2.4

Donald Peter Davis

Electrical Engineering - Concordia University

2.4
Quality
4.0
Difficulty
22%
Would Retake
138
Reviews
2.4
Quality
4.0
Difficulty
2.4
Helpful
2.4
Clarity

22%

Would Retake

138

Reviews

Rating Distribution
Official
138 total ratings

5

21

4

18

3

18

2

25

1

56

What Students Say

Professor bragged about taking on so many projects and teaching so many classes in a single semester as though this was in any way helpful to his students; he was unwilling to help and did not care about our success

SOEN228 - 1.0 rating

waw, I already want to drop this class

ELEC275 - 1.0 rating
Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

26%

Textbook Required

24%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 45 grades
Most common grades:
Not sure yet (12)
A- (8)
B+ (7)
Grade Distribution
A(10)B(9)C(9)D(4)F(0)A-/B+(15)
Based on 67 reported grades
Not sure yet: 12
A-: 8
B+: 7
Incomplete: 5
Common Tags
Tough grader (23)
Get ready to read (16)
Lecture heavy (12)
Test heavy (9)
Tough Grader (8)
TEST HEAVY (5)
Hilarious (5)
Amazing lectures (4)
Rating Trend

Declining

-1.55 avg change
Jun
Aug
Nov
Dec
Apr
Aug
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

ENG101

5.0

(1)

MULTI

5.0

(1)

ELEC6391

5.0

(1)

SOEN287

5.0

(1)

COEN315

4.0

(2)
+21 more courses
Difficulty by Course

ELEC264

5.0

ECSE210

5.0

ELEC242

4.7

351

4.5

ELEC353

4.5

Reviews (137)
5.0
1.0
ELEC251
Grade: A-
Aug 25, 2001

Very good teacher, highly recommended. Very organized. Knows his stuff

1.0
5.0
351
Oct 29, 2001

to be avoided dearly

2.0
5.0
351
Nov 20, 2001

No Comments

5.0
5.0
ELEC353
Feb 13, 2002

makes the hardest exams,but ok marker

5.0
3.0
351
Apr 9, 2002

Very Serious Teacher

2.0
3.0
251
May 9, 2002

Knows his stuff but isn't helpful at all: no office hours during exam period!

3.0
5.0
ELEC353
May 30, 2002

No Comments

3.0
5.0
ELEC353
Sep 2, 2002

Good teacher, but his exams are so difficult - stuff he didn't teach!!

4.0
3.0
ELEC251
Mar 12, 2003

Very well spoken man, with a good knowledge of the material. He is also a very, very nice guy!!!

1.0
5.0
ELEC353
Oct 20, 2003

Mr Homer Simpson, should try an acting career instead...

5.0
1.0
ENG101
Jul 3, 2004

the best

1.0
5.0
ELEC353
May 16, 2005

terrible teacher. terrible human being. why did concordia let him come back?

5.0
3.0
ELC275
Dec 3, 2005

He is amazing! He is so helpful, and I really didn't want to take this cless

5.0
3.0
ELEC351
Dec 22, 2005

One of so not many Concordia's greatest teachers. Very clear explanations, great lecture notes. Exam NOT hard at all, just study. I did VERY bad in 251 (with a sucky teacher), but in 351 with D. Davis I did great. Study well, attend all lectures, use office hours, etc. and you'll pass it easily.

5.0
4.0
MULTI
Jan 18, 2006

Very committed man! Wants you to do well and willing to work after hours to help you, if you're willing to do the work.

5.0
3.0
ELEC275
Mar 17, 2006

he is the most awesome man, i had no intrest in this class, but he inspired me to work at it till it "hertz"

5.0
3.0
ELEC351
Apr 9, 2006

His explanations are so clear. I hope he'll continue to teach. It's rare that concordia has such helpful and encouraging teachers. He's definitely one of the top.

5.0
2.0
COEN315
May 6, 2006

Awesome professor, definitely one of the best that Concordia offers. he's actualy interested in your learning. good man, really good man

5.0
2.0
ELEC275
May 19, 2006

If he is your prof you are sooo lucky, He explains so well and is super agreeable

1.0
5.0
ELEC351
Jun 28, 2006

Makes stupid jokes and unintentionally or maybe intentionally makes fun of students and loves to feel superior

4.0
3.0
ENGR371
Aug 25, 2006

Boring teacher 'cause he talks a lot. Tries to be clear, answer to questions like there's no ending. Notes from the book. Book solution, tutorial solution, notes always have errors. Midterm: questions look hard but actually not hard. Final: was quite easy. Questions bit tricky, answering approach different than book problems. Overall, easy teacher.

3.0
3.0
COEN315
Sep 7, 2006

Well, Honestly I didn't like his method of teaching. His examples through out the course did not make the subject clear, there examples all appeared as new strange entities themselves. Lots of jumping around, moving boards and showing enthusiasm but still less clearity. He is a nice guy But a mediocre teacher. Final was way beyond what he tought.

