Professor Johnston, while hilarious, is completely ineffective at teaching. He seems much more concerned with deriving a proof of why something works rather than how to put it into application. You know something's off when 60% stops showing up to his lectures before the first half of the semester is over.

Careful now, if you take calc with him you're likely to be left with no new knowledge and for some reason feeling guilty for having a cellphone. He's really easily distracted, not good at answering questions, great at displacing blame (that definitely falls on him), and pronounces "water" weird.

He goes of on several capitalism tangents rather than actually teaching you calculus. Although he can be a funny man he'd rather spend lectures teaching you a proof of something rather than applying it. He spent an entire 50 minute class talking about the housing crisis and mars robots.

Worst professor I have ever had in my life. I am an A and B student, never received a C in my entire life. Hans spends all of class on two different things. One, he rants about capitalism, smart phones, or some random topic unrelated to calc. Or, two, he spends all of the lecture discussing why a theory is true rather than explain how to solve it.

i could write a 10 page paper on how awful this class was. There were no due dates for homeworks at the start of the semester but he decided to change that midsemester. Practice exams were released on the day of the exam. The prerequisite says Calc II but a lot of Calc III and Linear Algebra was used in the course

He could be late like 15 minutes on his exam. He did not even complete the course after the last class.

If you are not required to take this class for your major, avoid as much as possible. Lectures are out of the place and consistently erases everything. Teaches so abstractly without many examples.

He's really not good at explaining math. He also goes on random tangents about irrelevant things frequently. I had to go to the other lecturer for Calc 128, but once I did, my test scores improved.

fails to provide any resources to help understand material outside of a class punctuated by unnecessary tangents. Material is made more complex than what it actually is on exams; too theory heavy and impractical. Problem sets somewhat difficult, exams easy (once you cut through the impractical theories you dont actually need). Avoid at all costs.

In any event one of the worst teachers Ive come across. Yes, hes hilarious but he hardly teaches the subject well. He gives a lot of info about world issues or other things that arent related to math. I had to start going to the other teacher to do well. Study the exam reviews and youll do fine.

HE IS THE WORST PROFESSOR IVE HAD AT UMASS AND THE ONLY PROFESSOR WHO TEACHES CALC 128 LITERALLY THE WORST SEMESTER OF MY LIFE THANK YOU HANS FOR NOT CARING ABOUT YOUR STUDENTS... AT ALL!

Extremely unprofessional. He interrupts his students and does not listen to constructive criticism. He changes his syllabus dates on the regular and gives no slack for students struggling with covid. In the class I'm in right now it's taken him 35 mins to even start the class. He goes off on way too many tangents for a class I'm paying for.

worst prof ive had so far, belittles almost every question and switches up the original grading from the syllabus with only a few weeks left in the semester. takes very long to get class started. would not recommend taking his class if you want to do well !!!

Decided to change our grading criteria half way through the semester, as if students arent already under enough stress with adjusting to online learning and so much more... Encourages questions, but then belittles you for asking. Not professional. Wastes a lot of time. Extremely rude, no sympathy. Learned the material from anywhere but lecture.

Has no respect for his students or his students' time. Interrupts and belittles when anyone tries to ask a question. He goes off on unnecessary tangents that don't relate to math. Never appears prepared for class. Exams are totally different from lecture and homework content. I have to do *more* research to even figure out *what* I need to learn.

Changed syllabus partway through the semester (after two exams), unprofessional, I am Actually Paying for this man to Waste My Time on tangents and lectures that are almost impossible to follow. I've learned more from khan academy and SI sessions. There's probably a good reason he started taking attendance because it wasn't worth even showing up

I've never rated a prof until now because of how bad Dr. Johnston is. He does the most to make exams as difficult as possible. He will change the syllabus grading mid-way into the semester, acts as if he's for the students but it's all an act. His exams are 15-20 questions max covering a huge amount of topics with a limited number of exams.

Hans is the worst prof Ive had at UMass. This dude does not give a sh!t about his students at all. Idc how smart he is, he's an AS5 teacher. He genuinely makes the content harder than it is. there is no "teaching" done by this man, its solely him doing the problems himself, and he likes the attention of an audience. Probably why he requires attend.

