2.5
Quality4.0
Difficulty36%
Would Retake202
Reviews36%
Would Retake
202
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
20
4
36
3
42
2
46
1
58
What Students Say
“I just took the final and I literally could feel my soul being crushed by the weight of my failure, but also her failure to teach”
CHEM152 - 1.0 rating“She falls far behind course content, which gives awful ALEKS the wonderful privilege of teaching”
CHEM152 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
48%
Textbook Required
38%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
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Declining
-0.92 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM120
3.5
(8)CHEM220
3.0
(21)CHEM162
2.9
(37)CHEM120221
2.5
(2)CHEM221
2.4
(17)Difficulty by Course
CHEM120221
4.5
CHEM142
4.2
CHEM220
4.0
CHEMAO
4.0
CHEM152
4.0
Reviews (202)
Very dull lectures. Wants 500 person lecture to say "Good morning" to her every morning like in an elementary school.
Not a good teacher. pull the mean of misterm to 47 out of 100, plus not curve the gpa
STAY AWAY. Pretty much survived just because of the book. terrible lectures and the exams are even worse.
The worst professor I've had so far. Reads directly off powerpoints and doesn't seem to care about students. Exams are very hard.
To be honest, Wiegand was not a horrible professor. Sure, there were times where she was unclear during her lectures. Going to her office hours helps a lot. As long as you do the suggested problems and review the worksheets and labs, you should do fine. On the plus side, she lets you bring a 3x5 notecard and a 2sided page of notes for the final. :)
Dr. Wiegand reads directly off the slides. Her grading system is very odd (didn't really explain it until the end of the quarter). Her first test was ridiculously hard. And she is terrible at giving explanations. Overall, I disliked this class immensely. The topics were tough so having a tough teacher can make it a terrible quarter.
First, she only read off the slide. Nothing news and after couple weeks, half the lecture is empty because students can just read off posted lecture online. Second, she like to give mid-term problems from the book and rewrite them in very confusing way. Third, she made usually 3-5 corrections in every exams (midterm 1, 2, finals)
She read off the slides and wrote a terrible first midterm. It looked like she learned from her mistake after the first midterm, but then made the same mistake, albeit kept time in mind, for the final. Read the book over and over, making sure you get it, and you should be able to pass.
Going to her office hours helped. As long as you read the book and do the book problems over and over again, along with worksheets, you should be fine. However, her exams are hard. For the final, she lets the class use both sides of the paper.
She was a nice person but horrible at teaching. Her exams were tough even though I loved the material. She phrases her questions oddly and usually ended up making corrections on the exams. Her lectures were not helpful. Go to office hours and prepare to put in a ton of time to get anything above a 3.0
A nice woman but her teaching style could greatly be improved. Her jokes are cringe worthy and she has a tendency to just read off the slides. The examples she goes over in lecture could easily be found in the book. And don't get me started on her tests. Expect to have your midterm average to be around 40%.
As far as profs go for the 120 series, you could do much worse than Wiegand. Honestly, I just appreciated the fact that she didn't expect us to memorize every word she ever said unlike the prof I had before her. She is a nice person, but her voice might put you to sleep. She used podcasts with no incentive to go to class besides staying on track.
Chem 152 is a tough class in itself. That said, she did a good job teaching the material. She also gave substantial amount of time outside of class for those students that needed help. The only complaint was mid-terms that were wayyy to long for the 45 minutes that was given, though she improved on that as the year went on.
This class was simply awesome! Obviously thermo is not easy material. However, Professor W is extremely thorough and careful to define any concept and equation before using it. Students hardly write down notes, that is where I see there biggest flaw. Everyone just prints out her slides and never takes the time and effort a 5 Cr. class requires.
This was probably the easiest 4.0 I've ever received. The class had the potential to be more difficult, but the class averages were so low, the curve was so huge, and it seemed like a bit of a joke.
I haven't learned anything. Not helpful.
SHE IS HORRIBLE. Reads straight off the slides and talks about material as if you should already know everything. Her tests are also impossible. Try to find another professor if you want to even slightly understand whats going on.
Repeats herself several times when describing the simplest material and tip-toes around the concepts that actually need explaining. When presented with a quadratic equation, she actually encouraged us to solve it through guess-and-check. She devoted an entire 50-minute lecture to describing the layout of our next test (#MC, #FR and their values).
Professor Wiegand is extremely considerate of workload and doesn't expect her class to memorize needless information. She records all her classes so it is easy to catch up when you miss lecture.
She's the worst! Lectures are simply powerpoints with things that are already in the book. No explanation of topics whatsoever. Exams are hard and never compare to the easiness of the practice test. Avoid this professor if you want a good GPA, or pass chem.
She is not helpful at all. Reads off slides everything that is in the book. She gave us a study guide for the midterm from CHEM 120 in a 142 class, and everyone failed. I would avoid her if you want to pass Chemistry.
She was nice! A little dry, but patiently answers questions of students. I went to about half the lectures, and got a 3.7 in the class. Her tests are straight forward, and she does a fantastic job about reviewing and telling us exactly what will be on the exam. All lectures videocasted on line. If you have to take CHEM 120, take it from her!
She literally reads word from word from the slides. Seems like a genuinely nice person but is an awful professor. I have heard that her teaching improves with the increasing difficulty of chemistry, so I hope that's true for future reference.
she reads right off the slides, so there is really no point in going to lecture. If you're going to take chem with her I advise you to be already very familiar with the content.
Not a good professor at all. I haven't learned anything.
It is very hard to pay attention in class; her lectures are just plain boring. Her slides are packed with information and she barely explains them; she just reads off the slides. If unfortunately you end up with her, I would recommend switching to a different professor.
