3.1
Quality3.3
Difficulty55%
Would Retake114
Reviews55%
Would Retake
114
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
32
4
23
3
16
2
19
1
24
What Students Say
“Do not like Professor Hakim Heshemi”
MATH1510 - 1.0 rating“I really enjoyed this class”
CALC1520 - 5.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
23%
Textbook Required
41%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH700
5.0
(1)COLLEGEALG
5.0
(1)MATH2520
4.8
(4)MATH1521
4.5
(2)2520
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CALCULUS1
5.0
CALC1
5.0
MATH13
5.0
CALCI
5.0
CALC2
4.3
Reviews (114)
Boring...can't stay awake even if you try to focus on the lesson. Very quiet and hard to understand. However, he does grade on a curve.
This class is painfully boring and the lecture is useless. Many students would leave class half way through and study the chapters on their own. Grading is inconsistent and students often don't know what is expected of them. The prof. is an intelligent and friendly fellow, but lacks teaching skil
Good professor. Testing methods facilitated learning.
Hes a pretty good teacher.He's nice and easy to ask for help, although sometimes he laughs at you! but if you just pay attention, he teaches the stuff well.
He is really hard to understand. He really speaks very monotone. It's best to just try to learn the material on your own. When you ask him questions, he tries to help, but he sometimes makes it more confusing.
Terrible teacher. He is very difficult to understand, you have to -really- pay attention just to understand. He is very boring and doesn't explain anything well. He does a quiz (50 pts. though) as well as a project every weekend. I had to switch out of
He is hard to understand, when you ask a question the answer is also unclear. You need to study on your own. He thinks everyone knows a whole lot more about math than most of his students do.
A terrible teacher. You can't understand him and he doesn't teach anything. He assumes everyone knows Calculus well enough where he doesn't have to teach anythng. The avg. grade in my class was a C or below. Don't take this class!!
TERRIBLE TEACHER, mumbles in front of the class, doesn't explain any steps. You would be just as well off not going to class and reading the material on your own, because you will learn very little from him.
Very nice, likeable guy. Good to his students. Unfortunately, he does have a difficult accent, but you get used to it by the end of class. He teaches hard material, and it is a challenge to pay attention. I would certainly take another class with him.
well critics are always, not hard workers and try to find a escape goat,he is a nice guy,good grading method.recommend to everybody
He is a liar, he told me I was doing well in the course about halfway through (B- C+) then by the end he is telling me the same---Grade I recieved was an F. Other students in the class recieved about 200 points of EC because they took the amaytic. He MUMBLES.... Does not teach.. AT ALL... COPIED RIGHT OUT OF THE BOOK. BAD DONT TAKE WAIT FOR ANOTHER
I took Mehdi for 2 semisters...I thought all the things that the people that disliked him have written. But if you stick with it and work hard you will learn to respect his method of teaching. I sure did. People who are writing all these negative things just can't handle teaching themselves. If you're going to be an engineer, get used to it.
He is hard to understand but he just got a mic so that helps a lot. He is incredibly SMART and humorous. His tests/quizes are very hard but he does curves well.
He is by far the worst math teacher i have ever had! He does not teach anything and all he does is sits and goes to his assisants for help! I recommend no one takes his classes! I asked for help and he just told me to ask soemone else! Well this is my opinion and i am glad people have had good experiences with him, but mien was just bad!
THATS THE WORSE TEACHER I HAVE EVER HAD. TEACHER? I CAN'T EVEN CALL HIM LIKE THAT, NOT EVEN HUMAN KIND. MY RECOMMENDATIONS IS TO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING A COURSE WITH THAT GUY.
I took hakim, liked him alot as a person.but for Calc 2, he did let us down forever into a bottomless bit.He said we were doing good, but the final grade was D- from B+.I DO NOT RECOMMEND TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU ARE ONLY TAKINF LESS CREDIT [LESS THAN 5 PER SEMISTER].Pliz run away
This professor is very unhelpful. A student asked real quick how to get from one integral to the next, and he said no. He wouldnt explain it because he said we should know. I thought teachers were supposed to help and teach people, not just lecture. I can read a book, teachers are suppose to help us learn.
RUN LIKE IT'S THE PLAUGE. I had him for two semesters. The first one I knew the material already and only went for test/quiz. The second semester was all new material and I although I was already used to his very strong accent I still learned more waiting for his class looking at the book then I did while in the class.
hard to understand at first but after a few weeks its get a little easier. he's a fair grader and he tries to explain things but basically just copies whats in the book. if you know what you are doing you only need to go for tests and quizzes.
He is my best professor this semester. he know mathematics.
he is the one ... he open my eyes in math
The professor is very informed, well prepared, and very approachable. The only difficulty with the class related to the complexity of the subject and the amount of material to cover over the term. The atmosphere of the class and the professor was very relaxed. I also found that the prof was very helpful for numerous questions during office hours
He is very kind and helpful. If we want to improve our understandings, he tries to help us as much as possible. The subject itself is rather difficult to understand, so it is natural that we have to spend a certain amount of time outside the class. If someone can not get a good grade, he or she should blame himself or herself, not the teacher.