I get the feeling he was a bad prof before COVID but its been amplified due to online class. Hes unprofessional and it feels like he doesnt want to teach as much as he wants to prove how smart he is to an audience by solving example problems that dont relate at all to homework or exams. Its not worth going to class to get the attendance grade

I could go on a long rant about how awful Professor Hans is to his students, but you can read the reviews below. You might notice he is getting a lot of reviews this Fall semester 2020, it is because he is screwed his students over with two weeks left of class. Also, he is now being mean to his SIs, who are much more helpful than him.

He changes the syllabus grading mid-way into the semester, acts as if not a problem. His exams are 15-20 questions max covering a huge amount of topics with a limited number of exams. And he made the 2 exam proctor but sent the email the night before the exam so many people did not know but it.

I could spend days ranting about everything you've already heard about. He's unprofessional and straight-up mean under the guise of trying to sound like he's on your side. He isnt. It feels like he wants his students to fail to make him look smarter since everything he does looks like it's just to boost his fragile ego. at this point im just tired

I stand by every review posted here. I did not want to take this class based on the other reviews but didn't have another professor option. He ranted about how he wasn't going to make attendance mandatory and then did halfway through the semester. He tells you to read the book and then teaches it differently. Awful class, hope he reads his reviews.

He is highly unorganized, tests are unreasonable, shows up to class late, and lectures go into overtime. He randomly makes huge changes to the syllabus and changes his mind on a whim. He goes on long tangents, leaving us behind on the material. His explanations of how to solve problems go into such minute detail that solving one takes 15 minutes.

The lecture is irrelevant and changed the syllabus during the semester, Noticing students at the last minute. don't show care to students in this situation and he suspects everyone cheats online.

This is the most stressful class Ive ever been in. He's unprofessional, disorganized, and disrespectful. no joke- my hair is greying from the stress. This class left me so underprepared for exams and I got the lowest exam score Ive ever gotten, even after studying. this is not a reasonable or sustainable way to teach. just avoid him if you can.

The semester ends Nov. 20th, and he just assigned homework for next week. Like not a big deal, but feels wrong to give us homework. Instead of allowing us the full two hours for the final, he has reduced it to an hour and fifteen minutes, which I did not know a professor could do. He is so inconsiderate especially consider the worlds current event.

This is just an awful class. Super inconsiderate of students and his SI's who actually can teach the material way better than he ever could. Overall just a very mean and sus prof. I regret taking this class, as he makes this class seem like a 500 level class when its just a 100 level class. Also he's still somehow taking time away from our final.

Don't take this class. If you absolutely have to, do NOT go to the lecture. He calls on people randomly, even if your video's off. He wastes more than half the class time. I was way more successful using the textbook than his going to lectures. He did some unfair stuff to us & got in trouble with the department head. He do be organized though.

An incredibly terrible teacher. By far the worst I've ever had. The lectures are confusing and he makes you feel stupid for asking questions in class. He does not prepare you for homeworks or exams in any way, you have to rely on outside sources to learn the material. Extremely disrespectful and definitely one to avoid if you can.

If you have an option, do NOT have Hans as your professor. You will regret it. I have never had a professor teach so little during lectures. All online bc of covid and he gave absolutely impossible exams even after I went to every single review session. He saw the 62% average exam score as GOOD. Just a horrible class, I was so frustrated with him

Probably the worst professor I had during my time at UMass. Lectures are extremely confusing and he is rude. When trying to ask a question, he makes you feel stupid. Poor communication as he doesn't give updates on assignments and takes days to reply to an email. He also changed the syllabus midway through the semester. Avoid him at all costs.

Alright. So the class itself is actually not hard but the professor can't teach it. HIGHLY recommend watching SI recordings or go to their sessions. I know they change but they are still more likely to be easier to understand than Hans. Got B-As on all exams just from watching SI exam review videos the night before the exams. Oh and just do HW.

He is a terrible teacher. Wastes a lot of the lecture time by rambling about some random stuff not related to the class. He also makes the topics more confusing than they should be. Assignments were difficult even when he outright does the problems for you because he does a bad job explaining them. Unorganized and unprofessional teacher.

Learn everything by yourself or by getting the wiley homework wrong and getting the solutions. Also, exams are only a few questions so get 3 wrong and you're already at a C.

Assignments weren't too bad, but he does a bad job explaining the topics and makes them more confusing than they should be. Often talks about random stuff during the lectures that take away time from learning actual material. Unorganized and lacks communication as well.