This class made my first quarter at the UW a living nightmare. The lectures were useless PowerPoints that she read to us. I felt unprepared for the insane exams after lots of studying. I used to like chemistry, but this class and this professor made me rethink that. This class made me miserable, and I hope my experiences improve from here on out.
After the 1st midterm I never went to lecture. Instead I just studied on my own by doing Aleks (yes it actually helps) and the suggested problems as well as reading the book THOROUGHLY. For questions, I went to the IC or I would ask my TA (Chantz Thomas makes good eye candy). I would go to chem workshops at the IC which helped a lot. Got a 3.7.
Her midterms are usually around 10 multiple choice and 5ish free response.
She was literally no help to the students. Her lectures began with 30 minutes of questions about ALEKS that she had no idea how to answer. Had no motivation to go to lectures. Midterms/Final Exams were okay, but the average was around 60%. Some questions were ones that we never went over. I would not recommend. Avoid if possible.
I did not learn anything from her. I should have listened to her previous ratings. A terrible, bland professor. I plan to take Chem 220 when there is a new professor teaching it. I don't advise anyone to take Chem with her.
She is super boring and hard to listen to in lecture. Her exams are really difficult. I didn't learn anything in this class.
Professor Wiegand is a fantastic professor. Her passion for chemistry and teaching is evident in her enthusiasm in the classroom. She is also a very sweet lady. Teaching style is clear, engaging and organized. Grading is fair. Chem 220 is a challenging and helpful course that I would recommend to anyone interested.
AVOID at all costs! Exams are so much harder then other professors that teach chem at UW. Doesn't teach at the level of difficulty of exams. Expects you to understand complex and multi-stepped problems when very easy examples are gone over in lecture. Read the textbook, do worksheets given by TA, and do suggested problems. Lectures do not help.
I swear if ANYONE that takes this class and hasn't taken chem before you are GUARANTEED TO FAIL. This professor is the WORST. MARK MY WORDS. All the reviews here are true, AVOID AT ALL COST.I'm not joking at all seriously. Average scores on midterms are 50's. Good luck
I rarely judge professors negatively, but I have to with Wiegand. Her teaching is horrible! She goes over easy examples in class but she puts complicated stuff on the exams. The difficulty level of her midterms are average, but the finals are pretty hard. You never know what she would throw in there. Exam questions are not clear! Read the textbook!
Spare yourself the frustration of taking this class with this teacher. If it is your only option your best bet is to put it off a quarter. I put hundreds of hours into this class but was unable to do well on the tests because she makes questions that you haven't seen before and dont know how to do. Grades it like a weed-out class so avoid her.
I enjoyed Wiegand a lot. Like any chem class it requires a lot of studying and full understanding. She and the TAs were extremely helpful. The final was different and difficult, but doable. The other components of the course were all graded very fairly and her midterms were pretty easy if you studied hard and checked your work. Sweet, caring lady!
exams are hard. gives weird questions about labs. she speaks slow which might be good sometimes. but sometimes this loses my attention. easy to fall asleep in lectures. students ask about ALEKS during lecture, and she doesnt know much about ALEKS. better to read textbook than attend lectures. make sure you get high points for labs.
I found the key to the course a little too late, but for anyone taking this course here is what you need to do to ace every exam: READ THE TEXTBOOK! Know every part of the textbook (actually understand) even the graphs and such. Finally, do the suggested problems! Exam questions are very close to level of difficultly. Time yourself when doing them!
Tests are a lot harder than the practice worksheets done in quiz question and a lot harder than the book problems. She is nice, but is very boring.
Class was very difficult, exams were hard! I understood material from discussion section and TA more than lecture.
going to lecture is pointless because she just reads off her slides and goes ridiculously fast. She posts her notes online. ALEKS homework is a dread but do able sometimes. Her tests are ridiculous... the averages were always around 50% or lower...Not to mention my TA was the hardest grader I've ever had for labs. AVOID
I know she gets a lot of flak, but honestly she was really clear this quarter. I think she took past criticism to heart and improved. Conveniently screencasted, and she has separate days for topics: one day was for conceptual understanding, the next lecture would cover its calculations. This was very helpful. Tests have been reasonable. Don't worry
Organized and concise teacher. Professor Wiegand provides all the information that students need to know in lecture on the slides. Plenty of opportunities to receive extra help are offered during office hours, review sessions and weekly Tuesday practice sessions. It's easy to see that she enjoys teaching chemistry, which makes class a lot of fun.
Terrible professor with little to no interest in student learning. Lectures are not helpful. Examples are poorly explained and none of the topics are addressed on a conceptual level. She is incredibly boring and uninteresting and makes it difficult to maintain an interest in chem.
I really liked her. I wasn't a fan of the material, but she was very clear on what you needed to know for exams. She was really helpful in office hours and I felt that she wanted us to succeed and learn a lot. She also offered some extra credit practice sessions. I would definitely recommend her as a professor. She's really sweet and a great prof!
Deborah is a total sweetheart. She's always giving time for students to ask questions and no question is too stupid to her. She even occasionally makes awkward jokes. She also makes one of the classes into an optional practice problem day. Her lectures are kind of slow but it makes sense since it's an introductory chemistry class.
No point in going to lectures, she takes definition, examples and graphics straight from the book. She will put things on the test that were never once talked about in class, or even in the book. Would not recommend this professor.
