1.6
Quality4.3
Difficulty33%
Would Retake106
Reviews33%
Would Retake
106
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
3
4
3
3
13
2
35
1
52
What Students Say
“Get ready to teach yourself basically everything”
MATH265 - 1.0 rating“Wilson is a brilliant man, but he does not know how to get what's in his brain to an easily understandable form”
MATH265 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
9%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.81 avg changeRatings by Course
MTH265
4.0
(1)MATH207
3.5
(2)MATH365
3.0
(1)151
2.0
(1)265
2.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
265
5.0
CALC165
5.0
CALC2
5.0
CALCULUSII
5.0
MATHE165
5.0
Reviews (106)
No Comments
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE teacher
examples on board are in book, no extra explinations; tests are multiple choice
worst teacher i've ever had....but he must skateboard to class everyday because he wears airwalks to class
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No Comments
bad, bad teacher. He was like talking to himself for the whole semester, I rather read book myself, but he took attendance :(
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Should not be teaching. He acts like his students are not even there at lecture.
Likes to test you over information that is not available in the book, nor that he gives in class. He gives you all problems which take "special" ways to solve which, like I said before, he does not give examples of in class, nor that the book c
Not a great teacher. Read above comments.
The worst teacher I have ever had, seriously. If you have him for a teacher, you should transfer into a different class. He does not explain things and hates when people ask questions in class.
He is one of the worst teachers ever. I would get much more out of his class if I read the book in my dorm room instead of going to class, but he takes away points for absences. Also, he gives almost no partial credit on tests.
Dr. Wilson, if he really earned that PhD, is one of hte worst professors I have ever had. He never had a lesson plan, and would instead just come in and wing it, and he always went over his time limit. Class was a big huge worthless waste of time.
Honestly the worst professor I've ever had. Gives perplexing lectures and has horrible hand-writing. Gives attendance quizzes.
Worst professor ever. He has a habit of just making things up, such as quiz problems and test formats. Who knows how he comes up with anyone's grade. Attendance points and quizzes suck.
A little too fond of theory before explaining the concepts. Doesn't believe in examples.
This professor is not what you would expect coming in as a freshman. His exams are so difficult that last time i got a 46/100 and I got a B+. When I took the departmental test an A was easy to get. So expect to see some low grades. His explaining is horrible, no examples at all, its pure theory.
Very hard to understand, read others
DONT TAKE CALC FROM THIS MAN. he is a horrible teacher, basically you are better off taking your book home and teaching yourself. Oh and by the way, be ready to be tested on stuff thats not in the book, and dont worry he wont mention it in class either...
Don't take calc from this guy. Be prepared to take tests that you can't finish. He is very unclear and not very helpful. If you can avoid him, it would be in your best interest.
If you get stuck with Wilson as your teacher, switch out right away. You have to work twice as hard as any other Calc class to get an A. A C in his class would be an A in any of the other classes.
good luck
dont ever think of taking any math classes from this guy...i had to drop calculus becuase of him! well, some guy told me, he went to his office to ask about his midterm grade, if he needs to drop the class or not and he ended up talking about how people in asia teach their kids maths!!!
this is probably the worst teacher ive ever had, good luck
Worst Prof ever! Avoid this man at all cost. I still have nightmares where Wilson fails me. If his class isn't bad enough I also saw him in the chain of life, which just makes me hate him even more.
As mentioned, DONT TAKE HIS CLASSES. I dropped 4-5 weeks into semester. be prepared to be confused and extremely agrivated. Heres some facts: about half of people in my class dropped, the curve on one of his tests was 29/100 for an A, and 16 out of 17 people failed that test with out the curve :)
Do not take calculus from this man! The only reason that I am passing his class is because I have a tutor 2 nights a week. He grades on attendance, so you have to sit through his boring lectures...and don't come to class a minute late because you'll miss the attendance sheet and loose more points.
get away as fast as possible
Switch out of his section immediately! Worst professor I have ever had, ended up with horrible grade - almost had to retake it...any other section I would have gotten a C+/B-. He is the Undergraduate Math Program Coordinator, so he will not help your grade out or not, even if you diserve it....Drop or change sections immediately!
this guy is out of his mind. he makes the in class tests and quizes so hard that it just depresses you. He was my second Math 166 teacher and i did worse than the first time even though my midterm and final scores were higher. please switch out of his class at all costs!
He knows the subject, just can't teach it. Be careful even if you don't have him, he's the math division head (or at least was) and writes most of the finals...
