3.2
Quality3.3
Difficulty42%
Would Retake113
Reviews42%
Would Retake
113
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
40
4
14
3
21
2
16
1
22
What Students Say
“Only 1 of the 2 midterms were handed back”
ENSF337 - 1.0 rating“Get ready for group work and lots of independent reading”
ENGG233 - 3.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
54%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.26 avg changeRatings by Course
ENEL339ENEL409
5.0
(1)ENGG
5.0
(1)ENGGENGG
5.0
(1)ENGG239
5.0
(2)ENGO361
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ENSF614
4.6
ENSF694
4.5
ENGG335
4.0
ENSF337
3.8
ENSF480
3.7
Reviews (113)
No Comments
Prof of No mercy.
it may be hard to follow his notes but he's a great verrrrrrrrry helpful person & explain topicsc very well !
He is a good one, could be a bit tough but fair.
He is a wonderful professor. He is easy to understand, and he explains things in details. He is patient with all students and he is always happy and willing to accomodate students' needs. He DOES use the blackboard !!! His exams are fair, but maybe a little bit long.
Great prof, fair exams.
Very clear! Very helpful! Easy exams a bit long but if you practiced enough u'll ace'm!
No Comments
Moussavi is absolutely the best programming professor you could ever hope for. He knows the material inside out and backwards, and he explains the logic behind the language extremely well. I returned my textbook in the second week of class - the prof was so good I wouldn't even have bothered to open it.
Great proff, very helpfull. Teaches material relevant to the exams. Exams were fair. I slacked off in this class, but still managed to get fine grade just coz of the proff. I'd definitely recommend him.
This guys was really good. I had no clue, never TOUCHED programming before his class and now I have at least a competent understanding of fundamentals because he's such a clear speaker and good teacher.
Pros: Cares about the students, wants you to learn and do well, answers questions in detail. Cons: unorganized notes, focuses on one area of a topic rather than shows the various applications of the topic, which makes labs really hard. Comments: he's not horrible but he's not amazing either.
Engg233 is a class that is a mark booster if you do the labs. The prof goes over lots of examples that all turn up in the final. He explains things one on one with you as well. There are a lot of handouts and his powerpoints are good references. Just try to stay awake during lectures.
Amazing instructor. One of the most enthusiastic profs I had for all of first year and incredibly clear. I had no knowledge of programming going into the course but if you go to lectures and pay attention with Moussavi it's a fairly easy course.
Greatest Prof Ever. Go to class, listen to what he's saying (you'll get used to accent real quite) and do the in class examples. A+
I learned everything from my friend. Of course you got to do your work in programming, but he's not really good at teaching in class. I did very good in class but that's because my friend taught me how to do every lab -- he is unable to get the point across with clarity and application.
Dr. Moussavi is the best. He really knows what he is doing. Can be all over the place sometimes but many times it's because of stupid people confusing him. Had him for both 233 and 339 and taught both well. Worst part about 339 was the deadlines for the labs, brought my mark down because it's hard to get them in on time, unless you have no life.
Absolutely terrible. Uses outdated material (slides last modified 2003, labs are dated 2004), has never answered a single email, makes thousands of mistakes on labs and exams. Once gave a lab on material not covered in lecture yet, and then covered it the day after it was due.
Dr. Moussavi treats students with respect and generally can explain concepts well. However, the labs and exams are so rife with errors that it is hard to say that students are evaluated fairly. To compound this is the fact that he seems to have no inclination to improve the clarity of his labs or exams.
The best prof ever!! I had heard a speech from him before and did not look forward to the class (too many umms and errs) but I was pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm to teach and how he made every concept so clear. Go to the lectures, do the labs, easy A+. I carry great respect for him in my heart now.
In ENGG 233 & ENCM 339 he was awesome, best prof teaching the courses. However, once we hit ENDF 409 he just got so bad! His labs and exams were filled with errors, he doesn't respond to emails and does not give very clear answers =/
He is the best proff u can have for engg 233, he is just amazing. He is very passionate about teaching, which makes his class fun!
its a tougher course but this guy is awesome and does a great job!
Best prof ever. Very clear and amazing when answering questions. His exams are fair if you attend the lectures and do the labs without copying other students.
wow......I love him ! he is way better than any 233 profs. trust me!
