This was professor Spears first semester teaching. His lectures got a little boring but he has required information to go through. The class is fairly difficult but would be the same with any other professor. Lots of practice with LabView and MatLAB outside of class will ensure success. He is very helpful in and out of class when you have questions

This class is definitely not as bad as people say and this professor is not as bad as people say either. Most of the reviews are low because ENGR111 is just a harder class than what people are used to. If you really try this class will not be that bad, if you are bad at MATLAB though this class could be pretty hard.

Mr. Spears is a good teacher, who tries to make sure everyone understand, and if you pay attention and ask questions, it's not that bad of a class. I would recommend knowing a little bit of coding before hand, it will make it easier.

Really cares about his students and is always available for questions and feedback. Knowing some coding would definitely be useful and help boost your grade near the end of the semester. Has more quizzes than other professors on average.

I had Spears for two semesters (ENGR 111 and ENGR 112). He was a good and fair professor. Engineering as a class was hard overall and across every engineering class it was the same way. Some lectures were boring and lengthy but that was because of the engineering topics - not him. He teaches the material and wants you to succeed.

ENGR111 is partially a programming class and partially a teamwork class, and as long as you put in the time you should be able to pull off an A. If you have programming experience beforehand the work shouldn't be particularly difficult but that doesn't mean you can't show up or mess around in the group projects.

He can come across as intimidating at first but he's there to help you. He may seem hard to approach but he's very nice. What you put into this class is what you're going to get out of it. I failed all the RAT's (pop quizzes) but there were plenty of opportunities to get my grade back up. If you can take his class, take it. WARNING: Coding Heavy

While this is a very rigorous class, you shouldn't expect anything less. The workload does not define the class nor the professor but rather the department as a whole. I found Mr. Spears to be very friendly and approachable and quick to reply to concerns. His class over all has a very positive environment and he helps those who put in the effort.

Good man and good teacher. So much homework on thins you wont know. You really need previous coding experience. Quizzes and assignments every class period plus the assigned homework plus the team projects plus the assigned reading and problems. Read the online book several times before each class and make friends with people had coding experience.

Spears is alright. He is very professional, he is very clear about the assignments and assures you that his class is not a "weed-out" class. He always shows up photos of his dog at the start of class. Usually once per week, you have to do some Zybooks pre-activities, and you usually have pop quizzes on those days. He's no God but he's pretty good.

Spears is an experienced engineer that truly cares about his students' career. He promotes teamwork well and makes the classroom a very comfortable learning space free of judgment. Although the lectures are fairly boring, Spears makes up for it with nice pictures of his dog

This class changes every year, so by now I'm sure it's different, but I did not think this class helped me learn anything about the types of engineering. Spears was a good professor in a poorly written class. He was entertaining, and was able to help during class, but the class was not written to teach you how to do the things that were assigned

He was a solid choice for engineering 111, the programming at first is very scary and overwhelming but after you get used to it it's not bad. He cares about his students, although he won't baby you and will treat you like an adult. There's a lot of work and teaching yourself outside of class, but thats the same with any professor in 111.

Good prof overall, one of the best for 111 because all of the material is standard, he will just make you laugh with pictures of his dog and sarcastic remarks

He's a good professor who does his best to help, but is hindered by the course content. Reading the textbook is a requirement and for a grade, but it definitely helps your grade. Workload is heavy, but it's a weed out class so it's expected. Great Sarcasm though

Mr. Spears is a great instructor teaching a not-so-great class. Program changes every year so maybe it'll be better for you. Knowing how to code is golden, & if you don't, LEARN; class is coding heavy! Attendance is not mandatory, but the RATs & CFUs are random, skipping isn't worth it. He's quick responding to emails which is great! Overall good!

Good professor, the class is pretty slow and boring but thats more because of the course material. You have to commit learning outside of class but thats typical. Gives way less work than other engr professors.

Spears is one of the best professors for ENGR 111, homework and assignments are much easier compared to other classes. That said, if you don't have any previous experience coding you will still struggle.

I loved Mr. Spears class because he allows us to eat and I´m always hungry. He also shows us pictures of his dog every class which makes it really cool. Plus, he is low-key attractive.

Spears was an amazing prof! He's very friendly and tries to make a boring class p interesting. The class is very organized and he's very accessible. Grades are all pretty clear and he nurtures a very helpful environment in his classroom. There are a lot of opportunities to get help if needed. I strongly recommend him.

Great prof, cares about his students and builds a solid working environment. This class is hard for an incoming freshman who has never coded a day in his/her life and a breeze for those who have. However, it is still possible to pass or even get an A, depends on how much time you invest into it.

Professor Spears is great. I came into this class knowing a lot of the curriculum in the course, but from what I understand from others who do not share that advantage, Professor Spears made it much easier for them. There are a lot of assignments usually due every time we met. The tests were not that bad. Pretty easy A with professor Spears.

Spears is a really good guy. Loved having him for ENGR 111 and I'll probably take him for 112 as well. He keeps his lectures entertaining. I will say, his class can be kind of hard if you have no programming experience, but I think that's just how the course itself is in general.

