3.2
Quality3.0
Difficulty57%
Would Retake346
Reviews57%
Would Retake
346
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
346 total ratings5
129
4
53
3
36
2
37
1
91
What Students Say
“Not form the TA's, him, or the 'help' email”
CMPT165 - 1.0 rating“A really annoying guy”
CMPT470 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
9%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
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-0.46 avg changeRatings by Course
165
5.0
(1)CMPT295
4.5
(29)MACM101
4.0
(1)CMPT383
3.9
(32)CMPT120
3.6
(50)Difficulty by Course
ENSC250
5.0
CSS165
5.0
CMPT125
4.0
CMPT475
4.0
CMPT 470
4.0
Reviews (297)
Look nice but really he is not nice at all.
He is a smart guy, but he is good at teaching. Lecture is not very informative...
He looks nice, remember just "looks"...this course becomes much much harder than ever....not as easy as before anymore..Have added more new stuff..:'(...
He looks nice, but he gives you too much stuff without making sure you understand. and he just keeps moving on. If this were a 300 or 400 course,this would be understandable. But this is an 100 intro course, please don't scare students away
His lectures are just reading out from the Study Guide... pointless. It's a tough class unless you have experiencing with HTML or programming beforehand. Tends to talk about his own irrelevant personal life in his lecture, out of nowhere... ???
his is a decent prof. though i seriously think his assignments and midterms should be easier.. i mean COME ON! its an intro course!
this class was a breeze. he covered the material mostly, but did I really learn anything? hmm. learned way more in 150 with dixon
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not enough examples.MT was easy but if you'r never exposed to some of the examples, they could be HARD!final was VERY HARD; not like the MT!!Boring teacher,makes u wanna sleep or leave and even annoying sometimes.
I wonder why not he just post the course notes instead of going to classroom and say nothing. But his course is absolutely easy, and you wont learn any useful things in his lecture.
Lecture notes sometimes vague and incomplete. Very approachable and friendly guy.
If you just need a good grade and dont care about what you will learn, his course suits you. His lecture Some feeling, you can just copy notes instead of going to lecture, because there is no diff. you copy notes at home than copy at class.
Comon greg . the class average for the mid term is like 50 %. Is it too hard? Forget that is it an intro class or not? I t is a joke. he should set you up for this before hand. Should be exposed that you need prior experience in this subject!and n
This class is not intro. Never take this class as an intro. I have fairley good knowledge in this stuff and it si hard for me. Greg your class is a joke! Way to hard change the title and make sure there are prereq. needed? BS
Don't EVER take this if you have no knowledge of programming at all. GREG, I think it is unfair to new students who knows nothing. Change the damn thing!!!!
Very fun course. Learn HTML and design. Read the book, do the assignments and you are gauranteed to get an A.
First part of the course is fun, second part is hell. Courseware is not really related to the assignments. This is not an intro course, some programming background is definitly required.
really nice course, don't take it with long distance tho.. lecture one is much easier.. but don't ever cheat in his class, never ever...
don't take this course to get easy grade, final and midterm and assignments are quite hard, some what outside the textbook. i was going in the final with an A+ and got out with a B-. Don't cheat in his class!
He is very unhelpful, impolite, and the assignments is so hard and he caught academic dishonesty but he does not know his assignments is too hardkiller professor, veryimpolite, very unhelpful, unfair final also like to set students dun take cmpt 165
HE is so unpopular, now in aug still have 38 seats for his classes and 36 for his another, so you know how unpopular he is. He is not good anyway
so hard, the text book is unrelated, i though i was taking cmpt 410..
Do not waste your moneyin his course
Not good, very unsatisfactory
Don't take this course if you are really a beginner. The programming is hard, assignments take so long to complete; it's not worth to take it as an elective. I took the distance one. Greg doesn't care about his students at all (ridiculous!!!).
He's very impolite. He should take a communication class to learn the fundamental technique when communicating is the "politeness". How come this course's title doesn't contain the word "programming"? Both the MT and the final's
Greg is a good guy and CMPT 165 was a fair course in my opinion. The people who posted negatively about him were most likely crabby because they received a mark less than what they were expecting.
Wahaha bad!
He's an easy prof and very easy to get mark from him... if you just explain your answer to him, usually he'll give you another point or two.
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A SUPER hottie!! He is the coolest!!
Course is more of of an elective course, but he was a good teacher, and provided good examples. Midterms and Final were not too challenging. Had a good teaching style, and he knows what he's talking about. Good guy, would recommend him for others.
Can I get my money back?
I am an e-commerce site owner and I have years of experience in HTML but even I think his class is difficult. Don't take his class if you don't plan to invest all your time on computer.
This Professor is only bad
this is the first time ever cmpt120 has been taught at sfu. being a guinea pig for this course is terrible. intro to comp sci?!?! yeah right! its so hard and things are not explained right. and greg assigns stuff that is too long, and he hasn't even taught some stuff yet, expecting us to do it...
I wonder the people who gives him good comment is only himself. He is the worst instructor remeber he has not got any phd, and if you want hard course and hard assignment that takes you a week and still cannot figure it out try his course I am student with GPA above 3.5. Sorry this is not intro cour
HE should teach in BCIT or College of the Rookies
Could you refund?
Very difficult course!! However, greg is not as bad as everybody says. He'll help you when given the opportunity.
i think his class is fine. nothing is easy in univercity.
Don't bother reading any of the comments from 100 level students, they don't know what they are talking about. Greg is a no-fluff, highly organized, easy to understand prof. Lectures are interesting. Assignments are hard, but very useful.
I'm surprised to see all the comments saying that Greg is hard; I've taken 3 classes with him, and found all to be very straightforward. In any case, Greg is always very clear and organized. Highly recommended.
This prof is very easy but his classes are very boring.