Amazing prof. Hard course for those without a large interest in computer programming but he has a great personality and he's fun to listen to. Best ENGG 233 prof around
Good prof, tough marker. Not sure what was missing in our reports that caused us to get a low mark, maybe cause we didn't have enough pages of detail; 29 isn't enough apparently :|
Helpful prof. Don't overestimate your capabilities in this course; I thought I could learn javaon my own from my C++ knowledge and build an app within the given time frame, that didn't go so well. Thankfully, managed to get on his good side and get a decent grade. Lesson learned :P
His explanations go on forever and they don’t even adequately explain concepts. Labs and tests are full of errors and notes are outdated. He does make an effort to help you if you approach him directly, which you’ll likely need to do since his lectures are useless.
Very good at explaining. Responds to students' question thoroughly. Very heavy course load! You're gonna be stuck in the computer programming for 4 hours everyday!
He is a great professor and his accent is not a problem. His examples and class exercises are useful. He is very helpful in that he stays after lecture to answer questions.
Very good prof. Takes things slow and makes sure that the majority of the class understands before moving on. ENGG 233 was a breeze with him
I found Dr. Moussavi to be quite confusing at times, as in, it was hard to follow what he was teaching, and he would write two lines of code as if to start an example problem, and then move on to something else. Don't expect to absorb everything in lectures! The best learning comes from lab exercises and practice tests!
best programming prof
so confusing. no clear at all. Never could follow what he was saying or where he was going. He never followed a guideline to class, and switched between examples and slides constantly.
BEST programming prof, his lectures helped u lear everything u needed in one go. Never used anything but his lecture notesexamplesslides.
Genius. If you have a knack or any prior experience with programming, you'll love the guy. Otherwise, his downside is that he can be a bit disorganized and hard to follow. Make sure to ask lots of questions if something is unclear.
I had Dr. Moussavi for two programming classes a few years ago and he was pretty good. I had a hard time understanding programming but it was because I was new to it, not because of Dr. Moose.
Go to Moussavi's lectures, and pay attention!! Things you will learn up to the midterm are the basis for what you will be doing on the final! Lots of code, but markers are nice, and during the test, if you get stuck, ask the TA - they will actually tell you what to do
Great prof! Programming is like learning a foreign language so it is tough, however Dr. Moussavi made things very clear. Definitely the best of any of the 233 profs. The textbook is essentially useless so go to class and get Moussavi's examples. They are the most useful of anything since his examples are usually similar to exam questions.
Horrible professor, he tries but he just simply does not know how to teach this course. Asking for help will only get you a response of "pay attention in class and you should be able to do this". Doesn't speak clearly, but it is an 8 AM course. His voice kind of fades away, and then he returns at full volume. Learn from the internet.
Horrible professor. If you can avoid taking this class with him, do it. Lectures, labs and exams are so full of errors that it's a constant frustration. He doesn't even bother to learn how to speak proper English. In my opinion, it is unacceptable to have someone of this incompetence still teaching at a university level.
Teaches programming really well. I really enjoyed his lectures and I enjoyed the course.
Dr. Moussavi is a great prof! You can tell that he truly cares about his students and wants them to succeed. He tried very hard to answer questions in lecture and to be clear about concepts. Concepts that are tricky or important he goes over slowly and multiple times so that eventually you will understand.
Dr. Moussavi is a very goof professor. He really cares about the content and always answers student's questions thoroughly. I learnt a lot from him and although this class is tough, i passed with flying colours because of him.
One of the worst professors to teach this very basic programming course. Voice is unclear and his accent is awful. The material has not been updated since a long time. Not at all interested in answering genuine coding questions. Is not knowledgeable at all.
Professor Moussavi was one of my best prof at the University of Calgary. He is very organized. He is very helpful and loves helping students and makes the course very easy to understand.
Flip classrooms just don't work. Like really.
Get ready for group work and lots of independent reading. Moussavi's lectures revolve around basic concepts, but he teaches with the unspoken assumption that students with no experience will immediately be able to apply them to the complex tasks they must complete as a part of their labs and projects.
Moussavi was a nice guy, unfortunately this course was taught 99% through videos posted online. The lectures were a huge waste of time, all he did was more complex examples. Marking was easy though, and overall I enjoyed programming.
