2.5
Quality3.9
Difficulty28%
Would Retake107
Reviews28%
Would Retake
107
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
14
4
16
3
18
2
20
1
39
What Students Say
“Zenkov is a very mediocre professor”
MA242 - 3.0 rating“People hate on Professor Zenkov, but I personally have no issue with his class”
MA242 - 4.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.23 avg changeRatings by Course
MA401
5.0
(1)MA241
5.0
(2)MA242H
4.0
(7)MA242040H
2.5
(2)MA242
2.3
(90)Difficulty by Course
MA341
4.3
MA401
4.0
MA241
4.0
MA224
4.0
MA242
4.0
Reviews (107)
One of the best instructors at NC State. He is very helpful, and is very responsive to student questions. Very thorough, but he is also demanding. He is very approachable and very knowledgable about math and physics. I learned alot of math in that class.
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*Really* helpful, nice, responzive to questions...overall a great professor.
Great guy all around. Encourages questions and answers emails almost instantly. He gives a pretty good curve too.
Was most terrible teacher I ever had
Great teacher. Has an accent, but it is easy to get used to. Very clear, teaching with an abundance of examples.
Tests not on material taught in class. Make sure to read the book.
Agreed that he is the worst professor I've ever had.
Dr. Zenkov is an excellent professor. He has a slight russian accent but so slight that it does affect understanding him, its just kinda comical. I took the honors section and he made all of that class understandable and coached us through the theory and reason behind the formulas as well. His tests are adequate, just study the concepts.
I had to drop the class because I just couldn't understand him. His teaching is very disorganized and he does not write in a straight line. His accent is not horrible, but he mumbles a lot so he can be very difficult to understand. Sit near the front to hear him. I will be avoiding him when I retake the class.
unhelpful, disorganized, bad teaching style, hard to follow, stuck up. talks like borat and will laugh at you if you ask a question he deems stupid. tests are very hard and not like the material he teaches
Zenkov is one of the worst professors I have ever had. He is incredibly difficult to understand due to his accent, mumbling, and volume. He won't answer questions even when he asks for them, often because they "take too much time." I highly recommend not taking his class even if it the only one open. It would be better to wait and fall behind.
I actually really enjoyed this class. Zenkov is funny at all the right moments. It can take a while to understand his accent but when you do it just makes everything better.
Excellent professor. He has an accent, but it is easy to understand after a few days. The tests aren't that bad. He seems like a nice guy, and he wants his student to succeed.
A helpful professor. Very good at clarifying the course material. His tests are very reasonable.
Heard he was a great professor, but he has a thick Russian accent so it's very difficult to understand him. It seems like he cares about his students, but when you ask for help, he tries to explain but it still doesn't make sense. He also grades tough, and doesn't offer much partial credit. Calc 3 is hard enough and he doesn't make it easier.
He has an accent and mumbles. His test are what would be expected for calc 3 but his grading is horrible. There was one question where I got 2 out of 12 points (60 pts total for test) and the two points were for the correct answer. When I asked if it was a little too harsh, he did not budge.
Professor Zenkov is a very helpful, thoughtful, and brilliant guy, who often sneaks in some great humor to compliment his amazing Russian accent. Not only that, he is very knowledgable about math and physics, and wants to see his students succeed. Do yourselves a favor and take his class. Tests very fair. You won't regret it.
Zenkov has an accent that takes a little getting used to but it's not as bad as some other professors. His tests are straightforward and most of them are just "set up" problems, so make sure you know how to start every time of problem.
Dr. Zenkov is a nice man is willing to help. He is very enthusiastic about teaching Calculus and he encourages questions. To pass the class, you should be on top of online homework and keep up with the suggested textbook problems he gives you.
Dr. Zenkov is obviously a brilliant mathematician; however, I had trouble understanding his methods in class. Although he does have an accent, it is not distracting or hard to understand. My main problem was the way that he taught because he doesn't explain why things are done the way that they are, just that they are done that way.
Lectures were often useless as they were unclear with sparse examples. You have to fumble around on your own to complete assignments/study. He also mumbles, good luck hearing anything past the third row.