Mr. Spears is a great professor. Always well prepared for class with very thorough lectures. There are a lot of quizzes but if you put in the required time you will do fine. He spent a lot of time in industry and will go out of his way to help you with things outside of class.

The class is a load of bull, but the professor is amazing. If you just pay attention and attend class, you will do well. A really nice prof and I would recommend him so hard to anyone who is taking the class. His lectures are definitely the some of the best, and his slides which you get outside of class are super useful.

Probably the best ENGR111 teacher, he gives little homework and it's easier compared to the other profs. The class is a lot of programming but if you put in a bit of effort, or find some really smart people to hang out with, you'll be fine. I'm taking him for ENGR112 and I would take him again in a heartbeat. He's easygoing and just a nice guy

Took Spears' for ENGR 111 and while it wasn't easy for me because of how coding-heavy it was, he definitely mde it bareable with this great attitude and willingness to help studnets succeed. I wish I had taken more advantage of the SI sessions and studdied harder for the first test because doing poorly on that is really what hurt my overall grade.

His class is a lot of work but if you keep up with all of his lectures and the online textbook its not too hard.

ENGR 111 took more work for me than any other class. Very hard tests, lots of tricky pop quizzes. Spears is a nice guy and explained things fairly well, but could have been more thorough. Possibly more a fault of the class than him personally.

I started out this class with absolutely no type of coding background, so generally it was going to be a hard class for me, however I feel like Mr. Spears really eased it with his powerpoints because they contain a ton of information and really help you out of class. Personally, I feel like he is the best engr 111 prof. This class is worth it.

I took Spears for 111 & 112, and compared to what I hear from other students about their engineering profs, he is one of the best professors avalible to us. He is very helpful, his lectures are clear and understandable, and he truly does want you to be successful. There's a fair amount of homework & plenty of quizzes to help balance out your grade.

super strict prof and very hard grader. DO NOT expect a curve. Although you will likely need one. He just doesn't care. HOWEVER- he does explain well and is funny and promotes a non cut-throat learning environment(this you will be grateful for)

It's ENGR 112. You're done-so either way. Spears was my only option. He makes you work for an A, like WORK. But overall, he's a cool dude. I would not pick him again mainly because I never want to deal with Foundations of Engineering again. Don't hate him, hate the class, he's doing his job. That's all I have to say.

Good choice, material is difficult no madder who you have. Utilize SI and help desk hours.

ENGR 112 is an extremely difficult class, but Spears is a nice guy and makes it somewhat bearable. He knows what he is talking about and covers all the material you need to know better than other profs. The class is hard, not so much his fault.

I had Spears for ENGR 111 and chose to have him again for ENGR 112. He is a great prof. He really cares about his students and wants you to do well. He emphasizes the importance of working together. His lectures are usually helpful, and I have heard none of the other prof's are. 10/10 would reccommend taking this prof. Class is hard but he's great.

Lectures provide the basics needed for the material. The homework provided a deeper understanding of the material taught in the lectures. Professor genuinely cares about the students passing and will try to make time to talk about issues. Grading criteria are always posted online and gives out a better grade than what most kids deserve.

He is a really good professor, especially in comparison to the other professors. There are a lot of quizzes and CFU's in the beginning of the semester; however, the quizzes and CFU's rarely come up end of the semester. The class itself is hard, but the in class activities help you learn the material better. It is a lot of work, but an A is doable.

Mr. Spears was one of my favorite professors. He really cared about his students and took time to explain anything that confused students. I took him for 111 and signed up for 112 with him as well. He grades fairly and helps out students especially when they show interest or show that they are trying.

The best part of having Professor Spears is that he truly cared for his students. He does have high expectations in class, but the reason I passed his class is because he recognized my dedication to learn regardless of the grade I earned. I recommend any Aggie to this instructor because he will help no matter the level of difficulty.

He tries to prepare you for the upcoming class/lecture, and the exams. He has good pre-activities that can help you review and apply what you're about to learn. He's generous and is there if you need any help; he really tries to make himself available for the students. Don't forget to look at the feedback on ecampus of the assignments, it can help!

He did really well at preparing you for class if you read the pre-activities. There were times where he was not the greatest, but he would always answer questions if you asked. He was the kind and he does curve his class.

Mr. Spears is a good man who can be a little hard on grading - be sure to study for tests, because he can be particular about your answers. Good, solid teacher for ENGR 102.

The difficulty may vary based on past coding experience as the class is basically an intro to Python course. The projects and labs were manageable and somewhat challenging. Participation, attendance, and group work are basically required in order to pass. As a teacher, he really tries to explain the information and support struggling students.

I couldn't ask for a better professor for my first semester, he is the guy who will make you work for your grade but help you along if you need to. Before going to class, you have to read the textbook and if you had any questions on it he has an amazing lecture prepare before getting to work. I recommend him if you are willing to put in the effort.

Spears is a great teacher and lecturer, he does require the zybook readings which are helpful. He cares a lot for his students and is a great guy. His classes are harder than the other teachers. Where as almost almost all other teachers in engineering 102 cut out at least one assignment to help your grade out, he did not. Great teacher, though.

Everything in here is group based except for quizzes and tests, so find a good group and stick with it. Other wise he is great all around professor but sometimes the work load can be a bit much.