Greg is the best prof SFU has ever seen!!! He's a nice guy to begin with, and that's rare in these woods. SFU CMPT isn't easy, but if I had a choice, I'd take EVERY course with Greg Baker! Don't listen to the freshmen comments, then don't know what they're talking about (and what they're in for;)
Pretty good for explanations, but assignments can be challenging.
what should i say?? this course really sucked. i totally agree with the person below me.
really nice prof. but not enough examples and doesn't teach deep enough to make students understand. but he's very nice in general. easy-going.
u don't want to take this if you don't have any basics about programming. I basically thought the course was horrible, probably because it's a new course and this is the first time that he teaches this course.But he doesn't give u enough examples to understand.TOO YOUNG,NO EXPERIENCE ABOUT TEACHING.
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GOOOOD
I dunno, is it just me but I observed that he keeps on doing hand gestures and stuff which makes him look so graceful. I sometimes get a mental image that he's wearing a tutu and dancing ballet or wearing a cabaret costume with colourful feathers on his head while he's doing the lecture. hehehe..
Enjoyed his class. Very clear in his lectures and extremely nice and funny :) Tests aren't too bad and assignments are sometimes long but not overly impossible to solve.
I didn't do so well in this class, but he gave us a chance to redeem our marks by scaling the midterm and final. Overall, a good teacher.
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He knew what he was doing but no one else really understood. He offered help but I never went. He's got the hot funny geek thing going for him. I enjoyed watching him teach even though I had no clue what he was talking about and failed his class. Too bad he's married? (ring) LOL.
he's horrible at teaching but he's easygoing if you talk to him in person. His lectures are too broad and general, whereas assignments are detailed and hard...and oh..he thinks he's hot..maybe others do too..do u?
his lecture was well orgnized, best porf I met so far.
understood jack
very interesting class... very very hard to fall asleep... his notes are very good and clear... he even teaches you how to do the exercises/assignments... like demonstrating how to do it. i honestly dont know how ppl can actually do bad in his class... especially in the xhtml section...its so clear
His courses are difficult. Never take it. Better ask your friend that took his courses before.Unfriendly,unhelpfl, hard assignment.
His assignments are hard. If you are first year, his class are always available even in AUg 30.
Hard assignment, Hard Mid term. He is unhelpful but with hard assignments. You need to spend a heck of time to do. This courses is even harder that second yr Calculus. Be careful
Becareful dude ! Avoid
Lecture material is not bad. However, his assignments and mid terms are freak. He caugth around 30 students academic dishonesty but his assignments are damn hard. Do no choose it as elective, if you are comp sci major, Business is much better, change your major
Has great style of lecture notes and provides many examples. However, the midterm and final are both a tad difficult.
He is not bad when you go to his office to find him. However, he makes the introduction courses extremly difficult and the TA for the course is not helpful also
I want to refund this course
:( Poor instructor
HAHA this guy makes the course so easy. If you know a little bit of programing, go to his course, it will be like a joke.
if you have absolutely no progamming background, this course will be fruity tooty hard, as it was for me, but i passed sort of.....dang. i didn't pass the fruity assignments though...and guess what, he actually reads these comments!! so immature
I'm not even close to a computer genius and I find this course SUPER EASY, easy MT/Final and no problem on all assignments (except last one). Got an A and I almost forgot I took this course. Read the textbook and write some program according to the book and you will be fine.
To G baker, Please stop writing gd feedback for yourslef. I told you, your courses are all hard Hard assignments. His classes will be always available even in september. Ask your friends for advise they will tell you how hard is this courses
he's a nice prof
lecture is not very helpful for the assignment and project. You are on your own
Talks fast. Notes are alright. Often states the obvious.
Well, to me, the assignments were pretty easy, but they don't help that much for the midterms or the finals. The midterms were okay and so was the final. You need to work abit (at least do your assignments and read the course book) to get a good mark.
Irresponsible lecturer. Degrades the quality of education in SFU CS.
mid a bit hard, final very hard, hard python assignment
Good prof. if u dont get it..go ask him. he gives u answer (assume that u show him that u understand the simple codes) the codes arent hard.. directly from the book... except for a few... but i mean.. USE YOUR INTUITION!!!! the style is the same... just diff. properties... In class he shows how to get THE ANSWER to the assignments.
For some reasons, on the midterm and the finals, there are obscure little questions even the most hawk-eyed student can miss (unless you have a comp sci brain). Nevertheless, read the study guide carefully and do the assignments, you'll be fine. (If you fail the midterm, you can still redeem yourself through assignments and the final exam!)
Extreme unclear and he didn't talk to students but himself in the lecture.
Boring lectures and difficult material + assignments! Things like python are not suitable for beginner CMPT at all! However, he seems to believe that the course is easy for everyone and that everyone should do well (if not, he assumes you are not trying)Tests are pretty fair though
he's not a bad prof. His homework is pretty much taught in class as examples. His midterms and finals are related to the homework, as long as you go to the lectures and do the homework you will get an A for sure.
has the most roundabout way of explaining things; lots of pieces that didn't tie together, and he taught subjects in the most painfully illogical way possible
i took the course with him 2 years ago. his lectures were boring but the materials were helpful. i would recommend the course to others if you want to have some fun (or easy credit) during the semester. i would not recommend this instructor though.
His tests are a little harder than expected... Sometimes I am not sure he knows what he is talking about because he uses "I guess" quite a bit when someone asks him a question.. I wouldn't really recommend him.
He's such a jerk, said we were having lecture this day then cancels the morning of lecture and there's like 30 people that show up. Two days til the final and he still hasnt sent out that outline that he promised.
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easy teacher. the assignments were interesting... tic-tac-toe and robot maze.... like, what teacher actually gives game-like projects as assignments... certainly not other profs
Unhelpful. Unresponsive to emails. Obviously disconnected from the students. These comments apply to both Mr. Baker and all of the TA's. CS department should filter out those who have programming exp. Otherwise, they set the curve. Astoundingly inappropriate course for non-CS people. Scattered, disorganized, incoherent, and incohesive. All of i
The WORST class i've taken at SFU. I have programming background and this course was unreal for a first year programming course. There was no help from the prof or TAs, I had to rely on other students to help me out. Midterm and Final were extremely hard, concentrates on the tiniest details in the texts which are both 250 pages of tiny writing.
Real nice guy. Exams a bit hard, but it might be because of my lack of programming background.