I dunno why she has such a bad reputation. She's clear in lectures, does plenty of examples, and tells you what's going to be on the test. She also gives practice tests, that are similar to the actual tests. She's also actually quite helpful, and quite nice, outside of class. And she posts lectures online
I think she has really changed her teaching technique. These old reviews are inaccurate. She is super clear about what's on the tests (what chapter the free response questions will be, how many pts etc). She really cares about her students even going to far to allow students to take the exam on two days depending on which one was more convenient.
Her tests were much harder than anything she taught us in lecture. She will put things on the test that she never went over in lecture or touched on for only five minutes at the end of lecture one day. Horrible at answering questions.
Wiegand is very clear in class about what she wants you to know on tests. She even went as far as telling us which specific thing to study for on certain areas of the study guide. She is willing to answer questions in class and does a good job going through her lecture clearly. Her tests aren't easy, but if you put in the work you'll be fine.
She is such a sweetheart. But she is not on writing exams. Her lectures are boring and hard to follow. I had to watch her lecture online couple of more times to really understand what she was trying to explain. Also, going to 8:30 morning class from Monday through Thursday makes me sick. I can't believe I have to take another one with her.
Wiegand is very clear on what she wants you to understand and will give extra help if you need it. The textbook saved me, providing extra clarification and practice problems so I could really master the topics. The tests are pretty tough but if you study hard you'll be okay. Homework is minimal.
exams are super hard, STUDY and know everything
She's a good lecturer; she gives lots of examples in her lecture to help you understand the material. Read read read the textbook, and do her suggested end of chapter problems. Her tests are fairly hard, but if you understand concepts and can do variations of each type of calculation problem, you will be okay.
Exams are hard but the averages were low on the 2nd midterm and final! You need to go into each exam 200% prepared to do well. Read the book and fully understand the concepts. Do lots of practice calculation problems. Make sure you understand the labs because there were questions on them on the final. Some questions were right from the lectures!
Her midterms are pretty dang hard, and she only gives out two midterms and a final that is all 80% of your grade!! Homework and labs essential count for nothing, when they should be a least given a little bit more importance!!! Or MAYBE if she would magically curve some of the exams, especially when the average midterm score was 60%!!!!!!
it was hard but lets go!
I really liked Weiland she is very approachable and amiable. she can always find a way to phrase things you dont understand in another way to make them clearer, just make sure you ask her. I did well on the midterms (a few points above the average) but watch out for the final.
Lectures are extremely boring and non helpful, I learned more from ALEKS than her. Her tests are also overly complicated and long, test averages are generally below 50%
Overall a great professor. Although, I am sure her score goes down as Chem 142 is such a complex class, she really deserves a lot of credit. Before every test, a practice exam is given. If you can do everything on this and know the material you will be fine. I only went to lecture week one and I did (participation not important). Best chem teacher
I love Debby, she's so adorable when she does her demos. Honestly, the best out of the chem 142 professors. Definitely taking her chem 152 class next quarter.
Her lectures are extremely boring and often aren't helpful and the tests are outrageously hard. The ALEKS homework also doesn't really match up to the tests. She seems nice enough, but chem is hard enough
Wiegand is a great teacher if you follow her teaching style. It is quite easy to follow but she talks a bit slow. Do the recommended problems and understand the concepts and you will be fine.
Hella rough on partial credit. I screwed up one small thing and didn't get credit for any of my work multiple times in this class.
Dr. Wiegand is obviously very smart. However, she's not great at explaining the concepts. If you have any background in chemistry, it should be mostly review, but I HIGHLY suggest doing the reading and practice problems in the book BEFORE lecture. Lectures are short but early. She posts them all on Panopto, so skipping is common. No clickers.
STUDY HARD
She's great! Class is difficult as any Chemistry class would be but she is really there to help her students. You have to go to her though. She lays out everything so clearly though. Hard class, easy teacher.
Her lectures are clear and easy to follow! She works through example problems during lecture and office hours are helpful but come with questions prepared. Yes, her tests are tough but as long as you work through the practice exams and go to lectures, you'll get a decent grade. Also the final is a lot easier compared to the midterms!!
If you attend her office hours, she is clear cut and helpful. Her lectures might seem a little dry but she gives fun demonstrations and isn't monotonous to listen to. Although her tests are difficult, she is explicit in what is expected of you and what would be on the exam. Do book problems and attend quiz section!
Professor Wiegand is an OKAY professor, however she does not know what she's talking about when it comes to organic chemistry. She makes constant mistakes, gives out extremely tough exams, and points are all or nothing, no partial credit. I felt that she was not helpful, however I also had felt very negatively towards her. Got to TAs and the CHB.
She is completely comparable to Dr. Andrea Carroll. Expect similar things from both professors. Dr. Wiegand, so far, is the most hilarious CHEM professor I've ever had. Make sure you note important points and formula from her lecture and everything should work well! Friendly and kind! :D
Wiegend is a great professor. With that said, this subject is challenging, especially since most are new to O Chem. Good news is, the class is VERY structured and follows the book almost exactly. Bad news is, you need to do the reading in order fully understand the course materials. Lectures, which are on panopto, aren't as in depth as tests.
Wiegand is a good lecturer with helpful examples. She does not do clickers but I found her lectures very useful and usually attended. Tests are tough but mostly free response so you can still get some credit even if you're not completely correct. Very friendly and knowledgable, I would recommend taking general Chem classes with her.
Excellent lecturer, material is hard but she explains it well. Frequent office hours availability, very enthusiastic about helping students understand the material. Lets you know exactly what topics will be on the exams in very clear terms. Some rough exams, but overall curve is set so that the class average is around 2.5 in the end.
This class was very tough. The lectures are clear but the exams are very hard. Professor Wiegand is really nice and is available for help, but is a hard grader.
