2.7
Quality2.9
Difficulty28%
Would Retake114
Reviews28%
Would Retake
114
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
29
4
12
3
22
2
11
1
40
What Students Say
“AVOID this PROFF at any COST”
SYSC2006 - 1.0 rating“Takes forever to complete one slide during the lecture”
SYSC2006 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
12%
Textbook Required
60%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.38 avg changeRatings by Course
94498
5.0
(1)SYSC3100
5.0
(1)94210
4.5
(2)333
4.0
(1)SYSC9411
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
94166
5.0
ECORB
5.0
1005
4.0
94111
4.0
94204
4.0
Reviews (114)
this guy is not a professor (doesn't have enought qualification for teaching)
Walks like a chicken.
just read the text he is useless at teaching
Created the first 2 years of softeng curriculum... explains why it was so easy
No Comments
one of the best profs
No Comments
No Comments
No Comments
No Comments
Put you to sleep first, then talks about the important stuff
No Comments
Good Marks
hes a'right~~~
good teacher. finally I am not falling asleep in a computer class :P Pretty clear on things. I'm getting good marks ;)
Gives Overly repetitive lectures, babies ya to sleep... but he knows his stuff.. and he grades easy, but fair.
He is a good teacher. Best I have had in SYSC so far! He is clear, and actually makes sense. He can actually teach. He understands what he is doing, but the class is a little boring. He also likes to blab sometimes! Graet prof though!
boooring
fruit cake appearance matches his fruit cake teaching style
BORING beyond words. Take the course with him, do his assignments, just don't go to his classes.
the class is death but he knows what he's talking about so it's good if u can stay awake. and don't ask him anything outside of class or you'll probably end up still standing there by the start of the next lecture
He's alright
Very nice guy.. knows a lot of stuff. but can be boring
this guy should be working in industry instead..he knows some stuff but he is not good for being a teacher...an engineer..yah..but prof...no...suggest him to try the industry again.
worst prof ever
do the assignments, and you'll ace the course
Bailey's a really nice guy, and he's really into what he teaches. If you are interested in the course, just go to the lectures to hear his insight. He's good at dissecting things and has a logical engineering-like approach. Be warned: he likes to talk - be prepared for 30-minute answers to simple questions.
Assign 3 out of 6 EASY assignments, mark one of them. Make labs that require zero thought. Never challenge or require students to think all semester. Then make a absolutely brutal exam and fail more than half the class. what a clown.
His final exam was very very touch more than half of the class failed ,he sooooo boring , exam wasnt fair at all , only poeple who know java before and they already finshed eng got A s in this course , and they are about 2 students only , the rest F OR D , he doesnt post any solution online for the assignments , he cant teach,..........
he will screw u on his final..
I thought Prf Pearce is a worst prof in Carleton but he beat that. Gives a lot of non course related info. Uses long sentences. Dosen't have office hours but has open door policy but his door is never open. His typical excuse.. "I am busy with my 4th year students" and to 4th year students he says " I am busy with my undergrad". FIRE HIM.
Very miserable jerk. Tough marker and non-nogotiable. Go out of your way not to be in his class. The worst. kiss ass
His lectures are boring, but his assignments help a lot and they're easy to do and simple enough for a beginner to understand. Very nice and helpful guy who knows his stuff.
very nice prof... Easily u can get 'F'
FOR UR OWN SAKE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONT TAKE THIS PROF.
No Comments
Terrible prof. Try to avoid him at all costs. Does not care for his students, and his lectures are very unorganized and unrelated.
I don't know why he is still teaching.. Makes us buy a book and is not used at all throughout the semester. The only thing that saved the students were his notes. He talks too much about things that aren't relevant. Exams were brutal. Terrible introduction into programming.
This guy is sooo bad at teaching, I swear to god, omg, i tried soo hard to listen in his class, in the first 15 mins, more than half the class is snoring. This guy was my first prof for software engineering, I DO NOT recommend him at ANY COST.
Never! Never Choose this prof. 1. Never reply student email. 2. Ask us to buy an expensive book but useless. 3. Never post the slides online, and he does not allow us to take picture. 4. 80% of words came out from his mouth are useless and not relevant to the course. 5. Lazy teacher.
Awesome Professor, I have had him for 4+ courses over the my time at Carleton and each time he has demonstrated a thorough knowledge of the material. In addition to this, he gives background information on the material that he is teaching. His assignments are useful for learning material that will appear on the midterm and exam.
