Good Teaching and clear

No Comments

I thought he was a really good teacher, but the final exam was insane. Average was like 80/200.

Coursework was challenging, but professor was always willing to answer questions in class and office hours. Complex material makes for a more challenging and more interesting course.

He mentioned outside of class that he had some mistakes teaching previous classes, but it looks like he learned from experience. None of the horror stories I heard happened to my class. I think he finally hit his stride.

He is a very good teacher. Very helpful in the office hours. I'm very happy I took this class with him

Even though the semester project we had to develop was relatively difficult compared to other classes' projects I have heard about, I am glad to have had Van Wyk as professor. He really knows his stuff and is extremely helpful if you talk to him in person.

3081 curriculum is all over the place, but I enjoyed the course and the project anyway

Class project was a total mess. Good class and prof other than that. Fair grading. Would take him again, but not for this course.

The project was complex, but 3081 is about working on large/complex projects. It's good he doesn't cave on this. Extremely knowledgeable guy, and very dedicated to interested students. Tests often have trick questions, and are always long. He takes regular attendance.

Prof Vanwyk is very helpful and good at explaining the material. 5106 is a difficult class. He sometimes gives out assignments does not give as much time as he should to complete them. Exams are very difficult.

Very clear speaker in lecture. Class structure is new and disorganized, should improve. Homework assignments can be difficult. Tests are well-written and make you work quick. Gives participation assignments in lecture but rarely collects them. No textbook and very little reading material besides lecture slides which he posts along with sample code

I've never had a professor before Eric that has spent so much time putting up slides, code examples, and clarifications for a class. He really cares about his students and takes the time to help his students understand the material.

Great Prof. This was the first time the class has been taught, but you could hardly tell that from Eric's adeptness as a professor.

He's an extremely passionate guy who will do his best to make you love the course, but you'll have to work hard. He's a fair grader though, and will make sure you get the grade you deserve. He's funny too!

Very open to help students with the work that they have. Tests are pretty tricky, but final exam is similar to things that we have done from homeworks+midterms.

Eric is probably the best professor I've had throughout my entire college experience. He really cares and wants everyone to understand the material. He does an exceptional job explaining and reinforcing concepts. Take as many classes as you can with him.

Class was enjoyable, interesting, interactive, and I gained an appreciation for functional languages. He's an extremely patient and caring professor that wants you to focus on learning the material.

One of my favorite professors. He lectures well and is a funny guy. He really cares about students. At the beginning hw & test were a bit rough, and then he listened and made our life easier. His 2041 might be harder than other profs', but it's good for you in the long run--life is not just tests and grades. Grades are updated a bit slow sometimes.

He's got a few quirks, but that's what makes his lectures all the more enjoyable. He really tries to make sure that his lectures are entertaining and interesting so that you pay attention. You can really feel the enthusiasm he has for the material in the way he presents. Hands down the best lecturer I've had here at the U.

I think Eric is the best teacher I have ever had. He loves the class and is one of the few professors that loves teaching. Instead of lecturing at students, he goes out of his way to make class interactive so that you really feel like you are actively learning in class. Get ready to work hard but feel rewarded at the end.

Eric is a class act. His lectures are very interactive and interesting, which made me look forward to coming everyday. Functional programming methodologies can be challenging for many students, but Eric was very approachable in class and office hours. You might work really hard and still get a B in his course, but I would take him again regardless.

The tests were a little long and hard, but he was very cognizant of their difficulty and took steps to ease the pain. One of the most hilarious and enthusiastic professors I've ever had.

Be warned about taking 2041 with Eric - he teaches it as an Intro to Programming Languages class and uses Ocaml rather than Lisp (which might be helpful for AI). He was extremely tough with assignments and tests, but curves to make up. Once he figured out he was making everything too hard, he eased up a lot towards the end.

The best professor I have had so far at the U. I found 2041 extremely hard at first because I have never touched functional programming language before but at the end of the semester I think I could understand it and kind of found it beautiful. He posts all his lecture slides and sample codes online which are really helpful.

Definitely one of the best instructors in the CSCI department. Very intelligent, very organized, and gives easy-to-follow lectures.

Eric did a great job in presenting the material, which is most likely because of how passionate he is about it. He's funny, he'll show you pictures of his chickens and best of all, he keeps it interesting and has a genuine interest in how his students are doing. Best professor I've had in my two years at the U.