Professor Moussavi was an excellent teacher. However, lectures are on videos taught by another professor. I wish we could have Dr. Moussavi to teach the course instead on using videos. Overall I enjoyed the course
Moussavi is extremely disorganized in class and does a fairly bad job of explaining concepts. Thankfully, he is quite knowledgeable and the slides posted online cover all of the exam tricks. The TA's are the real problem in 339 - the only difference between a B and an A is the TA who marks your exam. Prepare for them to be marked like essays.
An above average prof.
Moussavi is great. Make sure you attend lectures as he covers topics outside of the notes posted online. The lectures really solidify concepts and truly give you an insight on C/C++. You will learn a lot in this course, be ready for lots of coding with respect to copy constructors, copy assignment operators, and destructors on the final. DoLabsSolo
I took a non technical course with Dr. Moussavi regarding software development project management. Dr. Moussavi is very friendly and available to provide extra help when needed.
Moussavi is awesome and really good at teaching this class. The class is definitely hard though. The final exam is a marathon.
The course was poorly designed and he had to fix his lecture slides on the fly during lecture. When I needed assignment extensions from a health problem, he refused.
Moussavi was actually a great instructor with extensive knowledge and could always give practical tips on how to program things. His way of explaining things was quite nice too. Attend the lectures though, he doesn't post quite enough things on D2L.
His grading is absolutely brutal on exams, and will take off a lot of marks for small mistakes. And, his expectations with the timeline of the course project are ridiculous, especially as he claimed "most of the project would be done in class", despite giving 10 minutes per lecture to work on it. We spent 20+ hours outside class over three weeks.
Overall Dr. Moussavi is a solid if unspectacular prof. He is very knowledgeable about C and C++ and can answer your questions well but he was a little disorganized and very hard to reach outside of class (I tried to arrange a meeting several times and he ignored my emails). Make sure you do all the labs yourself so you get enough practice.
Moussavi is amazing but you could get better marks in the class by not showing up because of the way he teaches (lecture notes are better than the lectures) Do your project early and make it pretty
had an A in the course till the final. Make sure you understand every aspect of the labs very well. And if you have time, do the extra tutorial problems. the final was really a 3hr sprint but if you understood the labs very well you'd be fine.
The midterms were terrible as they are worth more than half of your final grade, but you are given just two hours to write code with just ten minutes per question. The questions are very unreasonable for the given two hours with that tests you on impractical code.
He's a good prof, but won't post anything online, besides his lecture slides which are nothing more than complementary material. His final was terribly long. The best part about him in my opinion is the way he says "MALLOC CALLOC", and it makes my day. Pay attention, his classes are mostly verbal delivery.
He's not easy at all and doesn't deal with student's queries properly. Has good knowledge but can't teach properly. If you ask him questions, he says "If you paid attention, I said this and that" which is very undermining. Not recommended.
His online lectures are a pretty big mess - the upload schedule is screwed and in live sessions he often goes overtime. He goes out-of-order compared to the slides uploaded so it's really hard to follow along and he spends way too long on the wrong things. Knowledgeable and nice guy, just isn't the best at teaching.
There are weekly labs which makes the course hard to keep up and during lectures he does not give out actual code of many functions which makes it hard difficult to understand his material. I am doing good in the class but I am questioning if I should stay in software eng after taking ENSF337. Overall Dr Moussavi is a great guy.
He's just not it.
Dr. Moussavi's explanations are good, however lectures are disorganized and difficult to follow. In the switch to online learning, his failure to communicate with students and not being willing to adapt to the new challenges students face makes me believe he doesn't really care about his students or actual learning of the concepts at all.
Moussavi is right in the middle of greatness and mediocre he is not responsive to emails so the best way to get in touch with him is in his lecture. The exams were super tight and a crunch always the labs and assignments on the other hand he helped a lot in the lab hours which I recommend you attend since he gives tips and hints about the labs.
Yea no. His marking is literally up in the air. Marking on quizzes makes 0 sense, you could get a question wrong and still do better then someone else with a better grade. Cool guy but his lectures don't really help enough for the final project so you will live off stacked overflow. Especially for diagrams.
avoid if possible.