Mr. Spears is an excellent professor who really cares about what he is teaching. He makes class more interesting with pictures of his dog, Frodo. Even though some of the lab assignments are difficult, I have found that Mr. Spears has greatly increased my coding knowledge. If you have the opportunity to take his class, do it! You wont regret it!

Spears isnt easy because he wants you to understand the topics and learn, not just get by. He truly cares about his students and wants you to succeed. He will work with you if you work with him, and is very accessible outside of class.

Spears is a solid professor. He's a funny dude who actually tries to get to know his students. He's not too lecture heavy, but there was a lot of classwork and HW, and we had a quiz basically once a week. However, you will definitely learn your stuff if you actually contribute to the group assignments and put in the work.

Spears was a great professor. His lectures during class were entertaining and made it easy to stay engaged in class. He makes a point to get to know his students and is also quite funny. Definitely would take him again. Engineering 102 could get confusing at times, but he was often available for help or questions when needed.

Craig is a freaking G. Super cool guy, would always come up and greet his students before class. You have to read the interactive book before class, but its not too bad, very helpful. Homework is due every week before class. Lectures aren't too long so you can work on your group projects (due by end of 2nd class). He's the right amount of strict.

Since it's the first semester it's being taught, the class itself was a mess, but Spears definitely did his best to counteract that. Occasional homeworks and pre-lectures with in-class quizzes that are easy if you did the pre-lecture material. Spears himself is funny, full of character, and loves to show off his dog, Frodo. Generally accessible.

Spears is a great professor of practice. He cares about his students and was knowledgeable about the material. For the class, just make sure to keep up with the textbook and pick a good group at the beginning of the year. There are quizzes, so attendance is important. Overall tho, ENGR102 was a pretty good course that was helpful without being hard

This class can be difficult, but i feel as though he did a great job explaining the information. He really cares about his students, and tries his best to maintain a great professional workplace. He also curves a little at the end. Get close with your team so you can work together and knock stuff out.

If you do the textbook work which is fairly easy and then do the assignments out of class, you will always know what you're doing and can code at a very proficient level. He provides many resources for his students to succeed and tries to ensure that you learn the class material

Not much to do in 216 besides the occasional homework. Very interesting lectures.

Pretty cool, nice dude. He's pretty laid back and wants to see his students succeed.

His lectures are entertaining even when the topics are not interesting. The class isn't hard, just pay attention and listen to the lectures. He tends to post pre-lecture activities that average around 10 minutes long , and he may quiz you on them in class. There is regular homework, but you get plenty of time to finish it.

First year this class was taught and he took every mishap in stride. Every change that was forced from above his pay grade he made it to where we at least had a chance at a good grade.

Great guy and great professor. It is not his fault the class itself is a trainwreck. He is super open about what is going on and does his best to keep students informed. This was the first year this class was taught so it was quite a mess and touched on more material than 50 min can cover. Has in-class quizzes and pre-lecture activities.

Make sure you do every single lab and get involved with your group and with the student helpers present. Spears will help you and he is very active in walking around the class to watch you work. Make sure you work the whole time.

He's charismatic and approachable, and he knows his stuff. PHYS 216 is a mess of a class, and the quality of your professor for it doesn't really matter. He's a cool guy nonetheless. He does these "RATs" to test for your preparedness for class, and some of the questions are dumb (one required you to memorize a number from a 40 minute documentary.

As someone with no knowledge of the programming language we were taught, I struggled a lot. You need to be ready to read, watch videos, go to SI session, and attend office hours. Everything builds on itself so try to not miss a day or not understand a topic. There are lots of group and individual assignments. Also a quiz every week.

Mr. Spears is an amazing professor that really cares about his class and does it to the best of his ability. Always provides fun and engaging labs and assignments, whereas other profs usually provide boring ones (this is more important than you realize!). He is very organized and has all his material online. If you want to succeed take Mr. Spears!

Hes helpful and pushes you in the right direction without fully giving you the answer allowing you to improve yourself. Is funny and loves his dog a lot.

In class gives pretty informative lectures but it's still good to read the textbook which is a grade. You have a group and individual lab every week that's due Sunday night before the next week which is really nice compared to some professors who make it due before the end of class. The quizzes every week aren't too bad and can be reviewed for.

I came in with 0 experience in Python, but the interesting projects provided every week made learning easy. New concepts are introduced incrementally and the projects build upon each other. Do the projects well and you'll learn. Quizzes every week. The only problem was bad feedback on the midterm, but attending office hours should fix that.

I came into this class with ZERO programming knowledge. Mr. Spears honestly helped me so much to learn and so easily. The best thing to do is attend class and do all the assignments, and if you have a question JUST ASK. It might get a little challenging but he makes the class so worth it. Also, no textbook but you do have to subscribe to zyBook.

He is the best proffesor I could ask for for my first programming course. He makes his own assignments so that they can convey an idea in a more interesting way. He is very personable and I highly recommend taking his class.

As a professor of practice, Dr. Spears prepares you not only for your labs and tests, but also for professional experiences. He keeps things interesting in lecture and has a great sense of humor! Frodo for the win!!!! :)

Mr. Spears is an awesome prof. If you have previous coding experience, his class is a sinch. Even if you don't, his lectures are engaging and you'll make it through. He's stern with his grading criteria, but he will sit down and caringly explain the concept till you know it. If you can take him, do it.