He isn't that easy, but as you do some preview, it will be crystal clear what is going on. Do practices and examples and think through the logic. He is willing to tell you how everything happen and how they come together, very helpful~
He's an EASY prof. Read the text, go to class and ask question and you will get an A- with ease. The assignments and labs given to you aren't hard if you take the time to work on it. The lectures are a bit boring, but it's worth going to class because it helps. I got a 85% on the final and I only studied for 3-4 hours at most! EASY prof!!!
easy class, and his notes are really detailed. he explain all the concept very clearly. Great Prof!
Similar to another student said, this was the worst class I have taken at SFU. The TA's were the ones that seemed to be teaching the course! Even at that, the TA's and the prof were very condescending and quite often there was lots of chatter between the students for help. The prof always asked us to email the TA's for help and not him. HORRIBLE.
Friendly and quite helpful, especially if you go talk to him one on one.
nice guy, pretty helpful. tries to make jokes and it's pretty cute. it's funny cause it's not funny. awwww
An okay prof. Even though I had no prior programming experience, the assignments and exams were doable. It's really important to practice and ask for help when you don't understand something. Labs and assignments start out as laughably easy, but the difficulty really picks up by the middle of the course.
This prof is totally like a high school teacher, with all the straight copying notes from overhead. I suppose this style is a good thing if you like slow paced learning. Another + side to this course is, reading materials are free. Like someone said earlier, assignments begin dead easy and progress to very challenging. This prof is very clear.
Good prof, a bit boring, easy to follow, seems intimidated by the class (never looks up), cute jokes. Breaks the course down into baby steps which seem easy at the time but are impressive when you look back at the end. A very good course for your first semester.
Beginning was hard. But once you get used to it , it's very easy. Make sure read notes and attend every lecture. If you have any questions, email him, he will reply within a day or so. And he's very helpful
Be wary of him! He has one of the worst qualities a prof could have:favouritism! If you are in the little circle of hist friends and favourite student you are fine. Otherwise, don't try to get on his bad side. And that's not just what I say. Also, he is very subjective as opposed to being objective.
Worst prof at SFU EVER ! Doesn't reply to e-mail (if he does it'll take him about a week). Overall horrible prof for this course ! If you want to take CMPT 165 then take it with the other prof.
unlike what the course description said, this course is NOT suitable for non-cmptsci majors with no programming background. the first half was fine (a breeze even)...but once the programming stuff kicks in, ur on ur own. prog asgnments were hard considering it was a dist.ed class...if ur gonna take 165, i suggest the on-campus lecture section
This is not a mandatory course, so don't take it if u have a choice. Greg is OK, but too much work.
Funny guy...i like the random side comments
Great guy, definitely top 5 at SFU. Tells it like it is, and actually cares about students.
WOW! Whatever you do, DO NOT take this course through distance education. First half alright, second half brutal. You get no help, questions that are answered through email, a week later are vague. Take this course on campus, or avoid taking it.
He's an alright teacher. The assignments get really difficult towards the end. Lectures are straight copying notes off overhead and quite boring.
THIS COURSE IS NOT A GPA BOOSTER. The apparent struggle and despair on webCT "cafe" reveals clarity of material and helpfulness the TA's. Cheatsheets for exams will help for 1 question...there will be questions you have no clue about. And writing perfect CSS/HTML on exams for full marks??? In the real world, we use validators.
Hard assignments
WAY TOO DIFFICULT. not at all suitable for students with no background in programming. i took this course online and the forums would be filled with confused students. assignments took me at least a day to complete and are not worth that many marks. dont recommend taking this course AT ALL.
Teaching style is great, only need notes to be more neat.
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He makes for an enjoyable class.
I took CMPT 165 by DE thinking it was a GPA booster...ha...ha...ha.HAHAHAHAHAHA. This was one of the worst courses I have taken ever. Like many of the other people here, the first half was easy, I had 100%, then the midterm and second half hit. His practice midterm was USELESS! Also, a riot was started in the cafe, when we got no help. AWFUL!
The text he wrote for his intro course is excellent. His teaching style is solid, though he seemed just a little cold. But I thought his little quips were hilarious, for a teacher. Assignments were adequately challenging, as were exams. I was pretty impressed all around. Not too easy though, gotta work for your mark.
The best CMPT prof. Lectures, assignments and labs are well structured and clear. Exams are not too difficult.Assignments are fun to make (especially Pac-Man).
People who complain about this guy are absolutely out of their mind. While I can appreciate the difficulty of 165 and 120 for new programming students, Baker is the ideal instructor for the would-be programmer and his courses are warmer and more inviting than any class you will get from the faculty. Your shortcomings are your own, not his.
SO I took this in DE too and what can i say, the instructions are clear, and the labs and assignments weren't that hard to do. But the midterm! Man the class average was low. Making a css given the time limit and the stuff on the diagram =_____= and the TAs never answers anything.
The course itself is not hard, but the guy doesn't know how to teach. he makes everything seems really complicated. Assignments were easy. midterm was fair, but the final was little hard. because of the python (programing language) tht we only covered basic in the class. you can get above average if you study the text book, but don;t hope for A.
I'm currently taking the DE class. I have never done any website building prior to this class, and I'm finding this class very easy to do well in. Simply do all the homework yourself, mt/final shouldn't be anything new. While I can't comment much about the prof, the textbook is enough to deal with any problems.Prof has nothing todo with difficulty.
Took this class for the bsci requirement. Lets just says this was not as easy as I had originally thought. Assignments clear. Cool prof. Keeps you engaged throughout lecture. Midterm was a killer but final was fair.
Took this course by DE. Not too bad actually. The new formatted course is quite manageable. Just do your labs and assignments. Most of the Midterm and Final written is based off the labs/assignments. Read the textbook, then you'll get an A.
This course is easy for people who have a smidgen of knowledge on HTML. The programming at the later half of the course was very introductory and not too complicated. His lectures are pretty much the same as the text (written by him) so lectures weren't mandatory. He teaches some tricks in class, but eh. Exams were not hard if you read the book.
May as well be the first to review Spring 2010. All in all, Greg did a great job teaching this course. The TB is written by him and follows the lectures closely, which is very helpful. The assignments are totally unambiguous - he tells you exactly what he wants and you go to it. Very accessible for help and he personally attended my lab section.