One of the worst teachers I've had at UW. Professor Wiegand's lectures are not engaging and extremely dull, you often see people skipping and students sleeping during lecture. It's a shame because the material covered is pretty interesting. Her tests (mc+fr) are also way harder compared to other teachers', overall a 0/10 experience.
She is one of the worst professors I've ever had. She doesn't know what she is talking about and is very unclear. Ruined my year.
She was nice enough, but seemed to have a hard time answering student's questions without talking in circles, not really answering the question. She wasn't very accessible to answer questions outside of class. I would not recommend her, unless you have no other choice. Be sure to read the text, tests are based more on the text than lectures.
As with all the gen chem professors at UW, she isn't amazing, but her exams are easier than other professor's and she gives a lot of practice problems. Not necessary to attend lecture if you do ok with panopto. She is nice and approachable.
She really does not explain things well and includes topics on tests that we barely cover in lecture. I ended up watching the lecture recordings so I could pause and rewind as needed since she breezes over important explanations. She made this class more difficult than it should have been because of her terrible teaching.
I thought she was quite good. Her lectures were very clear and straight forward, but I took the class having already learned most of the material in high school. She does a good job of clearly outlining what she expects and wants students to know for each exam, and her practices are exactly like her exams. As chem goes though, do a lot of practice.
She is nice, anyway, and there are practice key before every exam and clear worksheet. However, she covers less exercises and most of the conceptual things you have to memorize. We use Aleks to practice, but she cannot follow the practice, so sometimes you have to learn it by yourself.
Don't bother going to lecture many of the concepts on the exams can only be found in the book and sometimes she won't even lecture on them. At times her logic is flawed and students tend to correct her a lot. Just buy the book and do the practice problems that'll help a lot. Also always fight for the regrade you'll probably get it.
She'll tell you what won't be on the test yet it still gets put on the test anyway. She messes up constantly in lecture and gives us incorrect information. Students have to correct her and find the answers in the textbook. She will not answer any of your questions, she will refer you to look at the notes in lecture.
She is a good teacher during lecture and explains concepts clearly. She gives practice exams and tells you what you need to know for the exams but it is still very difficult to do well on them.
Maybe it's just the way she talks, but I left every lecture wondering if she even knew the material or if she was just reading it out of the book. She offered little to no explanation beyond the basic, straight-from-the-text information. If you want to actually learn in her class, good luck. It's all on you. Going out of my way to avoid her later.
Lectures weren't as organized or clear. Wasn't a bad prof but wasn't good either. Would give you bare minimum and you must read the textbook or get help else where to figure out what you need to know. Tests where OK. She's a cute lady, but really needs to touch up on teaching.
I don't think people appreciate her enough. She's a tough grader, but o-chem is the kind of subject where if you make one small mistake the entire answer's wrong. She makes mistakes during lectures, but she's human and it encourages students to pay attention and actively participate. It's a tough subject, and she teaches it well in my opinion.
An alright professor, lectures could have been more clear however. Test are pretty difficult.
She does her absolute best, but it's chemistry. It's not easy, and a lot of the work isn't something you can do once and be perfect. I only attended quiz, ALEKS, lab, and did review exams and finished with a 3.1. She makes mistakes, but is always open to correction. She explains everything if you know what to listen for. Practice will help.
Weigand is the worst chemistry professor I've ever had. She constantly makes mistakes during her lectures and sometimes confuses herself enough that she has to stop class to get back on track with what she's teaching. Her demos are lame and don't even work half of the time. Material not covered on class often comes up on the test, and she's boring
Wow. I dont even know what to say honestly. Im shocked at how difficult this professor made this class. The tests were awful - and I mean awful, I am a good student, read and took notes on the whole book, went to every lecture, and quiz section, office hours, and STILL only received a 2.7 in this class. Her averages were <50% on all mid terms. RUN.
Lectures are very unhelpful. I had to teach myself using the textbook. Test averages for class were lowest I've ever seen.
This is the worst class I have ever taken. Explanations didn't make much sense and she glossed over a lot of it. The tests contain material that we never discussed in class and also didn't relate well to material we did cover. Avoid taking a class from her if you can.
I've Dr. Wiegand for the last two quarters in both 152 and 162 and both these classes greatly deterred me from pursuing chemistry at this university. Her teaching style is unintuitive and she does not give her students the basic building blocks to be successful in understanding the courses' topics. Stay away if you wish to be boundless
Wiegand was by far the worst chemistry professor I have ever had. Her slides don't make sense, aren't in order, and you can't read her handwriting on them. Multiple times in lecture she would teach us the wrong thing, she seemed pretty lost a lot of the time. Don't take her if you can avoid it.
Her lectures are unorganized, her handwriting is so sloppy that you can barely read her notes during lecture, and every demo she does in class does not work. Do the problems in the back of the book for exam prep, and go to her office hours armed with specific questions to succeed.
Professor Wiegand seems to assume that her students will understand concepts with little to no explanation. She tries hard and has a good sense of humor, but rather than teaching students how a concept works or giving an explanation, she just gives examples and expects you to figure out how to do it from them.
Dr. Wiegand is terrible. The reason "attendance is not mandatory" is selected is because you can show up to every lecture and still not learn a thing. Even with reading all textbook sections, doing suggested practice problems, and doing all her review material, tests are still nearly impossible.
This is by far the worst class I have ever taken because Deborah is a horrid teacher who is incapable of explaining basic topics without causing circular confusion and creates tests not based on review. Showing up to class is unnecessary considering you always leave confused and having learned nothing. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS IF YOU CAN AVOID IT!!