Long-winded lectures which often don't explain how to do actual problems. Rather, he repeats himself and is very concept-heavy. Tests often include problems we did not review. I relied on teaching myself the methods on problems.
Professor really needs to speak more clearly when giving out lectures. Having an accent is not something to be criticized, but if the professor can't deliver the message to the students well, it becomes a problem. I basically had to learn my materials through YouTube videos.
He has a very thick accent and does not project his voice well. His lectures are very heavy on theory and don't cover how to do the specific problems well enough for my taste. That being said he is more than willing to explain things after class one on one or at his office hours, but if given the opportunity I would take calc 3 with someone else.
Prof. Zenkov knows his stuff but he needs to learn how to speak up or use a microphone. He has a thick accent but I could understand him after the first day...I would advise sitting close to the front. If you get a seat in the back you are screwed. Grade comes from 4 test, final exam, online homework, and EXTRA CREDIT MAPLE. Test's aren't too bad.
Very difficult to follow what Dr. Zenkov says, though it gets easier as the semester goes on. Learned most of the material from youtube videos, lectures in class were very meandering and theory heavy with little application. However if you can stand all that, I thought the tests were fair and VERY similar to practice tests. MAPLE IS EXTRA CREDIT!!
Zenkov has a very theory heavy approach to Calc III. His lectures are boring and he doesn't project his voice very well. If you can, get the tests from the previous semester because he barely changes them. Also, he gives a ton of extra credit. Overall, I liked him because it was not hard to receive a good grade.
The man is an excellent teacher, its the web assign (which is set up by the department) that you need to watch out for. Work together with the others in your class and you'll be fine. On multiple occasions he extended the HW deadlines for us. He also responds to emails very quickly, which helps a lot when working on said HW.
I don't think he knew any of our names, but he was still really kind. He definitely understood that we had a life outside of class. He often moved hw and tests. His tests were far easier than the webassign and most other classes. He was really fair. He would always answer our questions in class. Take him! The accent is NOT that bad. Truly a legend.
He is super straightforward and great lecturer.
Dr. Zenkov is an amazing professor. He has an accent, but you get used to it. He is very straight-forward about what will be on each test. He is also very nice about moving deadlines when they needed to be moved.
Zenkov is one of the worst teachers I've had in my life. I feel bad because he seems like a nice guy, but if I hadn't taken Calc 3 in HS I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd failed. He is not straightforward with his lectures and his notes were all over the place. Tests were fair but T.A.'s were kinda tough. However they help during recitations.
Lectures were relatively pointless, they were 99% theory. He does not use a microphone and is quiet so you have to sit near the front to learn anything. WebAssign is rough. The transition to online due to COVID was lackluster.
This teacher has a VERY thick accent and is difficult to understand but more importantly is a terrible lecturer! He he skipped most of the introduction to calc 3 and how we use 3D Vectors in our HW. He is constantly behind and skips material to catch up so you miss vital information. HW is much harder than the lectures. Wound NEVER take again!!!
Dr. Zenkov is difficult to understand. Because of COVID I took this class online. No content was posted on moodle except the exam link the day of tests. HW is all Webassign. Test and final is 85% of your grade. His zoom lecture links are sent out in email every class day. Does not post answer keys to see what you did wrong.
Dmitry is a nice guy, it's just very hard to understand what he says. Tests makeup 85% of the grade and are graded harshly. Recitations are your saving grace in this class. I personally would take someone else who is easier to understand.
Zenkov is alright. Lectures were theory-based and sorta useless. Recitation problem sessions were how I learned this class. 4 tests & the final exam are 85% of your grade but he makes it very clear what is on each test, partial credit is given liberally, and the final replaces your lowest test grade. He also pushed back HW due dates which was nice.
He doesn't understand technology or online teaching. Everything is on WebAssign except the test pdfs. The lectures are useless because they're mostly theory, and you're screwed if you don't get a good TA for recitation. There is virtually no feedback on the tests - the graders will sometimes tell you why you lost points. Avoid Zenkov if you can.
Do not take him. You can't understand him and all he does in class is click through powerpoints that aren't even useful. He goes at an insane pace that is almost impossible to keep up with. Unless you have already taken Calc 3 you will not succeed in his class. To put it simply, save yourself the pain and take someone else.