Craig is certainly one of the better options for 102. His class is SO well-organized and assignments are very helpful. Straightforward class for someone with no prior experience. Get a good lab group... it'll make or break your semester! He's a bit prideful, but I still think he's a good prof. As much as I hate to say it, the zyBook really helps.

Spears is a good Professor. He is passionate and caring, and has fair homework, quizzes and tests. Make sure you actually do the Python labs, team and individual. Thats the only way youll be ready for the midterm and final, you cant cram for this class. Put in the work Get an A

This is a weed out class for engineers. It is a ton of work. If you can code then you'll be okay, but you still have to put in the work. Mr. Spears is awesome though! He has tough quizzes and projects that require some thought but he is very fair. I would absolutely recommend Spears to anyone.

With no prior coding experience, this course was rather challenging for me, but it was very doable due to his lectures and availability outside of class. Choose a good lab group at the beginning... it really does make or break your semester!

Professor Spears is a great guy who somehow gets to know all of his students. His class was enjoyable and the assignments were made to be fun and still challenging. The class is set up so people with heavy coding experience will have an easy time and people with no coding experience will have a fairly good time.

Fair grader, explains well, wants his students to learn how to think, and always wants feed back on how to teach better. He'll walk around groups and ask about their thought processes. He encourages you to critically think for yourself and helps you along your own thought process rather than simply tell you what to do or how to "do it by the book."

Professor Spears is kind, respectful, and cares immensely about teaching well. The class is very project heavy, which means it can be a lot of work with unreliable group mates or a breeze with the opposite. Choose who you sit with on the first day wisely. Surprisingly, I found his honors tests were harder than cs121 exams. Great guy overall.

Professor Spears is very organized, and always has interesting homework projects. Most of the class grade will be based off of group project grades, though, so be sure to find a good group. There are quizzes every week except exam weeks. Won't be hard at all if you have coding experience (just time-consuming), but if you don't it might be harder.

Everyone absolutely loves professor spears and his dog, Frodo! I wholeheartedly recommend this professor, he is the best engineering professor at TAMU, I'm sure of it.

Professor Spears is awesome. I had never coded prior to his class, and still managed to get an A. He makes sure you understand the material, and his class is pretty difficult. However, I learned more in his class than I did in any other class my first semester at A&M.

Professor Spears is super nice and really funny. He has a dog named Frodo who is the cutest. As long as you pay attention in class you'll be fine, but if you have prior experience with Python then the first half of the semester is extremely easy.

Professor Spears is an amazing professor. I had never coded before this class and did not even know what a program was, but his lectures were super helpful and entertaining. I really enjoyed going to his lectures in person. Lots of team projects and homework, but it is all doable. Highly recommend taking him, I'm convinced he's one of the best!!

This class was very homework-heavy and doing the labs was the best way to learn the material. The textbook and lectures were not very helpful, but they were required for participation points. Spears was very laid back and explained things in a straight forward way.

The class is extremely HW heavy and you should expect to spend a lot of time on it. Especially towards the end of the semester, there are two bigger team projects that are very time consuming. However, Craig goes over relevant examples during lecture AND clearly explains things that are confusing to students. **Class was taken during summer

He gives students the opportunity to teach themselves while giving them references to important code we need for the assignment. This class develops critical thinking when coding which is great for those that want to learn more about coding. However, if you dont want to code then don't take the class. But should you desire to code, Spears is great!

Professor Spears does whatever he needs to do to help his students succeed. However, you will have to put much effort into this class if you want to do well. If instructions are unclear, he is always willing to clarify for you, so definitely ask if you have questions.

Spears is an amazing teacher and really helps freshman engineers through their first semester. While coding is hard especially for beginners, Spears never fails to respond to emails about bugged code and his lectures very thoroughly set you up for what you need to know. Quizzes are always straightforward from the lecture slides or textbook.

Great professor. Well structured class. Maybe a bit rough for non coders, but that's more of an issue with the engr 102 curriculum. Take this professor if you can-he's great.

I had never coded before coming to A & M but I learned a lot and progressed super far. Definitely come to class because his lectures show stuff that want to know. This is really one of those classes where the more you put in the more you get out. Spears is one of those profs that is always in a good mood and willing to help out. I 100 % recommend.

My favorite class of the semester; Pretty easy with fun group projects every week. There are a lot of quizzes and homework assignments per week, but they aren't hard and help you learn the material.

If you've coded before, this class is a breeze. If not, Spears will be a great teacher and help you learn the content. He cares about his students, lectures well, and is overall a really great teacher. Take him if you can!

Professor Spears is a really cool guy. His lectures are really informative, as he connects the topics to more understandable real-life examples. Also, he always puts photos of his dog, Frodo, on the end of each lecture slides. 15/10 amazing dog. He's a really down to earth guy, so if you have questions, just ask and he'll help you.

Textbook referenced is zybooks. Just do them and don't behind. Make sure you're able to complete the assignments and understand how to do them all. If you can do that, then you'll be fine. Also, weekly quizzes, study lecture slides (which you mostly read on your own).

