best computer science profs I've ever had so far, explains the material very clearly and is always willing to help students out. This class requires a lot of effort, especially with the projects, so start everything early! Midterms and finals were open note/laptop, and they weren't too bad.

This guy was so awesome! He is the most engaging lecturer I have ever seen, and he's funny too. His teaching of machine architecture got me so interested in low level programming and impacted the path I took through CSCI (writing this as a senior, I had Kauffman as a sophomore). Unfortunately got stolen by U of Maryland. He was too good for UMN.

Outstanding professor. So sad to hear future UMN students will not get to experience the iconic 2021 class with Kauffman. Most mind-numbing class I ever took but his lectures made it emotionally manageable.