2.4
Quality3.7
DifficultyN/A
Would Retake110
ReviewsN/A
Would Retake
110
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
14
4
14
3
26
2
28
1
28
What Students Say
“Also, the monotone doesn't help”
CHEM1040 - 2.0 rating“Sprague is very smart”
CHEM1040 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
55%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.83 avg changeRatings by Course
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5.0
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Very good at explaining this confusing material. Solves problems in class which makes life so much easier. Test are not to difficult. Always has a cough drop in his mouth, even when he is not sick.
Very clear about expectations. Go to class, pay attention, find an old test, and you will do VERY well (same questions, different #s. Pay attention to the details, as this class is his 4th child, so he will have the grader be nitpicky on hmwk, which can drop your grade. For being a boring topic, he was a very good teacher...Fits his personality.
He's a very likeable guy and he's extremely savvy with numerical methods. I found the material extremely easy and never went to lecture. I'm thinking "who cares about these weak PRS points, I'm rocking these tests..." Very tight grading folks. If you aren't analytically inclined, your safest response is always "looks like a smooth curve."
He is teaching a very difficult class in my opinion and he does not exactly make it an easy A, but he does try to make it clear. The homework in this class on the computer can get tiresome and be hard to follow. Overall not the most enjoyable class, but bearable. Kinda just an average professor
BORING
Dr. Sprague is a great professor thsor.ought his tests were somewhat challenging but very easy! His quizzes (and tests) are easy if you do the book problems. Clicker points are important and easy to get! Just know that the FIRST question is worth the most points (5) and if you get it right you can pretty much guess on all of the following.
he is very helpful when you ask him a question over email or something and he really has your best interest at heart, it's just that he is so boring and you have clicker questions so you have to go to class. i'm only neutral on dr. sprague.
If you can manage to pay attention to him, he's a great teacher, and quite witty. Generous with homework extensions and curves. learned a lot!
He teaches well
doesnt know how to use the mics and is very droning, uses prc clickers for 10 pts a day so attendance counts. I believe that if he wouldn't put you to sleep he'd be a good teacher but he fails to draw the interest of anyone in the class at all. Avoid if possible, pretty much all other chem teachers are better.
worst professor iveever had. doesnt explain a thing
Worst professor ever, extremely incoherent, cant understand a word coming out of his mouth its like he has a mouth full of marbles. Admits he hates teaching but nothing can be done because he has tenure. Do not take you wont come out with anything better than a C+ if you are lucky.
Worst professor ever, he doesnt care about you or your grades, he only wants to be their to use the universitys research abilities. Constantly looks down upon you and calls you "you people" to demean you and thinks he is the best guy in the world. Please do not take, i'm really trying to help you...
Worst teacher I've ever had. The questions that were on the exams were not like any question shown in class, in the book, or on homework assignments. I will never take another class by him again and would recommend to everyone to not take this class.
He is a really nice guy and extremely helpful. I had to miss class because I was in the hospital and he took care of my attendance points, and let me retake the quiz I missed as well. It isn't that he is dense, the material is dense. He is genuinely a funny and interesting guy you just have to listen to him. If you listen in class you will do well.
Class isn't too bad. If you understand the homework and recitation quizes you should be fine. I think reading the material will help the most because its hard to get a grasp on what is going on during class.
Not as bad as everyone makes him out to be, his midterms and final are difficult but the online homework, PRS questions, and recitation hw as well as the curve compensate. Not the best prof. ever but you learn the material well.
His exams are extremely difficult. I have no idea where he gets the questions from. His voice is monotone and puts you to sleep but he is very organized. This is a very challenging course but you do learn more compared to other professors.
lecture is pointless except for PRS. do your aris and read. do suggested problems as well and do well on recitation tests. class is easier than other chem teachers for first year chem but hes kinda self righteous and thinks hes the most amazing thing on earth
I did alot of teaching myself and my recitation T.A. was GREAT (Amie Norton). Although actual lecture was a little pointless the structure of his class (JiTT, PRS, etc) were really helpful. He really reads your homework and therefore knows what to go over. He writes the exams so consider yourself lucky to have him! Other prof classes are jokes.
Everything I learned from that class was taught to me in the 5 hours I studied with a friend before the final.
Extremely difficult for 101 level. You'll be teaching yourself out of the book and you WILL need to know nit-picky details (ie names of long-dead people). Little to no value in attending lecture. Expect to do homework every night, because you will like it or not. Exams are multi-choice but unforgiving.