Do not recommend taking this class with him, you will regret it. Take it with anyone else if possible. Material wasn't too hard, but he makes everything harder than it should be. His grading format was horrible and exams were a nightmare. Also changed syllabus midway through the semester. Avoid if ya can

It'd be unfair to comment on his character, but not on his teaching. Simply put, he's disorganized and incapable of teaching materials in a way that's understandable. He digresses a lot and wastes 1/3 of the lecture time, talking about things that bear no relevance to the material being taught. Use online sources like Khan Academy if you struggle.

This guy truly sucks. He is not a good professor and will not help you improve your grade if you are struggling. I would've given him a 0 but couldn't. Get this guy out of UMass.

The guy never responds to emails. Asked week 1 about homework submissions and doesn't give feedback until homework 3 saying that the way we had been submitting work was all wrong so its an automatic 0 (he wants everything typed out in LaTeX you cant handwrite MATH PROBLEM SOLUTIONS????) so the first 3 weeks of work were completely wasted, full 0's

This prof is terrible, dont take his class. We received our hw after 1 month we submit and he grade it real hard. His lesson isnt clear as well. DONT TAKE HIS CLASS

I dont even know where to begin with this man. He has random bursts of anger during classes, and his lectures are unbelievably confusing and hard to follow along with. He will also go off on rants that have nothing to do with the class and cannot be connected to anything youre learning. I have always been good at math but I was so lost in class.

Awful, I'm not even kidding this dude must be delusional. He teaches assuming you have the same understanding of the material as a harvard professor would. Moves extremely fast in lectures and jump steps assuming you know it. I'm not saying this out of spite I got a B+ i'm just warning poor souls to stay away.

When I say I have never had a professor this bad in my entire college experience, believe me, I mean it. This dude blows. Like really blows. His lectures are easily the most pointless 50 minutes you will ever sit through, not to mention confusing and often rarely even about math. He is also mean, inflexible, and unaccommodating. Run while you can.

I would avoid taking his class if possible. His lectures are so difficult to follow, and there are only 3 exams and the homework assignments included in the final grade so each exam taken is worth 25% of your grade. If you struggled in calc 1 good luck!

I only attend the class on the first day and the exams. If you want reviews from Dr. Johnston being in class, scroll down. I guess he doesn't really try to understand whatever you say to him and his intensity escalates a bit quickly. Maybe good for Math nerds, I dunno. Bad for newcomers.

Once showed up to class 15 minutes late because he was too busy "living in the moment". Doesn't care if his students understand the material and waists lecture time like crazy. Highly suggest khan academy, it was my savior. just search the chapter or unit name in the search bar and a string of videos should give you all you need to pass.

Hes a nice guy sure but actually the WOAT teacher. Literally doesnt know how to teach and his test averages were so low, yet he would never scale. The 2nd exam was nothing like anything of the study material he posted and we werent allowed to use calculators on exams even though it was not simple math.

He is not a good professor. He does not remember your name no matter how many times you introduce yourself. He is constantly going on tangents. He yells at his students for no good reason. In terms of math, the textbook and homework are the only way you will learn.

Prof. Johnston deserves to be permanently fired from UMass for his poor handling of a difficult time like COVID.

He hates technology and mentions this every class. He yells at people for being on their phones to the point that he got out his camera and projected the persons face who was on her phone to the entire class. He also gives about 20 min of information in his hour and 15 class and blames “our generation” for not being able to stay focused.

Im usually very charitable towards teachers but I genuinely had such a terrible experience in this class. Professor Johnston would often go on tangents mid class about his personal life and material was hard to follow. Would not recommend. If you do get him, S.I. sessions are an absolute must because you will not learn in class.

Hans Johnston sucks at managing a class effectively, and he means nothing in the end. Wait for a better professor.

Hans Johnston is the worst. He belittles students who ask questions. His lectures are really just him wasting time on useless rants. Simply put, he's unprofessional, disorganized, rude, and he clearly hated specific students. Brash and unapproachable during office hours. Defensive when students complain. He clearly knew he handled COVID poorly.

Taking a class with Hans Johnston encouraged me to go to therapy.

Most backwards logic thinking professor in the math department. Hans wastes a lot of class time on useless political rants rather than helping students learn new knowledge while still making participation mandatory. He was downright mean and close-minded, and he clearly hated specific students for no reason. He knew how he handled COVID.

