2.3
Quality4.1
Difficulty21%
Would Retake83
Reviews21%
Would Retake
83
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
10
4
12
3
11
2
20
1
30
What Students Say
“Do not take this class”
MTH225 - 1.0 rating“350 characters are not enough to explain how bad it is”
MTH225 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.68 avg changeRatings by Course
MTH203
4.5
(2)MTH312
4.5
(2)CALC201
4.0
(1)MTH345
4.0
(1)MTH210
3.2
(6)Difficulty by Course
CALC201
5.0
MATH302
5.0
MTH350
4.8
MTH210
4.7
MATH325
4.6
Reviews (83)
He is not a good calculus teacher. He does not teach. He just tells you the theory behind why it is like it is.
Instead of answering questions he throws them back at you. It's like, if I knew the answer, why would I be asking?? Otherwise, he's not too bad, he's pretty lenient with due dates if you're really trying.
IF you don't attend class, it will be very hard to make up. Homework questions are very difficult but office hours are very helpful. Makes lots of time to help his students. Professor parker is a difficult teacher. I strongly recommend him if you are advancing in higher maths. If you aren't i suggest another teacher.
Does not explain things well and will ask you questions back instead of helping you. Homework problems are very hard but they do not help you learn anything
Change teachers now!! Although he tries to be helpful, he answers your questions with more questions, and just confuses you more. He also seems to be very strict with the way he grades. His homework assignements were very hard are i didnt think they were appropriate for Calc 1 students. I really didnt benefit at all from having this teacher.
Hes a nice guy and very willing to help, but he is not a clear teacher. He gives you some type of notes and then throws practice problems at you but you have no idea how to apply it. If you ask a question hes willing to help but asks you more questions and confuses you. He's helful in office hours and you can always refer to the book. Passing with
Dr. Parker is an amazing teacher, I would recommend him to anyone thinking of taking a calculus class. You will have to work for your grade, but given the time and effort, you will not be disappointed. He does teach to those that *want* to be in his class, if you're just taking it for credit, take another professor.
Pretty good teacher. Always answered questions. Liked to joke around with the class. Sometimes he's hard to understand but for the most part does a good job.
When you ask him to help, he doesn't. He just repeats himself over and over again, which doesn't help at all. Not very helpful during office hours and definitely not helpful through email. He teaches how to solve problems the harder way and the longer way. And you have to use his method or it is wrong, even if the answer is right.
this guy was terrible. i would ask him to review some problems for the exam, but he told me that our class time was too valuable and refused to talk about it. next time ill just buy the text book and teach myself. the worst tesacher i've had. i didn't know that these kind of people got hired.
doesn't help students, makes you feel dumb, when I asked about extra credit he just laughed at me
Pretty nice guy but not a very good teacher. Hard to talk to for help. Jokes around with class but assumes everyone knows what is going on.
Not that good of a teacher. Very confusing at times. If you are really good at calc he is a good teacher but for the normal student i would suggest taking someone else if possible.
This was his first time teaching MTH 225, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt - but seriously try to take someone else if you can. You have weekly "papers" to write, weekly quizzes, 2 big projects, 3 normal exams, and a final exam. All the other 225 students I talked to didn't have it nearly this bad. Good luck if you need help on anything.
Parker was a great teacher. The proofs were hard and he let us struggle but we could always come in for help. He really makes you THINK!
Nice teacher in class during lectures. He likes to watch you struggle. Not helpful at all. When I visited his office hours to ask for help or even a hint on a hwk question he responded by saying "It's not my job to help you." (Meanwhile there were two other girls in his office asking questions on hwk). I dropped his course bc of this.
I took him last semester - he was hard - but he was always willing to give hints. I was sometimes frustrated with his hints, but I am SURE I learned it better in the end. I was very impressed with the time he dedicated to his students.