Mr. Bailey is, in one word, encyclopedic. In programming, you either get it or you don't; there's no grey area. The ones who don't get it are usually lazy.
He's not bad. You just have to be patient and listen to him as he does ramble a lot. Labs are excellent preparation for tests, tests contain no surprises, don't need the book.
He is a really good professor! One of the best! He does care about you passing the course with a good grade but he wants you to do your part! He is really intelligent and knows his stuff!
Explains everything to death. Students enrol in this course because the are interested in software which means they already know something and are capable of learning a language in a week. We aren't in grade 10 and this isn't our first programming language.
BORING!!! Each time I would make it to his class I would fall asleep so what's the use.
HE IS THE MOST BORING PROF I HAVE EVER HAD!!!! Its impossible to take notes in his class and he just rambles about nothing all class. I had to teach myself the class
BORING! USELESS! CONFUSING! Honestly there was no difference between going to his lectures or not! He was "teaching" us C-programming but he was always talking about JAVA or Python :( I still don't know what C does :/
Although he does ramble on at times, he makes some really crucial points about programming in general. Midterm and Final exams were really easy, and there were no surprises. Everything is covered in the labs and lectures.
I hated this class. The classes bore you to death, and if your able to pay attention you wont actually learn anything because the entire class is spent on one lecture slide. The way he asks question is so unclear of what he wants and it is impossible to get help from him. HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT TAKING THIS CLASS!!
Super knowledgeable about programming in general, and his enthusiasm really shows in the lectures - it did occasionally feel like a history of Java course though, and I fell asleep more than once. No assignments, labs were super easy. If you can do the labs without help, you're pretty much guaranteed an A.
Excellent Prof, He gets off topic often but it's always to deliver neat information about the concepts being covered. He goes very far in depth so if you know what you're doing it may get boring but if you don't he'll help you understand with his detailed explanations.
Awesome professor. Very clear and straight forward. Gives an option to download a free textbook. Explains concepts extremely thoroughly.
Terrible prof. Not sure if he's at Carleton doing research but if he is, he should just stick to that. He drones on and on and it takes him three classes to explain what a youtube video can explain in 15 minutes. Turns students off of programming and attending his class is like sitting in church.
Takes an hour to go through 2 slides. Talks about unrelated course material in lectures. Very dry and boring lectures.
The problem with him is that he takes a lot of time in explaining key concepts for this course, but once you get it you will find it very easy. I recommend to go to PASS sessions for this course so that you can actually understand what he was doing in the lectures. His questions in the midterm and final are fair. LABS ARE VERY IMP!! just practice!
His lectures are very long and boring. He will talk about the history of the software and talk about what the inventors are doing now. So it can get pretty boring. However, his midterm and labs are pretty easy and similar to the exam.
Really good professor. tests are fair if you study
Fantastic prof. Easy course, labs are a joke; however, his lectures are super boring... they are great lectures, but he has a habit of spending a long time talking about the same thing. You can fall asleep and wake up to him still on the same slide.
Horrible marker and docks stupid marks for "smelly code". Really boring lectures, more like a history lesson than teaching actual coding. He really knows his stuff though and if you know you have in depth understanding of the language, you'll do well. Make sure you actually do the labs. If you can stomach his lectures, he's a good prof
Bailey is a great prof, although he sometimes goes on tangents. This doesn't detract from the lectures though, because there isn't actually that much material. The labs were easy, the midterm was easy, and the final was not hard. The lectures may be boring but you should do well in this class even with minimal effort.
Don Bailey is great professor, Going to class wouldn't make any difference . His labs are key to getting a high mark , (Do it on your own )play around with code combine stuff together that's only way you can study for the course. Midterm was a easy but for the final was some what tricky. I enjoyed the course and I found his labs fun to do
He talks about One slide from his lecture for an hour. Extremely Boring.
Lectures are horribly boring. Mostly used them to do work in other classes. His labs are pretty easy for the most part but some you may find difficult without previous programming knowledge. Midterm was super easy. Exam was a bit challenging but if you study hard its not bad. Go to the mock final takeup.
Good prof, he certainly knows what he's talking about and seems to be pretty established in his field. That being said, his lectures are boring as he goes on and on about the same trivial thing. In short, he's a computer scientist, not a teacher.
Spends the whole lecture on the TITLE SLIDE. Grades slowly, midterm from early october not returned until the end of November, and exam grades still not back while well into the next semester.
