Horrible, born to be a programmer not a teacher. He lectures using pseudo code every time and never actually explains how to actually code the material. The book is also completely useless, its a book of tutorials that rarely come close to actual class projects. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE, take this class online so you can actually use a computer

this is the worst teacher out there do not take classes with this so called teacher go and take networking with someone that cares about their students

He grades like an English teacher. He takes points off if something is grammatically correct, but not his way. 70 on a report and emailed to ask exactly what needed to change for the revision. No response until after the revision was due. 80 on that one. I have been a straight A student the whole time. Probably will get a C this time around.

Many frustrating elements in this class- creates a poor experience. Takes about three weeks to get a grade back- he assigns work with unclear objectives; I was often confused bc I received a low grade but I followed everything exactly. There are glitches with his labs, but if you message him, expect to wait 2 days for a response. Disappointing.

in college, some classes are a lot of work and its very rewarding.. this professor tries to emulate this, and the result is a cluttered mess of a class. netlabs have major glitches,after spending hours on ONE, couldnt even turn it in. two of those due per week on top of weekly quizzes & discussions & a huge essayproject requiring video, powerpt etc

get ready to not know your grade until the very last day of the semester get ready for A LOT of writing that you gain nothing from hard grader, tough to get a B from him I will never take any of his classes again and if you haven't stay away from his classes

this guy is so tough and picky that he makes me want to quit going to santa fe. he says post 350 words in your discussion, then he asks you 6 questions that are way too comprehensive to cover in 350 words, and after you wrote 500+ words, you get a failing grade cause you didn't elaborate enough. absolutely ridiculous. avoid at all costs

Professor Nichols doesn't provide clear criteria on his assignments, marking points off based more on opinion rather than facts. questions about criteria and rubrics aren't really answered, with him instead asking students if they think it's the right answer. He knows about IT. but he's a poor instructor. This was one of my worst classes at SF.

Be prepared for last-minute changes and cryptic grading. Rubrics for assignments are provided, but often not followed. The rubrics themselves are vague. He asks for feedback during the semester, but responds to criticism by telling the student how they were actually wrong. He isn't receptive to feedback, grades late, and is a poor instructor.

His grading criteria would punish you multiple times for the same mistakes, and was at times contradictory. You would get gigged for "not covering x enough" in one section, then gigged again for "not talking about x enough," all on the same assignment. Any feedback given by students is always answered with "in the real world." Horrible professor

Mr. Nichols was not a good professor. He was really rude during class and would not listen to students. He didn't give good guidance on assignments and graded really late so you never knew how you was doing.

I've never seen a professor so full of themselves. He is not helpful, and he certainly does not respond to criticism well. He sent our entire class an email complaining about feedback when he didn't agree with it, and that was a full week AFTER the semester ended. Incredibly petty, incredibly unhelpful. Avoid at all costs.

Mr. Nichols' class was one of the worst experiences I have had in my time at Santa Fe College. He was never clear on assignment instructions, and the rubric contradicted his own instructions. After the semester ended, he sent a class-wide email complaining about constructive criticism he had received, even going so far as to attack students. Avoid

He was unable to give clear instructions for assignments without contradicting himself, and seemed incapable of giving feedback without attempting to belittle students. His response to mid and end of term feedback was to write a multi page response detailing how it was the students who were wrong, and not him. Never again.

I dread going to this class. Nearly 3 hours of sitting in a plastic chair, at night, listening to an incoherent lecture and dry, cringy humor. Absolute nightmare mode. Also his assignments involve a lot of forced social interaction with other students.

Mr. Nichols was the worst instructor I have ever had. He is demeaning and changes his mind a lot.

I wish this wasn't a required class, as he was the only professor offering it. He is truly the worst professor I've had at Santa Fe. He is very inefficient with his time, so be prepared for 45 minutes of awkwardness and stale jokes followed by rushed-through lessons. Avoid at all costs.

I really wish this wasnt a required class, as he is the only professor teaching it. He can be very combative, especially when receiving feedback or questions. His grading is inconsistent with his own syllabus, and he is never available outside of class. He also wastes quite a bit of time messing around instead of teaching.