Today he told us that if there were people next to us talking, we had his blessing to tell them to "Shut up, as violently as [we] see fit", and that our homework was "painful" for him to grade. If at all possible, do NOT take this professor.
In high school I hated chem. Now I love it, thanks to Estel!
If you actually care adn want to get an A in Sprague's class you can. I honestly didn't try very hard at all, but I went to almost every class, did my ARIS and JITT and still got a solid A. Sprague really is a good teacher. He cares about his students and their grades so his grading scale is really fair-not completely dependent on exam scores.
Sprague's class is very large so it can be hard to pay attention. Attendence is mandatory because he gives participation points for clicker questions in class. I liked Professor Sprague becuase i knew what to expect every test. If you need personal attention however, his class is not for you as there are around 300 people in the class.
Sprauge is sassy! He can say too much at times.
Sprague is way too whiny and complains way too much in class. I honestly don't leave class at the end of the period understanding or knowing much, if any, more than when I got there 50 minutes before! Do not take him!
Kinda boring, but if you do what he asks, it is very easy to get an A. Most of the class participation problems are very helpful preparation for the tests.
He has no idea how to control the class and this obviously is detrimental to anybody's learning. If you can, definitely take somebody else!
PRS questions! Boring class and hard to pay attention. Therefore learn on your own.
Although his class is rather large, Dr. Sprague is a good teacher. Extremely knowledgeable and has a fair grading scale. Students in his classes do better than in others. This is partly due to all of the exams being written by him.
I got an A all three quarters with him by making chemistry my first priority. You must come to class, do all the reading, do the practice problems and homework, pay attention in recitation, and never let yourself get behind. It's a hard class but graded fairly, but there is no "skating by." His tests are quite hard and 3rd quarter is the worst!
I'm not someone who believes that major classes (even at the 100 level) should be a cakewalk. Courses like chemistry need to be difficult in order to teach the necessary information. Dr. Sprague has very clear expectations and sticks to them. Large lectures may not be thrilling but sometimes you just have to tough it out and pay attention.
He knows his stuff. He's an extremely tough teacher and i didn't learn anything in his class because of the size and his inability to control the students. explains unimportant things and doesn't teach well at all. If you can't teach yourself, you won't learn the material. He was understanding however when i had to miss an exam when my grandpa died
Had him for 101 and 102. He knew how to explain things clearly. It was a large class and he did get frustrated with the people that didn't care. But if you actually want to learn, he's a great teacher that knows his stuff. His jokes are funny too, you just gotta watch out for them, you won't catch em if you're not paying attention.
had him for 102 and 103. Only missed one exam question. Easy class if you actually do the work. All exam questions are identical to the clicker questions done in class.
He doesn't teach you what will be on the tests/quizzes. He uses a Personal Response System that works with his power points, then if a majority of the people get it right, he moves on. If you don't understand the topic, it is up to you to learn it on your own. Good luck
Extremely boring but not the worst Chem professor. PRS participation points, decent amount more online homework than the other classes. Exams and quizzes about the same as the others. Notes are not helpful so you'll be teaching yourself. Bottom line: Chem is going to suck no matter who you have.
Terrible. Doesn't Teach. Hard to comprehend. Boring. Just complains about angry emails.
Estel is a Boss
I loved chem before this. However, Sprague is so whiny and annoying. I agree with whoever said all he does is whine about emails. He is either complaining in class or emailing the class telling them to stop sending him emails. So annoying. Am switching major to nursing now.
Sprague can be boring and is not the best at explaining concepts. He has structure to the class unlike other chem classes. More grades than just tests which helps. He test over info in his power points.If you read the book, look over the example problems and his clicker questions you will be fine. Clicker questions are free points.
He is extremely hard to pay attention too. I could barely understand what he was saying over the microphone, & he is already so monotone it made learning from him impossible. So I taught myself from the book & used his powerpoints as reviews. His exams were fairly easy as long as you study & read the sections in the book you'll get an A or B
Boring lectures, but he makes this class easy.
Estel is my hero. I have no idea what he is saying, but he is G status
yes, very boring, but unlike all of my other chem prof. explains concepts and clicker questions as you go through them, if you read and put in the effort prior to class as well as pay attention youll be fine and recitation quizes were very easy if you are up to speed with the reading in the book exams are challenging but not impossible just study.
the most boring class ive ever taken. so monotone and when he does practice problems he does half of it in his head so you dont know whats going on. also he doesnt give time for clicker question and just flies through them.
