3.7
Quality3.0
Difficulty32%
Would Retake128
Reviews32%
Would Retake
128
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
55
4
32
3
18
2
10
1
13
What Students Say
“Very confusing and uninformative lectures”
1A - 1.0 rating“He literally does barely any demos”
1A - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.25 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM
5.0
(1)CHEM1A1B
5.0
(1)CHM1A
5.0
(1)ECHEM1A
5.0
(1)CHEM1
4.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
2
4.0
1A
4.0
CHM1A
4.0
CHEM1A
3.0
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3.0
Reviews (128)
Great lecturer, funny and nice guy.
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I recommend taking him because he is very efficient as a professor. He's very helpful and makes learning chem less nerve racking. His teaching method is a lot easier to learn from.
Hard to get an A, but pretty easy to pass.
Great person
enthusastic. reminds me of a guy who would lead a circus. well prepared..
good resources, entertaining but corny... all-round good teacher
HAHA I totally agree with circus! Very good professor!
Good lecturer. Class is entertaining, but he laughs at his own jokes.
Awesome guy, great teacher... my fave.
Always well prepared, but did not seem to try to make the material interesting. Teaches off powerpoint slides. Tests are pretty easy. VERY unapproachable in office hours, I've seen him actually refuse to answer a student's "stupid" question.
Though he uses PowerPoint, he still does a good job of teaching clearly/interestingly. People have mixed feelings about his laughter/jokes, but he present concepts well. His material isn't as dense as Head-Gordon's. Depends on what style you prefer.
if you want to laught at someone's laugh, take this class.. kubinec has the funniest laugh
Goofy
i rather go to kubineks lectures than alivisatos's. i don't know why people hating on him, but i thought he was cool. cool sense of humor, pretty dynamic. new school teacher fosho.
good at teaching, but i've noticed he is often disrespectful to his students.
Keeps you interested and awake in lecture. Funny, jokes around. Tests are moderately hard but this class is easy to pass. Powerpoint style of lecturing.
Too many tangents and not enough detail. I dont believe chemistry can be organized well w/powerpoint.
His lectures may be very relaxing, but he's not very good at teaching the material in this course. You're pretty much going to be teaching yourself from the book, the homework, or the GSI's during office hours.
One funny guy. If you don't laugh at his jokes then HE will. :)
Kubinec rocks, he is an awesome professor, knows the material well and his lectures are interesting.
Awesome lectures.
Easy class if you've taken chem before. Lectures weren't very helpful. Lonny was cool.
Really chill class..light workload, if you just cram for the tests..normally that doesn't work well for me, but for this class, it was ok..all tests are multiple choice..you get extra credit just for going to lecture..labs were easier than chem 1A's to me
easy class and an interesting prof. very witty. lonnie had cool demos. used powerpoint and you could print out the notes ahead of time and then take extra notes on them, which helped comprehension quite a bit.
Great professor. Tells silly/corny chem jokes and knows his stuff. If you've taken chem before, class is a breeze.
Kubinec presents his material in everyday terms, drawing examples from real life. His jokes are goofy, he finds himself hilarious, and does deviate from lecture sometimes. Overall, I think he was effective because of his simplified explanations.
awesome prof.
The funniest teacher hands down, really relaxed... interesting lectures make you WANT to come to class
Loves to tell jokes and teaches very clearly and concisely
He's funny. Definitly worth going to him instead of Nietche. (or however you spell it)
He's perhaps the most engaging professor I have, but I wish he covered the material more clearly; often he touches on a point, then moves on without much explanation. The class can get difficult, especially if you haven't taken chem before, and you have to study a lot on your own.
laughs at himself.. then you can't help but laugh along with/at him
He is very engaging and explains things as best he can given the one hour time limit. This class moves fast so be sure to read the book and ask questions in lab or you will get lost.
When he lectures he makes sense. he doesnt make things complicated and he has a sense of humor which is great
Kubinec is a kickass righteous chem-dude. Looks like a used car salesman and like to crack cheesy chem jokes and make star trek references. One rewrote a green day song so that it was about electromagnetic radiation and SANG IT TO US. Very clear/easy to understand, tests very do-able.Take his class!