His mannerisms are hillarious, but one you stop enjoying them you have to deal with his hellish homework problems which you will NEED to visit his office hours for (there will be a line). The lectures, labs, and exams are actually quite doable, but those homework problems will cause you excessive headaches until you get help.
Ignore the other users, if you are taking MTH225 and Darren is availible - TAKE HIM. It's true that he prefers to make you figure out problems yourself, but he always helps you if you actually try. Exams were not bad. I would take him again for sure. You don't need the book as long as you take notes.
Worst Teacher EVER! Wasn't clear about what he wanted in assignments. Very stubborn Answers your questions with more questions which just confuses you even more! Class started with 15 people and by the end of the semester there was only 7 or 8 left and out of those 8 people the class avg was a D, so pretty much the majority of the class failed!
I have talked to the deans of the math department........he wont be there for long
Darren Parker was tough, but good. He pushes you to do well, and he really wants you to succeed. I visited his office many times in frustration, and he always was willing to do whatever he could to help. Not to mention, he's ridiculously kind. I rearranged my schedule next semester just to make sure he was my professor for Calc 2. He's that good.
He's an awesome teacher. Yes he has you struggle with some problems at first, but he'll always go over an example or two once he has you suffer a little. Helped to read the book before lecture, he would clarify what was in the book. Overall a good teacher!
Darren was a nice guy. The users who claim he is tough are definitely correct. He makes you work for your grade. I attended his office hours regularly for assistance, which he gave. Make sure you get in groups and meet with them! It helps clarify confusing concepts. Overall, he's decent.
Pretty good professor, he was really nice and wanted to make sure that everyone was learning. It was a relatively difficult class though.
Being a math major and having taken calc 1 in high school, it wasn't the fundamentals of this class which were difficult; He assigns homework problems which have absolutely nothing to do with the class material and are extremely difficult (he says they're supposed to be "challenging"). Even if you go to office hours he is no help. Worst prof at GV
Super nice guy but his homework is ridiculously hard. His tests and quizzes are really easy, but if you don't do well on the homework it will affect your grade.
Overcomplicates everything. I honestly did not learn anything from him.
Doesn't teach, has quizzes over material that was never taught. Just walks around asking if anyone has questions, but never actually teaches. Quizzes and tests are easy, but I had to teach myself the material. No help in office hours.
Professor Parker is a nice guy. That being said, he has extremely difficult homework assignments. My tutor (who is no slouch when it comes to mathematics) and the math center ones struggled to help me with them. His quizzes and exams are difficult as well. I understand it is a difficult course, but he makes it much, much harder than it should be.
He really is a nice guy, but learning from him is like learning to read from a blind guy: extremely hard. He does not grade on weather or not you get the right answer, but if you do it the way he wanted, which is never clarified on tests. The class should not be as hard as he makes it.
Extremely nice guy, very willing to help (if you first put forth some effort). Wants everyone to do well, but he expects a lot of you. Be ready to put some work in, but if you do, you will get a lot out of his class.
Parker is a confusing, frustrating teacher to have. He doesn't teach in a way suitable for anyone who isn't a genius. I have have spoken with many people from class and they feel the same way. The H.W. is way too hard, even the math tutors don't understand what he is asking, or the math involved. He doesn't give direct explanations for anything.
Terrible, Terrible teacher. He makes everything 100x's more confusing then it has to be. All he does during class to teach is examples. Everything on tests and quiz's must be done his way even if you get the right answer. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. calc is near impossible with his stupid means of teaching.
Nice guy. Horrible teacher. He knows his stuff but his method of teaching is to give 1 or maybe 2 examples at the beginning of class and then put up problems for you to solve with no explanation. His homework assignments are very hard and most of the tutors don't even know what he wants. avoid at all costs.
Darren means well, however I found that he doesnt teach calculus very well. At times he doesn't teach you things you need to know, and other times he tries to prove something no one understands in the first place. He can be confusing, and you have to go to office hours to understand the difficult homework. He's not a bad teacher but he can be hard.