Not mandatory to attend lecture because you can go everyday and become thoroughly confused. She makes difficult topics harder to understand; I would have rather just been tested on the book. The practice exams are full of errors or lack info. She falls far behind course content, which gives awful ALEKS the wonderful privilege of teaching.
I just took the final and I literally could feel my soul being crushed by the weight of my failure, but also her failure to teach. She tries really hard and sometimes it makes a lot of sense but she fails to test on what she teaches. She teaches concepts but tests on math and manipulating equations which you are supposed to figure out yourself.
I studied book problems, lecture examples, and practice exams. I barely got average. Her practice exams are nothing like the actual exam. If it wasn't for my amazing TA there is no way I would have been able to pass this class. Her grading scale is the most incompetent formula I've seen. She frustrates you with her teaching methods. Stay away.
If you plan to take a chemistry class with Dr. Wiegand, then beware that her tests are generally more difficult than needs to be. Her lectures were adequately informative, but not informative enough. The way she formatted her tests was quite absurd. She'll include content that we barely covered in class in her tests.
Dr Wiegand is a very fair lecturer. Lectures are pretty dry but after all, it's organic chemistry. All the material covered in lecture is fair game for the exams. Honestly, it's just a lot of memorization. You definitely need to put in the time to memorize the material, but once you have it down, tests are a breeze. Would recommend, but go to class
Do not take the class with her. She talks about nothing in lectures, and her papers are freakin tough. Avoid her if you can.
Dr. Wiegand is unclear in regards to what she expects on test and constantly falls behind in lecture. She is not forgiving in terms of grading and I would not recommend you taking her if you want a decent grade. Class averages are typically very low and tests are difficult.
If you put the work in and read the textbook you're more likely to understand her exams. I found them to be similar to practice tests and worksheets.
Professor Wiegand is a tough grader. Her tests tend to be hard and the averages low. However I do think that this is because Chem 152 is a very math heavy course that may cause problems with some people.
Hardest class I have taken at UW. She is a very tough grader, lectures are disorganized, she tends to teach wrong information then will have to go back and correct herself. The tests were very hard and she did a poor job at clearly stating what is expected of us. This class hurt my GPA.
Important that you show up to lecture. Random call- She does a lot of group activities during lecture (she gives you problems or questions to discuss in your group then she will call on groups randomly, which is very helpful but also nerve-racking to be put on the spot). Exams are very difficult, 4 exams no final. Be prepared to read the book.
RIP all my possibilities of getting into nursing school because I had her for BOTH chem 220 and 221. Don't even bother going to lecture because you can watch panopto at 2x the speed and still be confused . I got a 3.2 in chem 220 and a 3.7 in chem 221 and I studied A LOT.
Yeah so Im a freshman and my GPA is going to hurt from the start of my college experience thanks to her. I walk into the lecture thinking I know whats going on but the second she starts giving the lecture Im proven wrong.
absolutely not. three people in my quiz section all dropped on the same day (none of us talked about it before we did it, just weird coincidence). her lectures seem like theyre told in a completely different language because its so hard to understand what she says. she expects you to be a chem wizard. not empathetic. tests arent multiple choice.
Doctor Wiegand is a great teacher. I went to all of her lectures and ended up with a 4.0 in her class. She is very clear in her explanations and always stops to answer any questions students may have. Although sometimes her demonstrations do not work, she makes sure all the students get the point. Attend lectures and pass the class. Pay attention.
She seems to have a negative reputation as a lecturer but she's really not a bad professor in my opinion. If you put in enough work and pay attention in lecture the class really isn't too bad. Doing lots of practice problems helps.
Wiegand is a nice person but not the best teacher. She does poorly explains concepts and if you want to learn anything you must do it from the book or own your own independently. Her tests are difficult so you have to spend a lot of time studying if you want to do better than the class average which is usually around 60%.
DO NOT take her class. She doesn't curve the grades and her explanation to stuff in class is horrible.
She has a negative reputation as a lecturer but she's really not a bad professor. If you put in enough work in homework, tests, lab, and pay attention to lecture the class really isn't too bad. Tests are very tricky and tough but all around not too bad.
The lecture was standard, and she is a kind person. She is obviously very knowledgeable about chemistry, but doesn't always explain it well. In order to succeed, you must do a lot of work outside of class, but it's similar to other science classes in that way.
I found her lectures disorganized. It's clear that she understands core concepts of chemistry but she doesn't always communicate them effectively. She had a tendency to teach new concepts through one overarching example problem, which I personally disliked.
The class itself was very well organized and what was expected was very clear. The problem was that the content itself was difficult, more than the professor inadequate. I thought Dr. Wiegand was a good lecturer and was able to explain topics differently/deeper when asked. A lot of out-of-class work was required to get even a 3.0 in the class.
Dr. Wiegand, although a very kind person, does not cover material in an engaging way. The lectures consists of her reading off a power point, so I didn't feel I got a lot out of lecture; however, it is mandatory to get points. The written portions of her tests are graded harshly, but I found her final exam to be fair.
She's a great professor, very clear with her expectations, generous with making things as simple/easy as possible, and doesn't have too hard of exams, and provides great practice questions to prepare for the exam. You definitely will need to read the textbook and keep up in order to do well, but that's more of a reflection on the class than her.
She has a negative reputation for being hard, but I think that's a better reflection of the course than her class (it is a weed-out class for a reason). Her lectures are difficult to follow so reading the textbook is important. However, her office hours are helpful. The tests are reasonable and always have questions about demos from lectures.
In my whole life the lowest grade Ive ever got in a class was a B-, and I got a D+ in this class. Deborah gives very difficult tests and she likes to include trick questions. The weekly Aleks homework takes many hours to complete. I would not take this class again, and I wish I had waited for another prof to be available.