Kubinec is a good professor who spends a lot of time to make his class fun. PRS transmitter voting, rotating walls, cool demos.. Kubinec makes chemistry very enjoyable.
Engaging lecturer who keeps you awake by either forcing you to roll your eyes or laugh at his jokes, or both. Presents material clearly. Tests are based on homework and lecture material. Lectures are full of demonstrations, i.e. magic tricks.
I took the class back in the day before transmitters, extra credit and all these A give aways. His slides were clear but he was most unhelpful. He would run out of the lecture hall to avoid people's questions, and came off as kind of a jerk, maybe I didn't Like him cause I'm a guy.
Seems knowledgeable, and has a fun personality. A big downside though, is that a lot of his test questions are poorly phrased, vague, or based on unspecified assumptions. I do not know if this is a collaborative effort by the chem dept for freshmen, but the test questions are oftentimes frustrating.
People who say this class is easy must be kidding. If you don't have an aptitude for chemistry before taking this class, or if you haven't taken Chem AP, you're screwed unless you want to study this class for 4 hours a day on your own.
Midterms are roughly based 1/2 on homework problems and 1/2 on in-class lecture "chem-quizes." If you practice before the exams by reviewing from previous years (and do fairly well), the exams shouldn't be too hard. The labs are easy, and the lecture are pretty entertaining. Kubinec is a ****!
worst teacher ever
Cool professor, but could have been more clear in certain concepts. Tests weren't too bad. Do the h/w problems.
you need to really understand the concept to master his tests. not hard. his demonstrations are really fun and cool! i liked it. however i fell asleep so often.
He is a pretty good professor. The 2nd midterm was really hard, but then if you study lectures and do the hw you should be fine. and study the midterms for the finals. It's not a super hard class since there are extra credit opportunities.
Most awesome Prof ever!
He is very fun and class is a lot of fun... But... the material in class is very easy and shallow compare to the stuff that appears on his tests... and he is not so willing to answer questions
Good lectures that are entertaining and well designed. On a minor note however, kubinec is kind of narcissistic. He thinks he is "da bomb". Doesn't like suck-ups and can sense them during office hours.
This class... changes textbooks every semester. Lecture doesn't cover everything, so make sure to read. Kubinec is entertaining, but I wish he would cover more. Overall not too bad, but not incredibly easy either. Also, make sure to go to lab!
Tests are based on ChemQuizzes and homework problems. Exam question phrasing comes directly from the ChemQuizzes, so review them, or you'll be confused by the exam. Kubinec makes the material really interesting. Ask him anything about chem and he's very helpful. Don't pester him about your grade!
Lot of students seemed to enjoy his lectures, but personally it seemed like they lacked substance. He tries to simplify concepts and relate them to non-chemistry subjects, but for me at least they were desparate measures.
I really liked Kubinec's class, he's a pretty funny guy - though I wouldn't say he is the best lecturer. Tests were based on hw and chem quizzes and I found most of them to be quite fair. Best part: extra credit for coming to class. If u are gonna take chem 1A, take it with Kubinec
totally rad
Kubinec is the best Chem 1A teacher. he's clear and easy to understand for the most part. he does lots of goofy experiments in class, which keeps it interesting
I loved him in chem1a, but got sick of him in 1b. He became so lazy! and made the second midterm extra hard because people did well on the first one. a nice guy, clear in lecture, but doesnt' really go in depth.
pretty fun and exciting lectures, tho his personality is not great. talks kind of condescending. but class overall is pretty fun and easy
I still don't know sh%t about Chem 1a but still got a B+. never read the damn book or went to class. I was a lazy ass but got an ok grade. cant complain.
I found this class a bit annoying. No one really took the class seriously, GSIs and professor included. I didn't feel like I learned chemistry well because of excessive use of high-tech instuctional materials and the overall qualitative nature of the course. Labs often had nothing to do with lecture. If you really want to learn chem, take Chem 4.
i attended his lectures over my other professor, nietchze because kubinec is able to relate very hard chemistry problems to everyday things and makes it very easy for students to understand. he is approachable and very nice with questions.. best chem teach
His teaching style is very good, and he appears to really love chemistry and is very clear in his lectures.