3.0
5.0
ELEC251
Sep 9, 2006

Exremely hard. no heart. thinks his course is the most imporant course in engineering. AND NO IT'S NOT

4.0
2.0
ECSE352
Nov 16, 2007

taught ECSE 352 at mcgill (waves). hes good but i didnt like the course. midterms (one fair, one TOO LONG).

4.0
3.0
ENGR371
Jul 2, 2008

No Comments

5.0
4.0
ELEC6391
Jan 4, 2009

Very knowledgeable of the material and made the material very interesting.

4.0
1.0
ECSE352
May 31, 2009

The first course he taught at mcgill was okay. He knew his stuff yet grading was stupid. The first exam the average was in the high 80s and then he decides to $%^& us on the second exam where NO ONE finished it. Hes nice, but that exam fiasco was bad.

5.0
5.0
ELEC264
Jan 14, 2011

He explains well, but his exams are unbelievably hard.

2.0
5.0
ELEC264
May 4, 2011

Elec 264 actually is not difficult course,just math. But this professor makes it hard.If you only see his notes, it can not help you for your exams ,you have to read book.His grading is ok, but his mid-term exam, final exam are very hard,these exam are beyond his teaching.Try to avoid him,nothing to learn from him and it is easy to get bad result.

2.0
5.0
MECH368
Mar 7, 2013

During lectures he doesn't finish examples. His examples are useless and do not help when trying to complete assignments. The difficulty of his exams are near impossible especially in the amount of time given to complete. AVOID, this man is clearly seeking vengeance for his childhood.

3.0
5.0
MECH368
Apr 18, 2013

He is not a bad teacher but he does not put the effort to organize his course. He has no solved examples online, his notes don't resemble what is covered in class and his exams go beyond the level of teaching. If he wants to cover only theory in class, he should at least post solutions to assignments and midterms.

4.0
3.0
MECH368
Apr 19, 2013

Please AVOID HIM AT ALL COST. Even if the course is given once a year, take it the following year with someone else and if he's still the professor the next year still take it the following year. he gives UNDOABLE, HARDCORE EXAMS. Trust me you will have the poorest grade in your transcript with him

2.0
4.0
ENGR391
Jun 7, 2013

Definitely the worst teacher I ever had. He is not helpful at all. He only discusses theory even in a math course.

2.0
5.0
ENGR233
Jul 10, 2013

Avoid at all costs. Avoid at all costs. I got my worst university grade with him. Not only me, all the people I know have got their worst grades with him. I saw a similar comment before I took the course and I thought how bad could he be... he's the worst.

3.0
5.0
ENGR371
Grade: Incomplete
Aug 16, 2013

this professor's final exam was impossible. it was nothing like the sample problems given. his classes are boring. don't be surprise to get 2/10 on his quizzes. he shouldn't teach stats with powerpoint slides. i would not recommend him! stay away.

4.0
5.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not_Sure_Yet
Aug 17, 2013

This teacher is awful. Plain and simple, I only took him because the other section was full and the final was so hard felt like I was reading a book. Don't get me wrong the 2011, 2012 and 2013 finals were such a breeze compare to this nutjob's final. AVOID HIM AT ALL COST!!!!!!

2.0
5.0
ENGR371
Aug 17, 2013

Words can not express the difficulty of the final ,IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE , it was out of this world , nothing compared to previous sample finals .I think this professor is making a legacy of his own for giving I would say impossible finals. AVOID AT ALL COSTS . The final was close to a novela questions were unclear .

2.0
5.0
ENGR371
Aug 18, 2013

AVOID this teacher!!! Bad teacher and extremely hard exams!! good luck with that!!!!

3.0
5.0
ELEC251
Oct 17, 2013

The good: Very well mannered and polite guy. Even seems friendly. The bad: VERY hard. He creates his own problems for tests, and they are usually tricky. Be prepared to encounter questions asked in a way you are not prepared for. The ugly: Prides himself on creating test problems students have difficulty with. You will be extremely frustrated.

3.0
5.0
ELEC251
Oct 17, 2013

There are two types of hard teacher. There are hard teachers who make you learn alot. Then there are teachers that are hard in a purely frustrating way. Don Davis is the latter. He will make the course extra hard for no reason, other than to satisfy his pride in creating test problems that are so hard that countless people will have trouble with.

4.0
2.0
ELEC353
Grade: C+
Apr 28, 2014

Read his lecture notes. Do ALL his assignments. Attend ALL tutorials. They are VERY good practice. Midterm(multiple choice) was very fair and similar to assignments. Final(multiple choice as well) was long but not too difficult. For the final, make sure you are prepared to solve problems quickly. You will do badly in this course if you are slow.