I had Bailey for SYSC1005 and SYSC2006. All class he'll ramble, but he'll hide some useful information somewhere in there. He often goes off on tangents and it's hard to tell when he's back to teaching. He's a bit condescending and talks badly about students who don't do well on his exams, or in his course.
Some say he is immortal. Others say he invented memory diagrams. Either way Don Bailey is a legend. Seriously though I used the lectures to catch up in other courses because he literally goes through three slides in a day. Love when he goes on a rant though.
Brilliant prof I also took 2006 with him , he really knows what he's teaching, he is also a really fair grader, and I have not seen a more patient prof in answering questions perfectly. I don't see anyway you can't do very well in his classes if you do attend lectures and complete the labs.
He is very unenthusiastic to teach in class, It almost feels like he is teaching because he has to. Takes forever to complete one slide during the lecture.
Not too good, not too bad. Not the most interesting lectures and hard grader. Teaching can get very boring and drags on common topics for long time.
I found him to be a very good prof. His lectures could sometimes get boring, but it was mainly just to help everybody understand what they needed to know to pass the course. If you don't show up to EVERY SINGLE LECTURE you will fail. Plain and simple, you need to know all the material for the exam and midterm. The exams were straight forward.
Slow talker, very off topic, but all around great teacher and even better guy!
I'm not sure if going to class really helped, basically learnt the course on my own. Might work for you, who knows. Super boring but easy labs and exams.
So boring. Spends the majority of class reviewing previous labs and mumbling on random topics.
He ignited my love for computer programming. I came into this class not knowing a thing about computers but the lectures were so clear and the course was so methodical that I came out of the class with a great mark and lots of knowledge. Very helpful outside of class hours and in the labs as well.
DONT take any class with him! period. i had to take take this course otherwise i would have dropped it. EXTREMELY boring lectures and he basically tries to teach only with his mouth. he barely shows example. AVOID this PROFF at any COST.
So, if you have no clue about programming, he was great. If you could touch type, you probably didn't want him though. The main reason was that he taught Turbo C++ with the lens that students had the maturity level of a 10 year old. He stepped through problems as though some students couldn't read. I took this course in 1996 (Course Code 94.166)
Avoid at all costs. He's as good as a statue. Mumbles about random stuff. Will never respond to e-mails and does not care. Other section with another prof all got above B's while his section had a high fail rate. Just do not take anything with him.
Lectures are unfocused on the topics, most likely will not answer your questions properly or answer an email. Grading is tough as he likes things done his way, part marks will not happen. Midterm and exam are the only things marked.
really awful, can't teach nor hes lecture are helpful. No lecture notes and no book to depend on. From a guy who had no background on coding, it was terrible.
I think he is an excellent professor. I took 1005, 2006 and then 3101 with him and I truly did learn a lot from his courses. If you really pay attention and do all the labs, there is really no reason why you can't get a good grade.
Donald Bailey is an inspiration. He is truly the pinnacle of teaching at Carleton, perhaps the entire country. I learned more in the two classes I took with him than I thought possible in my whole degree. I would recommend anyone take his class.
Let me break this down Lectures are garbage Labs are amazing Thats about it do the work ull get an A
Generally, if you do the labs, read the notes, and understand the problems he goes over in class, theres no reason to do bad. He does tend to ramble on and go off tangents. If you give atleast 2 hours a week to self-study the material, theres no reason you should do bad in this course.
If the labs and reading assignments are done then midterms and exams will be easy. Lectures are boring but that is due to the content being a review to most people. He really cares about the students.
Goes off on many unnecessary abstract tangents and rambles for 2/3 of the lecture making it very hard to focus since 1005 is already quite elementary. Notes have such poor format and lack of explanations, its SURPRISING he's been teaching this specific course for so long. Doesn't reply to emails. Get ready to learn from the ThinkPython textbook.
Rambles in class, you basically never have to go to lectures. If you understand labs and look over notes the class should be manageable.
Labs were easy and mark boosters. Midterm was pretty tough as it was all MC. Final was ok as the long answers werent too bad. Lectures were pretty boring and he rarely responds to emails. Also took an entire month to get grades posted from the final.
labs and reading quizes were very easy if you follow along in the practical programming text book. The midterm was absurdly difficult with multiple choice answers being difficult and unrealistic evaluations of a students understanding of python. Lectures are NOT necessary as about 45 min of them are spent on updates and administrivia found on CU le
Horrible prof. Labs and reading quizzes are easy, but the midterm was all multiple choice and had so many trick questions. Also extremely disorganized and announces exams last minute.