Very boring monotone and difficult to understand not having him next semester for 1041 for sure.
Sprauge is very boring. His lectures are not helpful either. I never went to class except for the last five minutes to get clicker credit. All you have to do is read and teach yourself everything. His tests are hard though, it's very hard to determine what he'll test you over. Get another teacher if possible!!
He is very boring and his lectures never helped me. you must teach yourslef and it is hard to prepare for exams because you can never tell what will be on them. tkae a different professor if you can!
Sprague is interesting. He is monotone, but he is working on improving his course to better his students. He has dry humor, so if you're willing to listen, he'll make you laugh. Chem recitation helps you succeed (bless the TAs), but his exams are difficult. Study, study, study. He loves conceptual questions. Not very helpful at office hours.
Monotone, hour long lecture. Starting spring 2013 attendance is mandatory. The only good thing is he writes the test. About two homework assignments per lecture averaging about 45 minutes. His class was not enjoyable at all.
I would NOT recommend him to anyone! You teach yourself out of the book and lectures are useless but mandatory. Use clickers in class and if we all fail the question he still moves on. Take somewhere else without him!!!!!
He's super monotone, and I'm pretty sure everything I've "learned" about chemistry was from the class I took in high school. He tries, I think, but he doesn't show us how to work out the examples, and when he does he moves too quick and you don't actually see what happened. He tends to just move on too even if ppl clearly don't understand the topic
Horrible! It is so hard to pay attention in class because he is so mono-toned and reads straight off his powerpoints. He has clicker questions, which makes attendance mandatory and 7% of your overall grade, and he does not go over how to get the answers even when most of the class gets it wrong. Save yourself by not taking him.
Does not explain topics covered in class. if the class would get something wrong he would skip over it and never explain it. learned close to nothing from him
all i have to say is THANK GOD for his bell curve! he does not teach and is monotone! Glad his clicker questions are 7% of your grade make sure you go to class!!!
Sprague's biggest problem is he is too intelligent to teach things at a gen chem undergrad level. he is very monotone during lectures, but he expects a lot from his students and he IS the chem head. A lot of first years hate him because he is hard, CHEMISTRY IS HARD. If you study all of the exceptions to rules and book tables you will do fine.
Lecture is very boring, besides demos by Rudy. He expects a lot out of students, but if you read an really do the online work, then he does explain things decently well. Not the best at explaining difficult topics. Doesn't really curve any grades, so make sure you get what little extra credit he gives.
The grade you get is the grade you get. He is strict. Do not take him.if you are 1 point away from an A he will still give you a B. You better study every day if you want an A.
Does not care about the students and is not willing to help in any way shape or form. Other teachers give extra credit often and large curves. He gives none.
His monotone voice is similar to that of Ben Stein, I learned more from my chemistry lab TA than him because she actually cared to explain things after lab if you needed help, and you're basically a number in his class. I went to him midway through the semester about my grade and asked what I can do, he basically said sorry for ya and study more.
His lectures are extremely boring and provided no help for me in terms of learning the material. Homework due every day. No curve. His end-of-the-semester email prompted me to write this.
He's pretty much condescending to the max, very hard to pay attention to, and pretty insulting to generally confused students most of the time. His online homeworks and learnsmarts are really easy to get 100% on because you can do them until you get them right. The weekly quizzes and exams are pretty hard if you don't study.
Dr. Sprague's voice can put you to sleep, but he is the best of the chemistry professors. The others go off on tangents on advanced topics that you won't understand without having taken AP chem. If you stay awake in class, you will actually learn the material. His clicker questions are easy, and the online component of the class helps the grade.
Estel is the man. Exams are easy if you follow powerpoint questions. They are the same style of questions. Easy class in general.
He's hard to pay attention to, and moves very quickly. Attendance is mandatory and a decent part of the overall grade
Hard to pay attention to and you have to self teach yourself everything. Sprague's exams are also very difficult bec he does not get the questions from just the text or powerpoints, and he does not curve.
He's the best out of all the chemistry professors but that isn't saying much. Tends to get mad at students during lecture and yells at us a lot. Exams are impossible. Learn to love your text book because you wont pass without it.