First let it be said I got in A in his class. But this guy (and his wife in the physics department) have the biggest egos on campus. They treat all the kids with such disrespect, and go out of their way to make an rather simple topic (he teaches this and calc) into a miserable experience. Wilson should not be allowed anywhere near young minds.
Not a good teacher, gets lost in work, makes mistakes and doesnt correct them
Makes simple topics extremely difficult. Knows the material better than anyone I know, but has trouble conveying it to students. Exams are extremely difficult, but usually curved well.
He is soooooo HOT!!! I got an A in his class, he is so helpful and willing to take time to listen to your problems you're having. I don't know why all these other whiners are taking out their frustration on him. Maybe they should switch to Business or some other clown degree. Go to class and take notes. He knows his math!!!
Had I not been really good at math I would've wanted to kill myself after taking this class with him. My notes after lecture were always worthless. Everything I learned I learned over the weekend while reading the book. His exams were impossible. Average score was 45/100. One had to hope that everyone did worse than they did.
Horrible teacher. Social moron, smart at math
The worst professor I have ever had. I got A's in both calc I & II, and I'm hoping to get a C- in this class. He jumps around on the board, mumbles, and does all the math in his head. He makes up his quiz questions off the top of his head on the spur of the moment. No planning, horrible social skills, he all around sucks.
I don't like Dr. Wilson at all. He is without a doubt, the WORST teacher I've ever had, I have no idea why he is still teaching. Please for your sake, don't take ANY math class with him. I would praise you as a genius if you get an A in his class. Note that he will not give out partial credit for work. It's either all right or all wrong.
He may know his math, but he doesn't know how to teach it. Makes up quiz questions on the fly, tests are by far the hardest in the department and his grading scale is by far one of the worst if you can actually figure out your grade. Average on his tests are failing compared to all other teachers! Worst teacher possible...
is too smart to relay the info to students without a masters
Nice guy, makes the class hard. Focuses primarily on the conceptual side of topics, it up to you to figure out how to calculate them in a reasonable amount of time. Plan on reading what's being covered in class ahead of time, treat the lecture as a review to previous studies. I missed the final and got a C in the class, could've aced it.
Thanks to Dr. Wilson, math is dead to me....
omg. please read all of these reviews on this professor, because they are true. when i say switch out of his section, SWITCH OUT OR YOU WILL FAIL HIS CLASS!!! He should be fired or removed from his teaching position and his department position as well simply because he has no respect for students. again, switch out of his section IMMEDIATELY!!!
Huge ego, poor communicator, intelligent mathematician, terrible educator.
Dr. Wilson is not a very good professor. You can tell he knows what he's talking about, but he just isn't good at relaying it to a class. He is unclear, jumps around a lot, and makes calculus really boring. If you get this professor and you don't already know calculus, I would definitely recommend switching to another section as soon as you can.
Not too great at getting his point across to a class. Does all the small steps of a problem in his head and assumes that we know what he did to reach his answer. Only reason I'm doing so well is because I had an awesome Calculus teacher in high school, whose notes I still use even in Dr. Wilson's class.
*Screams*
The class is easy and he has a really good curve
he is one of the worst mathematics teachers i have ever had
He is by far the worst teacher i have ever had. He knows what he is doing but you need a PHD to understand him. He took the liberty of rewriting the final and made it 10 questions(10 questions 200 points, 20% of your grade; you do the math). Id highly recommend finding a different teacher!
worst math teacher ever, dont get him if you can help it, he doesnt explain any calculations which are key, only the "theory" or calculus. pretty much he sucks at teaching and should not be doing it.
not a good teacher
pretty much terrible. he drew some picture of "math" on the board at least once a week, which made absolutely no sense. good thing i had the MyMathLab thing that came with my book, otherwise i dont know who would have taught me this stuff. he does stick to the book though, and doesnt add in extra stuff you dont need to know.
Worst teacher I've ever had in my life. Actually told the class one of the few days I went "I would redo the problem if I actually cared." Yeah...enough said.
Don't want him again
If you have Wilson....switch out fast! He spoke fantastic English, but had absolutely no way of communicating the material with his class. It almost seemed like he was too advanced for the class (Calc 1). Bottom line, he knows his stuff, but just can't teach
Wilson is the undergraduate curriculum administrator. By that, he wants every student know everything the advanced mathematical way. Without my previous Calculus knowledge, I never would have followed his class. If you're new to Calculus, get away from Wilson or you'll be thoroughly confused.
Tough but intelligent teacher. You had to work for his class. I put in 2-6 hours a week and got an A. His style of teaching theory rather than calculations was criticized, but I thought it made complete sense. The people in his class who didn't care failed, but those who cared enough to put a few hours could easily get an A.