This teacher is by far the WORST teacher at Grand Valley EVER! He barely does any examples and his tests are close to impossible. The class average is my class was terrible and you will learn nothing from him. You will want to kill yourself before the end of the semester is over.
Very helpful and willing to help you out with work. He is also very upbeat and goofy in class. Can be confusing sometimes but is always glad to help out. Say goodbye to thirsty Thursdays as he always had a 9 am quiz on Fridays. Sometimes the questions on the quiz and tests where confusing and unexpected, but nothing keeping up wont fix.
he doesnt know how to teach, he grades very harshly, and the activities do not help when studying for exams. DO NOT TAKE THIS GUY
He is super goofy, but he also knows his stuff. The portfolio problems are incredibly challenging, but he is always willing to help point you in the right direction if you come and talk to him during his office hours. His lectures are interesting because he has the class figure out how the theorems work. Overall, he is a great professor.
Darren is really confusing in class. You will spend 2 hours talking about two problems and all he will do is walk around asking if you have questions, even if you do have questions he doesn't help. AVOID taking him if you don't know much about Calc already because he will not help you.
Darren, can't teach PERIOD. He'll spend the entire class period blankly teaching us the lesson then procedes to give us in class work which is next to impossible then spends the rest of class hovering over the class asking if anyone has questions and if you do have a question, he is no help and you become even more confused than before. Just awful.
Darren is not the best professor. His teaching methods are not very helpful at all. He puts a few questions on the board, then walks around for an hour asking if you need help. No prior explanation, usually nothing. If you're brave enough to ask for help, what you get is a more confusing explanation. Test and "writing assignments" are very tough.
I had Parker for trig, he was really cool! I think if you go to class and are active in learning the math you'll get an A. He was always in his office and willing to meet outside of class for help. There was a project that we were supposed to be working on all semester, don't procrastinate that. Overall really cool guy and good prof.
Parker did not teach the course material effectively and I ended up teaching myself the majority of the semester. If you go to his office hours he is more helpful than in class.
I barely passed his Calc 1 class and now I'm in Calc 2 with a better professor getting an A-. Never have I struggled with math so much, his writing assignments were horrible. I lived in the math tutoring lab last semester just to scrape by in his class. GPA killer. Also, on a side note, he walks around barefoot, even in the winter. Who does that?
AVOID AT ALL COST. He doesn't teach you anything all he does is walk around asking if anybody needs helps. If you're lucky you might get a 3 minute lecture. If you want to pass this class it's going to take a lot time outside of class trying to figure out what you "learned" in class. He's a good guy. HORRIBLE professor.
Professor Parker is a very passionate and caring person. He would like his students to succeed. While his lectures can be confusing, he is always willing help to in his many office hours.
Professor Parker imports his wacky personality into his lectures to make math interesting and fun. The guy has a great sense of humor and is willing to listen to feedback. But, Parker falls short on evaluation. The homework is often inconsistent with the quizzes/tests. In fact, the homework usually ends up being harder than the actual test. Why?
I spent around three hours at office hours once a week due to homework and portfolio problems not directly relating to what we learned in class. The workload is huge and difficult. However, he has a lot of office hours and is willing to help you little by little to get to the answers. The professor procrastinates on grading.
Do not take this class. We had 9 homework assignments and he only graded and put in 2 of them for the first 14 weeks of the course. Unless you are good at teaching yourself, you will have to go to his office for help. He does not wear shoes in his office or around school. You can hear his feet clapping down the hallway from a mile away.
The homework is waaay to hard compared to everything else in the class. I dont know a single person in the class who didnt have a failing homework grade. Not to mention 90% of them were not graded until the last week of class. Unreal
The quality of lecture is horrible, leaving everything relevant to be inferred. You will not learn anything in lecture. You must do your own research. The professor is unreliable and unprepared. Be ready to teach yourself. Every single homework assignment took months to be graded. This is not an exaggeration. You do not want this professor.