Honestly, I thought she was good professor. I took AP chem my junior year of high school so I came in with some experience and didn't struggle at all with the class. She has very clear expectations and provides a lot of resources to prepare for exams. Don't let the crazy bad reviews scary you, its the course that weeds out people, not her IMO
Her lectures are confusing and jump around a lot. She tries to mix in sample problems, but they often are unrelated to the topic that she discusses in the same lecture. Tests are multiple choice and short answer, and the final is all multiple choice.
Dr. Wiegand is alright. She's a little bit absentminded at times but her lectures were fine and on-point, save a few minor mistakes now and then. She went into a little more depth about a few things she found interesting that weren't necessarily in the course material which I appreciated. Hate the Gen Chem sequence here but her course was ok.
Her lectures go by way too fast and this course has a lot of work so here's some pro tips: 1) Print out lecture slides and write on them or take notes on the slides on your laptop. It is physically impossible to write down everything and pay attention. 2) Do the extra problems and study the concepts a week before exam. 3) Put effort into lab work!
lectures were behind labs so we did the labs then learned the material we needed for the labs lectures weren't helpful at all, lecture stuff should've been done in quiz section rather than "study skills" which were a waste of time to succeed: read read read
I took Deborah's CHEM221 course and it honestly wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. She's very clear on what she expects of you and what you should be able to do on the exam. Exams are fair. Online homework is very easy. Granted, she's not the best at explaining difficult topics, but there weren't many difficult topics covered. Labs are easy
Professor Wiegand makes her exams exceptionally difficult and puts material on exams that was never discussed in class. She also often makes errors in her study guides making them useless for exam prep. This is clearly an issue when exams are worth 70% of your grade.
I would not recommend taking this class if you haven't taken chemistry in a while. Professor Wiegand rushes through all the material and talks extremely fast. Lectures are completely unrelated to the textbook readings, and exams make up almost your entire grade. Labs are also unrelated to material covered during the week. Avoid if possible!!
Extremely hard tests and confusing lectures
I HATE THIS PROFESSOR. SHE IS SO UNHELPFUL AND EXPECTS YOU TO MEMORIZE RIDICULOUS AMOUNTS OF INFORMATION. WORST PROFESSOR I"VE EVER HAD.
avoid her. the exams are so frustrating, she makes the trickiest, most difficult questions that we NEVER go over in lecture so she expects u to do a lot on ur own. Also, shes not great at explaining concepts, even at office hours, so i depended on txtbook and TA explanations. aleks is useless. do her suggested txtbook practice problems.
Dr. Wiegand isn't an awful person, but her tests sure are sent from hell. And they're 70% of your grade. For the most part she sticks to what she says about what will be on the test, but there will also be more in-depth type of questions that lectures won't have covered so pay attention to the practice questions she brings to the exam reviews.
Awful teacher. Doesn't seem to care and doesn't teach well at all. Completely disorganized and unclear. Uninteresting and not worth your time.
ABSOLUTE WORST CHEMISTRY INSTRUCTOR IN EXISTENCE. THE SLIDES MAKE NO SENSE, SHE JUST TALKS ABOUT STUFF AND DOES NOT EXPLAIN ANYTHING. TAKE ONLY IF YOU HAVE A CHEMISTRY DEGREE OR YOU ARE RETAKING THIS CLASS. SAVE YOUR SELF AND BELIEVE ME.
You know what, she's not as bad as people make her out to be. She's just as confusing as the next professor. Just pay attention in lecture and supplement with ALEKs and worksheets. She can be funny sometimes. I think any Chem class at UW is hard, and it's what you do with it. She's not any easier. but she's not much harder.
Prof. Wiegand is a good professor. It is obvious she cares about her students enjoying the material. Certainly this is a difficult class, but that isnt her fault, it is tough material! Yes you will have to read the textbook and watch YouTube videos to help understand, but you should be doing that anyway for all of your classes, its helpful!
I thought she was great! Not sure why she gets such a bad rep. Yes, the class itself is difficult and requires hard work, but it is very doable to get a good grade. Just pay attention to her lectures and rewatch the recordings if you missed something. And read the book!! Her tests were very fair in my opinion.
By far the worst class I have ever taken. Deb was so bad at providing explanation, and her tests were very hard. I understood what was on Aleks/Lecture, but for the exams she adds material that we barely covered or never learned, which messes up your grade. If you have only taken high school chem, take 121 first.
I loved her so much- you could really tell that she cared about her students, so while she did give out a lot of assignments (+ 3 midterms + final) she was doing it for our sakes. The class average was pretty low (50-70%), but as long as you really engage with the material it's totally manageable. Kinda reminded me of my grandma, but in a good way.
Deborah is an okay teacher but in terms of grading she is awful. Our entire class was getting in the 50's to low 70's range for Midterms and Finals. Though there was a significant curve to go along with this, having students better prepared for the class would have been better. Expectations on what you're supposed to know are hard to understand.
Prof Wiegand is a great person. However, her lectures could have been better. Also, some of the tests contained material that we hadnt gone over in class. You should only take this class if youre strong in chem, if you dont have much chem experience like me, I recommend you take a different professor.
I liked how Professor Wiegand carefully went over each student's questions in class. The exams were higher in difficulty and even with studying, only ended up with 70% on each of them, with an average around 50-60%. The exams use a lot of in-class examples, but it's not super difficult to get at least a 3.0 if you put in the effort and go to class.
Debby is the greatest chem professor for 142. She teaches at a quick pace and if you don't study you won't do well (as it should be). Her lectures teach effectively and she clarifies a really terrible textbook.