Tests are straightforward (50/50 shot you only have to setup the integral). Open note this semester. Not the best lecturer as he tends to go on about proofs instead of actual content. Homework harder than tests(do it anyway). Ignore the comments about his accent, his English is fine, though he is quiet. Its a weed out regardless of who you have.
People hate on Professor Zenkov, but I personally have no issue with his class. His lectures provide an overview of the content you need to know and you have access to all the PowerPoints he uses. He also welcomes questions during class. Homework is rough; however, if you do the practice problems and study hard the tests are perfectly manageable.
The first half of the class was awful. Boring lectures, tough tests, few resources. However, as the class progressed things changed - the tests had less fluff, he started to host review sessions and other resources. I don't know if this is typical, or if Zenkov was improving. Would not recommend the class but it's moving in the right direction.
Check his grade spreads before enrolling! Zenkov is totally content to fail 40% of his class. He is incredibly theory-based, which can be totally unhelpful for tests. His grading is also ruthless, often times losing 5-10 points for simply errors and you don't get your test back. Having a good TA helps, which I did not. Take someone else.
The lecture slides will provide all the information needed, but recitations are the real place that youll learn the material. He is incredibly hard to hear due to his accent and his tendency to mumble or talk softly. Overall though he is not a terrible choice.
lectures are terrible, doesn't work through problems, very hard to learn calculus when the lectures are power points with 100 words on every slide, very hard to understand him because he talks very low on top of his accent. I learned everything from recitation and teaching myself with online notes. Do not take his class
I don't get it. 4 OPEN NOTES tests, OPEN NOTES FINAL, non-mandatory attendance, lecture notes are fine, tons of review material... And you all complain about his accent?? If you don't like the lectures, don't go. Did you expect to not have to learn and practice on your own time? It may be time for a change of major.
Alright guys, he's not as bad as everyone's been saying. He's extremely fair with the layout of the tests, due dates, and outlining what is expected on each exam. Both my brother and I have enjoyed his classes. Sure he does speak rather quietly, but his powerpoint slides and whiteboard diagrams are a huge help in aiding with what he's saying.
Dr. Zenkov is not a great lecturer, they are really heavy in math theory, and your TA can make or break the grade. I had a bad TA and had to teach a lot of the material to myself. On the other hand, don't be afraid to reach out to Dr. Zenkov outside of class-- he regraded a bunch of my tests and was really generous with partial credit.
Talks quietly and has a thick accent; he is hard to understand. Homework strays from what you learn in class. He has good lecture slides though.
Mr. Zenkov overall is a good professor but his lectures were heavily based off of his powerpoint notes which were not helpful for the Webassign homework. However, the tests were very similar to his review sheets that he would give before the test. Although for some units, there was A LOT of review problems he would give.
One of the worst professors I've ever had. I went to all the lectures which weren't mandatory and still didn't learn a thing in class. Had to teach myself everything. His powerpoint slides were just a long paragraph of words that made it super hard to learn math from. Tests were graded super hard and tons of points were taken off for minor errors
The professor himself is very understanding and a nice guy. However, I literally could not understand a word he said due to his heavy accent, and he talked very quietly on top of wearing a mask. He also just read straight off of the power points and never actually did any problems in class. Overall I seriously would SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE.
Overall pretty good. Fair disclaimer: My class was in FA21 during semi-covid times and tests were online. Tests were tougher but open-note, not sure if policy still in effect. Lectures were very informative, although you'll want to sit in the front as he is a softer speaker and hard to understand sometimes with a mask on. HW was pushed back often.
This teacher knows what he is doing, but there are lectures where he explains the content decently and some that he doesn't explain well. For homework, he uses WebAssign and the problems are so hard compared to the examples from lecture(the ones that appear on the exam). I would say he is somewhat lenient grading wise.