Great text written by himself. His very thin and concise text is ideal for people who get restless while reading/studying. The prof did not command the lecture hall well. He was at times impatient and too easily frustrated, though that is understandable given the amount of people who talked in class and all the people who walked in late.
Easy course. His study guide really helped. I never listened in lecture and still got an A- just from reading the book. HTML was relatively easy. Programming got a bit tricky so be sure to attend labs and get help from the TA if you're stuck. Midterm and Final are allowed one handwritten cheat sheet!
One of the best teachers in the CS department. Greg is actually motivated and interested in the subject and in his students. He is charismatic and organized. His semi-weekly labs really help you learn the material, and his assignments are actually interesting. In addition, he does them first, so you know you can get the help you need. Recommended
Excellent course. Excellent prof. The assignments were interesting and fun. The exams were fair. He is a good lecturer. Classes are easy to follow and the energy level is high.
The course itself is not that bad. His notes is clear, the text book is also easy to read. However, I think he gets angry so easily...
Lectures were alright and not too bad. I don't like how he throws his notepad on the counter as he moves from overhead to another. He's also quite impatient that he even yelled at somebody just because he was talking to someone. Who says we can't talk in the lecture hall? It's university, not high school
good professor~
Pretty easy course if you download and use the study guide. Also he provides all the stuff you need on the website, so no real reason to buy the books. Clear, concise and pretty funny too. Only annoying thing was the TA din't speak English too well.
Great prof, definitely worth taking this course for a easy grade(if you are into computers/put in a little effort).
Third time with distance ed course, based on first impression of the textbook, it seemed fun and well organized. The latter is true. Figuring out hwk on my own is fun but time consuming but ONLY worth 50%; you get a cheatsheet for mt, but you're racing every second of it; above all, Baker, finally seeing him at the exams, is condescending and rude.
A very useful course if you want to gain some more practical skills, as web app work is in high demand. Useful material, well taught, as usual, by Greg. Obviously, it's a group project, so pick your partners and the actual project well!
Great Prof, knows his stuff.
First half of the material is easy and the instructions were clear but when it gets to python programming it got hard and you do need some help if you want to do well. (I took it as a distance ed) Expect the midterm and final to be hard(multiple questions were tricky). Overall it is an interesting course.
For a person with no cmpt background, this course can get quite challenging and time consuming as the course proceeds, especially the assignments. Use all the help you can get. His mt and quiz is easy, final is just long with a lot of functions. Lectures are all handwritten with no textbook. His notes are filled with words but not enough examples.
To be honest, the man is incredibly condescending and arrogant. Not to mention incredibly useless when you ask him something. The course itself was easy, I didn't read his garbage text book to learn python though. I know he probably reads this because of his massive ego. One other thing: NOT ENOUGH EXAMPLES/RESOURCES.
Yes, as some mentioned, he is arrogant. He does not make you feel very confortable when you ask him questions. Nonetheless, he is the best lecturer I ever met in my life. I can follow him very well and can see how much effort and care he put into his lecture. He is very smart and he is into the stuff he teach. He is overall a great prof.
Greg is a nice guy and he's a good prof. Go to class, ask questions, attend the labs. He's young so he can relate to students.
He is the best lecturer I have met. You can benefit a lot from his interesting lectures. His weekly exercises are pretty helpful to understand materials. If you devote yourself into his notes and exercises during the term, you may spend very little time reviewing before the final. (I only spent 4 hours.) Do not hesitate to take his course!!!
Took DIST ED, overall not hard if you have previous experience- more or less stuff you can learn on your own with ease especially if you are very computer savvy. Allowed a cheat sheet for exams, but I never brought one, still got an A.
Great prof, clear lectures, interested in material, useful/interesting assignments.
Never take this course if you are not an expert in programming, there is no so much help, most of emails are no replying by TAs or prof, material are brutal hard and vague, every week you have exercises.Also you have 3 assignments each one with a weird language which even one of them even did teach. Prof speaks super fast. never take it.
best class ever! weekly exercises give you practise. lecture material and exam/assignment material have high correlation. all required programming were fun and interesting. learned a lot about what's out there in the programming world, truly eye opening course. if you do your exers and asn, exams need not be prepared for
Both an excellent professor and topic. Lecture notes help you finish exercises which give you sufficient practice to find concepts intuitive. An easy course if you do your work, yet it teaches important topics. Greg is knowledgeable, apt and honest. He demonstrates concepts in class and knows industry trends. Very fun and informative class.
Haven't taken too many CMPT courses yet, but this was excellent. Lectures are at a pace that's really digestable and interesting. Assignments are very manageable once you start working on them. He's super friendly and gets to the point with what he's teaching. Exams are very fair; just review the notes and do all the exercises on paper for practice
Course material is valuable to all programmers, and Greg teaches it extremely well. The weekly exercises and assignments relate to the course notes, so you rarely feel lost. Highly recommended!
one of the best prof. explains everything really well. you will really learn a lot from this prof. Assignments exams were reasonable.
One of few profs who still teach using an overhead, which is GOOD because it keeps the pace manageable. Learned two new prog langs, a new paradigm, and got more prolog practice from this course: well worth it. Weekly exercises and three fairly large assignments. Not too tough if you start early. Tests are programming heavy so be sure to practice!
Took distance Ed with Greg. He's non present during the course, and is pretty unhelpful at exams, bordering on rude. That said, it's a distance course, so you can expect that
The class can be challenging but Greg is definitely one of the more engaging professors you will ever see at SFU. Highly recommend any class he is teaching. I have taken 3 of his classes if not more.
boring, feels like reading a book and not helpful at all.
He is easy to approach, so feel free to ask him questions and be friend with him. I probably like him more than anyone just because my interest in web development
Greg is a nice guy and a pretty good teacher. Teaches well but he can be pretty sassy sometimes. Interrupts the entire class to acknowledge late students which is often more distrustful than the students themselves. Assignments are easy, but the final exam was really hard. Overall, he's approachable and will explains things well.
Boring prof , useless comments, he even doesn't bother to clarify what he expects, you think you are lost in the middle of semester and that's what exactly he wants, sfu should not keep these instructors anymore.