2.0
5.0
ENGR311
Jun 4, 2014

The assignments and tutorials are totally different from his exams. Avoid at all cost if possible for this class. He doesn`t follow the book, which makes it even harder to understand the material. Most people in the class don`t understand what he`s teaching even though he prepares his classes.

2.0
5.0
ENGR311
Jul 3, 2014

One of his final questions took me about 8 pages, and i didn't even finish it. There were 6 questions in this exam.

5.0
3.0
ENGR233
Sep 3, 2014

Good teacher. This course is not easy, you will have to work at it. The midterms are fair. Math needs to be practiced. Go to his lectures, go to the tutorials, practice at home, you will be fine. This course is hard to cram through. His final was challenging, but, nothing impossible. Just stay within the class average.

4.0
2.0
ENGR311
Grade: A+
Jan 6, 2015

really knows the subject well. lectures are interesting, he gives an intuitive understanding of the subject and the underlying concepts and explains what it's used for in real life. does not solve many examples in class so do all the suggested problems and find past exams. exams are quite long. curves the grades

4.0
4.0
MECH215
Jan 6, 2015

This teacher can sometimes seem rude but I think he really wants to help us, he just has a really weird way of showing it, he really loves to get questions so don't be shy, he actually gets mad if you don't ask any questions at all. Go see him in his office or after class. Make sure you come to class, there are some details not in the book.

5.0
2.0
SOEN228
Grade: B+
May 13, 2015

He presents material in a professional yet humorous way really explaining the essential concepts the grasp understanding of material. The hands on project is fun, and slowly builds to the final product. Stay up to speed with material, attend classes and do some casual review at home and getting a good grade will be a breeze. Good luck eh.

1.0
5.0
ENGR215
Grade: B-
Jun 25, 2015

I took this prof for into to programming (c++) and I can honestly say it felt like I had to have studied programming for 5 years in order to write his final. I'd say the worst part about this prof is the fact that he continuously tells us that if we can't handle how hard this class is, then we should drop into arts. A class filled with bad jokes...

4.0
3.0
COMP228
Jun 28, 2015

Really passionate and loves questions. He does go off on a tangent occasionally and spends a lot of time on topics that will not be on the midterm. Just make sure to look at ALL the teacher notes and write your own notes since the exams are open notes. The class requires some self-studylearning. Remember kids, google is your friend.

3.0
3.0
COMP228
Jul 12, 2015

Not very good at explaining the material. Then you try to study on your own, but you don't know what to start with because he barely follows the course outline

3.0
3.0
ENGR371
Grade: A+
Sep 6, 2015

So I had him for MECH 215 in my first semester and didnt like him. I took him again for stats, and found him funny. I liked his teaching since he explained the logic behind things. His tests are hard but study you'll do well. Keep an open mind. Managed to get an A+ because I finally figured out his teaching style. (hes very logic-oriented)

4.0
3.0
COEN243
Grade: B
Dec 17, 2015

Show up to class... because he tells you what will be on the test. Last class he gave us a "review bank". 40% of the final was exactly review bank questions. Funny Prof, seems more at ease speaking to all of us then one on one. (He is a bit of a penguin!)

3.0
5.0
SOEN228
Grade: A-
Dec 31, 2015

Had him for Winter 2015. He is very knowledgeable, but I feel like this class needs a prereq because students do not understand most terms he used until the middle of the semester. First class into the program... And tutorials, labs and classes felt like three different classes. He often goes off topic for awhile, wasting class time.

5.0
3.0
ENGR215
Grade: A+
Jun 17, 2016
Would take again

Great guy, encourages questions and answers them until you understand. He is very knowledgable and is there to help you. His MT wasn't bad, the final was a bit ridiculous because of Ted but it was doable if you had a solid understanding. Definitely a course to practice at home.

2.0
4.0
SOEN228
Grade: B-
Jul 12, 2016
Wouldn't take again

Soen 228 is the first hard class you will encounter as SOEN, not because of the material, because it's all over the place. Tutorials, Labs and Lectures are async. His midterm was easy, the final was ok but he didn't cover some topics ie cache and building memory which were on the exam. Other than that he is just here for the paycheck don't bother.

1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Aug 27, 2016
Wouldn't take again

We had 40 students in the class, 15 out of them DISC the course before the final exam. In the remaining 25 students, only 14 were above C- . This was the situation of Davis class . Please avoid him at any cost.

Tough Grader
TEST HEAVY
LECTURE HEAVY
4.0
3.0
SOEN228
Grade: B+
Sep 6, 2016
Would take again

Great teacher! Actually cares if you understand or not, and very patient. When i took it there was this guy who kept asking VERY VERY basic questions and he always patiently explained everything (wasted a little too much time in my option with the guy). Class itself is all over the place, tutorial TA was terrible! Lab was fun and informative . WTA

Skip class? You won't pass.
Inspirational
Amazing lectures
1.0
4.0
ENGR371
Sep 9, 2016
Wouldn't take again

The most thing I hate about him is how he neither provides any office hours nor does he respond to his emails. In addition, he always answers your questions with vague answers and puzzles.