Pretty much what most other people have said: he teaches a very clear and entertaining class.
kubinec is freakin' sweet. I highly suggest you take a class from this gangster.
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Why is this class so much work? Busywork nonstop, if you have to take this class say goodbye to free thursday nights and hello to 4 hour labs and pain upon pain.
He is AWESOME!! He makes lectures very interesting and fun, before you know it class is over. He does experiments in every lecture, now when i say experiments i mean blowing things up...he likes to do that a lot. I highly recomend you take a class from him.
I took this class over a year ago and I dont think i learned much from it. It was too high tech for my liking. On the flip side, he dresses very nicely ;)
This guy rocks! He's hilarious! He has such a contagious laugh that when he laughs you can't help but laugh with him. His enthusiasm and spirit for Cal and Chemistry grow on you. He also teaches quite well. Though I hear the midterms were hard, I did not study for them at all and merely went to his lectures, and I managed to get A's. Kubinec--A++
This man is amazing. I learned more from his lectures than reading the book. Put an emphasis on practicing problem sets and make sure to review all your midterms and past finals before the final, and this class is cake. The curve will also help you out quite a bit b/c of the large ammounts of new chem students.
hmm.. it wasnt too easy for me.. but he is clear.. go to lecture.. and dont cram
ok so, i found that Kubinec made it seem like nothing was to be taken seriously, and that chemistry is just so f-ing easy. NOT TRUE. and here is something you will be hearing A LOT if you take this course with him "if you take nothing else home from Chem 1A, take home the idea that ...." ARRGGG this man wont stop laughing at himself. GET OVER IT!!
I suffered through chemistry, mostly because I crammed and didnt like it. Kubinec is a very entertaining man and I really liked him as a lecturer, but his tests/hw were much harder than what he taught us. If you stay on top of things, of course, you will do well. Kubinec is a fun professor to learn from, but dont rely on his lectures.
He makes Chem fun and entertaining, yet I do think that Chem lectures in general is rather pointless. I mean, people are just there for the ChemQuizzes--and the lecture alone can't really get you an A. If you want an A--go study by yourself!
Kubinec is pretty hot. I'm not gonna lie.
DUDE i love this guy. his lectures are entertaining but clear at the same time, and he's really funny... and... he's my facebook friend!!!
Kubinec is absoloutely amazing! He's hilarious and really really helpful! His lectures are clear and fun!
Great professor. Great lectures, and pretty humoring. Exams are fair, just stay on top of the material.
This class totally made me love chemistry. Very clear in his lectures... but of course, his midterms cover more than what is covered solely in class. Just study and stay on top of your****! yeahhh kubinec!! :)
Kubinec is awesome! I was always frustrated by Pines, but Kubinec always made the information make a lot of sense. Try to go to his lectures as much as possible! He's really funny, and a great Cal prof. I love him!
This guy was awesome! He was SO much better and much more clear than Pines, whom he taught with. He makes himself laugh with his own lame jokes, which in turn makes you laugh :) Great guy, great professor!
the best out of all the chem 1a professors. His tests are straight forward, and his lectures are really entertaining. Good at making you learn the concepts without boring you. awesome attitude!
Clear, easy to understand. Great professor that stimulates interest in the subject. Exams are well written, accurately reflect course material learned. Professors and staff are knowledgeable and always willing to help.
The professor is absolutely hillarious. His jokes are awesome. I went to his office hours and he was very helpful. He can be a bit unclear sometimes. The midterms are fair, however they become progressively harder. A much better professor than Pines. The lectures are very intersting, but I hated those ChemQuizzes. The labs are also very fun.
This class was hard, but his lectures were entertaining and I acutally learned a lot. I think he really likes to make sure that we students understand the material considering the fact that he writes most of the midterms and the whole chem1a website is made by him... He also has a facebook which is interesting. But he overall was a good professor.
He is a very funny professor, always applying chemistry to everyday life, like when he told us he order his radio presets by frequency instead of liking, haha. Class was challenging and competitive, its good to have chemistry background before taking this class. Tests were progressively harder and harder.
well structured, good class as long as u do hw cuz the tests are exactly like hw problems..webcasted
"ahahahahah." No, that is not what I feel about the class, that is all I remember from him and the whole course of Chem1A. Good guy. I'd pay to see his lectures. Very interesting.