Awful. His online text does NOT provide the information you need to properly program Python and be ready for the final. The final exam tests how well you can write a cheat sheet. A TA sat on my table rocking it during the final exam. His TA did not answer a programming question I had, which then of course came up on the final. Avoid this prof.
Overall he is a nice guy, class is okay. But the TA's he chooses suck. They are super hard markers and are not lenient at all on the marking, which makes the tests super hard. Only take this course if you have previous experience or you are detail oriented. Missing ".." or a "/" could cost you the whole question.
Overall really great prof. He know's what he is talking about as he has done extensive work in the field. If you're interested in the subject, he's the best prof to take the course with!
First half of the class was pretty easy. Python was extremely hard and I feel that he didn't go over it enough in class. Decent prof, but talks about food & restaurants too much...
This class is a joke. Don't need to go to lectures as half or more of them are presentations and all of the material is on the website. This is less of a class and more of a soap box for greg to go off on his opinions about web-development. If you can get over his self-obsessed rant-like lectures though this course is very easy.
Let's be honest: Wikipedia articles are often the best introductory descriptions to concepts you'll find anywhere. This is what he said for his a lot of links. And I want to say that I didn't pay my tuition fee for the bunch of Wikipedia links. His teaching skill is okay, but he doesn't have a good manner when you ask something through email.
He is a very gifted lecturer. His courses are planned out in a smart manner. He gives relevant weekly exercises for you to practice the material and get your feet wet in preparation for big assignments. His exams are fair, although a bit coding heavy. He uses overhead, which keeps the pace nice. You get the feeling that he puts more into lectures.
3 main parts to the course. Haskell, Language features, then Prolog. Haskell and language features consist of many lectures, while prolog gets two. On the final, haskell is a large portion, language features is not represented enough, and prolog is represented too much. Averages are high so be prepared for scaling, as in an 86% will not give an A.
He's condescending in the Study Guide and course materials. Did course online, so only saw him during exams. Study guide didn't even have all the information needed for the last assignment. Remedied by google-fu however, shouldn't have to resort to that. Maybe he's bored teaching this entry level course, but he should be more respectful regardless.
It is a tough course with weekly assignments, but I wouldn't take it with anyone else!
He is straight, to-the-point, and rather blunt. He gets impatient and irritated if you don't appear to be "getting it" quickly enough, though. Exams contain extrapolations of the class material, not just straightforward regurgitation; study BEYOND what has been covered in class.
Thinks his class is the only class students are taking! Too much work and he is really annoying! I hate this guy.
A really annoying guy. All the course was about how to use Vagrant. Lectures are completely irrelevant. Make sure to choose you pick a good team otherwise there's no chance to get a good mark.
he is intelligent on programming (especially HTML, php-related), but he is not a good lecturer. The topic he talks in lecture is pretty irrelevant, and pretty strict on marking the project presentation. Luckily there is a TA to boost up your grade.
Scales Backwards
Lectures doesn't help in anyway. Never show up to any office hours without any notice whatsoever. Just plain unhelpful. Don't take anything with him. The course was easy. Just him making it hard.
Overall, he is a nice guy and knows his stuff. Lectures are very similar to his online study guide. Unlike previous semesters, he substituted Python with JavaScript. As a student with zero coding experience, I found html and css pretty easy but js was tough! There is a study guide but it doesn't cover everything you need to complete assignments.
Took the class as a GPA booster, ended up learning a lot of good conventions for basic web design. Greg is a fair marker and one of the more enjoyable teachers that regularly teaches in Computing Science. Midterm and Final were both challenging, even for a person with past coding experience, but were fair nonetheless. Cheat sheets allowed.
He was rude and condescending when I emailed him asking for help. The online Study Guide didn't even cover all the material on the exam. After a point I NEVER received replies to my requests for help. Not form the TA's, him, or the 'help' email. I had nobody to help. Study guide seemed almost incomplete in a few areas. Be ready to learn via google
I think he had fun when seeing students being tortured by his unclear marking scheme, super tough grading
Absolutely awful. Extremely condescending, seems to have little man complex. Take classes with him if you enjoy boring lectures, vague marking schemes, and low grades.
The worst prof I've ever had at SFU, no comparison, unbeatable! rude as hell, ignore students' questions,etc. He almost made me give up computing science. My nightmare at SFU
Boring, required prior programming knowledge, super hard exam
Love yourself, avoid this disqualified lecturer.
He is one of the worst lecture I have met, he couldn't explain a simple concept, always over complicated it.
He is a tough grader, keep in mind that constructive feedback are absent in his class
self centered character, rude when you are asking for help
He turn simple material to complicated course, I would avoid Greg in the future.
This prof spends a lot of time creating the materials for weekly exercises and lectures. However, he is a very tough marker and unclear. The guy is rude when he is being asked with questions that he thinks is straight forward. I would definitely not going to take anymore class with him.
He is very unclear in class, he never replies my email when I have a concern.
Good professor
The assignments are super unclear, but he is an amazing instructor which teaches you a lot. If he could improve the assignments documentation, definitely deserve A+ for teaching ability.
Greg is a very chill guy who explains all concepts clearly and thoroughly. Weekly exercises really ensure that you have a good understanding of the languages learned (Haskell and Go). Midterms and final were very fair with no surprises, and were mostly coding based. I will definitely try to take another class with Greg if I can!
Greg is awesome. He puts a lot of effort into his class notes and assignments, and it shows. He is really knowledgeable (although he likes to go on one too many rants). I learned a lot from this class, and it is great that the professor is very passionate.
He also tries to keep the course material as relevant as possible to the current time. He understands the student mentality so he will try to make the course enjoyable and sometimes cancels lectures because "Monday sucks"
Nothing special. An average instructor.
Exposure to functional programming and other niche programming languages. Although greg baker was a solid lecturer, the course was not all that memorable as most of the assignments were dull and haskell (which greg focuses on in this course) is likely a language you will never use again.
Light hearted lectures. Assignments are sometimes unclear. Really good prof overall
Easily the best prof I've had in my 4+ years at this school. Always willing and ready to help, explains things clearly, easy going. I have zero complaints! Highly recommend, but be prepared - he does expect students to actually do work and learn.