Wiegands test is what made the class bad. each test had an average of 50-60% and were half mult. choice half short answer. if you study what was taught in lecture and read the assigned chapters, the mult choice section is easy. the short answer section though is always questions on things weve never learned or have gone over before. dont take her
She is great to assist student in their problems with patience. Her exam isnt really hard. As long as you followed her on the lecture with every words she said. You will get a 90+ for the exam with ease
Professor Wiegand is a pretty bad teacher, she doesn't get her own polls right and she does not know how to lecture. I do not recommend taking chem with her, if you have to wait for another quarter do that.
Deborah Wiegand was by far the WORST professor I've ever had at the UW. She sped through her slides so fast that it was impossible to keep up while also taking notes. Once I finally understood the material, I would ace her practice exams, walk into the exam so confident, and come out CRYING because I left half of my exam blank! I cried all 3 exams!
She didn't give good lectures and wasn't very good at explaining things. She wasn't very nice other when I tried to introduce myself to her. Her tests are really hard and have nearly impossible free response sections. I do not recommend taking her class.
I had to take Wiegand for 142 and 162 and it was the WORST. Exams don't test you on what you actually learn and she is not a good lecturer. I've had other professors for chem 152&237 (supposedly harder than 142&162) and had an average grade of 3.75, while my avg for 142&162 (with Wiegand) was 3.35. Her rating should be a LOT lower. I suffered.
Likes to spend lots of class time on practice problems which don't show up on exam. Exams don't seem to be based on lectures or ALEKS homework. Do yourself a favor and take this class from another professor.
Wiegand's lectures are very confusing. Often, her explanations are overly complicated. If only her class fits your schedule, then I would suggest you to make sure you go to your TA's office hours (Undergraduate Chemistry tutoring center) as much as possible.
Doesn't explain material clearly nor does she have clear expectations on what we're expected to know. The first exam went okay with typical avg. UW grade in the 70s next midterm she was wondering why the avg dropped 20 points. Everyone I talked to had no idea, where 50% of the material came from that, was on the exam. Be prepared to teach yourself.
I took 162 with Deb this spring so it was all online. That being said, class format may be very different in the fall and behind. However, Deb was so caring for us given how hard the situation has been and was quite understanding. Yes, tests were hard but thats just chem. Her lectures are quite bare so I did a lot of work outside class.
It's been nearly a year since I've taken CHEM 162 w/ Wiegand and I've finished CHEM 237/238 since then. While she's a nice person, I looked back on her exams and noticed there were reactions on there that I didn't learn until CHEM 237/238, such as alkene or electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions. No wonder her exams were so hard!
My best experience in the chemistry department while at UW. Clear lectures, tough (but not impossible) exams, gives many opportunities for further learning outside normal class hours
Took her online during spring 2020 & everything was done so you didn't have to attend any meeting. Lectures were her old recorded in-class lectures, which weren't the best; average teaching and sometimes vague. I got 90% of my understanding from reading the suggested textbook sections. Timed biweekly quizzes were tough but the final was much easier
Be aware of her exams, they're very hard and she only grades by a few things. She's not very accessible outside of class, her lectures are super boring, and a lot of her exams are focused on things not included in her lectures. She assigns a lot of homework.
CHEM162 with prof. Wiegand has been my best experience in chemistry all year. While her lectures were all prerecorded from past years, they were still helpful. On top of that, she would hold lecture debriefs where she would go over the lecture material and use practice problems. Also, before tests, she will put out two practice exams with answers.
Having her as my professor was one of the better chemistry experiences I've had. Her lectures are long and sometimes boring but she knows what she's talking about and can answer any question.
Although grading was rather harsh and tests often had very odd questions, this professor was very helpful and willing to answer questions. My one gripe was when she repeatedly would miss her office hours before exams, but she made up for it by being extra active on the discussion board.
I really enjoyed Dr. W's class. I found her lectures to be a little dry, but having the pre-recorded access made it totally manageable. I definitely had to study hard for the tests, but I managed to pull a solid 90% average on the exams by taking notes and completing the practice exams. You'll get out of what you put into this class.
Don't take.
I have never experienced a worse teacher. Dont take this class I am begging you. I checked the reviews and took the class out of need and it was the worst decision of my life. Im a 3.7-3.9 student and I required a pass/fail so my gpa wouldnt tank. Over 90 tasks per week, bad lectures, behind on materials before lab, random material on tests. No.
She is awful at explaining her lectures and if you dont come in with some chem experience, you will fail the class. She doesnt curve anything and has homework on topics we havent even learned yet.
Honestly this is a really hard class and rough. Made me cry several times but it taught me a lot. Study every day! Do practice problems, dont be behind on ALEKS. Come to the quiz sections. And dont be afraid to ask for help. You will have mental breakdowns but its doable. Her lectures arent much help so definitely dont rely on just those.
Lectures are extremely fast-paced and don't align with that particular week's assignments/labs which makes them hard to prepare for. I learn twice as much from ALEKS than I do from her lectures. During the final midterm, she knew one of the questions had no right answers but she didn't tell us and wasted many student's time trying to solve it.
Lectures are very quick, explanations of complex topics are vague, homework is not proportional to the material and tests are significantly harder than practices/worksheets. Professor Wiegand, although a not so good lecturer is accomodating and exerts sufficient effort to make students feel comfortable.
chem 142 is so hard and debby does not help much. if you get a bad TA (like i did) you have to be a genius to get a good grade. prof is nice but lectures are not helpful and kinda mandatory bc of poll questions. she is so hard on you and not in a good way; prepare for a LOT of quizzes and exams. she boasts ab the avg being a 2.7... red flag much
Wiegand seems like a perfectly lovely woman but I just cannot succeed in her classroom. She makes it all so difficult, poor lectures and just a noticeable lack of care for the Students success. If I could give one tip to any incoming student, DO YOUR ALEKS. That is what saved my grade
Lectures were a little dry, but recordings were posted online so you could always skip and watch on 2x speed later. I definitely learned more from doing ALEKS then actually in lectures.
