2.9
Quality3.3
Difficulty50%
Would Retake94
Reviews50%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
19
4
17
3
24
2
17
1
17
What Students Say
“Strongly recommend him”
MATH232 - 5.0 rating“As far as his teaching is considered, he is crystal clear”
MATH308 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
81%
Textbook Required
17%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.89 avg changeRatings by Course
MACM300
5.0
(1)MATH157
5.0
(1)MATH345
5.0
(1)MATH242
4.3
(4)MATH232
4.2
(5)Difficulty by Course
MACM300
4.0
MATH155
4.0
MATH232
3.8
MATH154
3.4
MATH152
3.3
Reviews (94)
It's pointless to go to his class... you learn NOTHING .... just read the book
Just read the book and don't go on his assignments, exams are way harder.
Once you get used to accent and notes, he's aiight. Funny stare and Russian accent. Vvrraight?!
Boring lectures, nothing over what I'd find in the book. Stopped showing up after awhile.
not good
good lecturer but i always sleep in his class. i should have got a better grade if i didn't sleep.
He should learn english before teaching math...It should be manditory to take english before teaching...jeez. Examples:sin-sinus, cosin-cosinus,etc. determine-deetermine,subtract-substract,calculus-calcouluus,comparison-compilation, and the list goes on..
He's a nice guy, but he needs to know how to teach before being a professor.. Even one of the TA teaches better than him.. geezz!
Yah.. he needs to learn English before teaching math (or any other courses). And his handwritting needs to improve too, somehow I can't read what he writes for most of the time. ><"
his notes are hard to follow especially when you come to prepare for exams. he should practice more on his english and simplify his speech
His notes are nothing like his test questions. And extremely hard final exam.
Easy midterms, ridiculously hard final. With scaling it was possible to have 45% and get a solid C. Scaling was more for lower marks (2 letter grades) and less for higher marks (a single letter grade). Easy to pass, hard to get a high mark.
yeah ... i think he should learn to pronouce his English before teaching ... I highly recommand him that he should find a pronoucation teacher to correct his pronouciation!!! the midterms are ok .. but the final is super hard!!!
His english is both unclear and hard to make out what he is saying. His assignments are alright, but mid-terms and the final exams are a little too tough to do in the allocated time. His lecture notes are ok; has some examples to guide you along.
most interesting accent i've ever heard. nice person but... i think his accent is harder to understand than the course material.
It takes a little while to understand his accent for a few words but it is bad. Took me about two weeks to understand him completly.
*Very* dedicated and enthusiastic prof, made the material fascinating and challenging and brought it alive. His accent didn't interfere, just added to the fun. Great prof for this course.
His accent makes it hard to understand the lectures at times. The midterms and final are definitely on the difficult side.
This is the first time that he teaches analysis, overall well done, his accent is somehow confusing,but not a big deal since we are already familiar with the material.Exams are so easy, the avg is like 70%. An easy A+ for me!
Oh my gosh. I love him. He is so adorable, I love his accent, it's so adorable, and I love how he makes jokes sometimes. Just study (like any other class) and you'll do well. :)
Extremely hard to understand. Overhead notes are impossible to read if you dont sit in the front of the 400+ person class.
At first I thought he was an alright prof. His notes are somewhat useless and he skips important examples. The first midterm was alright, but his second midterm killed the class. It was all on concept and there was only 2 questions with a total of 10 on a 40 question test that were actually from the assignments.
This is the worst prof of my whole entire existence! I do not like to hate on people, but he is just a dissaster and a half! Once again... worst prof ever!!! He doesn't explain anything, just reads what it says on the notes. His exams were extremely hard and were not relavent to what he said to study or what he taught.The class average was a fail!
Watch out people. This prof is really bad. Study the assignments, practice questions. Stacho rambles on and on in class, and doesn't know what he's saying. He makes so many mistakes in his calculations, and the second midterm we got had a FAIL average. Wonder what the final exam average will be...
I love him to pieces! He is very straight forward, yes does read off the notes, but embellishes very well. His amazing Russian accent only adds to the class, yeah? The exams were very fair, and would recommend him for any student.
Honestly, not the best prof in the world. Not because of his accent, not because he's a jerk (because I really think he is a nice man, and can be quite funny at times!), but because he tends to go through his examples way too quickly, without actually teaching them. Just remember to clarify your answers on all assignments, midterms, and the final!
if u can read the book and learn from the book then you will do well in the course. stacho is not good at teaching. he skips alot of steps when he solves a problem and makes a mistake at times so it makes it hard to follow. i would suggest taking 154 with nadia nosrati. she is stachos student. most people from stachos class attend nadias
All his notes are based entirely off the textbook... i think the course could have been easier if he offered a different viewpoint from the text. If learning from the text is your thing, youll do fine. Hes a nice guy otherwise, and he tries hard.