Excellent. One of my favourite courses! The weekly assignments are well designed to help understand the lectures while still being fun.
"Intro to web development", no. This class was taught with no respect to people who have never worked with Javascript for the first time. If you aren't already familiar with coding, DONT TAKE THIS CLASS! Plus, he's a terrible lecturer, does not reply to emails, and the amount of time you have to put into assignments each week is too much for 1%.
Awful professor, he even has coding mistakes in his lecture and acts like it is expected for a prof to have mistakes. He marks unfairly and the course it too reliant on exams. Everything must be done in his old fashioned way to get marks, takes marks of for working code even if its in industry standard. He's one of those devs that refuse to update
I learned a lot in his class. The weekly assignments were well tailored to be challenging but also figure-out-able. Greg was very helpful in the lab time, but those labs came at a price. The course was condensed into 2-hour lectures each week, which were really hard to stay attentive in. The class was curved down unfortunately. Tests were hard.
Greg is one of my favorite CS profs at SFU. He structures his class so that the weekly exercises are straightforward but rewarding. His notes are great, so you don't necessarily need to go to class. The only downside is you need to memorize Python for the exams. However, the exercises are extremely helpful for that.
Greg's my favorite prof I've had at SFU, the weekly exercises let you get steadily more comfortable with the material and the projects are free enough that you can make something of your own, but not so open-ended you don't know where to start. If you have a chance to take a class with him, there's a good chance he's the best prof that teaches it.
Short and sweet lectures. Lots of assignments but extremely thorough and well guided. You will learn so much. Professor is quirky and impatient. When asked a question, he will look you dead in the eye and scold you for criticizing his work. Intimidating, hostile, and uncomfortable interactions.
Professor Greg Baker provides a solid structure for lockdown learning, however, anyone looking for a GPA booster should be aware that he will scale down hard. He's also not the nicest person to interact with and I felt he jumps the gun and perceives certain interactions as slights. I get that text based communication doesn't convey tone but still.
Gap between grades is very small. Does not answer emails until 2-3 weeks later and is condescending when you finally do get a reply. I really wanted to like this course but it wasn't made enjoyable.
His teaching style, workload, and exams are fair. If you do the work, you can pass the class. The only thing I wish he would change is his attitude toward responding to students' questions. In Piazza, he sometimes responds with one-word replies or a question. In a learning environment, this way of response is discouraging for students.
Great Prof. The lectures are decent and easy to follow. Make sure you go over the material before the quizzes and they are easy to get 90%+. Make sure you understand the assignments thoroughly as well. the course might be challenging if it's your first time with Python. Also office hours (lab hours) are great. make sure to attend if you have any Qs
Average prof.
Lectures are great, material is pretty easy. He's pretty unhelpful and a bit rude when asked questions through email/office hours in my experience. The class is scaled down - I had 85% and got a B. The class average was 82%. If your goal is to learn, this is a great class. Not a GPA booster.
The course is very useful teaches many different things but the professor is not that good. Avoid if possible, I got some 80% aggregate and ended with just B-. Not a GPA booster.
very ambiguous grading criteria for the final project. almost feels like he just gives out grades based on whether he likes the project or not. also avoid using mongodb and other databases he doesn't like if you are unfortunate enough to take this course with this guy.
Lectures are good quality. Weekly exercises that are short but good refreshers of material. Assignments have clear and unambiguous descriptions (this is rare) and are very related to course material. Tests required some coding, so you have to be familiar with the languages. If you do the assignments and exercise you will be fine.
Lectures are great, however he poorly values students' work. Even if you work so hard on your group project, you still get extremely low grades if he doesn't like it. And do not try waste his time by asking questions. His time is so expensive and he doesn't want to spend them on you.
There are certain frameworks he doesn't like and has a tendency to deduct marks arbitrarily. If you ask him for clarification or what to do instead, he perceives it as a slight and will respond in a condescending way. Judging by prior reviews, he seemed nicer in the past so maybe covid teaching is getting to him.
Not the most engaging of professors and provides low effort and rude responses to questions in office hours. I got a good grade in this course because of stack exchange and coop experience. Would recommend you take this course with someone else.
He teaches well, but he is extremely rude and disrespectful towards students. I am too scared to ask him any questions. If he could change his behavior towards students, that would make a big difference.
The most interesting, fun, useful and engaging class I ever took. Fair grader, excellent computer scientist. Real fun lectures (sarcastic and dry humour). He's a smart cookie, and you learn without realising you're learning.
This guy gave me an F in the class cause a group member I have a personal issue with complained that I wasn't doing enough. He just took the student's word and gave me an F with no investigation. I've never felt so unfairly treated. AVOID THIS CLASS!
Emotionless!
He has a very poor attitude towards students, and he doesn't care about the results of students' projects. You can't feel the slightest respect from him, especially if you want to discuss anything with him or ask questions, because you take up his "extremely precious" time.
His teaching in lecture is far from the worst. But interactions in email or office hours is just a pain. It seems like he's only there because the school makes him.
I really enjoyed the content of the course, assignments were interesting and lectures were of good quality. The good stops there though, feedback from group projects (80% of your grade) is very minimal until you email him. His replies give a "you're wasting my time, my time is precious" kind of vibe, and give feedback that is very subjective.
Weekly assignments. Does not really relate to lectures. Hard marking on final group project.
Format: 2 hr online lecture as a Youtube Premier, 1 hr optional office hour in CSIL. Missing 1 hr of lecture meant more assignments, but they were simple to do if experienced with programming. Even if not experienced, Dr. Baker did a lot of code demos + commentary (all recorded). His slides are phenomenal. Wished the course was more challenging
Very accommodating to our 8:30 am class, as he made it online on youtube. Exercises every week helped me learn better, but his quizzes were really hard for me still.
Greg is one of the best profs I have had. He puts more effort into his course than any instructor I've seen over my four years. He also focuses more on the application of concepts rather than the theoretical side which gives students the skills to create interesting projects.