Everyone's in a group of 4 for the semester and you code projects together. It's fun, and Professor Spears does an excellent job of teaching and putting effort into making everything clear and simple. He also puts pictures of his extremely cute dog named Frodo at the end of every slideshow.

Spears makes the class very organized and prepares you well for the exams/provides helpful resources. His lectures are good and not too long to where you can usually have enough time to finish team labs. If you haven't coded before, the class will take a good amount of work but Spears makes it less difficult to learn with his teaching technique.

This class is going to be a lot of work regardless of your professor. However, Professor Spears makes this class tolerable by clarifying from the outset what is needed to succeed in his class. He is very organized, posting lecture material and homework at the beginning of the week. A difficult class, but Spears does all he can to help his students.

Excellent coding teacher, although it'll be intimidating at the start for people new to coding. Does a really good job presenting the material and helping you to understand it throughout the semester. My class had group and individual projects each week that were not too difficult to complete. I really recommend taking him. Very respectable teacher

The class can be difficult, especially if you haven't coded before, but Spears makes the lectures both entertaining and informative. Many labs are group work, so pick your team wisely. Textbook is technically optional but highly recommended. I enjoyed the lecture setup (read slides before class then an in-class coding demonstration).

Spears is a great professor and the class is enjoyable. The only issue I had with the class was how homework-heavy it is. For me, it took up a lot of my time to the point where it affected my performance in other classes. There are also team assignments every week, so make sure that you pick people that will actually put in work.

ENGR 102 is a hard class. I didn't have any coding experience and it really showed in this class, as it is basically a test of if you've had coding experience before or not. Professor Spears was good and wanted his students to succeed, but the class put him in a bad position and set inexperienced coders up to fail. I would recommend Spears though.

I've never coded before and spears made this class pretty manageable. A good chunk of your grade will come from group projects. He is just generally a cool guy and he shows his dog Frodo at the end of lecture and during the tests! The final was super hard this year (fall 21) but I ended up with an A with 87.2% (90% is the usual cutoff).

Professor Spears is a great professor. He is spot on with every lecture, understands how to help kids with questions and problems, and is very clear with what is expected. You do need to put the work in to succeed in this class, but Spears gives you every resource to do so. Best professor I have had so far and absolutely take him if available.

Spears is great. Understands the base concepts of how to teach novel concepts like coding very well, and if you pay attention you will learn. His tests can be very hard, and are focused around edge cases, but coding is really hard to test otherwise. I did well, but then tanked the final exam and Spears was really nice to bump me up to an A.

Professor Spears was a solid choice in my opinion. I had to study pretty hard to get an A in this class because I did not have a foundation in coding at all but it's not impossible you just have to put in the work. He shows that he cares, and he really pushes you but the class as a whole is just frustrating but nothing, he has control over.

Prof. Spears was a really solid professor for my ENGR 102 class this semester. I had no coding experience prior to this course, but Spears taught the course well enough for beginners like me to catch on pretty quickly. If you get him, you are in a good position for success in this course.

Fantastic professor. Gives a reasonable amount of homework, and the homework is of reasonable difficultly. He occasionally gives optional practice problems as well. He genuinely wants his students to succeed. The final is difficult, but manageable if you keep up on the material throughout the semester. 10/10, highly recommend.

Great prof, ask him about his Dog's incident with the Russian family.

Midterm (20%), Final (25%), & 10 lecture quizzes (20%) most of the grade. Weekly individual & team projects were pretty easy. Just keep your groupmates accountable, which makes the class easier/fairer for you. His lectures/Canvas was organized, but grades mostly came out during the final weeks. Doesn't lecture, leaves class time to do the labs.

This is a difficult class and is extremely homework heavy. As others have said, pick your group wisely, there is a lot of group work. However, I don't have a single bad thing to say about Spears, he's a great professor, is very helpful and cares a lot. He makes lectures fun and engaging and gives good demonstrations. I'd highly recommend Spears.

He's a pretty dang good prof. His lectures can be a bit boring, but he is a great teacher and is always there to help out when needed. He grades strict because he has to keep it consistent for everyone, but no other complaints. Constant pictures of his dog brings you joy each day. If you can take him, go ahead and do it.

Professor Spears genuinely wants his students to succeed and sets up class to reflect that. Highly recommend taking him for both 102 and 216. He ensures that each and every students is set up for success.

Mr. Spears is knowledgeable and seeks the success of his students. His class is part lecture (very good), but mostly time for group projects. Thus, most group projects can be finished in class. Mr. Spears uses PyCharm, which is actually used in industry. He also points out good practices and conventions, allowing you to build good habits.

Prof Spears loves his dog and cares about the class a lot, but the class work takes a bunch of time. He does not give extra credit on zybooks which is something most other teachers do, and the TAs are not helpful when it comes to helping with team or individual labs. I recommend looking at basic python coding videos online before classes starts.

Really good teacher and very helpful. The assignments were challenging but not too hard. Tests were moderate but not bad if you study. Really good guy, very respected, great teacher.