Bro kinda goofy
Don't bother showing up to lectures. Every time I went, it was like 50 minutes of my life were completely wasted. Your best bet is grinding Paul's notes, Khan academy, and doing the homework. Tests are somewhat similar to the practice problems, except he'll throw a curveball on the test that you've never even seen before. If you get him, good luck
Im not sure why people dislike him so much, sure he has an accent but its not that hard to understand after the first week. There are 4 tests with 5 questions each and then a final, but the partial credit is pretty generous. Attendance isnt mandatory but you definitely should go to the lectures if you want to do well in his class.
His lectures are not worth the time taken to attend them, as he is difficult to understand and his lecture slides are unhelpful. A good portion of the questions in the homework are never discussed in lecture or relevant to any tests. Multiple exams had class averages below 60%, and he does not curve anything.
Not only are tests worth 85% of your entire grade, they are graded incredibly harshly. There will be no curve regardless of the average. The one saving grace is that he allows your grade on the final to replace the lowest grade of your 4 tests. While his accent is understandable, he essentially whispers during lecture making it hard hear him.
Very in depth, theory based lectures that are of no use towards tests and homework. Class is not worth going to as it is nearly impossible to hear anything. Tests are difficult and touch on subjects barely covered in class or recitation. Do not take, save yourself the frustration.
It is clear throughout the course that Zenkov has little interest in teaching his students and is not understanding or helpful during office hours. His exams are more difficult than any previous assignment, and for my section there was even a question that was not possible to solve, which he "made up" for by adding a question to the final.
Homework is hard, just look it up. Exams are difficult aswell. His lectures are not worth going to, I suggest you teach it to yourself. I would say he is not a good teacher. My tests grade: 89,95,47, and 80. But the 47 is dropped if I do better on the final. I suggest looking for diff teacher, but if you do have him just put in the work.
He is really good professor
If you get him just drop the class and take it with anybody else
His lectures are a huge waste of time. He mumbles and has a very thick accent, and reads directly from a slide show. His tests are not forgiving either. I got 12 points taken off for an incorrect word explanation despite my math being correct and 10 points taken off for 2 negative signs. Also, tests are not open note despite what some reviews say.
If you registered his class, please be out of him. The most awful and terrible professor in my life. He is bad at communicating, teaching, and he is eager to make students discouraged. Please BE YOURSELF OUT OF HIM.
Absolutely terrible. I breezed through Calc 1 and 2 with good grades, but Zenkov was so bad that I failed my first ever class. His exams are worth 85% but he does not allow formula/notes sheets and NEVER curves. Lectures are difficult to understand due to accent/mumbling. Does everything in his power to make it difficult for you to learn and pass.
He is a very smart guy and knows the material well, but he makes a hard class even harder. While he does like questions, he is not very good at giving clear answers. Takes ages for him to respond to email. He was however ahead of schedule with the topics so that we could spend extra time on the hardest topics. My TA amazing and helped us all.
He is easily the worst professor I have ever had. Any sort of progress I made in this class was due to the TA. 85% of the class is based on your test grades, which he refuses to curve, even though the test averages were never above 70. Please do not take this class! He does not care how many students pass, and it is shown in his grade distribution!
His lectures are hard to understand and boring. His tests gave a lot of partial credit but they are very hard and you don't get any formula sheet for any of them. His WebAssign homework is lengthy and so difficult for no reason and has nothing to do with the tests. He accidentally gave us an unsolvable problem on an exam and did not curve it.
He makes smart students also dumb. Many students who got great grade in Cal 1 and 2 failed or got C D in his class. Please if you want to get a bad grade, take his class with no hesitation.
Professor Zenkov cares about his students, but there is a very obvious language barrier. He was always willing to help and answer questions. Tests were a majority of the grade but partial credit is a godsend. Definitely not the worst math prof imo.
His accent is very noticeable, but I got used to it quickly. Tests (4+Final) are 85% of the grade, but he basically tells you what is on them and gives review problems before them all. Material is noticeably harder than Calc 1/2 but it is learnable, and he has very good slides and useful lecture imo. Doesn't deserve some of the hate he gets.
Absolutely terrible professor who does not care about students. Lectures were unintelligible / useless based on theory, prof. was unreachable by email, and HW was extremely difficult / irrelevant to tests. Textbook was less thorough than previous calc classes. I got an A+ in Calc 1, an A in Calc 2, and worried about passing with a C- for MA 242.