Dr. Baker is a very good lecturer on cmpt 353. He pre-recorded all lectures and he explained everything clearly. I like his humour as well. However, I don't recommend you take this course if you want to spend less time for a 3-credit course. There will be assignments EVERY week which may trouble you when you need time to study other courses.
He is very organized and a nice prof. Home-works are a lot and sometimes tough. Therefore, beware of doing assignments every week for this course. His lectures are pre-recorded and clear. I also like his grading distribution. In general, I would take more courses with him.
Really good prof and super caring too
The course has very interesting topics, however it's taught in a very shallow way. All you learn is just calling bunch of function where you don't even truly understand how those methods works actually like RandomForestClassifier . His lectures are not informative really, just mostly reading from slides, giving vague and shallow explanations...
Greg baker my goat.
He displays a lack of politeness and often adopts a sassy tone. He diverts discussions to restaurants and food, which can be distracting. His comments occasionally demonstrate cultural insensitivity, and he tends to speak impulsively. There appears to be a noticeable bias towards students from specific cultural backgrounds in his interactions.
If you can take 295 with Greg do it. It's been one of the most interesting cmpt courses I've taken at SFU so far. He is very active in the class discussion forum and is clearly passionate about the material.
Professor Greg is very knowledgeable and passionate in his course delivery. Exams are fair but somewhat tricky. He is helpful and encouraging during lab times for weekly exercises. I'd recommend starting the group project early, it is fun and useful. Hands down one of the best profs in SFU CS, highly recommend taking courses with him :)
Too sassy, Too sarcastic. Does not pay attention to the actual teaching.
The class has these really cool topics that catch your attention, but the way they teach it is kinda shallow. It's like all you do is learn how to use a bunch of functions. The teacher's lectures aren't all that helpful, they mostly just read off the slides. Take the course because of topics and not because of the lecturer.
I have had the worst experience with him ever. He's the most arrogant person, and is never helpful. During the course, I reached out to him like 4 - 5 times, but he was never helpful in any of the cases. Would never take him again!
Never replies to emails. Least interested in listening to feedback. If you take his class, just read the textbook and avoid his presence.
His passion and serious approach to the material, coupled with their helpful demeanor, creates a truly engaging learning environment. It's rare to find a professor who excels at teaching, is genuinely passionate, a wonderful sense of humor. I don't know why people complain about sarcasm, it's the best. Hope he remain like this, KEEP ON TEACHING.
This is first time he taught 295, it is considered one of the tough courses, and he taught it so well and felt like he's has been teaching this course for a while. Truly great at teaching, which is hard to find in university professor's even with their high education status, don't know why university hires people who can't teach. but he is so great
You learn everything through his slides and weekly HW assignments. His slides are slightly unorganized imo so it makes studying a little bit difficult. He replies to posts on the discussion forum and is available for questions after classes.
Extremely difficult course content but that's how the course is, not Greg's fault. He was enthusiastic about the content throughout the course. All lectures were delivered on YouTube so no attendance was needed. Really weird slide formatting. Be aware that there are weekly exercises and exams make up 50% of the grade so tons of pressure.
Frequently digresses into unrelated topics during discussions, displays a tendency towards confusion and quick irritation, and consistently appears rushed in demeanor. I would advise against enrolling in his courses
Great person, Great class I loved how it wasnt hard to understand the lectures, but the assignments where hard tbh
He did a very good job teaching data science and the lectures were all well made. Highly recommend taking this course.
In CMPT 353, Professor Baker provides a clear, intuitive connection between probability, statistics, data science, machine learning, and cloud computing that is as enjoyable as it is easy to follow. Lectures are logical and the weekly coding assignments are reasonably demanding, enabling a deep understanding of the material.
Sarcastic and ill-prepared.
Condescending responses to questions in office hours. Would recommend you take this course with someone else.
Interesting topics, but teaching falls short. We scratch the surface, learning functions without depth. Lectures are mostly slide readings. Take the course for the subject matter, but be prepared to do extra work to get the most out of it
The assignments are not related to what taught in the class. Random marking on final group project. Has no control over the TAs and their favoritism.
I've heard 295 would be extremely hard, but he makes this course really enjoyable and easy to understand. Weekly labs are actually fun and help me to deepen my understanding of the concepts, fair quizzes, and very organized lectures and slides. He's very knowledgeable and passionate about teaching.
Chill prof, lectures are straightforward, slides have most of the information and lectures are just there to support what he is teaching. Assignments are helpful in understanding concepts and exams aren't too difficult
He is there because he needs the money. He actually does not like teaching or his students. Stay away.
0 accountability nor cares about students learning. Horrible lecturer for an introductory course. Take his class if you want to learn on your own.
Greg is a gem, best prof you can get for 295.
Greg is one of the best profs I've ever taken, I would recommend him to anyone I can if they have to take Cmpt 295. His lectures and slides were engaging and very easy to follow. He was also approachable and understanding. The exams are easy as long as you have a basic understanding of the course content and know how to do the labs.
Best instructor for 295 ever. Made this course super interesting and exams and weekly exercises were easy and helped a lot in understanding the course material. Greg is also very chill and helping in office hours and gives great feedback. His slides and lectures are very straightforward and going to lectures also helps a lot. Definitely recommend!
GREG IS THE GOAT. If you are taking cmpt295 he is one of your only hopes.
Greg is a solid prof and so are his lectures/assignments/ quizzes/"mini-project"/Final exams. He jokes around in lecture to maybe engage the students. U can maybe even stay home and just read the slides/watch lecture recordings, and u will be good. outside of class hes always available either in csil or his office. Overall take this course with him
Definitely one of the best CS profs. No nonsense, he dives straight in and designs assignments in a way that helps you really understand and the exams are super fair and are more based on understanding than memorisation. Overall a pretty great prof. Absolutely enjoyed this class.
If you find 100-level courses challenging, CS might not be the right major for you, as more difficult courses like CMPT 295 are ahead (I also had 125 with him). Greg covers interesting topics and assigns weekly assignments that serve as good revision and exam references. If you see him teaching CMPT 295, don't hesitate to take the course with him.