Although learning in his class was difficult, and his midterm had lots of trick questions, his class aside from that was fair to an extent. After asking him for a meeting, he agreed and was very nice and understanding about my questions and concerns which I feel like no other teacher would have been able to do. He deserves a better score imo
Lot's of reading to do, but it's a good way to prepare for the exams. Midterm was full of tricks, but the final was very straight forward. Labs were straight forward. Prof was helpful during the office hours but it would've been better to have recorded lectures instead of just posting the slides. Not bad overall , but could've been better.
No actual lectures held or recordings posted (only slides). No response to any email I sent throughout the term. All TA's except one did not respond to any lab-related emails. No feedback (grades) for most labs/assignments. Took a month to mark an online multiple-choice final exam. Had to study using Youtube/Google. Avoid him unless no other option
Does not post lectures. Avoid!!
Does not post lectures and announces midterm format 15 mins before the exam started. If you can, take the class with someone else.
Hardly ever posts any lectures. When he does, they’re all very short and brief and hardly touch on anything new. Wouldn’t recommend this prof. His midterm was filled with a bunch of tricks and the questions are ridiculously worded.
You would definitely learn more from Youtube Videos than his lectures. Did not get any information regarding the midterm until 30 mins before the midterm. The midterm was all multiple choice and some questions were poorly worded. He does not respond to emails and does not care about his students.
Class was very disorganized, lectures were uploaded very late. Most of the time its preferable to simply read the lecture notes or the textbook. Very rarely responds to e-mails, often requires multiple follows ups, unless you can show up to his limited office hours.
His lectures consist of him reading off of his slides and hardly explaining. He does not answer emails. Although I did fairly well in this class it was due to watching videos outside of class and teaching myself. His evaluations are also tricky, I don't mind tricky evaluations however, it's a problem when you do not teach your students... avoid him
Does not post lectures on time, lectures are him reading off the slides. Does not explain any of the concepts well. Takes a long time to respond to emails. Posts assignments super late. Midterm questions were tricky and the questions asked were not taught well in the course. Uploading things right before the midterm. Overall, avoid if you can
If you have had Don for a class and managed to get a good grade, congratulations, you can teach yourself pretty well.
Proff Bailey is one of the worst proffs you can get, he is careless about his students, and he just read the lecture slides, never explains anything,Me and my friends learned all of the course from youtube (his lectures are useless). His level of explanation out of 10: 1/10 The level of hardness of midterm and final: 9/10!!
TRUST ME DO NOT TAKE ANY CLASS WITH DON BAILEYY!
His lecture videos are just of him reading the slides. This class requires you do learn on your own using youtube.
Avoid Prof Bailey if you can - his lectures are terrible 10 minute recordings that he doesn't even post on time (sometimes weeks late!!!) His midterm and final are very difficult. Loves to throw in a bunch of trick questions. Still haven't received feedback for my assignments, and the exam is over. AVOID THIS PROFESSOR IF YOU CAN.
Absolute garbage prof. Does not teach, only drops lecture slides. Exams full of tricks. Take with another prof if possible.
Good prof.
Always choose the Python for any SYSC class. Inspirational lectures, very fast email responses (less than 6.9 seconds average response time) and very fair exams. The Python is the goat.
Does not teach and just reads off lectures and slideshow.
"An arrray is not a pointer" - Donald "The Python" Bailey
Very boring lectures, not worth attending since all the necessary material is on the slides. The course was honestly pretty easy, not sure why supposedly so many people failed. The labs were helpful for learning the content, but Don was not the one running them so I'm not sure how much credit can be given to him for that
Very boring lectures, not worth attending. His slides are quite good though, so you can get all the course material from there. The course was overall quite easy, but the final had a question with a high weight on hashmaps, which we hadn't covered a lot in lectures. Labs were good and helped solidify my learning, but that wasn't him managing it
Lectures were sometimes boring but he definitely knew his stuff.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
12%
Textbook Required
60%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.38 avg changeRatings by Course
94498
5.0
(1)SYSC3100
5.0
(1)94210
4.5
(2)333
4.0
(1)SYSC9411
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
94166
5.0
ECORB
5.0
1005
4.0
94111
4.0
94204
4.0