This class was very difficult. It may have been because 142 is a weed out class, but there was a lot of homework for the class that was time consuming and draining. Professor Wiegand's lectures are very dry, but they convey all the information needed for the tests.
Not going to class is punished (PollEverywheres graded, in-class demonstrations on tests) even though lectures just restate the book. My test scores improved after I stopped going and used the time on reading and ALEKS instead. No curve on tests and no cheat sheet, which didn't seem fair since other classes got one. Lots of memorization.
I love her! Aleks is heavy but it is a requirement for chem whoever the prof is. ED is an effective platform to study and she replies to all of our questions with clear clarification. Exams are not tough! But you need to spend relatively more time reviewing because chem itself is cumulative and challenging.
Deborah was a sweet lady but had extremely difficult tests with unfair grading policies. Compared to the other professor Lee, we were not allowed a note sheet for the test or the extensive additional information sheet. They also had 25 multiple choices so the points were distributed while we had only 14 worth four points each.
Lectures can be a drag, kind of hard to stay focused during them, I sugge4st to watch twice. You don't need the book as she says, it doesn't help much. Aleks can be very long some weeks and a few topics others. Tests seemed to be really hard and were somewhat graded tough. I haven't received my grade but i expect to barely get 2.0 after tough final
1st quarter at UW and honestly she was so bad I thought this would be my last and that I would transfer to WSU. literally that bad im not joking. I had to teach myself a ton. if there is another teacher, take them. its so disappointing paying a tuition that keeps a teacher like her around. instead of teaching it was more like her reciting.
If you are a beginner in chemistry, I recommend taking an introductory class before taking Chem 142 with Wiegand. She caters more to people who have a good background in chemistry. She moves really fast over important topics and expects you to know a lot of stuff she doesn't go over in lectures. Be prepared to do a lot of extra work to succeed.
DO NOT TAKE HER! She does NOT explain the concepts clearly during the lectures, all she does is skim through the slides expecting us to know everything. This is supposed to be a general chemistry class, she should be explaining the concepts in a step-by-step way, in a way that makes sense, but SADLY she does NOT. I don't know how she still teaches.
Wiegand is a nice lady, but the course is really difficult. Lectures were average at most, but she did a couple of demos which were interesting. She's very efficient at answering questions on the ED discussion board. The weekly quizzes and midterms were a nightmare. Completing ALEKS saved my grade. Be sure to do practice problems as well.
Professor Wiegand held additional office hours specifically for exams. These were helpful in going over material that would be on the exam. There were also weekly quizzes which could be used to replace half of our lowest exam score, so this helped with grades quite a bit. As someone who did not ever take chemistry before, this course went well.
She's a nice person and is understanding but her lectures are sometimes really hard to understand. Tests are very hard with the class average usually being around 60%. There is some curve at the end but not much so your grade might suffer
To get the most out of Wiegand's lectures, you should read the textbook before each class. To help my understanding of chem142, I read the textbook (I also took notes but that's up to you), attend lectures, and do Aleks homework. To score well on tests, do the exam practice questions AND the suggested problems (:
She is voluntarily keeping the class online for no good reason despite permission from the University to reopen. Additionally, she has no idea how to hold an online class. She uses a pen and sheets of physical paper during her lecture. She has no idea how to keep paper centered in a projector so that you can actually follow along
The class straight up sucks. She gives good lectures but hard tests. READ THE TEXT BOOK.
Lectures are an absolute waste of time. Rather read the textbook. Quizes are average not too hard they resemble the question database she uploads. Be prepared to learn chem on your own.
Dr W gave boring, but informational lectures that were easy to follow and take notes on. I found one of her exams unnecessarily difficult, but for the most part, they reflected the class material. Go to her office hours before exams!! She goes above and beyond to answer questions. Quick at replying to email.
I had her in the fall quarter. She's a nice lady when you get to know her through office hours. She does a lot of demonstrations in class. Lectures are kinda dry. If you do all of the practice test questions and complete most of your ALEKS hw, you'll likely pass. Additional EOC problems help.
I don't know why reviews are so low. She was super nice, she does demos and gives lot of opportunities to get more points. Loved her!
Professor Wiegand was a nice person, but her lectures were fairly dry and often unhelpful. She was good at answering questions, but her lectures were mainly her reading off of a slideshow, which didn't make the content any more digestible than the textbook. Her tests were a reasonable difficulty.
The class is mostly taking notes on lecture but reading the textbook is necessary to do well on tests even if it is not stated within class. Go over all these notes and do all practice questions provided such as past exams and quiz section worksheets and you'll be golden. Dr. Wiegand is also very receptive to all questions!
Wiegand was not pog. Made it very hard to succeed in her class, would not recommend
Very average teacher. One of the better options in the chem department. Was not approachable for questions after class. Tests were heavily based on quiz section worksheets so tests were not completely blindsided.
She was pretty good. I think it's just a hard class, and she can go pretty fast, so it's easy to get behind. If you do the reading, it helps A LOT. The lectures are more to provide examples for the reading material and solidify it. She can be pretty monotone and as an 830 class, that's not a good combination. Use your resources and you'll be fine.
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Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
48%
Textbook Required
38%
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