He is a nice guy, but his class is very boring. His overheads are straight from the text and his explanations aren't so clear. However, his midterms are pretty easy and straight forward, just do all his assignments and you'll do more than fine. His final was a lot tougher though, he ask too many specific difficult questions. But overall he is ok.
Stacho's AWESOME! His exams are a cakewalk. Seriously, easiest prof ever. Questions are usually straight out of the textbook, or from examples. His communication could use some improvement, but he clearly tries hard to ensure everyone is learning. Good job Stacho :)
He is a nice guy and tries to teach, but he reads off the slides which are directly from the text. Goes through difficult examples really really fast rather than explaining the ideas behind them.
Hes not a good professor for someone who wants to succeed. He doesnt care for students success, he wants to do his job and leave asap. He skips steps in his notes, which defeats the purpose of going to class, and notes are copied from the textbook. I went to Nadia's class and learned one concept in 10 mins that would take me 2 weeks in his class.
Very boring class; if you've taken calculus in high school, it will be painful to sit through his lectures (I skipped the last 3 weeks). If you can learn from the textbook, do it, and use the calc workshop for support. Your peers and the TA's will be the best help. Stacho though truly is a nice guy, he's just not the best teacher.
Stop blaming Stacho for his teaching methods! At least %80 of final exam questions was straight from his lecture notes and weekly assignment. He even scaled at the end. good times at high school is over guys. build a proper schedule, and study hard if you want good grades. Be competitive and don't blame others.
stop crying people. I failed the 2nd midterm and the final and I still got a C+ in math 154 with stacho. I would recommend him for others just not at the time of 8:30am. His jokes are so funny times. LIke the time he said anyone have questions and held up that stick LOL
I thought stacho was a great prof! Once you got past his accent hes a good at explaining things. I would recommend his class. His exams are straight up from the homework and notes so i don't understand what people are complaining about. If you study right and pay attention during class, you will do fine.
Definitely recommended for MACM 201, as his exams are consistently easier than the sample ones, minus most graph theory questions. He also scales everyone up after an exam.
at first he was really hard to understand. once you get by that, he's hilarious in class and is decent at explaining things (not the best). His exams are straight from the homework assignments and notes so study that stuff and you'll be good!
His exams are not hard, and he pulled the curve up after the final exam
His accent is hilarious but it might take you a while to get used to it. His midterms were very similar to homework questions and examples he did in class, but the averages were still terrible. However he will scale the final mark. If he gives you a sample final, actually go over it!!! a few questions on our final were the exact same.
Dr. Stacho lacks clarity to a non-professional level. I would however say that he himself understands that, that is why he provides the class with pre-made videos. He is willing to help. The workshop is very useful. He has fairly easy midterms and exam was super easy. Questions are similar to homework. I liked him.
I would say the course itself is hard. His video lecture in class is useless. You won't get it. Listen to his lectures at home and take some good time to digest them. By the way, my mid term mark was boosted 20%+ , after scaling.
Took his class a while back. I liked him. His accent is Slovak, not Russian, which was not too hard to understand. Overall, not bad. Super nice guy.
Stacho is hilarious. There are plenty of bad reviews with regards to his English, but these must be old, I am guessing he has improved, as in this class his English was good and was never a problem. He is a good professor if you are just starting math, he breaks downs proofs of theorems and teaches you the intuition in thinking and using them.
Ladislav is a funny guy and teaches well. He teaches out of the book, but he explains his steps on the way and tries to give intuitions before starting. His exams are totally fair and were all questions closely related to the homework or proofs right out of class. He's a top-notch math lecturer.
Ladislav is a great lecturer and goes through everything clearly. However, his tests doesn't reflect what the course is actually supposed to be. He loves testing you with proofs because he originally teaches Macm 201. Math 240 is the course for proofs, not 232. To pass, you need to practice questions beyond what he even gives you.
His lectures are clear and easy to follow. He does include some of the more simple proofs on his exams, but his calculation questions are not that difficult. Study his notes carefully and do the textbook problems in order to do well in this course.
He's a prof with good intentions. You can tell he tries to make sure you get the material but the notes he was using (not his) forced him to rush the lecture, every single time. You will need to study the notes and textbook to pass. He loves to use proofs so you're pretty much taking MATH240 as well. Tests are hard and expect to memorize proofs.
