Lecturers are not well organized. Her lectures are slightly confusing because of the lack of organization. Her tests are on the difficult side if you are trying to get a good grade. Miss one question and its good bye good grades... and your hard work!

She's great. I didn't really listen too well in class because she was very organized but she was always willing to help. Just know that you will need Aleks for her and not Mastering Chemistry, so have fun with that. I know I didn't.

She is the nicest professor I've ever had and is extremely helpful. As long as you show up to class, you'll understand the material. She gives a lot of examples that really help with the homework. I never once had to use my book. She doesn't use Mastering Chemistry so don't buy it!

So helpful, she genuinely wants you to succeed. Attendance is not mandatory but come to class and go to office hours if you don't understand something, and you will do well! I never understood chemistry before her class, but her in-class explanations and use of the Aleks homework program have left me confident in my chem abilites. Amazing teacher.

Super sweet professor, really knows chemistry and actually explains it in a clear-cut way. Pretty big amount of online homework. Had 6 quizzes, two midterms, and a cumulative final. Don't buy the ($250+) book, no one used it!

She is a great professor. I loved her class. Her lectures were great. She was ALWAYS available during office hours and helped you with every question you had until you understood. She really cares! NOTE:when i say easy A, people think show up and get an A. No, it's chemistry, you'll get an A but only if you show up and pay attention and do the HW

She really cares about the success of her students. There was about 100 people in the class yet she takes the time to get to know as many people as she can. If you need help with anything she'll stay after class or you can go to her office hours. She has a very clear teaching style and tells you what to prepare for on quizzes/exams.

Best chemistry professor ever. In high school I came out of chemistry with a C- and i thought I was horrible at chemistry but with Professor Hirakawa my test score average was an A at all times. Show up to lectures, do the in class participation, do all the online homework and you will pass. What you put in is what you get out. Be willing to learn.

Amazing professor! If you took chemistry in high school, you should have no problem passing this class. If you didn't, she really cares and is always available to help you understand.

Professor Hirakawa is amazing! Attendance isnt mandatory but its not a good idea to skip the lecture, she gives good notes that are very relevant to the exams. Would definitely take again.

Professor Hirakawa is the best! She's really friendly, approachable, and helpful. Even though attendance is not mandatory, show up for her lectures because it'll help prepare you for the exams. I'd definitely take her again!

This was a great professor. She mainly wrote on the board instead of power points, which worked well for me since I am a visual learner. She takes time to explain concepts and goes at good pace since there is a lot of complicated material to cover. The grading scale she also uses is very clear and helpful and she offers moments for extra credit.

Professor Hirakawa is amazing! She is very enthusiastic and her voice never puts you to sleep! She explains everything very well and will always answer your questions. If you take notes and follow along you will get an A!! She also bumps people up who have borderline grades! She is a must take!!

Professor Hirakawa is an amazing professor. Very nice and is always willing to help as much as she can. Make sure to complete her homework and study for her exams. Her exams are derived from her lecture notes so try not to skip class. Drops lowest quiz and her final exam is cummulative and heklps replace your lowest exam score.

Lab lecture is just explaining the lab. She's very caring and explains everything clearly and even allows omissions of parts she thinks is not important.

Great professor who explains concepts that you can easily understand. Her grading is forgiving. If you do better on the final than the midterms, your midterm grades can be replaced with the final. Homework is online, using Aleks. It's a stupid program, but it's manageable. Overall, Harikawa was pretty good. Easiest of the CHM 121 professors.

BEST chem professor I've ever had. She is very nice, patient, and fair. I love that she utilizes the white board and has nice writing. She is always available outside of class to help!!

She should be given such high standing at Cal Poly Pomona, she cares about all of her students and wants everyone to understand the material. If you go to office hours you'll be able to get help on the online homework and prepare for the exams. Gives lots of opportunities to raise your grade and returns quizzes and exams quickly. 12/10 professor.

One of the best professors, if not the best, Ive had at CPP. Extremely helpful and approachable. I went to her office hours because I needed help with my study guide from my chemistry lecture ( with Joelle O), and she explained everything to easily. Shes the best!!

Tried her best to get over 100 students engaged in class. Homework was online, and I hated every minute of that dumb ALEKS program, but you could do it in class as she was explaining it, and you could go to office hours and get help on it.