He is the best prof I have ever had. He teaches you what you need in real life. His labs teach you what you need for the quizzes and exams. Very fair. Grading is very lenient. He is just amazing. If you get a chance, then take any course with him. I did 353 too and it made me choose machine learning as a career path. Perfect proffesor. Too good!!!!
No textbooks are necessary. Greg's teaching of these courses is good and the amount of work assigned is reasonable. Labs are due every week and take a few hours to complete. The tests he assigns are also reasonable where the multiple choices can be tricky but the coding portion is similar to the labs. Generally, the class average is pretty high.
Well thought-out weekly assignments. His focus is on helping you learn rather than creating pointless difficulty. My only gripe is that some quiz MC qs felt arbitrary. I also would've liked more guidelines on the final project. Some confuse his sarcastic demeanour for rudeness, but he was always friendly in my experience. Definitely recommend Greg.
Very fair class. Took 295 with arvindh and failed. Took it with Greg and it is so good. Arvindh teaches way beyond scope. Greg is perfect.
Greg tells it how it is and gives you everything you need to succeed in his course. I appreciate his straightforward teaching style and sarcastic humour. Weekly assignments and exams were directly relevant to what was taught in lecture. Office hours and audio lecture recordings were available. Made a 4-credit course seem like a walk in the park!
His exams have no curveballs. His lecture notes are incredibly good. Lab are clear in instructions and enjoyable. Amazing prof.
Tough exams, unfair grading, and lack of support.
Worst Prof ever. If u are first year DO NOT take it with him. Doesn't care about his students and is arrogant. Take ur class with someone else so you won't be at risk for your gpa and your academic standing.
as long as you actually show up to his lectures, you should be good. that said, showing up is nearly not enough, to excel in this course you need a substantial amount of actual coding practice using the concepts learned in class. greg is super chill tho, easy to follow along and always made his lectures compact and concise
The hardest part about this course were the bigger coding assignments. It gets more vague as you go, but grading on your code is pretty generous. Tests are fair, with marking on your written code being lenient if you're on the right track. Overall he's funny and knows comp sci, but I learnt best from outside sources and general coding practice.
All of his lecture notes are online and they make a lot of sense. He seems to care for his students and what he is teaching. In office hours he is also really nice and helpful. His assignments/labs are very doable and are similar to the tests. His exams are pretty short and reasonable.
Greg was an absolute bully. I went to his office hour for group project. Completely dismisses my questions and replied rudely. I was simply asking questions about the scope. I will never forget: I'm the prof. I get to decide your grade.
The most entertaining lectures. Definitely holds your attention throughout the class. Very no-nonsense and will teach you practical stuff. However, the lecture will only be an introduction to the topic and you will learn more when you try the assignment yourself.
Weekly exercises and assignments were not too hard even if you are a beginner to Python. He went over many examples in the lectures which was really helpful. The 2 quizzes and the final exam were all reasonable./ I miss this class!!
Assignments are pretty easy to get 100% on (Greg would even point you in the right direction if asked). If you get 100% on them and understood what to do, you would likely get a high grade on the project. The quizzes are fairly straight forward if you memorized key points and did the assignments. 100% online with exception of quizzes. B average.
JUST AVOID HIM. Hands down the worst prof I've had at SFU. Rude with a terrible attitude, especially to international students. Streams lectures of him coughing every couple of sentences all semester long weekly on YouTube. Really hard to follow lectures. This was not what I signed up for in an in-person class. Such a waste of time and tuition.
Passes rude disrespectful comments in the class. Is always talking about something else other than the course material. Avoid.
Good prof. People complaining he's rude are just not used to being treated like adults. He's not gonna waste your time and expects you to know your stuff from the prereqs. You're dipping into two new languages, be ready and willing to research on your own. Assignments, exercises, exams are fair. No quizzes.
He doesn't teach, he just talks for two hours. No clear grading criteria or outline for final project worth 22%. Nothing can prepare you for his multiple choice questions. Honestly, he's a rude person.
As a lecturer, Greg is pretty good at delivering engaging lectures. He is clearly knowledgable, and even likes to crack a joke every once and a while. Outside of lectures, he was helpful, although I felt he could come across as a bit of a jerk sometimes. Felt like he had a bit of a superiority complex and isn't interested in your side of the story.
Greg is one of the best profs I've had at SFU. Some ppl say he's “rude,” but I'd call it blunt. He's direct and doesn't waste words. The course had 15% weekly exercises, 3 longer/harder assignments 35%, and exams worth 50%. Homework was easy marks if you kept up, assignments took ~20 hrs, and exams were tough, but fair. I'd recommend Greg any day.
Great at teaching, genuinely passionate about what we're learning and explains things really well and like conversationally which I like a lot. I become more passionate from it and idk he just like actually cares about his students and he wants us to do well ex. he drops by labs even tho he isnt required to, stuff like that he is really great.
One of the most arrogant and narcissistic prof ever!!!! His trick is to send email to first year students saying "I know you used AI so confess" just want to show off to his colleagues that I can catch people who use AI and ruin their whole academic life and future by wrongfully accusing them. Lectures r so bad and quizzes were worst
Weekly Lab assignments were directly from the slides he gave. Slides are very detailed and easy to understand. Midterm 1 and 2 were very fair, directly from the slides, just remeber to remeber the little things. Overall great semester and prof. Made a four credit class feel like a breeze
I love Greg Baker. He loves you too if you lock in. Do the labs, its pretty interesting and you will do well in tests (if u don't use AI). I love Greg Baker.
Greg is honestly one of my favourite profs that I've had. His lectures are engaging and he clearly cares about the subject that he's teaching. The material provided for the class is very informative, and there are a lot of links provided for additional information on almost everything.
Greg is a really great professor, especially for 295. Unfortunately, I did use AI on some of the labs and got docked quite a bit of marks for academic dishonesty. However, the class itself was great and I learned a lot. Highly recommend Greg to anyone.
Relatively easy weekly lab assignments. Quizzes were fine for the most part (tho not much study material besides slides). Course website is very organized and friendly to read. Responds to all questions (makes it clear if he can't explicitly give u the answer). Straightforward and sometimes cracks a joke in lecture. Cool guy overall
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
9%
Textbook Required
42%
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