Bit of an accent but otherwise good. Sometimes unclear due to breadth of materials that have to be covered, and makes exams that are quite fair. Course is generally difficult due to the amount of proofs/theorems/formulas but applying them is quite straightforward.
Don't believe the hype, his English is perfect, ain't nothing wrong with it. As far as his teaching is considered, he is crystal clear. Also, don't forget to attend tutorials, they are essential for getting an A
I read these reviews before starting the course and was kind of worried but he is very clear in lecture, and provides clear notes and explanations. He does have a strong accent but it is not hard to understand, and he is always trying to get the class laughing and engaged. If you do the assignments that he assigns you'll do fine on the exams.
He hates calc, but doesn't everyone? Dude's hilarious but not for his "jokes" which weren't really jokes most of the time. Accent wasn't bad, English is fine, but he said things really weird sometimes. Extremely fair exams, easy Instructor Questions. Better prof than people make him out to be. :) Super helpful if you go to his office hours. Scales.
I was reluctant to take calc with him from his ratings but after taking math with him, he has become the best prof I've ever had at SFU! His notes are clear, and his lectures are very informative and helpful! He teaches this course excellently and makes great jokes! If you put in the work, you should get a good grade in this class, and he scales!
I loved his class! Super funny and teaches really well! Really nice prof and tests are really fair as well.. his reviews were very helpful before the midterms and final. He's much better than what he's actually rated as...
Ladislav does an admirable job at teaching a very difficult course. He explains things clearly, although his accent is a little hard to understand sometimes. He also goes quite quickly in lecture so you really have to focus. Midterms and final were difficult which is to be expected because the course itself is tough. Lots of concepts to remember.
He is a real star! Linear algebra is a tough course, but Ladislav did everything to clearly explain all course material. Exams and tests were strongly connected to homework assignments and after all everyone received mark according to the work during the term! Strongly recommend him!
I reccomend Prof,Stacho to anyone even if you are not so good at math. He has a clear purpose in lectures and that is to make you understand what the concepts are. He doesnt rush through the notes like many other profs. I respect him and his method of teaching. He even gives a few tips to study, they come in handy! Put in work and you will do good.
He is one of the best profs I have ever had. His clarity and knowledge of graph theory was obviously immaculate but the way he brought up profs and explained interesting problems was incredible. This will probably get banned but sometimes I would legit feel aroused after class because of how exciting the lectures were.
Professor Stacho is a very clear and concise professor. His lectures were enjoyable and he cares about his students, you can tell.
Honestly if I were to describe in him 1 word it would be mid. Because he is exactly that. Not great but not horrible. Lectures are alright and tests aren't to bad either.
He's an alright prof, his lectures were understandable but not engaging- perhaps the energy given by the class is what he gave back as well?As a procrastinator, I highly suggest you review each lecture example after class and try doing them without looking at the answers; if you don't understand any part the TA's do a great job explaining them.
dont fall behind in material and do the homework; the exams are mostly word problems so practice that
He was a decent math prof compared to the rest. His lectures were confusing in the beginning but I got a hang of them. His exams are decently fair as well. They are based mainly on his lectures and some online homework basic concepts. If you review the material well and understand it, you will do well even without touching the textbook.
Very good prof, caring and easy to talk to. Lectures clear and fun. Recommend.
A pleasure
Great guy and seemed to care about students. Math isn't my best class, and sometimes his teaching was confusing and I easily got lost during his face paced lectures, but there are lots of opportunities to get help in the Math workshop. Overall would take a class with him again.
Stacho is a funny guy but not the best prof. His final was quite difficult, midterms were reasonable and mostly based off of the written assignments. His explanations often didn't make sense and he would have trouble pacing his lectures. I would recommend going the the math lab for extra help. Overall he is decent, not terrible and not great.
ladislav was hilarious ! he messed up a lot in class but would clarify. despite going to every lecture, i barely paid attention and taught myself outside of class. material isn't hard, attendance isn't mandatory. he's easily approachable and if u do bad on the mt there's around 30% worth of assignments which are easy 100%s. really easy class !
Dr. Stacho was a mid prof. Lectures were hard to follow. Midterms were based on assignments but were only an hour, and I found that there wasn't enough time to finish them. The final was very difficult. The only things that helped me pass were the Discord server and past exams, which were not provided by Stacho but I found online.