Probably the least competent professor in the math department. Extremely intolerant, overbearing, and mean, wastes a lot of class time on pointless tangents, nonexistent communication, loses patience with students who ask rudimentary questions, and denies accommodations even from students who has valid extenuating circumstances.

Scientific computation is a dogsh*t class useless for machine learning if Hans Johnston teaches it. He's unprofessional, wastes a lot of time on useless tangents rather than doing any authentic teaching, extremely mean, slow with communication, and can't answer student questions with patience or respect.

Probably the most unfair and evil professor at UMass. Has a stringent no technology policy, which forbids students to type notes. If you take a class with Hans, don't expect to learn anything but rather expect to file valid complaints on his lack of empathy, mismanagement, hostile work environment, and inflated ego.

Do NOT take his class! Hans is incredibly lazy, disorganized, unqualified, and mean, and he clearly treated most of his students with intense apathy. His extravagant inflexibility and lack of formal respect towards students with extreme circumstances also promotes a toxic learning environment.

Hans Johnston is the embodiment of a lazy and rude professor who means nothing in the end.

I really do not like review bombing professors, but I feel like I must do this for Hans Johnston because the strong consensus is that Hans Johnston is the embodiment of a mean professor who cares more about gaslighting students who voice valid complaints on how poorly he handled difficult times like COVID than facilitating student learning.

The Chris McDaniel of the math department. I hope Hans is no longer employed at UMass because his unwarranted inflexibility (even during COVID) and disrespect (belittles student questions and shows no sympathy towards depressed students) creates a dangerous environment unsuitable for learning.

Hans Johnston is the embodiment of a selfish and horrible professor who deserves to get review bombed as he is a literal villain and bully who is very rude and patronizing, shows no sympathy for students during tough times like COVID, and doesn't have a reasonable grading policy for homeworks. Get this poor excuse of a person fired from UMass.

If I see Hans Johnston in hell, I won't even say hi. Many students have classified him as a villain for these 3 reasons: ignoring valid constructive feedback from students, poorly handling a difficult time like the pandemic, and being an incompetent facilitator of student learning.

Hans Johnston is super disorganized during lectures and not helpful at all in his office hours. He likes to cold call random people during lectures to make class uncomfortable.

Unreasonable grading policies. Belittles students for asking questions or answering them wrong. Intentionally deducts points from homeworks unfairly. Extremely inconsiderate and rude. No sympathy during COVID. He is qualified, that's the only respect Hans Johnston will get.

NEVER take 551 with Hans Johnston when you can take it with Maria Correia.

His goal is to waste your time.

Hans Johnston doesn't care about your learning or wellbeing but rather his political views and research. Don't even bother asking him for a job reference request. He's just awful.

He's evil!! Super delusional, rude, and wicked. The only reason Hans has a picky grading policy for homeworks is because he has a dark view on life and he clearly thinks he's better than his students. Avoid at all costs.

Nastiest professor ever!!! Doesn't care about or listen to students anymore, unreasonably loses patience with those who ask to clarify concepts, tries to leverage bad homework and exam grades to have students personally request the math department to give him less work. 0/10 for Hans Johnston.

Hans Johnston is the worst math professor ever and no longer the entertaining professor he used to be. If you send him an email, he won't respond to it, and there is a complete disconnect between him and students. No one wants to visit his office hours because he clearly has an extravagant lack of respect towards students.

Hans Johnston is gonna get a strongly worded RateMyProfessor for not considering genuine student feedback.

Be careful with what you have to say about his classes because Hans Johnston ignores complaints, no matter how reasonable they are.

Horrible horrible horrible. Never take a math class with that man. Hans Johnston is a bitter, spoiled, sadistic STEM major who has a superiority complex and actively takes pleasure in guilt-tripping and belittling his students and tearing them apart when they try to have a convo with him, no matter how patient and respectful the students are.

The SORRIEST professor I've ever had the misfortune of having to take a class with. He will basically torture and single you out in front of EVERYONE in class. Hans avoids criticisms like a cockroach. Expect MULTIPLE instances of gaslighting and verbal harassment if you question his authority or say that his classes are really poorly managed.

Hans Johnston is NOT a human being and should no longer be allowed to teach. He is frequently rude and inconsiderate towards his students and will regularly ask meaningless follow-up questions to force you to elaborate only to berate you. To top it off, his character is literally comparable to that of Joffrey from Game of Thrones.