He relied a lot on group work. His classes were rough to attend, with him wasting a lot of time arguing with students or trying to joke around. He would not really follow his own grading criteria, and seemed to pick on certain students while ignoring others.

His teaching style leaves a lot to be desired. He relies far too much on PowerPoint and seems more interested in arguing with students than moving the class along. He would routinely email the class to demean students and could not handle constructive criticism, even if it was asked for and anonymous. Avoid at all costs.

By far the worst professor I've had in my 18 months at Santa Fe. Inaccessible, doesn't follow his own grading criteria, and very defensive. He is the reason I have elected to attend UF instead of Santa Fe for my four-year degree. Avoid at all costs.

The professor wastes 10 to 15 minutes every class min. just in getting to the course material, and then only reads off powerpoint on ethics. This course is to teach ethics and technical hacking skills so we can take the Pentest+ or CEH however he never taught a single skill, is condescending when you ask questions, and ignores criticism.

I can understand why there are so many negative ratings. While this class was easy, there is an obscene amount of homework. Like other reviews have said, his assignments, grading rubric and syllabus rarely match; be prepared to pester him for guidance. He is very condescending and ill-prepared. If there are other professors, I would take them.

I am honestly surprised to see as many good reviews as there are. This is the third class I've taken with Nichols, and I won't take more given the choice. He seemed to pick fights with students, is lecture heavy, and somehow the workload is heavier than his CTS1131 class. I've found Nichols to disregard the needs of students and be disrespectful.

copy and paste what you learn for the book on the worksheets and should be fine. but at that point you are just paying to be taught by a book.

This professor is beyond unhelpful. He backtalks students, sends petty messages through Canvas, and does (seemingly) everything to avoid taking any responsibility for a lack of materials that will lead to students' success. There are a suspicious amount of positive reviews getting left on this page as well seemingly to buoy his score.

I would advise another professor if at all possible. His lectures go in circles, he is very combative with the class, and you have to self-teach to succeed in his classes. I agree with the person who mentioned padded reviews. I've had three of his classes, and positive reviews always follow him emailing about negative feedback.

I unfortunately need to agree with most of the critical reviews. The professor is extremely inconsistent in grading, and would regularly punish students for following a rubric he repeatedly changed during the semester. He would often take weeks to respond to emails, despite being an online class. I can't recommend him in good faith.

James Nichols is one of my least favorite professors. He will find any reason not to give you a 100%. This class has an obscene amount of homework, all of it is just repeats of the past homework. The homework itself are usually lengthy test cases that he will probably give you a 50% for because it makes him sleep better at night.

Nitpicker and changes mind on what to nickel and dime grade wise. Grades by Rubric but then will go off the rubric and write comments on why it wasn't graded correctly. Writes puns that make no sense and learning is subpar.

Like all of the other critical reviews below, Prof. Nichols will find any possible way to take off points on your assignments. The grading rubric for assignment's were very vague and you would receive points taken off even if you followed it correctly. The workload on all of these classes are way beyond that of a 3-credit course. Take anyone else!

I have to say, possibly the worst experience I've had at Santa Fe--even worse than the last time I had to take a class with him. He's dismissive, difficult to reach in a timely fashion, and makes up reasons to knock off points that aren't on the rubric or listed in his "best coding practices." Frankly, the good ratings here are extremely suspicious

Most negative experience I've had at an otherwise good school. The projects were graded in an arbitrary manner inconsistent with the rubric, which was frustrating when trying to understand what was expected of me on assignments. He was frequently unavailable during office hours despite not answering emails.

This is the worse class I have ever take in Santa Fe College. His project is way to hard for students. He has never explain about projects, but he grades project strictly. Even your answers correct according to rubric, he will give you low score or zero if he doesn't like it.

The worst experience I have ever had at Santa Fe. His style is 'I'm always right. Here's what you did wrong." Has never given me full credit on an assignment, despite my best efforts. Takes off points for arbitrary and sometimes laughable reasons. Takes ages to respond to emails. Other reviews confirm I'm not judging unfairly. Avoid AT ALL COSTS.

Worst professor I ever had. He took points off for things not even on the rubric and was more than happy to give 0s. Comments on assignments would say " good job" while your grade on the assignment is a 60. If more professors taught this class he would have 0 students in his class. The positive reviews are lies and most likely written by him.