1. I really liked him, he was very friendly and helpful 2. There was a good amount of homework, but it's doable. Most weeks it was ~2 group assignments and ~2 individual assignments 3. We had to read the material outside of class and he would do demos in class 4. If you do the reading it's really not that bad, even if you've never coded (I hadn't)

He's a great professor and is very easy to approach! If you've never taken a python/coding class before, this course might be a little difficult but ZyBooks reading assignments will help a lot. Just be ready to code a lot and don't procrastinate your homework assignments.

A good teacher, cares about the students. He shows pictures of his dog and 10/10 would take again. PLEASEEEEEE read the lecture slides before lecture and the Zy book.

I had no coding experience coming into this class. The first couple of weeks I wasn't aware we had to be reading his power points, but I was still able to learn using only the ZyBooks and examples in class. I once went to his office hours, but he wasn't there though. If you have no coding experience I would definitely recommend professor Spears!

Spears is a GREAT prof and the best you can get for Engr 102, but beware, his quizzes are harder than other professors and there are a lot of them. Just be sure to sit with a good group of people because your grade depends on it, but you switch teams halfway through the semester. You MUST go to class because most of the projects are done in class.

Professor Spears is a wonderful teacher who is easy to approach and clearly has a complex understanding of the material. His lectures are engaging, funny, and explain the concepts in a way that is easy for most people to follow along with. Although the quizzes are a bit hard, he cares about his students and will give help to those who need it.

Prof. Spears is a great teacher and is very approachable. Do the ZyBooks honestly and read his lecture slides before class; both help a lot, especially if you're new to coding. Quizzes and exams can be difficult, but they're doable with a good amount of studying. Loves to show pictures of his dog, Frodo. Highly recommend him!

He was a great professor! He was very funny and made lectures nice to come to. The class is structured to be in groups all of the time and there is a lot of practice to get in coding even if you haven't done it at all before you will learn a lot from it. Frodo was wonderful too!!

The course itself is very group-assignment heavy, but Spears handles that in a way that makes it very easy compared to the superstition of group projects. He enjoys explaining and helping students understand the course information

Don't listen to the review below mine, completely misleading. Mr.Spears is an amazing prof, his lectures are SUPER in depth and give you what you need to understand concepts. Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't slack off during lectures.

The class is very difficult if you have not coded before, but a lot of profs assigned extra busy work that Spears didn't. The midterm and final are very difficult and are make or break but that is the same no matter the prof. Spears was very good at teaching the material through practice.

Spears is one of the best general engineering profs. He is so kind and passionate about coding. Gives very detailed, slow, easy to follow lectures. Doesn't livestream or post recorded lectures. 102 is an intro to Python. Uses ZyBooks (so a decent amount of reading if you want to be well prepared). Weekly HWs, and short 4-person group assignments.

Professor Spears is a great professor. The material was easy for me, but he does a great job at dumbing it down for you to understand. Material is universal to all ENGR 216 classes, and some of the stuff is learned in 206 anyway, so be prepared for that. There are not many grades, and half of it is labs anyways, so make sure to do all the work.

Great professor and a nice guy overall. Material is well explained in detailed slides. Group projects can be a nightmare as it's up to you to stay on top of teammates after class. Read grading rubrics for reports carefully, some TAs are downplaying the importance of details but the actual grader will penalize heavily if the report is incomplete.

Amazing professor! Really enjoyed his lectures and he made an effort to make all of his classes fun and engaging. Loved his class so much that I even came back to PT for him. Exams are indeed very hard but if you keep up with lecture, reading, and homework then it is definitely manageable.

He really tries to teach you the best way possible and he knows how. He doesn't try to assign things that are useless and genuinely considers student feedback. This year he made multiple in-class changes purely based off a mid-semester feedback form he created himself. ENGR 102 can be a tough class but its not because of him.

Take Spears! He's a great prof. So much fun in class, tons of extra credit opportunities, and he routinely takes the difficult individual labs and makes them group labs for us. I've watched my friends with other profs struggle through assignments we didn't even have to do.

Mr. Spears is so great, if you can def take him for 102. He's so nice and makes it so even people without coding experience can learn.

Best teacher ever. He does a good job preparing you for everything. Quizzes are moderate. He's a lurker though, so beware he may pop up behind you.

His lectures aren't super helpful, and the TAs are what I mainly learned from. He also has the toughest quizzes out of every other ENGR102 teacher (from what I've heard), and he does offer some extra credit, but not a ton. The quizzes do help the most with the exams, which are pretty difficult. Take him if you're willing to work outside of class.

Spears is a pretty good professor and he is also funny. You have to read a lot of chapters each week followed by individual, team coding labs, and weekly quizzes. The coding labs were sometimes fun to work on, coming from a non-coder. He also gives out a decent amount of extra credit. TA's are also very helpful.

Funny professor, often shares pics of his adorable dog, Frodo. Has weekly quizzes, reading assignments (lecture notes and zyBook modules), and individual and team coding labs, all of which helps with studying for tests. Only 2 tests (midterm & final) that add up to 45% of overall grade. Gives some extra credit (usually an extra lab assignment).

Mr. Spears is a great prof. This class will be very hard if you have never coded before so be ready. If you have experience in python you'll be able to basically breeze through it no problem. Exams are difficult and are pretty heavily weighted so be ready for them. A good amount of extra credit is given throughout the course which you should do.