3.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: A-
Nov 17, 2016
Would take again

Interesting Lectures, Quizzes are easy and will boost your mark don't miss them. Midterm was tough he put an impossible question at the beginning not worth much but he likes to put slightly cryptic questions. Exam was fair nothing crazy. HE will never give you a straight answer. Does not give solution to midterm. Not Bad, could be worse.

Skip class? You won't pass.
LECTURE HEAVY
3.0
4.0
SOEN228
Apr 25, 2017
Would take again

You like him or you don't. I liked him, he is funny and answers questions. His lectures are more of an abstract overview of the content, so be prepared to do the learning yourself. He can be condescending, but he doesn't mean to. This course requires a lot of time but is rewarding in the end if you put in the effort. The lab is a PITA but kinda fun

3.0
3.0
ELEC251
Grade: B+
Jun 30, 2017
Wouldn't take again

He is a decent teacher but his exams are hard, his handwriting is really bad, you can't even tell between theta or phi, he uses unconventional vector and coordinate notations which was confusing for me. Avoid if you can.

Tough Grader
Get ready to read
1.0
4.0
ENGR311
Jul 27, 2017
Wouldn't take again

His lecturing is pretty bad. Spends more time talking about the math (or about his niece) rather than doing examples. Testing is bad because he will give unnecessarily large integrals to solve the problems. Final was 3 questions from him and 3 questions from other professor. His part took 2.5 hours while the other guy 3 hours. Integrals for days.

Tough Grader
TEST HEAVY
5.0
4.0
SOEN287
Grade: A
Dec 10, 2017
Would take again

Good teacher, obviously knows his material very well. He really makes sure his students understand. Unfortunately, this often results in him taking too long to explain concepts because a couple of students don't understand. This causes his courses to get a bit unorganized and rushed. Be prepared for some of the nerdiest jokes you'll ever hear :p

Respected
BEWARE OF POP QUIZZES
Amazing lectures
5.0
4.0
ELEC251
Grade: A-
Jan 3, 2018
Would take again

Donald Peter Davis is one of the most brilliant professors I have ever encountered. He knows his material very well, he let you ask as many questions as you like, yeah exams are hard but you at least learn how to solve like a real engineer. He is brilliant.

ACCESSIBLE OUTSIDE CLASS
Caring
Tests are tough
1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: C
Jan 10, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Useless teacher! Be prepared to teach the course to yourself cause he prefers to tell random stories than do a proper example. He teachers all kinds of engineering courses which shows that Concordia is desperate for teachers. If your lucky you will pass with a curve but if your not within the class average u might as well drop it. Avoid!

Tough Grader
GRADED BY FEW THINGS
Tests are tough
2.0
5.0
ELEC242
Mar 29, 2018
Wouldn't take again

He doesn't like to solve problems in class, he is the type to argue that as professional engineers you will not have solutions next to you. However, it is more likely that he is just to lazy to find examples. He doesn't go into enough depth, which means you will have to learn most of the material by yourself. He curve grades Good luck!

Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
ELEC264
Mar 30, 2018
Wouldn't take again

He teaches nothing more than telling his own stories, yet he expects you to solve really hard stuff as assignments. It is a wonder that how low Concordia teachers could reach.

1.0
5.0
SOEN228
Apr 20, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Professor bragged about taking on so many projects and teaching so many classes in a single semester as though this was in any way helpful to his students; he was unwilling to help and did not care about our success. Avoid.

1.0
4.0
ELEC242
Apr 29, 2018
Wouldn't take again

The worse teacher ever

4.0
4.0
ELEC242
Grade: B+
Jul 1, 2018
Would take again

For me he is a great professor, really has a lot of things to teach and show students. Makes you solve real time problems and shows you paths how to think like a real engineer.

ACCESSIBLE OUTSIDE CLASS
Clear grading criteria
Amazing lectures
1.0
3.0
SOEN228
Jul 4, 2018
Wouldn't take again

He only touches the surface of the material needed to be covered and spends most of the time talking about his niece instead. No use of asking him questions or sending him emails, he doesn't answer your questions, rather he'll talk about something else to avoid your questions. Get ready to teach yourself the course cause he won't be doing it.

Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
ELEC275
Grade: Not sure yet
Jul 11, 2018
Wouldn't take again

waw, I already want to drop this class. Quizzes are super hard and his explanation are trash

Tough Grader
LOTS OF HOMEWORK
TEST HEAVY
1.0
5.0
ELEC275
Aug 15, 2018
Wouldn't take again

WORST PROFESSOR I EVER TOOK AT CONCORDIA . GIVES SUPER HARD QUIZZES!