Professor Jennifer is a very kind and nice professor. She tries her best to engage a large crowd of students. Her lectures are pretty helpful. Only con is that she is not very accessible during office hours. The one thing that is annoying about her class is hw. She uses a website called ALEKS, worse homework site. Overall pretty decent Professor.

She is an ok professor, she did teach us how to do problems in class and went over it to make sure everyone got it. However, she was always very unorganized. She does allow extra credit and her exams very easy. She does online homework on masteringchemistry or aleks.

Prof was amazing and took so much time to make sure that we were able to understand the materials. She makes the lectures relatable for everyone for all non-science majors. We had a few quizzes throughout here and there as well as essays and no textbook required, so you could use your notes for the quizzes and final.

Chemistry is hard. You cant expect any professor to make it easy if the subject itself isnt. Jennifer is one of the most caring and nicest professor in the department. Be persistent, go to office hours and make yourself present. She will honestly tell you what is on the quiz, test, with great detail. You just have to put in the actual effort.

Very kind and sweet to her students. 6 quizzes, 3 MTs, 1 final, and some homework. Quizzes are after every couple concepts, and are a good check of what you learned. MT builds off quizzes. Tests are word problems/application with no m/c. ALEKS homework is long, and she doesn't even test from it (get ahead and forget about it) You can ask about lab!

She really wants you to pass and do well. Quiz and exam questions are often the same or similar to homework. Lots of online homework. Great extra credit opportunities. Chemistry was not my subject but if you read the textbook and do plenty of the practice problems, you should at least get a B.

She is the nicest professor ever. She is so helpful and caring and wants everyone to do well. She is really helpful during office hours and can help you with the lab or anything really. Her tests are pretty straightforward if you follow the study guide and your notes. Overall, shes great.

Her lectures were easily understandable and her organization of the course really helps her students succeed. She uses ALEKS rather than mastering chemistry and I liked it a lot better. Her grading is straight forward and she's very caring and understanding. Half of our semester was online due to covid but she was still able to teach effectively

One of the best chem 121 teachers! Highly recommend for students who struggle with chem. She tries her best to keep things simple. She doesnt take attendance but you need to go to lectures to understand the material. Take notes. Hw is based on ALEKS, which can be frustrating if you dont keep up with it. Gives out EC via Tophat or essay

She's an excellent professor and makes things easy to understand. Classes were moved online due to COVID-19 so she adjusted her grading. ALEKS homework made up a large part of your grade. Her online quizzes were open book and open notes so they were pretty easy. She does her best to make sure that you understand the material and get a good grade.

Professor Hirokawa was super easy to reach out to for help. I definitely recommend attending all of her office hours or as many as you possibly can just because chem is a time consuming class that requires more attention. She also offers extra credit!

LOVE THIS PROFESSOR!! She's probably one of the best chemistry professors on campus. Chemistry in general is a difficult/time consuming subject, you definitely have to work for your grade. But Hirokawa is sooo helpful! Go to all of her office hours and she's amazing at explaining everything without making you feel dumb :)

Hirakawa makes chem bearable!! She is personable, caring of students, and explains labs patiently and thoroughly. My struggle with chem has always been the intimidation of the work and approaching professors about it. This isn't a problem with her because she is welcoming of stumped students. Highly recommend! Great energy too!- which is rare imo.

It's been virtual learning all semester and I don't know what I'd do without Hirakawa's patient explanations and examples. She doesn't make you feel bad for not understanding something. I feel during this pandemic, chem is SO much harder, but she has been doing exceptionally well in supporting her students with care and supplemental info. A+

There is a pre quiz and a quiz every week, except when there is an exam. There is weekly homework through ALEKS. The exams are based on the ALEKS problems. The lecture videos contain the textbook discussion and practice ALEKS problems. The professor would sometimes upload the lecture videos a day late.

No doubt she's of the best chem profs at CPP. She's always willing to explain even the smallest detail and work w/ u till u get it. She's also really nice and lectures really really well. There is a good amount of online hw on Aleks (not busy work), and it is a chem class so ofc u have to put in an effort but trust me she's the prof you want!