This professor is a genuinely nice guy who tries his best during the many lectures but can fall short occasionally. Some classes he is unprepared with the notes, and the homework seems completely different than the notes. You'll get a sense that he is doing his all but the class is hard and after weeks of tutoring, I don't feel like I learned calc.
He is a nice guy that almost tries too hard to please his students. I had 312 with him and he assigns 2-3 questions of homework after each class. Also has discussion classes where you need to write a bit on what you talked about. Before each class he posts a 10 min video of the topic so really you just watch the video and dont need to go to lecture
when class is over he then goes over an example of the in-class work. you don't if you're doing your work correctly until you get a bad grade cause you have no correct examples to study.
Grades once a month, so you get to watch huge chunks of your grade fall away all at once. During group work, moves from group to group, but rather than offering helpful feedback, points out that you're doing something wrong, and tries to get you to figure it out yourself. We don't have time for that! Half of every activity was wasted.
Homework in this class is unbelievably hard, and the homework expectation is not clear whatsoever. Must go to office hours just to understand what the homework is asking you to do. He is a nice person, and if you need more time to complete an assignment he will usually let you have extra time, but a terrible professor.
Other reviews are accurate, he makes homework very hard and is sometimes difficult to get a straight answer out of. Class format is bizarre and does struggle to grade quickly. In 325 at least the class does get slightly easier towards the end, and exams and quizzes are not nearly as difficult as homework.
Prof Parker tries his best--but it is not enough. His "lectures" consist of us teaching ourselves before class with videos and then in class doing examples on our own while he walks around. Homework is IMPOSSIBLE. You could be getting excellent grades on the tests but still 30% on hw. Worst class ever. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. > 1/2 of my class dropped.
Avoid at all costs
Lectures are planned out well. Covers material per section and then we take a quiz on them the following lecture. We discuss problems from the chapter in small groups and cover them together. All the quiz questions are copy and paste from the problems so as long as you participate, you'll do good. Everything is very organized.
Pre-recorded lectures (5-15 mins), minimal recap, and group problem-solving in class. Last 10 mins rushed explanation of problems often running out of time. Weekly math/coding assignments and 2-3 quizzes. Prof struggles to simplify concepts. Asking for help, no direct math explanations, encourages self-discovery. Teach yourself. Barefoot in office.
Darren is not a bad guy at all, but his teaching is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. Avoid him at all costs, if you can't get anyone else, don't take the class. Quizzes almost everyday. Zero explanation on some of the hardest concepts. Tries to rush through lecture in the last 10 minutes. Is also barefoot. EXPECT TO DO ALL THE LEARNING YOURSELF.
I can't say enough bad things in 350 characters: subjective grading, 4 weeks to return assignments, no helpful feedback. He makes the math dept look bad. I would recommend delaying graduation so you do not have to take him. I was a 4.0 senior until this class. Impossible to do well. 25 hrs of work a week. AVOID AT ANY AND ALL COSTS!!!!!!
Parker is a genuine guy and truly makes an effort to see that all his students succeed. When I needed an accommodation he was willing to help me, which is very respectable. The class is not easy, but if you go to office hours and ask questions he is happy to help! He gives homework resubmissions, and it's helpful to collaborate with peers in class.
kinda like if professor x and and bear grylls had a kid that was really good at math.
nice guy. TERRIBLE teacher. Will not simplify concepts. Posts vids online and all of class time is working on problems that aren't related to the reading/vids. Homework ridiculously hard, but he allows resubmissions. Gives terrible feedback on proofs, wont answer a question directly. Don't take him, it'll be a waste of your money & time
nice, but not good at teaching. you literally have to teach yourself everything bc he doesn't explain it well. not really helpful in class. takes forever to grade and takes off LOTS of points. quizzes and exams weren't bad. hard to study for exams bc he doesn't give back assignments in time. randomly barefoot too...