Hot garbage. Takes up to a week to respond if he decides he will. Lazy and doesnt not care about students success and Completely inconsiderate. Had him twice now and Do not ever want him again!
His way of teaching is different than Moshipour's but he goes into detail and writes notes/annotates the slides which are helpful to reiterate the content, yeah the first quiz was terrible and was not doable in 50 mins, but they listened and fixed that. The project was way too short of a time, needs to be introduced earlier in the semester.
The weekly labs are never ending and very time consuming. He doesn't actually code in his lectures and the slides are barely of any help. I took other courses on C/C++ to learn more and still barely managed to get a B in this class.
I think I would've found the lectures a lot more helpful if he did more coding in the lecture, rather than reading through the slides and sometimes adding barely legible annotations. Not the worst prof, but could be better.
A mandatory for the MEng program for Software Eng at U of Calgary. The course consists of going through C, then C++, and finally at the end design patterns in Java/C++ (didn't make sense to me either). Dr. Moussavi goes through slides at breakneck speeds, quizzes makes everyone nervous, and the project is given too late at end of semester.
Slides are filled with typos. Moussavi flies through 40 to 50 slides each class and tests the application of concepts in quizzes that he barely mentions in lecture and barely provides any information about in slides. The fact that he expects us to deeply understand concepts he barely teaches is very frustrating, and group projects are insanely long
Provides no communication about quizzes, what they'll be about, and how they'll be delivered. Most quizzes were multiple choice but surprised us with a fully written quiz requiring diagrams with no extra time for technical issues and no mention previously of that change in quiz style.
He's a very experienced instructor and taught the course really well with the slides we had seen before so they acted as a refresher and detailed explanation of the new concepts. His annotations help in solidifying the lecture content being presented and replied fairly well in a reasonable time frame to the emails as well.
Great Prof.
There are both recorded and in-person lectures. Both of which are not easy to follow, and mandatory to keep up with. This is entirely redundant and shows an inability to use the students' time efficiently. There are weekly labs which are very long and difficult. Not a considerate class; it takes way too much effort to cover basic material
The slides are kind of useful but often when handwriting is involved, they're nearly impossible to read. The labs are littered with so many spelling mistakes that they will sometimes confuse you while you're working on them. The labs are worth nowhere near as much as the time you spend on them. Hardly responds to emails and just doesn't care.
Honestly, he is not that bad, lab is pretty standard. However, I wouldn't say I like his lecture; he does some example code, but it is in hand write, and I find it pretty hard for me to comprehend. Regarding the midterm, there is no previous year midterm and it was marked very strictly. Overall pretty average prof, but I prefer Maankhedr
His lectures are decent but his slides are much better. His grading system is really strict and will take away marks for the smallest of mistakes. He barely replies to emails. However, if you go to him in person with a problem he tries to give you time in his office.
His videos are very hard to keep up with, his lectures are not good. The examples he provides are simple but the questions in the assignments are way harder. Midterm grading was really harsh. His voice is annoying and he is really old. He sounds like he is giving his nose a bj.
Teaching was counter intuitive (half in-person, half online) and often a waste of time. The topics were very confusing to learn which was made even harder because the professor's accent makes it hard to understand the words. 1 assignment to be handed in every week, some of which were too hard compared to the lecture content.
He is a great professor knows the topic in and out. Great teaching style. Exams are moderately challenging.
I like Dr. Moussavi because he teaches the details that hardly can be find I textbook. He focuses on foundations and fundamental concepts.
The worst professor I've ever had. You cant understand a single thing from his lectures, and his videos are ok. I took the same class with another professor and got an A+. The examples he provides are simple but the questions in the assignments are way harder. The exams are all hand written which doesnt make any sense since this is a coding class.
I've had him in ENSF337 and 480, liked him in the former and despised him in the latter. While obviously knowledgeable, his teaching methods are so outdated and it's incredibly tough to understand what he's trying to teach. The exams are brutal and do not play an accurate role in testing student's knowledge on the matter. Time for him to go.
Was fine for not as difficult courses but when you actually need to understand a concept he's not going to help. The lectures are maybe the most boring lectures I've attended in software which is a feat in itself and he only answers emails on occasion. His tests are very brutal with basically no study material. Take someone else if possible.