Whoever is getting an A+ and giving good comments y'all don't speak for the 90% but if you wanna fail and take an L go for it. Go take that L because this man does not care about attendance, your grades, you in general, gives hardly any work other than web assign HW so if you want that easy HW life but fail when it comes to tests go for it!
Class is test heavy so be prepared to do well on them. Lectures are not worth going to, you will not learn from them. Read the textbook and watch old lectures from another professor on WebAssign. Homework is unbelievably hard and takes a lot of effort to complete. NO curves on any tests even if the average is failing. Be prepared to work.
Homework given by department and is typically long and difficult. Lectures were difficult to understand, with the slides and notes being convoluted + hard to follow. Topics covered would have one example problem max and you would then be expected to apply the material on the homework and tests. Tests were much harder than material covered. Avoid.
only graded on homework and tests in this class. He also gave an extra credit HW which did not do nothing because if you're failing you're gonna continue to fail. The first test is exactly like his review which he send but after that the rest of the test are based on your math skills. This class is literally survival of the fittest! Best of luck
Lectures are hard to understand. He does not post exam grades. Encourages procrastination by assigning all the homework deadlines to be right before the exam
I'm not a big math guy but I did find Calculus 3 pretty fascinating. I felt like I really learned the material and the exams are so unclear on how to get correct partial credit that they really didn't reflect what I knew. Additionally, he's really hard to understand in lecture and I learned only thanks to Professor Leonard on YouTube.
His teaching style is something that you either get or you don't. Most of what I was able to learn was through my TA and online, not the professor. The class as a whole is very impersonal, and even when talking to him one on one, not much is cleared up. Google was the only reason I passed this class.
Don't take this class if you don't know how to teach yourself. I got good grades in Cal 1 and 2, but I got a C- in this class (barely) because I had a good TA. The tests are very difficult. When I was comparing with a person who had Prof. Chattopadhyay, Zenkovs's tests were harder, there was more material to memorize and less help given.
Really unfortunate because Calc 3 is a cool class, but this guy made me hate it the first time I took it. As I'm sure you can see, this guy isn't that great. If you can avoid him, do.
Cares a lot for someone a couple years from retirement. Offers extra review lectures before exams and pushes back homework dates all the time. Exams are straightforward and fair.
Zenkov is actually really good at teaching, but his accent is the one thing that takes time to adjust. But he really does care about his students and wants them to learn. His tests are very fair and he makes homemork due on the same date before a test so you can work on it on your own schedule. He also extended it twice which was very kind of him.
Dr. Zenkov is a very mediocre professor. His lectures are extremely boring and he doesn't explain things well. He also speaks very quietly and has a very strong Russian accent, although you'll get used to it quickly. Tests are generally pretty reasonable - only 5 questions long. WebAssign homework is a nightmare, but it's made by the district.
Zenkov is clearly passionate about calc, but good lord is he awful. Insanely boring. Terrible explanations. Every other professor provided a cheat sheet on the final, he decided his students wouldn't get one. Four tests before the final, all 3 weeks apart. I'd avoid him for sure. This is a teach yourself class. The lectures are a waste of time.
I spent a fair amount of time studying for this class even though I took it in high school. If I had had no background like most people, I think it would have been pretty terrible. His tests aren't bad, but he's a very particular grader. TA was very kind, which was a lifesaver. Textbook was super helpful! If you can teach yourself, should be ok.
The lectures were pointless to go to in my opinion, but I was lucky to have an amazing TA this semester, which honestly saved my grade. The tests make up most of your grade and weren't the worst. 4 tests (5 questions each) and the final. Overall, the questions on the test were easier than the provided practice problems.
He cares about his students but this was basically a self taught class. Didn't go to class because they were hard to understand and the slides were super sloppy. 3D drawing were illegible. However simply reading through the textbook, working on the web-assigns, and working on practice problems he posted proved to be enough to do well on tests.