Professor Nichols completely restructured this class changing rubrics that had been used for years. There was no clear reading or organization for teaching or structure. COP3337 is supposed to be a C+ level 2 programming class, this class was python and dev ops, completely wrong. Avoid at all costs, taking same class at FIU as transient student.

This professor should be avoided. His rubric contradicts itself, as do his assignments. The class covered items that were not actually supposed to be a part of the class, which meant weekly assignments ended up not helping you learn nor prepare for exams and projects. Either wait until you can find someone else, or be prepared to teach yourself.

The class was a disappointment.The workload is out of scope. Arbitrary grading not based on a defined rubric or instructions. One of the least engaging classes I've had at Santa Fe. Instead of offering constructive feedback and teaching students, he just goes through the motions. You will need a huge time commitment to pass. Don't recommend.

In my experience, Mr. Nichols was a very friendly and personable professor and I have no qualms with him about his person However, his grading of a lot of the assignments was terribly unfair, utilizing standards not found on the instructions for three of them, giving me single digit grades and barely passing

This professor was so negligent in his duty to students, to provide a clear rubric, grading scheme, and office hours that I dropped out of the program entirely. The fact that he is employed by Santa Fe College is an affront to the institution entirely and should be reviewed immediately. There is no professor in the program rated lower than James.

Prof. uses Github autograding for assignments which he does not have setup correctly. My code works perfectly, handles all error scenarios, yet it will fail Github autograding. Imagine paying for a class and the professor is too lazy to actually grade your work. It is insane. Additionally, assignments are overly pedantic. It is so frustrating.

The worst prof I have ever had. Grades using Github autograder which does not work and this guy is too stubborn to change his ways. My programs meet all the requirements given, but fails autograder. I ask the prof about it, he gives copy and pasted answers days later, no help. SF, hire someone less lazy and will actually grade work themselves.

Prof uses Github autograding and does not grade according to his own rubric. He grades assignments like we are writing professional code in a beginner class. It's absurd. Yes, I understand he is trying to teach us proper coding, but you don't have to be so pedantic and control for every scenario (which he does not disclose) in a beginner class.

Uses github autograding that will either straight up not work or grade differently than expected, not by a rubric. It is an introductory python class but the material covered does not reflect that. Incredibly difficult and will not hesitate to chunk your grade over something minor with little to no feedback.

I wouldn't recommend this class to anyone, even those with years of coding experience. The grading is incredibly harsh and you will be knocked for the smallest of details. The Github grading is frustrating at best, and broken at its worst. If you are trying to maintain a perfect GPA, skip this class. It feels like an "A" is impossible.

Absolutely do not take the course. It is supposed to be entry level but it isn't. Incredibly harsh grading on everything from quizzes to projects. Nice person, but just not a great professor. As others have mentioned, GitHub grading is a major issue. I've never done so poorly in a class in my entire life. COP2000 was a breeze by comparison.

*Capstone Class: Demeaning,absent,stubborn,egotistical - He does not like you. His lack of rubrics, expectations, feedback, & unprofessionalism demonstrate a malicious compliance. I would never take this professor again & if I failed I would drop out with a 3.8 GPA. He is unapologetically & intentionally a bad prof --GO TO UF IF HE'S STILL AT SF!!!

I actually took a capstone class and James single-handedly ruined my sf college experience. He doesn't give feedback, fails to post rubrics, and he does not teach. I submitted >50 pages and was failed after graduation with no indication what I did wrong and will have to wait until 2025to take it again. 0/10 idk why they havent fired this man BEWARE

For what it is worth I think he knows the material well but he is not a great professor. He is sassy, critical and unpleasant to interact with. He has a "better than you" mentality and it shows. He will give you very little to go off and even less for clarification, and is extremely unhelpful. I think he resents teaching, I would avoid at all costs

I am about to graduate with my bachaler degree, and I have taken this professor a few times for most of my classes. I thought he did awful, he doesn't give enough credit for the written discussions, and everyone said I did great on the infographics, and he always gave me a 50% when I wrote my homework. He does awful, and lack of understanding