Lectures are decent, assignments are decent but worth very little. Quizzes are tough and leave you with little breathing space if you do poorly on 2/3 of them. The project is handed out at a late stage of the semester with very little time and resources to complete with ease. Overall, a tough course taught by a nice, but rather mediocre professor.
Terrible. Ignored certain parts of emails that were consecutively sent between one another, therefore, not being able to receive an answer about certain questions. Only 1 of the 2 midterms were handed back. Lacks communication through emails and also as well as in person. Adds on extra parts to project or assignments a day or 2 before deadline.
The tests were very fair, they were entirely content-based. He doesn't provide any practice exams, but if you know the content, you will be good.
One of the best! So easy to understand and teaches the fundamentals well.
Literally the best professor in SENG department
Mahmood's content is decent. However, he has various issues: - He speed through slides very very fast. Imagine covering 31 sets of 30-50 page slides in 8 weeks. - He doesn't disclose quiz dates and quizzes on things that he taught 10 minutes prior, leaving no time to digest the content. If I could choose, I am never taking his courses.
I've been unfortunate enough to have Dr.Moussavi twice, and what I can say is that I hated every second. He's still living in the 80's, doesn't upload notes he takes in class + His handwriting is awful. He struggles to teach concepts. His examples suck and does them poorly. Also goes over like 50+ slides in one lecture. I really hope he sees this.
How anyone could give him a rating higher than 1 is beyond my understanding. Imagine going over 50 slides in less than an hour. There could be 2 minutes left and he'll say lets start the next lecture and end up going 10 slides in. I am actually just teaching myself. He needs to stop his weird obsession with AR diagrams as well. Its time to retire.
Wastes a ton of time on things that never show up on exams, will not round it if students are on 55.8%, ignoring the fact that it can lead to a year of backlog for students.
Its good if you take a class taught by him but if he is just the course coordinator... you're in trouble. He is horrible at coordinating and setting up a class. If you can get in his lecture section it is much better. but be ready for a lot of work for not a lot of grades. I'm talking ~7,000 lines of code for 15% of the course. no joke.
Moussavi is knowledgeable, but his lectures are all over the place and disorganized.Some topics are overexplained while others feel rushed. Attendance is crucial as handwritten notes aren't posted, and missing lectures cost 10% of the project grade. The final project was too much work for 15% total, and pop quizzes happened randomly.
This prof does not know how to coordinate it this class... The weekly labs are overwhelmingly too much work for only 15% of ur grade. The prof brushes over important topics and says he will get back to it then never talks about it again... Examples are handwritten and not posted so better come to class. Worse part is he doesnt post midterm solution
This prof does not know how to coordinate it this class... The weekly labs are too much work. He doesnt post the written notes and examples he does in class, so you are screwed... He didnt even post midterm solutions. Awful way of teaching and 70% of the time he blabbers on too fast and doesnt go in depth about topics that are important. Gremlin...
Decent prof who has good lectures that review the week's content well and answers questions mostly well. Weekly quizzes and assignments make this a very busy course.
The lectures can be hit-or-miss, but the course content is valuable. Using resources like the textbook, study sessions, and tools like unstuck ai can really help with the challenging assignments and exams. Overall, a decent class if you're willing to put in the work.
Moussavi's lectures were pretty good, he is good at explaining concepts, and gives good practice tests which will help you succeed during exams
One of the best lectures I've ever attended. At first, it seems like he's covering a broad range of topics—but later you realize just how foundational and essential everything he teaches is. Truly an outstanding professor.
He does not care about the actual well being of students as he increased the weight of both midterms being 35 percent each and we need a 70 to pass the course. The amount of mistakes you will find in his notes is crazy! He just doesn't care :).
Nice teacher. Not the most fascinating lectures, but generally clear and fair grading of assignments.
In order to confuse your enemy, you have to first confuse yourself. That's Moussavi for you. Also, the most random things can be on your midterm so make sure you read everything in his slides
Good guy, fun class
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
54%
Textbook Required
42%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.26 avg changeRatings by Course
ENEL339ENEL409
5.0
(1)ENGG
5.0
(1)ENGGENGG
5.0
(1)ENGG239
5.0
(2)ENGO361
5.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
ENSF614
4.6
ENSF694
4.5
ENGG335
4.0
ENSF337
3.8
ENSF480
3.7