On top of synchronous lectures, she provides videos in the module to help you further understand content. The most difficult thing about this class is probably ALEKS (hw system) but the videos give a really straightforward explanation how to do them. She's a very chill teacher and is pretty lenient on things.

best chem prof. just take her. very understanding and willing to explain everything clearly.

Easily the best chem professor to take. Drops lowest quiz grade. Goes over the labs live in class and also in recorded lectures. Caring and has multiple office hours to ask her for help. Quizzes are exactly like the lab material of the week being tested. Highly recommend to anyone. Easy A if you just do all the work and come to class.

Professor Hirakawa was a great professor as she always made sure we were prepared for the exams. In addition to her lectures, she posted videos of herself further explaining topics and added links to other websites we may have found useful. Her lectures were interactive, encouraging students to work through problems. Definitely recommend!

3 exams, 1 final, weekly quizzes. ALEKS weekly hw, was a bit tedious (80-140 Questions a week). DO NOT wait till the last minute to do ALEKS you will be overwhelmed. ALEKS helps ur grade A LOT. In general, a caring, and understanding professor so don't be afraid to ask questions even if it's simple ones.

Weekly labs, weekly quizzes on the lab video she gives us. WATCH the lab video will help A LOT with the procedure of the lab. Labs are done in partners, so register with a friend. Make sure to show up to every lab. If you mess up on one of the parts u prob have to restart the lab. Labs usually take at least 1 hr + 30 min. ASK for help, if needed.

The best lab professor to take. She is very caring and loves to help her students. She supplies lab videos which helped understand the lab very clearly. Her quizzes were not too bad, and sometimes she decided not to give them. She grades leniently as long as you work hard on the lab reports. Definitely make sure to get a serious lab partner!!!!!!!!

Professor Hirakawa is really nice and lenient. She allows you to take as many attempts as you want for your homework and gives you until the last day of the semester to finish it all. Her lectures and tests really coincide with one another and I really learned a lot.

(FALL 2019) Homework is done through ALEKS and Extra Credit opportunities are available through a program called TopHat, both of which you have to pay for. If you dont wanna hurt your wallet I wouldnt recommend her, haha. Other than that, a great professor who really cares about her students.

My grade doesn't actually reflect how well I could've done in this class. Hirakawa is an amazing professor and genuinely cares about her students. She wants you to succeed and will help you immensely in doing that. I had a medical issue about halfway through the semester and she was the only professor who was accommodating and actually cared.

My favorite prof! She really cares. Weekly pre-quizzes due Sunday. Weekly Monday quizzes. 3 Exams and a final. Pre quiz and quizzes basically explain the whole exam. Video lectures so she can use class to go over examples. Only thing is there's a lot of ALEKS, but they're 3 questions per section. She goes over how to do it all. Take her!

Her class is not difficult at all. Her lectures are online and need to be watched before class. There are activities done in class that help you learn the material. She does homework through the ALEKS system. There are 3 exams in the semester, and pre-quizzes on canvas that prepare you for the Monday class quizzes. A few EC points are given.

Her lectures are very easy to understand, and she is very patient with any and all questions. Quizzes every week, but it all helps in the end. Her grading is very fair and clear, and she does her best so you can succeed in her class. Couldn't recommend her enough.

Probably one of the best professors I have ever had. Tests were very easy as she gave a very detailed study guide before each one and gave retake opportunities after each midterm. ALEKS hw was time consuming but overall very easy to get through when you put enough time aside for it. 10/10 professor!!

Incredible experience on every level. Attendance isnt technically mandatory, but you get extra credit if you come. Homework is tough, but it makes the exams a breeze. It is not difficult to do well, and it is even easier to learn and remember the material. One of the best professors I've ever had.

1220 is a more difficult, less considered side of chemistry that is math focused. This class was difficult, but she made it very easy to follow along and do well. She gives you every chance to make your grade better. Homework is long and difficult, but if you do it, the exams are no problem. Take notes on how to solve homework problems.

Great professor. Incredibly understanding (I had to take the final a few days late because of a school trip). Very lenient and allowed for test corrections that add to your total test score. Allowed a notecard for every test as well (including final). All quizzes open note. If you struggle in chem she is the right choice. =)

She believes a lot in collaborative work and is a great lecturer. The homework website she uses can be frustrating sometimes because it makes you do the same topic over and over again until you get it right, but it does help you learn in the long run.