Pretty good professor. Class was competitive, but midterms in general were fair. The third midterm was brutal. Kubinec often simplifies the material a great deal. This is helpful, but be warned that the midterms and final will expect you to know the material in much greater detail than the simplistic version Kubinec teaches.
He was my favorite of the three lecturers. He went straight to the point. The class I thought was easy... but you had to do your work. Nothing to worry about... he can be pretty painfully corny but I found that this is actually a good thing because it keeps me awake... Get this guy if you can.
he's a clear lecturer, but he makes these awkward giggles all of the time. i learned the most from when during chemistry lectures, but so many awkward jokes. reading is a must.
hard class but doable if you do all the hw and keep up on the reading. The lectures are very simplified versions of the key concepts so use them only as an outline for what to study more in depth in the book.
Very funny professor, lectures are all very well prepared and organized. Good at explaining material. Do the assigned homework and you'll do fine.
He giggles all the time during lecture as if he's entertaining himself..but overall a very helpful, well-prepared and organized lecturer. The lecture slides are crucial so make sure you understand each of them. Reading is a plus, and definitely work on the assigned homework problems. Class is hard for ppl who has never taken any Chem before.
Best professor @ Cal! Great lecturer-better than saykally! Easy to understand.It was hard 2 concentrate though cuz he was such a hottie!Exams challenging yet fair.Totally hilarious @ times and truly inspiring.I began 2 enjoy chem cuz of him.He made it fun!Read ALL required areas of bk & do ALL hmwrk prblms! Very approachable and helpful. Go to OHs!
EXCELLENT PROFESSOR. KEEPS STUDENTS ENTERTAINED WITH UNORTHODOX GOOFY TEACHING BUT WE STILL GOT THE MATERIAL!!!
His lectures are always very clear. You can't go wrong with Kubinec, however I preferred my method of going to Saykally's lectures (more old-school and entertaining), and then if something was unclear, watching the webcast of Kubinec's lecture. Kubinec is definitely the better of the two once you start learning about quantum mechanics.
I went to class just because I knew Kubinec would be teaching. He has these hilariously silly jokes that crack me up. He is extremely willing to help out at office hours. The class was really hard, but when is chem ever easy?!
He explains things with amazing clarity. He makes the hardest concepts understandable. People harp on his sense of humor, but I loved it. His laughing created a great atmosphere. His multiple-choice tests were a little difficult, but if you do the reading, and the homework, and truly understand everything (don't memorize,) you'll be fine.
Really a fun loving guy. Full of energy and passion about his subject. He even has a facebook and he is my friend. He also takes photos w/ students if they ask him. I should know.
I had the pleasure of watching him fill in for another great professor on Berkeley's webcasts of chem 1A. He managed to make the material interesting and he seemed like he woke up every morning with about 200 cups of coffee in him, which I found to be refreshing and made it clear he wasn't bored by teaching. I wish I could go to Berkeley!!!
Good looking, great sense of humor, really intelligent, great lecturer. what more could I possibly ask for when sitting in a chem lecture? I give him an A+
He was good at explaining things though he minced words a bit. The powerpoints were helpful, but he went overboard on the quizzes. 6/10
He's great until you get in his way. Many years ago, I sent him an ill-thought out, frustrated email; yet, it was harmless and just indicative of an inexperienced teen. Being a professor of so many young students, I feel strongly looking back that he should have been professional in responding. Instead, he went to great lengths to humiliate me.
He was very energetic and made the class laugh on several occasions. I would recommend him and must say he was very fair and even generous in grading.
He was a very funny, friendly teacher. He laughed at his own corny jokes and made the class awkwardly laugh. His midterms are a little bit difficult because they're conceptual. Understand his chemquizzes! He took a few questions off of old midterms (so practice those). Overall, he was a great lecturer and very entertaining.
Pretty funny (not always but doesnt let the not laughed at jokes disturb him). Class is easy if you just pay attention. In office hours he says exactly what topics are on the tests
Great lectures which are so easy to understand! Summarizes and explains concepts excellently.