Get ready to read
BEWARE OF POP QUIZZES
TEST HEAVY
3.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Aug 19, 2018
Would take again

Jottings and Quizzes for this class are mandatory for a good grade ! Midterm and Final is quite challenging.. Somehow the same problems than the homework ones. He is actually a good teacher but lectures can be super boring cause he likes to talk a lot !!

1.0
5.0
ELEC275
Grade: B-
Aug 23, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Bad, just terribly bad...

Tough Grader
BEWARE OF POP QUIZZES
SO MANY PAPERS
4.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: A-
Aug 31, 2018
Would take again

One of the best professors I ever had. It is my third class with him and every single time I'm even more amazed how smart this man is. Amazing professor, if you want to learn take him, if u want easy marks then avoid.

Gives good feedback
LOTS OF HOMEWORK
ACCESSIBLE OUTSIDE CLASS
3.0
3.0
COEN243
Grade: B+
Nov 15, 2018
Would take again

Donald is not the best teacher for programming. He's an extremely smart and hilarious guy, but spends too much time talking and making jokes. He has a very dark/sad sense of humor which i love. "The computer is essentially an idiot" "My nieces ... " " How many people here... " Get ready to teach yourself everything. Test/Assignments are very fair.

Get ready to read
Inspirational
Hilarious
1.0
5.0
MECH215
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 11, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Worst professor ever. C++ course and ik more about his niece than about the actual course. All he does is go all over the code and his notes are impossible to understand. Speak to you like if you know your own question. The final was impossible. Just bad. Avoid even if its your last class to graduate.

Tough Grader
TEST HEAVY
1.0
5.0
ELEC275
Grade: Rather not say
Dec 21, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Interesting and smart guy but provides zero feedback on tests so you have no idea what you did wrong. Provides no solutions to any tests or quizes afterwards. You pretty much can't learn from your mistakes because you will never know what you did wrong. He will give you a question on the midterm that isn't covered in this course. Hard marker!

Tough Grader
Hilarious
2.0
4.0
ENGR215
Jan 7, 2019
Wouldn't take again

His lectures give useful and useless information. It is difficult to follow with the text book. He will not accept other compiler results besides the department compilers on linux.

Get ready to read
ACCESSIBLE OUTSIDE CLASS
GRADED BY FEW THINGS
1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: Incomplete
Apr 22, 2019
Wouldn't take again

Extremely difficult midterm and final. Theres no slides, very tough grader and its hard to understand the lecture. If u do take him, do not skip the lectures.

Get ready to read
Lecture heavy
Tough grader
3.0
5.0
ELEC242
Apr 25, 2019
Would take again

Donald donald donald, If you only know what he speaks about in class, you will fail. His lectures are more of discussions rather than actually teaching. Hilarious and super nice guy. Donald the type of guy to be held at gunpoint and still whip out a joke about his nieces.. If he gave good notes, he would be the GOAT prepare for the curve

Inspirational
Hilarious
Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ENGR215
Jun 6, 2019
Wouldn't take again

He is really bad. If I could, I would rate him in negative.

Test heavy
Lecture heavy
Tough grader
1.0
4.0
ELEC275
Grade: A-
Aug 8, 2019
Wouldn't take again

He only teaches in the summer, TAKE IT IN ANY OTHER SEMESTER . He adds chapters outside of the outline on the fly, can't explain concepts clearly, goes into hundreds of useless analogies/stories, exams are on the hard side, isn't flexible on the grading even when he made a mistake, and doesn't seem to understand our study time constraint.

Get ready to read
Tough grader
2.0
3.0
ENGR371
Grade: A
Aug 10, 2019
Wouldn't take again

He over explains concepts to the point where you get lost and can't follow. Just skip lectures and listen to jbstatistics on YouTube. jb will teach you everything you need to know 10x better than Donald for everything and in 10 minutes per section as opposed to 2.5 hours. He's just missing one chapter from the course textbook. Exams are ok diff.

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: Drop/Withdrawal
Dec 3, 2019
Wouldn't take again

Oh boy, I did my ultimate best but i wouldnt want to keep up with him and his niece, I dropped it and took it again in summer. He fails mercilessly and is a rough teacher to deal with. AVOID him whenever possible. He does not explain anything, going to class is useless but also important? If u have to take it with him, attend tutorial!

Participation matters
Test heavy
Tough grader
4.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: A-
Dec 6, 2019
Would take again

I heard he was really tough but I really enjoyed his classes. The notes he provided for the lecture material were really good and easy to follow and he actually made an effort to teach the class by mentioning common mistakes or explaining applications that made it easier for me to remember the material.