Over-complicates very simple concepts. Definitely don't listen to him, he will just confuse you. nearly impossible to understand; monotone, a mumbler, and a rambler. Read your textbook and find videos related to the concepts you're studying online.
His voice is very monotone, but if you make an effort to move past that he actually explains things very well during lecture. His class is definitely hard, but as long as you stay on top of the work you will do well. My TA was very helpful during Recitation. I would recommend taking this class. You will learn a lot.
Very boring, but very routine. He knows the material very well, but he isn't the best at explaining it. The best reason to come to class is to answer the PRS Clicker questions.
Out high school and college, this man is easily the worst teacher I have ever had. Stay away if you can, if you can't I feel bad for you. Do the homework and go to class, it'll help offset the low test scores from the test that Bill Nye wouldn't get a B+ on... Overall, he is a terrible professor and is here more for his research grant than students
He knows what he's talking about. He has been teaching chemistry for a very long time. Chemistry is one of the weed out classes. Poor reviews he got are obviously from those who weren't capable of going through it.
Probably one of the worst professors I've had to listen to. The lecture itself is useless considering you can't understand a word he says. He's the type of professor that gives you so much material to learn but makes you learn it on your own. Unless you have really good knowledge of the material beforehand, avoid at all costs.
Sprague is not as bad as these comments say he is. He is VERY BORING, but he makes sure he goes through all of the material he thinks is important. His exams are hard YES! But he curves one of the Mid-exams and the final! He is very organized, provides you with a grade calculator so you can keep track of your progress and always update PRS scores
Sprague is very nice and understanding in person but is an awful professor. He provides too much information that is useless when it comes to tests. His exams are heavy on concepts and include very little math problems. I recommend to switch out of his lecture but if you can't, then come prepared to EVERY lecture and seek help from him when needed.
Sprague is very boring, smart, and clear. I never want to go to his class ever. You will have homework every night using online resources(sucks). He sometimes tries to trick you during the test, but generally they're easy. He wanders around the room. He seems very hard to approach too. Enjoy using clickers daily( used as attendance too).
Dr. Sprague is by far the best chemistry professor at UC. He tries to make chemistry relatable and more interactive during class. Yes, the class is challenging but if you put in the work you'll actually learn. Don't fall behind, do the homework, ask your TA for help and definitely go to SI sessions and you should do well in the class.
Sprague is a very smart man with a bad reputation. His voice is monotone and hard to understand, but his powerpoints are filled with good info. Keys to success are to read the book and take good notes. I found the exams to be very fair. If want to go to med school and can't pull out at least a B, you might as well pack your bags for the Carribean.
Very hard to learn anything in a lecture hall but extremely difficult when he assumes we all already know how to do everything. Also, the monotone doesn't help...
Although Sprague is extremely monotone and a little bit hard to listen to, I give him credit for being able to teach chemistry to over 400 students at one time. In addition, he's easily the most tech-savvy professor I've ever had and he's very sophisticated. He knows what's going on and will help when you need. I had very little problems with him.
Sprague has a bad reputation but isn't as terrible as he's made out to be. His tests are difficult (normally the average is around 65%) but he also gives a lot of points for homework and clicker questions. He weights the class so it is easier to pass. If you review the powerpoints before tests and make sure to do all of the homework you'll be fine.
Dr. Sprague is very smart. He is passionate about chemistry and knows his stuff. However, he expects students to understand concepts as easily as he does. Don't expect to gain anything from lecture. I only went for the clicker points. Exams are somewhat fair. Dr. Sprague is definitely not here to teach. He's just here for his research.
When I had him, he was the best gen chem professor at UC. Unfortunately that's not saying much though. I had friends who had other professors that sounded even worse. He lacks the enthusiasm needed to keep students interested and he can come across as condescending at times. Chemistry can be a challenging topic, but especially when he's teaching
Sprague is very condescending. He literally treats his classes like everyone is dumb and is in high school. If you go to office hours he does the same thing. Also, be prepared to have 4-5 assignments on a weekly basis.
He does a poor job explaining the material and overall just isn't very helpful.
Run. Run while you can! Without AP Chemistry this class is challenging.
Took Sprague for Gen Chem I lecture. Beware that his lectures could put you to sleep and its really hard to keep focus. However, make sure you attend his class because he includes clicker questions every time that are graded for both accuracy and participation. But he sends a lot of emails and is good w keeping students posted on things.