He is too smart for his own good. He just gets up in front of the class and writes stuff down not stopping to explain and when a question is asked, he can't explain it in a simple way.
I learned very little in this class. Maybe it was because I had no previous calculus experience. All I know is that everything went right over my head. I wrote down everything he wrote down and I used the online course compass, but I still did really bad. Unless you have a very good handle on calculus, don?t take him.
Not only is he a terrible teacher, but he dosn't have the ability to answer any questions that you might have while trying to clarify whatever drivel he just wrote on the board. Unless you already know calc II prior to attending his class, don't expect to get anything out of his ramblings.
My favorite part of lecture is when he cant finish one of the problems he starts b/c he messes up and has to spend 5 min looking for the error. Keep far away from him, he knows a lot but as far as teaching you would be better off learning calc in another language!
I stopped attending his class and started using the textbook, and my grades jumped up. He's a smart guy with virtually zero communication skills.
To the students who have him for Calc or lower classes- quit your whining. Those classes are easy and no prof really cares about those freshmen classes. As for Complex Var, the prof was generally helpful and student friendly- let us retake a couple of quizzes. Little hard to follow him at times. All n all- probably one of the better math profs
Yeah i skip his class and just do course compass. Pointless to go just make sure you know when tests are.
He is very difficult to follow. I learned most of the material through mymathlab, and i could get to the same answer he did, but he made it WAY more complicated. Even the simplest concepts were made difficult to understand. He tends to rush through things and does not answer questions well. DO NOT RECOMMEND!!
lol just read what others put
Dr. Wilson is by far the worst teacher I've ever had. I would switch out. The best parts in class is when he would turn away from his chalkboard for 5 seconds to laugh because he made a mistake and wouldn't take the time to redue the problem because he didn't care. Insane grader. I'm good at math, but I'm going to be lucky to get a C- in his class.
I have wilson for Calc II. Maybe (as a recent poster said) he's good in upper level math courses but he should not teach lower level calculus. His style so far has been, 1. Say the current section we are working on 2. Do problems on board. It's hard to learn the content for quizzes, and we're still on THE easy chapter. I plan to change sections.
Terrible Teacher. You have to go to class everyday only because he doesn't stay true to the syllabus. Otherwise his form of teaching is confusing unless you already have taken a calc 1 class. He uses MyMathLab 100% for homework but when you have a question about a problem online he doesnt do much better than the built in tutor.But he does mean well
He was unapproachable for help and was not open for questions during class. He knew the material but he basically just showed off and wrote problems on the board and solved them without explaining how.
This teacher is not very good, going to class is pointless except for the random attendance points he gives out. I ended up teaching myself from the book, going to his office hours all the time, and going to other teachers' SI's. If you want any help at all from him after class, you really have to force it out of him or he just won't help you.
I have now had this professor for twice. Nothing has changed and is still as useless as he was before. The math department needs to fire him, but he is the undergraduate chair. If you are signed up for his class drop it if you can.
Drop or switch this class now. You will not learn from his lectures and his tests and quizzes are far to different from the homework. He did a funny thing where he goes through everything in half a semester and then goes back through all the harder stuff. Its a horrible style that is just confusing. Once again, AVOID HIM.
Honestly the worst teacher I've ever had, and I really hope he ends up being the worst. He doesn't care about the success of the students at all and it seems like he doesn't even want to be there. Also, making a major mistake on a problem was a classly ritual for him and he wouldn't even bother the fix it he would just say it was wrong.
Switch out right away. Tried to get help from him several times, and he basically tries to avoid students. If you stay in his class, expect to teach yourself from the textbook, which I figured out to late in the course.... which I had to retake.
Teaches from his memory of the book to a fault, Classes not very helpful, expects every question in the book to be answered as a crutch to his own teaching. Yet is very helpful in private settings, usually giving answers to tests away. Tests are always fair. Had to learn from internet and book, so information stuck. self learned, hated class.
Dr. Wilson is an intelligent individual but has no idea on how to teach a class. He teaches solely from memory and often gets things wrong. In general, he should never be allowed near a classroom!
He's very intelligent but not the best at teaching. Wording on tests is confusing, rarely gives partial credit, teaches in a chalkboard and writes in cursive which is difficult to make out. If you understand everything, you'll be fine with him because class is not mandatory but if you don't already have an understanding if the class you'll struggle
It gets difficult to attend classes further into the semester. He shows up late, and you'll get as lost if you are not reading prior to class. Exams he will give you problems where you have to prove an idea, and one error can lead to a hard hit to your grade. If he makes you calculate, he doesn't check the numbers, which gives ugly solutions.