Funny and brought energy to every class! There were a few exams and quizzes, but the most time consuming part of this class were the weekly ALEKS homework assignments. Don't let them pile up. Overall, great class and professor.

TAKE HER! if chemistry is not your best subject take her! she goes really slow and systematic. everything is step by step and really clear. her lectures are online and in class you do group work so its important you come to class to get participation points. overall sweetest teacher ever i would take her for every chem class if i could

Lots of Aleks homework, if you do it all its pretty easy to get through the class. Class time is mostly spent on example problems / active learnings. Enthusiastic about chem which is cool to see. Biggest complaint is at home lectures. Space it out over a few days and it'll be alright. Extra credit on fridays. Try to participate if you can

Professor Hirakata is one of the most caring professors I've had. She is prefect if you're taking chem for the first time. She cares if you pass and gives many opportunities to pass the class. Chemistry is not easy but she explains it really nicely. Do your best to get her! Do not fall behind on the ALEKS! it really helps. Use all your resources.

Professor Hirakawa is one of the best at Cal Poly. She is the most caring and understanding teacher I have ever met. She takes students' personal lives into consideration and tries to make the coursework manageable for everyone. Open note quizzes, lots of extra credit, easy Aleks homework, and 2 tests plus a final. Best professor ever

Professor Hirakawa's teaching style is great. Despite the challenging exams, she provides relevant examples and encourages partner work, creating an engaging learning environment. Her encouragement of partner work fosters collaboration, making the class interactive and stimulating. Highly recommended for a truly outstanding educational experience.

Hirakawa the goat

super kind and understanding prof, she knows her class is hard so she does everything she can to help her students and she's an amazing lecturer. she explains everything thoroughly and does examples in class everyday and also promotes participation with partners which isn't too bad. she tries her best so students succeed, highly recommend taking

This professor is very knowledgeable and understanding. I would definitely consider taking this class again

The lectures were all pretty good and straightforward. Was allowed a notecard on each midterm and three notecards on the final (front and back). Mostly graded based on participation outside of the exams, and there's an online portion which will take up the majority of the time spent on the class (ALEKS mastery). Not bad at all though.

She's a caring professor who wants her students to succeed and learn the material. The lectures can be slow in comparison to CHM 1210L, so you may end up having to do labs dealing with concepts you haven't learned. Notecards were allowed on midterms and final. Most of the time spent on the class will be through ALEKS. Very solid professor, though.

Professor Hirakawa was simply amazing. She had office hours every single day and would work through every step of the lab with you. If you didn't understand something, she would stay until you did, often staying an extra hour or two. In the lab she would make sure that you did the complicated steps properly and always made sure everyone was safe.

Amazing teacher, allows notebooks on quizzes and notecards on tests and has a variant of test corrections. Good lectures, multiple times gave us extra credit simply for showing up. Only reason not rated a 5 because our class was well behind the lab class. But overall great and easy teacher that provides a lot of chances to help your grade.

Chem is hard and she made the class easy to follow. Easy open note quizzes/tests/final, sometimes stays past her office hours to help with lab reports. This woman is an extra credit machine and genuinely wants you to pass. She's passionate about chemistry, caring, very kind, and has amazing lectures. Take her, even if it's 8am!

She is one of the nicest, most caring, down-to-earth professors you will ever meet. She explained the chemistry concepts excellently and provided us with enough information to do the homework. In addition, she allows you to regain points from your old exams so it supports the growing mindset model. Overall a great professor for you to take.

Attendance is mandatory!!! We had to skip many lectures near the end because she didn't have enough time to teach them. All homework is due at the end of the semester, but don't procrastinate, it takes up a lot of time. She allows index cards for exams and quizzes are open notes.

She is very kind and caring. She makes the class much easier than it needs to be and it helps a lot. On tests, you get to use a notecard (on the final, you get 3). On in person quizzes, you get to use your notebook. She uses Aleks for homework which was annoying but not so bad. TAKE her for lecture. I enjoyed chemistry in this class at least.