Professor Kubinec is a great professor. However, sometimes while speaking he gets confused about what hes trying to explain and so his students also get confused. The grade is based only on exams. He didnt provide resources for revision and we could only use recordings of lectures to prepare. You cant afford to fall behind for even one lecture.
The professor for this class didn't seem to care about the situational times in our world. The material given in lecture was not representative of the tests. A lot of self-studying is required if you want to do decent. The GSI did not help understand material.
Kubinec is a funny guy but it seems like pride holds him up a lot. Doesnt seem to care about the class as a whole
Kubinec does not provide clear material that will be in tests. Self study using YouTube is your best bet. The GSI are horrendous
It seems I'm going against the grain here but Kubinec is a great professor and very enthusiastic. Grade is how much you put into the class (go to classes, discussion, study diligently and you will be rewarded). Tests were mostly conceptual and easier than his chem quizzes during lecture. 1st time teaching online so some tech probs. GSIs were meh.
Material in lecture wont be tested. Concepts are important
He is a really sweet and funny guy and you can tell that he truly cares about his students. His lectures are kinda difficult to keep up with and his tests are hard but I think that is to be expected for a chemistry class.
He literally does barely any demos. His lectures are nice and aesthetic but he says some weird stuff thats frankly questionable. His music taste is also very questionable.
Professor Kubenic definitely puts in a lot of time to help us out, attended OH and was very helpful. His tests are very conceptual and his ChemQuizes are like playing 4D chess, get ready to think.
Very confusing and uninformative lectures. Unclear grading and horribly worded questions for exams. Relies HEAVILY on GSIs for everything and takes extreme measures to prevent students from cheating or not showing up to lecture that doesn't prevent anything but ends up discouraging hard-working students from showing up to class or even trying.
change course policy for final exam just one week before the course ends
changed the date of the final a week before the final and proceeded to yell/blame the GSIs. he does not explain concepts well and very passive aggressive in his emails
Probably one of the worst professors I have had. His lectures were very very confusing and uninformative. You never knew your grade in the class and all of the questions on the exam were worded horribly. He makes the GSIs do everything and needs up still getting mad at them. He does the most to make sure no one cheats. If I could rate a 0 I would.
Do not recommend taking this class over the summer. The material is very rushed and many times what you learn in lecture is not what the tests are on. The tests are also very difficult, and various times the questions are wrong on the test. Professor was always happy to announce that our midterms average was around 60% or less. Would not recommend.
I am junior who took this class for my chem1A credit over the summer. Initially it seemed like a okay class he definitely tries to engage his students. However, the homeowner questions are extremely tricky and time consuming. His midterms and final exam was also poorly constructed. My grade in no shape or form reflects my knowledge of Chemistry.
Might be me just enjoying Chemistry in general but he was pretty good. The homeworks had some mistakes in them which confused me for a bit but it was fine after that. The final was much easier than the midterms and the thermodynamics midterm was by far the hardest.
He said no curve, but there is. There are no clear grading criteria, and you have no idea what's your grade distribution. He is against most of his students by tricking online students, letting them submit wrong answers for signing in. His lecture is also confusing that I learn everything from the website, and I will lose attendance credits for it.
Homework and exams have mistakes and typos in them. Responded rudely when a student pointed out a huge typo on an exam; he didn't correct it. Another exam question had no correct answer and he didn't do or say anything. Deliberately sabotages those who don't come to class despite providing livestreams. Lecture is helpful when he stays on topic.
Idk why people are saying the grading was unclear. Written from beginning with only one major change (and changed to benefit students). No curve, percent to letter grade scale was set from the beginning of class. Didn't depend on students' scores. HW answer mistakes made it confusing sometimes but everything was corrected quickly. He cares a lot
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
89%
Textbook Required
25%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.25 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM
5.0
(1)CHEM1A1B
5.0
(1)CHM1A
5.0
(1)ECHEM1A
5.0
(1)CHEM1
4.0
(3)Difficulty by Course
2
4.0
1A
4.0
CHM1A
4.0
CHEM1A
3.0
CHEM1A1B
3.0