I took him for honors, and Professor Spears was incredible, with helpful demonstrations in class. Very caring. Lectures and Zybooks are done yourself outside of class. Most of class time was for the group labs; make sure you get a group with a mix of experience. Exams are very difficult, but the quizzes and individual labs were fine. Love Frodo

Arguably the best prof you could have for 102. The class is tough by nature but Spears makes the coursework very navigable. He is funny and engaging and willing to help you with any confusion you may have. However, out of the two exams you will have, you NEED to study more than you think you should for both. Especially for the final.

Professor Spears was great, and I'm glad to have had him for a pretty difficult class (ENGR 102). I felt like I could approach him with any questions I had, and his lectures were always very relevant, interesting, and humorous. I feel like Spears might be the best ENGR 102 professor at A&M.

You can't go wrong taking him for ENGR 102. His lectures are very concise, engaging, and always cover relevant material. Quizzes and finals are difficult, but between the extra credit and resources provided, there is enough leeway to easily get an A.

Great professor with years of industry experience and interesting lectures. I wish I would have taken his section for ENGR 102.

He is very Nice and all his lectures are interesting. Assignments are Straight forward.

Professor Spears was great! He really cared about the content and made the class applicable to life after college. Incredibly nice man! The main grade is the group project which you work on the entire semester. There are weekly homeworks and participation every class. The class is pass/fail, but simple to pass if you just do the assignments.

Professor Spears makes ENGR102 engaging and navigable, with helpful demos and resources like the free Zybook. Exams are challenging, but with study aids like Unstuck ai, you can ace this class.

Clear criteria, grading scale, and very helpful in class. Makes you read lecture slides before class; this makes helpful demos possible and class much more engaging.

Was very helpful, entertaining in class and did a good job getting the material across. Course wasn't too difficult, and he was accommodating for people who hadn't coded before.

Most learning is in the zybooks homework, which can be overwhelming at times but is generally ok. Spears makes the class feel pretty open and usually will give you a short presentation before turning you loose to work on this week's project. If you took basic python in high school you should be fine in his class.

Spears is the goat and has a cute dog named Frodo. DO THE ZYBOOKS THEY ARE THE ONLY WAY YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO CODE IF YOU HAVENT BEFORE. BE CONSISTENT. 1 quiz a week that lecture slides and zybooks will usually cover. sooo much group work please find the right people so ur teammate isnt chatgpting some code on the sunday bc they suck.

He is very engaging in class and always finds a way to make the class extremely fun and enjoyable. Although a lot of studying on your own is required to actually succeed in this class as his lectures do not cover everything in grave detail. I would totally recommend him to other students. I ALSO LOVE FRODO SO MUCH! HE's SO CUTE!

Professor Spears was my absolute favorite professor for this semester. He is hilarious, charming, and a great teacher. He knows what he's talking about and provides practical examples during lectures that help reinforce concepts, alongside pictures of his (very adorable) dog. I would highly recommend his class to anyone taking ENGR 102.

Hardest part of the class is the exams, everything else is perfectly doable. Lots of extra credit. Great lectures. Frodo is love, Frodo is life.

Professor Spears is a very good professor for ENGR102! He is very fair + reasonable. Ask questions, he's always looking to help you! He always provides a grading rubric. His lectures are straightforward demos that are short but cover all the necessary info. The weekly quizzes aren't hard as long as you pay attention. He also gives out bonus points

Mr. Spears was a fantastic professor. He clearly lays out the weekly plan on canvas including all assignments due for the week, the reading to do for the week, and any general/multi-section engineering assignments. Any help you may need will be met with patience and respectfulness from him.

Spears teaches very well and provides lots of resources to students to prepare for exams. He also makes it very clear what is expected from students. The course is very difficult itself, but he is a good professor who genuinely cares about the students. I highly recommend this professor as he gives great advice to freshmen about studying habits.

Professor Spears is ammmmmmazing!! He is actually funny and makes the otherwise difficult class very fun. Two exams and ten quizzes are hardest parts, but he gives all the resources you need to ace them. He put lecture slides on canvas for outside reading and explains the edge cases in class. Harder for amateur coders but very doable with Spears.

With the zyBooks and labs, this was my most time-consuming class. However, Professor Spears is a great teacher and wants to see everyone succeed.

Coming from someone with no prior coding experience, Professor Spears was amazing!!! His lectures were engaging, loved the pics of Frodo. Gave some extra credit which not all professors did. Quizzes could be tricky but taking notes on the Zybooks readings helped. He wanted us to see how what we learned would help us as engineers. 100% recommend!

Very good experience with Professor Spears; instead of lectures he had demonstrations of how to apply Python code which I found significantly more helpful than slides. Also Frodo is cute

He is probably one of the best ENGR 102 Professors. He is very nice and explains things very well. He also likes mentioning his dog a lot. His lectures can sometimes be a one-hour yap session; however, they are helpful if you did not read the slides or ZyBook readings before class. Good amount of extra credit. Quizzes are moderately difficult.