Skip class? You won't pass.
Amazing lectures
Lecture heavy
4.0
3.0
MECH215
Grade: B
Jan 9, 2020
Would take again

Don is truly a unique prof. He pops dad jokes 30% of the class and has pretty specific lectures. The feedback he gives you is very specific and useful. Although he does not code a lot in class and sometimes makes the code a little extra confusing, but posts them online after class so you can catch up.

Gives good feedback
Hilarious
1.0
4.0
SOEN228
Grade: Rather not say
Apr 9, 2020
Wouldn't take again

He is such unorganized prof. He is unfair in this exams and will tell you about his nieces more than he is going to teach you. AVOIDDD HIMM!!!

Lecture heavy
So many papers
Tough grader
1.0
3.0
SOEN228
Apr 9, 2020
Wouldn't take again

ive never seen a teacher as disorganized as him before. And also for someone coming from someone who supposedly know abt computers, he can't download the right file for the final. Ok but honestly, if you wanna self - teach for the most part of the course and learn more abt his niece, then yeah sure go ahead but otherwise AVOID AT ALL COST!!

1.0
3.0
SOEN228
Grade: A-
May 30, 2020
Wouldn't take again

I honestly couldn't relate what he was saying in class to the actual course material. Most of the time whatever he was talking about isn't even related to the course, and for some reason he mostly talks about his niece. I would take someone else if I had the option.

1.0
4.0
SOEN228
Jun 25, 2020
Wouldn't take again

Dodge this teacher at all cost, he won't give you any information regarding the course unless you attend every lectures. Every lecture is so unorganized and you learn much more by yourself, but you have to attend lectures to get the exam dates, exam corrections etc... Dodge this teacher

Lots of homework
Lecture heavy
1.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: Incomplete
Jul 9, 2020
Wouldn't take again

Obliges you to attend his lecture and verifies if you have exactly 3 pages of notes for every lecture, and then gives those notes a grading. Treats his classroom like everyone are kids and he wants everyone to participate in his class (literally the male version of a Karen). Doesn't care about his students. Switch professors if you can.

Lots of homework
Participation matters
Lecture heavy
1.0
4.0
ELEC251
Grade: A
Jul 20, 2020
Wouldn't take again

Very disorganized, not helpful at all, you dont get to learn anything useful from this prof. I honestly dont know why he teaches. Avoid if you can!

1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: Not sure yet
Sep 24, 2020
Wouldn't take again

I'm taking him during corona epidemic and classes are online. He has no online lectures where he teaches and answers questions. During his lecture time all he does is ask 3 questions and then posts the solutions. Solutions are constantly filled with mistakes. He has the most boring online lecture videos, which cover bare minimum. Quizzes are HARD!

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Feb 27, 2021
Wouldn't take again

Toom him during corona.... no lectures and posts really bad powerpoint slides which leave out most of the details. Gives impossible quizzes worth 40% of your grade (only 4 of them) and you only have 30 mins to complete it and if you submit 1 second over, you lose 10%.

4.0
3.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Apr 10, 2021
Would take again

I had a pretty good experience with this prof. He doesn't have live lectures but ppts instead, which i like because you go at your own pace. His assignments are long but easy, the quizzes are worth 10% each but are very straightforward. I found his slides pretty decent, he also always answered my emails. 100% not the worst prof I've ever had.

Lots of homework
Get ready to read
Group projects
1.0
4.0
ELEC251
Oct 12, 2021
Wouldn't take again

Rudest professor I have encountered at Concordia. Ask him questions and he makes you feel horrible, you end up leaving without your question being answered. Always makes jokes that are not funny instead of focusing on all his mistakes on the board. You end up learning more about his niece than Electromagnetics.

Get ready to read
Test heavy
1.0
5.0
ECSE210
Grade: C+
Jan 15, 2022
Wouldn't take again

Students nightmare. Never take this prof. I took 5 courses with him because I had no choice. My grades went down the drain. A quote from him I can give questions from anywhere. Its my choice. You should go to the library and find 6 books related to the course and finish all of them

Test heavy
2.0
3.0
SOEN228
Jan 17, 2022
Wouldn't take again

I took him again after dropping 228 the first time (when covid started), and I'm surprised to say, he's gotten worse at teaching his own class Avoid if you can. Also, he went from allowing the midterm to be open book (back in Winter2020) to not open book now Avoid, he's confusing and doesn't care at all about explaining in class, reads slides

1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Mar 3, 2022

His course organisation is terrible. he crammed us all in one part of the classroom to write an exam when there were a bunch of available seat (about half the class room). Biggest issue he thinks his notes are solid but they are all over the place and full of mistakes in formulas teaching you wrong things + he will trick you on the difficult exams.

1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Mar 15, 2022

This guy needs to be let go by the school. Complete power tripping control freak. He basically states that if he puts something on the exam that he said wouldn't be there initially, that's his choice and right to do so. Basically "I will screw over my students if I have the right to do so". Gross personal and personality and bad prof.