Dr. Wilson is a good mathematician and means well, but his teaching technique leaves something to be desired. A good strategy is to ask him to do questions from the book similar to homework questions as review before an exam.
Knows what he's doing in his head but translates it horribly to the classroom. Grades extremely harsh to the point where partial credit is almost non-existent on his tests (in a MATH class mind you), and writes everything illegibly in shorthand/cursive. Frequently makes mistakes when giving examples, as he tries to do everything from memory.
He forgot to come to our calc 3 final, so we had to sit there for 20 minutes while the students in the other sections started their final.....Wilson is a smart guy,just doesn't translate that knowledge very well.Almost no partial credit, so it's all or nothing. He does emphasize about understanding the concepts though, which is probably good.
ISU math professors aren't great but Wilson is one of the worst i've ever had. He will assign 5-6 20+ question homework assignments per week without even announcing that they have been assigned or that they are due. attending lecture is also pointless, as you will most likely learn nothing from him.
Get ready to teach yourself basically everything. Lectures are almost worthless with no explanation to examples which are occasionally wrong. Flies through material like there's no tomorrow. To for kicks he's often late to class and even late to exams!
It's clear that he knows all the material very well, but can't translate that to teaching.
I found it hard to distinguish between when he is directing his speech towards the class or himself... All-in-all he does all the work in his head, can't read his writing, consistently unprepared for each exam thus far (midterm),
Dr. Wilson is a brilliant man, but he does not know how to get what's in his brain to an easily understandable form. He focuses on the theory rather than actual examples. The examples he does do he either does not finish, or he makes them up off the top of his head and they end up being way too complicated. He does not help when questions are asked
Ok, I was harsh on my opinion on him before. Although he isn't on time for anything he is a very smart man. What really helped me is that he uses pretty simple real life examples. It's a hard class though, and he grades pretty harshly so prepare to do work outside of class.
I took Math 265 on summer. James Wilson is the director of undergraduate studies, so I thought he was better than other teachers. Well, score scale is pretty low, like 68% for B and 80% for A. He assigned homework every day. I must reviewed his lecture at least one hour before I did homework.
The dude just doesn't care enough.
Be prepared for many tests and not a whole lot of clarity. He's very knowledgable in the field, but has much trouble communicating it to the students.
Dr. WIlson is a very smart man, as for his teaching abilities I would say he is lacking. He understands the materials very well but does not know how to portray what he knows to the students he is teaching. The homework and recitation save you in his class because you learn most of the material from them and not from his lectures. Must attend class
Professor Wilson is an intelligent man; however, an awful professor. Don't expect any extra help or piety. You can pass the class and do well, but expect to put double the time to that of other professors. You can go to class, but it doesn't even matter his lectures are little help. Also study for his test, they are harshly graded. Best of Luck..
Overall, Dr. Wilson is an awful professor. The only good thing was his generous grading policy ( 80-100 A, 68-80 B, 56-68 C, 44-56 D). Lectures were nearly worthless (I had to go to a different lecture to learn, otherwise I would've failed). Tests can be challenging. Not very prepared - showed up late to first test & ran out of second).
Bad at lecturing and explaning topics in lecture. Great during office hours
Wilson is a math professor who doesn't give any interest to his classes. He was late to lecture multiple times, showed up late for test days, TWICE, and is not good at lecturing. I would recommend finding a different teacher for calculus 3, or any class Wilson is teaching. However, the class is relatively easy to get an A because of his curve.
To keep it simple, I could have taught the class better than he did.
Professor Wilson was great ! Be prepared to do the recommended homework as it really helps with the test. Scoring an A with him is not hard as long as you attend lectures and practice ! He is also generous with office hours and he is always willing to help students better understand the course material.
I didn't have him as a professor but as a TA. But he had the best recitations I've ever had. After not understanding much from lecture from my actual professor, he would step in and teach the entire week's material in 40 minutes well enough that I could do well on the quiz. He also taught how to figure something, not memorizing a formula.
Was late to two of three in class exams that were only 50 min exams. Only taught theory in class and believed all example problems should be done in recitation.
His jokes are jokes.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
9%
Textbook Required
100%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.81 avg changeRatings by Course
MTH265
4.0
(1)MATH207
3.5
(2)MATH365
3.0
(1)151
2.0
(1)265
2.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
265
5.0
CALC165
5.0
CALC2
5.0
CALCULUSII
5.0
MATHE165
5.0