Spears is an excellent professor, I highly recommend taking him for 102. I really liked the flipped classroom approach to learn the content thoroughly on my own and then develop teamwork skills during class. The zyBook readings could be time consuming and there was a weekly quiz, but this class is pretty easy if you have coded in Python before.

Amazing professor and lectures would highly recommend, only downside is his course is a bit harder than the other teachers and he took forever to grade some of the quizzes. You'll do a lot of group projects so try to sit next to good people the first day (every 102 professor will have these).

I was worried about this class coming into it, but I found that Prof. Spears did a great job in making us successful. His slides and lectures are great, but he did deviate from the other professors making our class a bit tougher. He doesn't offer much extra credit nor does he really curve, so make every point count.

The class is tough but he's a great teacher. Always made class fun despite how tough the topics might be. Always willing to help. Don't be afraid to ask questions and try to sit with a good group on your first day. If you don't have any coding experience, start practicing now; you're going to need it.

Super chill guy. He gives generous extra credit on some of the homework. He also showed Frodo to us.

I already knew the material since the course only goes over basic python. The quizzes are kind of annoying cuz there's always a trick question but they're never hard.

The professor has a laid back personality and cares about his job. He is willing to help students or connect them with someone who can. The class has attendance in class and a decent amount of work for a 1 credit class, but is ridiculously easy. As long as you show up to the class once a week and submit the bare minimum for the HW, you will pass.

Mr. Spears was a great prof, the class in general was sort of boring. He tried to make the class entertaining but it just him talking about how to be a outstanding and unique engineer once you're in the real world. Project was alright, not hard just sort of bleh. Do it with the schedule he gives you or it could be a lot to do last minute.

Not gonna lie, I used his class to do homeworks. Lectures were boring but he had to teach what was given by the school. I will say he gave a lot of essays to write, 400+ words plus. I didn't find the class engaging but he is a good professor compare to others, he is enthusiastic. Take him for an easy class.

Was pretty much forced to take this class that doesn't help my GPA however Mr. Spears made this class less unbearable as he did give us very insightful knowledge about the profession.

Mr. Spears is awesome!! Just do your work and ask help when you need it, he gives great feedback and extra credit assignments so this class was a breeze :)

Amazing professor, would take this class again!

As a student who started the course knowing the basics of Python, this course was easy. For me, there was about 3 hours of homework per week, which isn't much for a 2 credit hour course. His teaching style is self-directed experimentation with Python. We also do lengthy group projects, mimicking an engineer's workplace.

Great professor. Would take again!

Spears is a really solid professor who encourages all students to not only develop their coding skills, but also think about what it really means to be an engineer. Lectures are light, although most content is expected to be learned either outside of class or through the team projects. Make sure you get a good group to do labs with.

Professor Spears is a very interesting lecturer and gives good feedback. He has interesting projects as well. The class was a lot of fun. It is a lot of group work, there was a group lab nearly every week but they were interesting and I enjoyed them.

Was a pretty good professor. The exams are disproportionately weighted. Make sure to do all of the zybooks before class.

He is very fair and provides lots of extra credit. Willing to work with you in class. The course is tough, the exams will crush you, so study hard. But overall he as a teacher is GREAT!

We had a quiz and a group and individual lab each week, which weren't super difficult. We also had to read a zybook chapter every week, but he wouldn't take off for late submission as long as you finished it before the final exam. Most of class was spent working on labs. He gave good feedback on the midterm if you asked and was pretty chill overall

Spears is a really nice and helpful guy, but prepare to study a lot if you have no Python experience. The quizzes are simple enough, and the labs typically cover material that is more difficult than what you need to know. Make sure to lock in for the exams because that final can and will tank your grade (So close to the A!).

Classwork is pretty easy, beware of the tests in this class. Spears is amazing and makes the 2 hour class enjoyable, but he gives way less extra credit opportunities than other 102 profs so beware if this is your first time coding.

Most of class is spent working on group/individual coding projects with a ~1 hour lecture and 10-20 minute quiz every week. Homework can be tedious with zyBooks assignments every week and 3-4 labs, but with a good group they can end up being fun. If you have prior coding experience, expect the class to be a breeze (otherwise, expect to work more).

Professor Spears should not have below a 5, he is a great teacher. As someone who has never coded before and got a 56 on the first exam, I thought that I was going to do horrible. But with immense extra credit and resources such as Encando and PT's, I ended up with an 84. Spears is very helpful and wants to see you succeed. Best 102 professor!

He has great lectures, and you can tell that he cares about us as students and what he teaches. If you don't have prior knowledge of python the tests and quizzes could be difficult.

Very kind professor and good lecturer, fun and engaging and cares so much about his students. Offers extra credit. Take quizzes seriously because they matter. Exams are hard but they are the same for all the profs. Would recommend especially if you are new to coding, he wants you to do well and understand.

Such a nice professor, genuinely wants to see you succeed in his class (and he has the cutest dog). The class itself is just difficult, especially if you have no prior experience coding, with lots of labs and quizzes and two hard exams. He offers some extra credit though, and if you just absolutely lock in, do the work, and study, you can get an A.

Really good lectures, makes them short and lets you work on labs during class time. Quizzes are easy, tests are difficult, and the quizzes and homework don't really compare to them.

The class times are a bit long but the projects can be fun