Often very hard to follow his lectures. He's funny but sometimes hard to understand. Exams always felt rushed because he would make them wayyy to long. He seemed nice though...
he always messed up in lecture but was funny. first and last midterm were okay but second was very hard. don't even get me started on how difficult that final was, thankfully it was only 25% so lock in for the midterms but yeah doesn't know how to teach. nice guy though
I didn't like paying for Iclicker and webassign, but he did give Amazon gift cards to some students that did Hypatia. I liked his energy. Really helps if you took Calculus 12, because it can be hard to understand at this pace. To study just do practice problems
Ladislav is the goat
You won't understand what he is saying.
You won't be able to understand a word he says.
Not finished course yet (at ~82% rn). notes are hard to follow, hard to read/miswritten. he has a thick accent (Czech? idk) got me really confused during lecture. lot of his written hw and test questions are weirdly worded, guaranteed to lose marks. uses matlab for hw but never taught how to use. would not recommend only if u learned calc in hs.
His biggest problem is that he makes his tests way too long.
He doesn't post the problems he solves in class and speeds through the slides.
Show up to lectures because without doing that, tests would be even harder than they are. Very little time for tests for the amount of work required and they are strict on grading. The two assignments due each week only line up with class content 1/2 the time and Matlab is required on weekly assignments but never taught in class.
Ladislav has a thick accent and goes through his lectures too fast skipping over steps and making you do ti in your head. first midterm was okay but second was terrible, he does not give enough time during his tests. he gives a lot of homework. usually the WA are similar to the midterms. you will need to teach yourself everything.
Don't take Math 154 with Ladislov. He rushes through new topics every class, doesn't review, and ignores requests to slow down. Midterms are unfair (7 multi-part questions in 50 minutes) and the averages are soo low (51%). I had to teach myself everything because his explanations were so unclear. He's a smart person but an awful prof.
not the best teacher, but not the worst. he's okay. just kinda reads off the slides without explaining the material. you'll have to rely heavily on self-study + the pre-lecture videos to understand the material. if math isn't your strong suit, another professor may be better suited for you.
He struggles to simplify the concepts enough for a first time learner, so it can be really daunting to sit in class and learn what integrals are without supplementing with YouTube. The nice thing though is that the tests are quite straightforward, pretty much exactly the practice problems just with different variables.
If you can, don't take math154 with him. He doesn't post the lecture slides after the lecture. He rushes through the concepts. He has a thick accent so understanding him is also really difficult.
Ladislav is the goat. He's very funny but CANNOT teach at all. He doesn't even make his own midterms or assignments, he steals them from other professors. First and third midterm were easy but the SECOND MIDTERM? Horrible. As long as you practice doing the questions done in the lecture, you will be good.
ladislav if ur seeing this make the final easy please i beg you
teaching was horrible and unorganized, tests did not reflect lectures and written assignments were a waste of time. He is funny but hard to understand. He is a nice person though.
Why no grade scale Ladislav 😢😢😢 Funny guy, fix the screen next time 👍
If you are taking Math 154 with this prof, wait for a different prof. Not accessible outside of class and won't answer any questions regarding exams. Exams are much more difficult than what was practiced. He is a computer science prof, not a math prof, and gave coding as homework for first-year life science calc. Overall, not a good prof.
After seeing reviews on here I was scared to a course with him but he was a pretty good prof. Midterms and final were fair and based on assignments & lecture slides and he's a nice and funny guy.
Avoid Ladislav if you cannot teach yourself stuff. Midterms and final were difficult compared to the practice questions we were given, and he does not curve, even though the averages were low. I personally will avoid it in the future.
He's a nice and funny guy, but his teaching style really depends on you as a student. Some like it, others hate it. Tests were reasonable except the 2nd midterm on derivatives, way too many questions for 50min but he did remove 4 points off to boost us. 2025 Fall class avg, C-. Do not take if you can't teach yourself stuff. AND GO TO LECTURES!!!
Midterm was so easy but do not get fooled the final was insane, more of theory based rather than solving, understand the concepts fully before going in esp the material that was before the midterm. Overall lectures were so boring and he yaps a lot, just look at the slides. He is really sweet though would recommend going to his office hours :)
Very long midterms, i thought the final was alright. he often makes mistakes on his lectures slides which he doesn't notice or bother to correct unless if someone calls it out. He doesn't post the completed lecture slides so make sure u go to lecture. He's often difficult to understand, writing is messy, and doesn't pace his lectures well.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
81%
Textbook Required
17%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.89 avg changeRatings by Course
MACM300
5.0
(1)MATH157
5.0
(1)MATH345
5.0
(1)MATH242
4.3
(4)MATH232
4.2
(5)Difficulty by Course
MACM300
4.0
MATH155
4.0
MATH232
3.8
MATH154
3.4
MATH152
3.3