There's a reason people pray for the curve in Sprague's class. Sprague is unfortunately too smart for his own good. He basically assumes everyone else majored in chemistry already and him teaching us is unnecessary. Lots of work to still do terribly in the class. AVOID.
RUN AWAY AND NEVER LOOK BACK. Tests are difficult. The best way to bring up your grade is by doing well on the homework.
Dr. Sprague is intelligent and passionate about chemistry, but his teaching style is not very engaging and I didn't find his lectures to be all that useful (HOWEVER, you do have daily clicker questions that count as points!). The homework that he assigns are somewhat useful (LearnSmart is a waste of time) and the grades for this class are curved.
Although a lot of people do not like Professor Sprague, his lectures are amazing. Compared to many of the other departments and how they do their lectures and teaching styles, Sprague definitely has it perfected. There are clicker questions each class and he goes over each answer. Lecture ppts are easy to follow and tell you everything you need.
Awful teacher. You don't learn anything in that class.
Very boring lectures. Daily clicker questions that make up about 7% of your grade. Homework every night. The recitations are not helpful and the TA doesn't review well.
If you have a lot of background knowledge of Chem you'll do fine. If not you have to work really hard to teach yourself the info. Go to SI b/c TA's aren't very helpful. He's an okay prof., but you need to read to pass. Go to class you need the clicker points. I was lazy and I got a C, but if you want a higher grade it's totally doable.
Hard class. must read assigned text and do homework/quizzes before lecture. or you will get behind. there are clicker questions, and he will not go over them. even if everyone gets them wrong. will need a tutor to get a good grade. however, he does curve the grades.
Sprague is just as monotone as the teachers in Ferris Bueller. He is rude to students who ask him questions because he puts all his info on Blackboard, emails and the syllabus. Anyone asking him about info in these will be criticized by him. Make sure you read before lecture because he goes into more depth of the sections in his powerpoint.
He is very hard to understand and gets very frustrated when you do not understand him. Truthfully, he is way to smart for his own good. 10 out of 10 would not recommend. Go to class, your clicker points keep you alive. Some people get 100% on his tests, but if you aren't a super genius, most of us get 40%.
Must attend for clicker points. Homework due 2-3x a weekabout 9-12 questions and learnsmart due once a week about 50-70 questions. Exams kinda tough and he puts some tricky stuff on there. Average is usually 60's so either you're getting 40-50 or 80-100. He is unclear sometimes and goes too much in depth and loses your attention. Try to avoid.
Got a really bad temper. His voice is very monotone which puts everyone to sleep, and his exams are so freaking tricky its crazy :/
Lectures are very boring, but you must attend because he has clicker questions that factor into your grade- most of them you can look up online and find the answer to. Go to SI sessions if you actually want to understand the material and prepare for tests. Exams are hard, the average is usually about 60% but he curves his exams and your final grade
Hard to understand and follow along with the powerpoints.
Sprague is an interesting fellow. He lays out everything on the table and its only up to you what you do with it. Do your homework (ALL of it) and study for the tests, show up to class for clicker questions and you'll do just fine.
I absolutely couldn't stand that class! It was extremely boring and also stressful. He read directly from the powerpoint and also gave clicker questions for an actual grade before material was discussed. There was a quiz every single week in the recitation, and I only ever got a C as my highest. The tests were hard and he didn't prepare us at all.
The semester I took his class he had around 700 students between all his classes, about half dropped. And at the end a lot of people failed so the curve was huge.
Terrible professor. Mumbles monotoned over a microphone to 700 students. He also always sounds like he has something in his mouth. Very hard to understand. Sprague also has a very bad temper. One time he actually threw a fit because 3 people were talking and stormed out of class, dismissing us 10 mins in. 10/10 do not recommend.
By far one of the worst professors here. Clearly does not care about his job outside of his salary. His help and assistance for the class is impossible muttering or just recommending you to a TA, very condescending with a short temper. I took my final in the wrong room as I had a family emergency and he dropped my grade from an A to a C. Terrible.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
55%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.83 avg changeRatings by Course
PCHEM
5.0
(1)CHEM361PAM1
5.0
(1)GENCHEM
5.0
(1)CHEM382
4.0
(1)CHEM361
4.0
(2)Difficulty by Course
CHEM256
5.0
CHEM113
5.0
CHEM1080
5.0
CHEM103
4.2
20402041
4.0