Eric made the final for 2041 lot easier I think because he realized how hard the quizzes were. Overall, Eric is one of the best professors at the U, I will miss Ocaml and the projects were really challenging and fun. 2041 is a very hard class, but you really learn, take it with Eric, he is the by far the best professor for this course.

Eric is a great and nice professor and he really does want the best for his students and will make adjustments. That being said, he made 2041 quite difficult and it felt like 2 classes because of how intense the homeworks were. He also just started using quizzes every week, which may seem like a good idea but they were too long for only 15 minutes.

Eric was great. He was extremely well prepared. Lectures were very clear and succinct. He provided all lecture slides, notes, and code. He is very helpful in office hours. The course was challenging. The homework assignments were somewhat difficult, but I thought the quizzes (12 in total) were the most challenging part of the course. Final was easy

Great professor, but maybe a risky choice. Eric cares a lot. He's great in office hours - very approachable and an adept communicator. But be aware that he will challenge you. I learned a lot, but it was so much work. His exams/quizzes are difficult and his homeworks are long. Take him if you have time to invest. Take someone else if you're busy.

Prof. Van Wyk is a very cool prof who cares about his subject and students. Course content is not as difficult as people say. It was pretty easy, frankly. Would take all classes he offers. He explains well, gives interesting homework, and is very funny.

Awesome professor with an excellent sense of humor as well. Taught the material well and clearly and had helpful examples throughout the term. Clearly cares about teaching and does it well. Make sure you understand your homework assignments and start early and you'll be in good shape.

I like this professor, probably the best CS professor I have never met in Cs Dept. He cares his students and always approachable. His lecture is good and have lots of fun. 2041 is not a high level class, but you will get challenging when you take with Eric. That's because you will have lots of homework and they are hard. Overall, learned a lot from

Professor Van Wyk was one of the best, if not the best, CS professors I had so far. It is unfortunate that I did not find the material to be that interesting, otherwise I would take more of his courses. Expect about a new homework every 1-2 weeks and biweekly quizzes. I found the course to be challenging only when I would fall behind with hw.

He has a great sense of humor, and his lectures make the dry content of 2041, much more interesting and accessible. His homework, although challenging, teaches you a lot. He also clearly knows what he is talking about and is very intelligent. The other bad reviews are likely due to the class content being dry, which would be the case with any prof.

Eric's lectures are just amazing. I was not a big fan of OCaml and after taking his 2041, I was. He is able to deliver difficult course content in an easy way for students. The assignments are also inspiring. You are not only completing the homework but also actually learn things from them. Eric is the best professor I have ever met.

Eric Van Wyk puts a lot into his lectures and homework. The project/homework were interesting problems, but often very tedious. He taught 2041 in OCaml which you likely won't use again, but the same can't be said for the topics. Put simply, a good professor teaching a moderate-to-hard class.

I actually really like this dude and his class. I don't know why everyone thinks it's so difficult - I haven't shown up to class since the first day and had no OCaml or functional programming experience. He's a kind guy and I think you can spend 2 hours a week on hw/quizzes/labs and ace the class.

Unlike other CSCI profs, Eric makes lectures accessible to everyone and easy to follow! he goes over things ppl struggle on in lectures, takes feedback very well and adjusts work based off of it! grading is nitpicky which sucks but you can still do well overall. HW's are hard, but lots of past HW's for 2041 are reused. Overall, he's a great guy!

He is a nice guy and tries to reexplain topics that students struggle with. There is a decent amount of work, but not too hard if you start early and get help when you need it.

The class is really strict on grading, but throughout the semester, he changes the course materials based on students' opinions. So a plus point for him to respect students' opinions. The assignments are much easier as the materials get harder, so nothing to complain about. But be aware that you will have to put much effort int understanding Ocaml.

The class was enjoyable, and there were many interesting functional concepts that were fun to learn about. It is an entirely different way of thinking, and Dr. Van Wyk did a good job of explaining it conceptually. The grading expectations were a bit unclear at the beginning, but that mostly cleared up later. Very reasonable expectations of work.

Professor Van Wyk is good instructor who is very passionate about the content and OCAML. He goes through examples of concepts in lecture which are often applicable to the homeworks. Throughout the course, he was receptive to student feedback on how things were going and made changes accordingly. Also very accessible and approachable.

Van Wyk was mvp during online semester transition. 2041 is notoriously tough, but zoom uni makes everything worse. Van wyk significantly lowered most of the work required for his 2041 class. Homework solutions were provided in his lectures many times, and some TAs were pretty solid.