I'm usually charitable towards professors if they want students to learn, but the utter lack of respect Hans Johnston seems to have for student willingness to learn while still getting a decent grade is EXTREMELY disappointing. STAY AWAY from this fellow unless you want to be victim of gaslighting and see a therapist everyday.

Hans Johnston struggles to respect opinions of students and actively takes pride in the art of public embarrassment. It is unacceptable how a male professor is repeating mistakes of forcing female students into uncomfortable situations at times and gaslighting students to hamper learning. Truly a villain, both as a professor and a person.

Hans Johnston doesn't care about your opinions, only his matter. Don't even try to make an effort to connect with him because he WILL berate students in job reference letters he writes, no matter how bright the students are! He's just awful. Awful awful awful.

Hans Johnston has a superiority complex and is an inconsiderate professor, which is rare in the professors I've had by far. Extremely rude, no sympathy, awful communication, encourages questions but belittles those who approach him, feedback is mostly critical roasts. Get this guy fired!

Unreasonable grading policies. Avoid if possible.

Hans Johnston genuinely does not care if his students succeed or not. He is absolutely insane about his course syllabus and does not like to make any accommodations. I came to leave this review after a face-to-face and online interaction with him. I have never had a professor at UMass that cares less about his students than this man.

Taught nothing that was on the homework and wasted class time rambling about concepts that didn't apply to what we needed to know. Very opinionated and open about it. If it wasn't for the tutoring I would not have passed. Take literally any other teacher.

He is a very good person. He let me give a make up exam due to personal reasons, but his tests as very difficult and the homework isn't easy either. Grad students face difficulty in trying to solve this class' homework.

Doesn't understand how to write a test using material that has been covered and reviewed. Terrible

He doesn't show how to do calc. He gives you the formula but doesn't show you how to use it and apply it. His hw is ok but it implements things we didn't learn in class. He says to read the text book because it has more explanation but the book doesn't go into much detail.

Professor Hans Johnston's habit of going off-topic and his excessive focus on unrelated issues, such as COVID-19 and masks, made for a frustrating and unproductive learning experience. I would rather put my face on a belt sander than take this class again.

Hans tends to get sidetracked very easily in class. It is hard to stay ontop of work, especially when there are times that he does not finish a lecture (or even start one tbh) due to getting sidetracked and talking about other things. There is no extra credit and exams are very hard. It is unfortunate, but I would reccomend any other professor.

I decided a week in that I wasn't going to his lectures he is so annoying. He interrupted us at least 6 times for random things during an exam?! Thankfully a lot of people suck at this class so the exams are very easy (also worth 80% of grade). If you commit to teaching urself it's a very doable A.

If you like coming in for a 75 minute class to listen to 45 minute tangent of the professor's personal gripes and maybe learn for 30 minutes, boy do I have a class for you

Although this class was very easy for me, it may not be the case for people who didn't take AP Calculus in high school. He's always going off-topic in class, and fails to actually cover/get through all the content. The consensus of him is pretty accurate, he's not a bad guy, but he's an awful professor. Lectures are pretty useless. Exams are easy.

Man will not stop yapping. Does not believe in rounding grades or Calc 127? He is very self absorbed and thinks he knows everything about every subject out there. The exams are not bad and do NOT attend class. Most useless course I have ever taken. Learn everything from his posted notes and do the homework bc it counts for 20% of your grade.

Don't be fooled by the cheery personality and jokes in the first week. His lectures are very poor and so much time is wasted of him rambling on about how we all could die tomorrow. The wildest part is that he gets through all the material he wants to, meaning he has allocated time for him to go on unnecessary rants about anything. His exams suck.

Do not take his class. He never stays on topic and talks about how much he hates technology. I think over the past 2 weeks ive learned nothing. Careful he may take his shoes off aswell.

He focuses too much on simple prior knowledge and speeds past the actual material. Doesn't explain well and is rage-inducing in the way he pauses to go on his necessary tangents. Don't take him, if you are an independent learner, just teach yourself the material. Tests are similar to practice exams which is easy.

What a rude professor! He doesn't care about his students and has zero email etiquette. HIS LECTURES ARE USELESS. He just be barefoot and go off on random tangents. You have to teach yourself. Luckily, the exams are similar to the practice exams, so do not flake on the practice. It isn't hard to pass, but you still have to put in a lot of work.