If you want a good grade for math then do not take Darren Parker. Darren Parkers lectures will leave you with more questions than answers. The only way to figure out problems is to find a way your self or fail the homework or quiz and retaking it. Half kids dropped before the final and the people who stayed barely passed with a C due curves.
Would not recommend. Nice guy, horrible professor. Takes weeks to return assignments. Grading is incredibly subjective. Really challenging to do well. He recommends studying old homework for exams, doesn't return old homework until two days before exam. Every class runs 5 minutes over. Feedback he provides is demoralizing. Avoid at any cost.
Choose a different professor. You could have 80%+ on all quizzes, exams, coding. All that. It wont matter because yoaur homework grade will drag you down. Parker grades extremely strict on hw and even when the final answer is right, he'll take 15 points off just for your explanation using the wrong word
350 characters are not enough to explain how bad it is.The in-class time is useless, he shows you problems without explaining anything then walks around with his dogs out, His handwriting is bad, so "his notes are useless, You're better off learning from YT and only showing up on quizzes and exams. How HW is graded is garbage, subjective, and late.
He is a nice guy with good intentions so I hesitate to say this, but save your GPA and sanity: do not take Darren Parker. Homework is worth a ridiculous portion of your grade which he grades VERY strictly. I spent HOURS no-lifing assignments to combat his harsh grading techniques, all I will say is good luck. Please take someone else. Barefoot too.
Grades HARSHLY. Homework percentage is worth most of your grade, so it will fall behind as he takes off LOTS of points for wrong phrasing or a few wrong words. He would try to re-explain concepts if nobody understood, but ended up falling short as he cannot explain things well and skipped a lot. A genuine guy, but cannot teach such a hard concept.
He is a super nice guy and is always willing to help. If you fail or do bad in his class that is your own fault because he allows resubmissions of every assignment until the end of the semester, and offers extensions when needed. He also posts lecture videos online, so if you miss a lecture then you can just watch those and they are as valuable.
Boy oh boy Darren the main man Parker. Wow, just wow. Absolutely horrendous teacher. If you can completely avoid this guy your entire life, I would recommend it. He takes the entire class time to do the exact opposite but teach. You have to spend hours to watch videos and go to his office hours if you want to pass. Extremely unfair grader also
I'M SICK OF THE DARREN SLANDER. I love Darren Parker.
Seriously take anyone else for MTH 225. If he's the only one teaching that semester, take it another semester.
Darren is a very nice guy but man...do not take this class. He grades SO TOUGH and the exams are insane. He doesn't really teach in lectures, you work on some problems and he covers them quickly at the end of class. You will most likely rely on doing as many retakes as possible at the end of the semester. You can retake everything except exams.
graded extremely toughly on homework and gave somewhat redundant feedback. I would do exactly what he said to do on my revisions, and he would find some way to not give me points. The lectures were quite fast-paced and not that helpful. He's a good guy, but a bad teacher avoid taking him if you care about GPA.
His lectures and quizzes are fairly easy. However, it took me 3 to 10 hours every weekend to do the homework, just to get a 60 to 70% on it. Also though the quizzes were fairly easy, the professor ended up making us take a quiz every day and each would take less than 5 minutes, but he would wait till it took half of the Lecture time.
People are too harsh in the reviews, homework is ridiculously hard but you can retake them as many times as you want. Availability is the most I've seen for a prof, and quizzes are light(also retakeable). Even exam problems can be redone. The retake-ability makes up for the difficulty. Classes are kinda just like office hours though tbh.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
24%
Textbook Required
67%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.68 avg changeRatings by Course
MTH203
4.5
(2)MTH312
4.5
(2)CALC201
4.0
(1)MTH345
4.0
(1)MTH210
3.2
(6)Difficulty by Course
CALC201
5.0
MATH302
5.0
MTH350
4.8
MTH210
4.7
MATH325
4.6