1.0
3.0
SOEN228
Apr 10, 2022

I simply don't understand how a teacher can be this terrible. He's the Harry Maguire of Concordia University..

1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Apr 15, 2022

avoid at all costs

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: C-
Apr 19, 2022

WORST PROF EVER!!! RUN!! His quizzes were so hard and I didn't get anything! His assignments were brutal and the final exam didn't even make any sense!! AVOID HIM AT ALL COST

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
SOEN228
Grade: Not sure yet
Apr 20, 2022

This course has been one of the worse one. You really need to go to the tutorials or else you won't understand anything... Though grader...

Tough grader
So many papers
Lecture heavy
1.0
5.0
SOEN228
Grade: Not sure yet
Apr 22, 2022

Avoid him at all cost!! Absolutely the worst teacher I have ever seen in my life. I am pretty sure I am going to fail this class because I have no clue what is going on. His notes on moodle are horrible and in person lectures, he does not know how to use the board. The class is already hard and he is there to make it harder for us.

Tough grader
2.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: Incomplete
Apr 23, 2022

With Donald, the lectures felt slow because of the number of examples he gives as an answer to anyone's question. He also often goes off-topic. Watch out for his quizzes/tests; you don't have a lot of time for the amount of questions there is. The lectures made it really difficult to see the progress through the course's material.

Test heavy
5.0
3.0
ELEC275
Apr 24, 2022
Would take again

I do not know why people are hating. Dr. Donald is a very good professor, he explains very well and basically derives the entire course from his head like a boss. He is sweet, caring and very helpful. He is always there for his students. He does not deserve such rating. If you are here for learning he is def. a must have.

Get ready to read
Amazing lectures
Respected
2.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: A
May 8, 2022

Does not care about his students in the slightest, especially with respect to COVID and related issues. Also requires you to go in person during his office hours, which may or may conflict with your schedule, to see your midterm. If not he legit will mot let you see it. Lectures are a mess and useless, and the course overall is disorganized.

Tough grader
Graded by few things
3.0
3.0
ENGR371
Grade: B+
May 10, 2022
Would take again

Decent teacher, but doesn't fully prepare you for the questions on the final. His lectures feel like summaries with minimal useful examples. I'd relying heavily on the textbook and practicing topics that he goes over. Past that, he wasn't amazing but not terrible either.

2.0
3.0
SOEN228
Grade: A+
May 30, 2022

Makes the same jokes all the time, but explains well. He was my prof for SOEN 228 and his lectures were pretty useless, the exams ressembled a lot more to the tutorials.

1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: Drop/Withdrawal
Jun 15, 2022

DON"T TAKE HIM, no matter how much work you put in this class is very hard to be passed with him. The TA's are as bad as him. the textbook he tells you to study from is also useless and his lecture notes are terrible. He looks nice and chill, but you'll definitely learn absolutely nothing and get a bad grade. be thankful if you're able to get a c-

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: D
Jun 30, 2022

If there is another choice, choose another professor; if there is no other choice, don't choose him either

1.0
5.0
SOEN228
Grade: B
Nov 26, 2022

Teacher was passive aggressive and not very nice when responding to emails.

1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 12, 2022

Probably one of the worst professor's I've had. Gives hard midterms compared to the other classes, average was 50%. I usually get As and Bs and I would highly recommend you stay clear of this professor. He spends a lot of time drifting off topic. If you do take him, get a tutor, he will not teach you much.

Tough grader
Group projects
5.0
1.0
ELEC251
Grade: A+
Jan 9, 2023
Would take again

Amazing teacher

Amazing lectures
Hilarious
Caring
2.0
3.0
ELEC275
Apr 16, 2023

This professor is ok. He makes a lot of jokes and knows his material well. However, he isn't very accessible outside class. His office hours are 10 minutes before class and 20 minutes after class, which makes it hard to have any kind of help. The final exam is NOT open book and the material is very hard. This is the class I had to study most for.

Lecture heavy
2.0
4.0
ELC275
Apr 21, 2023

-Lectures are material heavy -Does not have adequate office hours -Does not post any notes online even though he says he does -When he does post them, he titles them "Class notes #n" Which doesn't help locating class notes -Does not allow students to take pictures of the board -He is not boring to listen to, but because of above point, I give a 2

Lecture heavy
2.0
3.0
SOEN228
Grade: C+
Apr 28, 2023

he does not give all material in class, expects you to read lectures on webpage and understand on your own.

Get ready to read
Participation matters
1.0
4.0
ELEC242
Grade: B-
Jul 8, 2023

My suggestion: Read the book (Donald doesn't follow the book) so you have to read the entire 300 pages because he doesn't know the subchapters. Exams are based on tutorial problems and assignments. Do them repeatedly. If you understand you will pass this class very easily. I believe this class is very easy, Donald and bad TA's make it alot worse.