She is a very kind teacher who will make chemistry very enjoyable . She effectively breaks down the lab at beginning of class after quizzes which are almost every week for 10 mins. Really values safety and is very willing to explain concepts to you but she still wants you to think and be challenged. Amazing professor and person would take again!

makes chem easy for those who are not chem majors, but gave lots of hw on aleks

I failed 1220 twice before taking her class. She's nice and good at teaching. If you get a bad exam score you get to earn those points back later, had an exam go from a D to a B. Keep up w/ Aleks! It's good for studying & worth a good percent of your grade. 1 notecard for exams & 3 for the final. Open notes quizzes. Gives lots of resources to help

Very kind and understanding professor, makes labs understandable and enjoyable. She drops the lowest quiz grade and also allows one late lab report. She's always ready to assist in the lab and answer any questions, overall amazing professor wish I had her for 1220.

She is great at making hard subjects simple and you actually learn everything. Uses ALEKS which is soo much better than mastering chem. Literally just put in simple work to get an A honestly not hard at all. Just pay attention to details for exams by studying off the really good study guide she gives.

Her teaching was very good. I understood and loved her class. Stay on top of ALEKS!!! Study for the exams and take advantage of the retakes.

Very easy and consistent class. Slow, easy to understand lectures. Always had a week to complete 3-7 topics on ALEKS and a super easy pre-quiz with answers straight from the textbook for homework. Open note quizzes. One notecard on two tests, three for the final exam. Only complaint was that the lecture wasn't aligned with the lab, making it hard.

I straight failed 1220 last semester I took it with Dr C it was hell, I tried hired a tutor went to office hours still failed. I took professor hirakawa the following semester, her lectures are super helpful and she uses Alek which is way better then mastering chemistry, if you want to learn and pass and understand this is the teacher to take.

Very easy professor, in depth lectures. Homework was weekly and very easy but very lenient by having all assignments due at end of the semester. Very easy quizzes, allows notebook. Very easy tests, allows notecards to write down on. Also allows for test corrections. Amazing teacher who makes the class incredibly easy to pass. Strongly recommend.

Amazing professor. Her lectures were very clear on each topic she covered. She does assign group classwork, but they are easy and take 10 mins to complete at most. Weekly HWs are online. Quizzes are open note while midterms and finals allow a notecard with however much content you want on them. Would take her class again.

Seriously take Hirakawa, everything you need to know to pass the class is clearly and thoroughly gone over in her lectures, though the lectures themselves are brief and Extremely easy to follow. Homework is doable on your own time and late work isn't docked. Most of class time is practice problems. If you participate in class you do well on exams.

Hirakawa is an angel of the chemistry department. Just take her. She offers test retakes for certain questions and can boost your grade or completely change it without penalty. She does have daily assignments, meaning you do have to attend class daily.

She is sooo sweet! Her office hours are extremely helpful and she cares about her students a lottt. Her exams are very easy and her lectures are slow so students can grasp the concepts. I had her for 1210 and 1220 lecture and I recommend her to everyone!

Hirakawa cares deeply for her students' understanding and grades. We had 3 exams in total with chances to improve our first 2 exam grades. She gives points based on attendance so come to class as much as possible. Sometimes her lectures would lag behind what we were learning in lab, so make sure you catch up as necessary.

Attend every class because there will be many in-class extra credit opportunities given. She's one of those awesome professors where you can always ask for help and she'll stick with you until you understand

I highly recommend taking her class. She makes the material easier to understand and uses ALEKS instead of Mastering Chemistry, which helps you learn better. For each exam, she allows one note card, and for the final, you can use three. She's the best professor I've had so far.

She is one of the best professors I've ever had, I wish she taught past gen chem so that I could take her again. She's able to simplify so much material down into something that's easy to digest. She is an amazing teacher. HW on Aleks wasn't too bad. Her exams and quizzes are all based off of lecture and homework. She is amazing!!!

super lovely professor! There are always like 5+ people in her office hours because they're just so good and useful. She is very approachable because you can always rely on her to be kind and helpful. She helped me with a lot of different classes even though I only had her for chem 1210 lecture.

Very passionate professor. She breaks down topics in an easy and digestible manner. Two exams and one final. She provides mastery questions which can be retaken in future exams. Tends to take a slower pace on topics. If you need more time or is your first time taking chemistry, would recommend.