Teaching really aligns with the text provided, clear and fair teacher. I did have to try in this class but a good professor. Multiple short quizzes, homeworks, labs.

great professor

He makes you think and work for your grade, but his rubrics are clear and the assignments are interesting. He is also a great manager of TAs. He makes sure they are all on the same page and doing a good job at helping students. If you need to speak with him outside of class, he's very kind and helpful. Wish I had more courses with him.

Eric is a very reasonable teacher and has really good lectures. He wants to make sure you actually learn the material. His biweekly quizzes are pretty reasonable and as long as you take good notes on what the homework was you should do fine. He is also very understanding a great person in general. Would recommend having him as a professor.

He is a great professor who wants students to learn from mistakes and grow a deeper understanding of the material as he gives feedback on assignments. Doing the homework teaches you a lot, which makes the quizzes and final ok to do. He's good at teaching through examples in class and posts lectures online. Reasonable and fair guy with grading.

He was pretty chill and I liked the content too. He was very caring and he clearly knew what he was talking about. You don't need to put in much work to get an A.

I like his liberal approach at grading. It's mostly homeworks, labs, and quizzes. I like how your grade reflacts how much effort you put into the class. If you want an A, you should be able to get an A. The only thing I dislike is that I can't see a clear numerical grade until towards the end which I feel could be added to his monthly grade update.

Van Wyk is a great professor, and his use of interactive coding exercises during lectures has been extremely helpful for my learning. The homework/labs can get confusing but there are plenty of TAs that are easily accessible at almost all times of day. Big complaint is that your final grade is very ambiguous, however the grading criteria is clear

He's a really nice professor and his class has revisions for full credit which is great. Because he doesn't really use Canvas and grading took a long time, it's difficult to understand where your grade is at throughout the semester. Ultimately, he seems to care about students really learning the content and makes himself an available resource.

I found this class to be the most fun CSCI so far. It helps that he's a great lecturer. Also, I feel like the homeworks were the perfect size. They felt substantial enough that I could get immersed in each problem while still managing to cover a lot of different topics.

Eric does a fantastic job at teaching. His new grading system allows you to redo the homework (revisions) up to 3 times for each hw! Remember, you are learning a new programming language, as long as you keep up with the lectures, read the (free) textbook, and practice coding in Ocaml, you are guaranteed an A/-A. Take Eric!

By no means is this an easy class. Eric is a wonderfully articulate professor who knows his stuff. He can be quick at times so it's essential that you attend lectures and pay attention. There's also in-class exercises that your grade relies on. A quiz (out of 5) was dropped and the final exam was curved. Overall, solid!

Professor Eric is one of the most caring and intellectual professors at the U of M. I was dealing with a lot in my personal life and was close to failing, but Eric helped me get through it. His lectures are awesome, and he truly cares about his students. He's definitely one of the best professors you'll have here! One hundred percent recommend!

Prof Van Wyk is great at explaining his material! He was also very clear on how the course was going to be graded. Daily exercises which were helpful in grasping the concepts. He's great!

Best professor I've had at the U. Lectures make so much sense, he works through the problems really easily in class, but attendance and participation is mandatory (have in class exercises but he gives the answers). Awesome professor, great guy.

Eric is a fantastic teacher, he has very easy to digest lectures that are also sometimes very entertaining. he also definitely deeply cares about his students. quizzes are extremely easy with your lowest being dropped, attendance is "mandatory" but you can miss 10+ days and those will be dropped, only sore spot is last projects.

Great lecturer, fun and engaging. Only complaint is that slides are not very descriptive, so if you miss a lecture you'll have to ask for clarifications in labs/office hours. Overall, assignments weren't too bad, good class.

I absolutely love this class. The homework can be difficult at times, but Eric truly wants all his students to succeed and gives everyone the opportunity to do so (multiple revisions on homework with feedback given, and a generous extension policy). The quizzes are also pretty easy and his lectures give all the information you need to be successful

Eric is an incredible professor and wants his students to succeed. Lectures are interactive with live demos. Attendance is required for in-class exercises; they're easy if you attend, and you can miss 12. Grading criteria are certainly unique but clear, and revision/extension policies are very generous. I highly recommend Eric as a professor.

Absolutely the best. I don't know if I've taken a class with a better professor than Eric yet. Totally understanding, caring and fair. I'll miss him in my next courses.

eric is my goat

In-class exercises mandatory for credit, he said HWs get revisions at the start of the year but only 3 of them actually did, quizzes every 2 weeks over content we learned a while ago, HW and labs are helpful, final was pretty rough

He is one of the best professors that I've met at the U.