Tough grader
Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
SOEN228
Grade: C
Oct 29, 2023

Worst prof in all of concordia. His Exams are very hard always has to curve grades because he is incapable of making fair exams.

Tough grader
Lecture heavy
Test heavy
2.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 11, 2023

Does not give the grades of the midterm back, and gets annoyed when asked about it (on the last week of classes), takes forever to respond to emails. Very slow paced on lectures,very boring, monotonous and he was a week or two behind on the outline. The final and midterm were long as hell. You can barely hear him during lectures.

Tough grader
Group projects
1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: C-
Jan 1, 2024

This is already a hard course and he makes it worse. Quizzes can be from anything you learned from day 1 till the last, and the average of the quizzes are 2.5/10. Lots of assignments and the exams are very tricky and hard. An ok person but definitely a tough grader and terrible lecturer/teacher. Avoid at all cost.

Tough grader
Lots of homework
Test heavy
1.0
5.0
ELEC275
Jan 22, 2024

Terrible professor. You won't learn anything from his lectures because he talks about things that aren't relevant to the course. He doesn't solve examples in class or post useful lecture notes. He's not accessible outside of class and has a condescending attitude if you ask him questions. Its almost as if he doesn't want his students to learn.

1.0
5.0
ENGR371
Jan 28, 2024

Donald is very academic person who quite frankly cannot teach. I got nothing out of his lectures because he overcomplicates simple topics and talks about his niece half the time. Get ready to learn everything on your own. Such a shame that the university has professors like him who make courses 10x harder than they should be.

1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: A
May 29, 2024

Don't take class with him

Tough grader
1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: D+
Jun 12, 2024

Worest professor I have ever seen in my life.

Tough grader
Test heavy
1.0
5.0
ELC275
Grade: B+
Aug 14, 2024

The exams are very hard!

1.0
5.0
ELEC242
Grade: C+
Nov 25, 2024

i hate him never take him not an easy A grader at all he pulls out questions from his you know what DONT RECOMMEND

Participation matters
So many papers
Lecture heavy
1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: Incomplete
Dec 3, 2024

Absolutely horrible professor. First, horrible and useless notes (some examples included 10^8 amp currents), which he barely follows (he usually randomly freestyles his lectures making them impossible to understand) His exams and tests are extremely hard, and practically impossible to pass, avoid at all costs, absolutely horrible experience

2.0
4.0
ELEC242
Grade: C
Dec 4, 2024

This class is a real challenge with this professor. The lectures don't align well with the textbook, and the TAs aren't very helpful. However, using resources like Unstuck ai for practice problems and study prep can make a big difference. Stay focused and you might just pass.

5.0
5.0
251
Grade: B-
Dec 6, 2024
Would take again

If you fancy yourself as worthy of somewhere like MIT, come test your skills with the big dawg. He will push you with his quizzes and exams. His lectures are theory heavy (but brilliant and concise) with few computational examples (which is the domain of tutorials). However if you love physics, this is the spot. PS: do your readings in advance.

Tough grader
Amazing lectures
1.0
5.0
ELEC251
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 7, 2024

The professor cannot teach effectively. He assumes we already understand the fundamentals and focuses on off-topic concepts. He tests heavily without preparing us in class for complex problems. The course is already hard to understand at the start, and his overcomplication doesn't help. The final exam was very challenging and math-intensive.

Tough grader
Get ready to read
Test heavy
1.0
3.0
ELEC251
Dec 27, 2024

The class are honestly useless; I learned nothing. The ppt had no images. He might not be a bad person, but he definitively is not suited to teach!

Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
351
Apr 1, 2025

cons: - no images on his ppts - very difficult exams pros: - give McGill and Concordia students a common topic during lunch times

2.0
4.0
ENGR371
Grade: B
Aug 28, 2025
Would take again

Had him for late Friday lectures, and I did have difficulty staying awake a few times... He does talk a lot and sometimes goes off topic, but if you ask him questions, he does take time to explain. His lectures sometimes lack examples and visuals (I know some students dislike text-only lectures). I find him to be a fair grader though.

Get ready to read
Clear grading criteria
Lecture heavy
Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

26%

Textbook Required

24%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 45 grades
Most common grades:
Not sure yet (12)
A- (8)
B+ (7)
Grade Distribution
A(10)B(9)C(9)D(4)F(0)A-/B+(15)
Based on 67 reported grades
Not sure yet: 12
A-: 8
B+: 7
Incomplete: 5
Common Tags
Tough grader (23)
Get ready to read (16)
Lecture heavy (12)
Test heavy (9)
Tough Grader (8)
TEST HEAVY (5)
Hilarious (5)
Amazing lectures (4)
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