He is nice but he is hard to understand as he has a thick accent and many times his mic doesn't work during class(pls sit in the first 3 rows). I will say I like his tests even though they're pretty difficult as they were all FRQs but you weren't rushed(no annoying memory and speed based MCQ questions like other professors). I also had a great TA
Very bad professor. Zenkov went through slides that had paragraphs of useless information on them. Also is impossible to understand what he's saying and had no awareness of his surroundings. Students didn't show up and learned from YouTube videos. He did not feel real. It's as if he was only an abstract figure rambling at the front of the room.
The professor's accent is a little difficult to understand at first, but it got better for me as the course progressed. In his lectures, Dr. Zenkov explained the material thoroughly and gave plenty of examples. I would say however that the T.A. greatly influenced my grade as they were very lenient with mistakes on tests.
By far the worst teacher I have ever had. I am currently writing this from his classroom, and it is horrible. He is the most boring, hard to understand teacher imaginable.Furthermore, he posts the homework's without excluding any questions, so get ready to do a lot of work outside of class, and sends out useless test reviews. Do not take this class
I dont even know where to start. Run. there are so many other options than calc 3 with him. While he has a nice personality, grading sucks. the tests dont reflect stuff we are told to study and he makes them harder than lecture examples. every other professor lets students take in a sheet of notes to exams, we get nothing- I tried asking. DONT TAKE
I strongly recommend not taking this class w him. The lectures are so boring and he uses slides most of the time. His voice is literally like soft spoken asmr so be ready to fall asleep. The tests are so hard and dont represent class content well. Mid TA but check grade distribution, it sucks. Doesnt give note cards like some others. overall bad
Zenkov is definitely the worst professor I have ever had at State. His lectures are extremely disorganized. You will learn nothing by just going to lecture, you will have to teach the material to yourself. His tests are not based off the textbook, but he does send out review examples. Wish you have a good TA and avoid at all costs.
Take his course at your discretion. The lectures are good for me, as he draws everything out and provides examples. He frequently asks if there are questions; don't be afraid to ask! Tests were 6 questions with 1 for bonus credit (all questions had partial credit). Can be hard to understand, don't take if you struggle to understand math already.
Zenkov is a genuinely caring professor who gets criticism for his lecturing abilities. Personally, I gained a lot from attending lectures and problem sessions. He provides you with many practice problems through WebAssign and over e-mail prior to tests, so he gives you the resources to succeed. Also, Adam Pickarski is by far one of the best TA's.
He is a professor that doesn't care about students and is just here to do research. He is an awful teacher and barely does any examples, expecting you to already know the material. Test are almost impossible and made me contemplate my major. As with all Calc 3 classes, webassign homework was very difficult.
Don't wait last minute to do the homework. Go to class, he tells you what he wants you to show on the test. If you pay attention in class and go to recitation you will be fine.
Worst tests ever that he still gave extra credit questions for about 15 pts per test and the average was still in the Cs. Drop while you can
He isn't as bad as people say he is. If you go to class, pay attention and take notes you will do just fine; I'm no Calculus III deity but this net me a decent grade in the end. Do your homework - there's lots of it and you get a good number of attempts for the problems so that will be a nice chunk of your grade secured.
(took fall 22) Legit the worst prof I've had in all 4 years. Unsolvable questions on exams he wouldn't give credit back for, the only prof to not give us notes on the exam, lectures were useless as were office hours, no empathy. Somehow turned an easy subject into one of the hardest classes I've had. Do not take under any circumstances. Inexcusable
Zenkov gets a bad rap but he is actually a decent calc prof. While he does have issues with speaking loud into the mic and is a boring lecturer, sitting in the front rows of the lecture hall ensures you'll be able to make out most of what he is saying. 3 of the 4 midterms have extra credit questions that carry over. Overall, Zenkov is good :)
Zenkov was a great professor despite some of the other ratings. He can sometimes be hard to hear or be a boring lecturer, but he knew the material well and would be willing to help anyone who needed it. There was extra credit on 3 of the 4 midterms, and he always made sure to send enough material out to help people study for their exams.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
11%
Textbook Required
10%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.23 avg changeRatings by Course
MA401
5.0
(1)MA241
5.0
(2)MA242H
4.0
(7)MA242040H
2.5
(2)MA242
2.3
(90)Difficulty by Course
MA341
4.3
MA401
4.0
MA241
4.0
MA224
4.0
MA242
4.0