Hard to undeerstand
Found his English hard to follow at times, but after 2 semesters, I got used to it. For how difficult the topics were, I give me a lot of credit for trying to explain them the best he could. Using the microphone helps
Dr. Hakim Hashemi is a very well intentioned professor. I enjoyed his class quite a bit. I wish that he would have assigned more homework though. I felt like the suggested problems list was overwhelming and I would have liked some feedback in between the quizzes. I would like to see a few short, weekly homework assignments added to this class.
He was very reasonable with his gradings! Lectures were hard to understand and I received most of my learning from doing homework and exams. He is a very hard working guy!
Mehdi is nice and the class atmosphere was very relaxed even with such difficult material. He is very smart but hard to understand and has some trouble bringing it down a students level answering questions. He allows two days to work on exams (For Calc 2 anyway) which makes tests easier. You need to work hard and be independent in this class.
He is the best math teacher I have had so far at Normandale. He has an accent, but he is very clear and is a fair grader. He will only teach you what you need to know... nothing more, nothing less. His quizzes are 50pts each, with 2-3 questions on the quiz. He gives 100 bonus pts for being in class 75% of the time-yes he sometimes takes attendance
He's a nice guy and helpful. He has an accent but you can get used to it. It may be a bit hard in the class at first but he gives plenty of opportunities to make up lost points if you try hard enough. You will have to learn all of the material very well to get a good grade in the class.
He is a nice teacher, willing to help student when asked. He wants you to learn the matterial rather than focusing on grading you. If you are doing bad ask for extra credit or just talk to him and he is will help you out to best he can. Calc 2 is hard, so you gone need to work hard no matter what. But at least with him you will get something for it
He's a nice guy, and I've had a rough semester outside of class so he's extended stuff for me but he's not an easier person to follow during lectures. He wants you to learn everything before class and if you're passing, he enjoys you. If you're not doing so well, he kind of ignores you. I didn't like his teaching methods.
He's not the easiest to follow during lectures, he likes to move faster than about half the class. The averages on the exams and quizzes in my class are usually below 75% and he doesn't take alot of time to let you ask questions. I didn't enjoy his teaching method at all.
I loved the class I took with him.If you are looking forward to pass a math class just take it with him.2day exams were awesome and the fact that he makes you practice a lot. quizzes almost every week and the use of my math lab for homeworks was very helpful. you have to have a good background on math though if you want an A in his class.take him!
Mehdi is a knowledgeable teacher. In this class, he often uses physics model to illustrate math concepts, which makes the connection between calculus and the real world. BTW, lots of extra credits given throughout the semester.
He is a very smart guy, and teaches to the point-which is great! He expects you to keep up & 2 have calc1 knowledge as well. Its funny, he doesn't answer dumb questions, but is most def willing to re-explain problems to students who try. Intense course, good teacher 4 sure. Has an accent.
Very nice and very willing to help. I say he is easy but to be honest I have always found Algebra to be very easy and I put in minimal time so I am probably not a very good judge. His accent is a little difficult to understand at times but I would definitely recommend!
This Professor is not the best out there. His class was hard because he didn?t always explain things. He would write problems up on the board, make errors and then tell us "Well, you can figure it out.? The class stressed me and I would not recommend him for this class.
Hes a nice guy, doesn't explain well and if you ask for more explanation, he will brush it off, that's a FACT. If you want to go into more calc later do not take this guy. Also, the final feels like its from calc 1 not precalc (dead serious). I found myself reading the book before and after class to learn things because he doesnt, bad prof honestly
Gives great examples and is very willing to explain problems that might be confusing. Very knowlageable, great calc 2 teacher.
Don't take him. He is so confusing. He does not explain things clearly. He starts solving one problem and all of suddenly jumps on solving another problem. He is very hard to understand him too. He made me hate the subject-math, and his final exam was worth 300 points like he was trying to make everyone fail the final. Discouraged.
Terrible professor. I thought he was good cause I had him for calc 2 and he wasn't that bad, but he's terrible for calc 3. His grading really sucks. He'll give you half credit if you got 99% of the problem correct. I forgot to include a 1 in my answer which I dived and wrote before and he gave me a 10/40. I would not recommend him.
He may be hard to understand in the beginning but you'll get used to it later on. He's helpful when help is needed and is a fair grader.
Great greader easy to follow.
Very hard to understand and grades really hard. He won't hesitate to take half the points off if you do one thing wrong in the problem. Be prepared to do a lot of your homework problems online. Takes a while to get used to. Would not recommend.
Professor Hakim Hashemi taught well for a college course. He challenged us by not spoon feeding us math, but actually teaching us how to solve and think about the math problem. He can be funny and make the class laugh when he tries to explain math at a better level as young adults.
It is easy to see that the instructor has a great deal of knowledge on the subject and is more than capable of conveying the course material. The homework assignments and quizzes prepare you well for the tests. I've ever had a real good math grade till now. I'd recommend this instructor to any Normandale student looking for some math credits.
He is difficult to understand. If you seek help from him, he is more than willing to help. He is also very good at helping without just giving you the answer. He has tons of opportunities for bonus points which helps for grading.
He was a great teacher. He makes all the assignments and test dates very clear so there should be no reason to be surprised by them. He is sometimes hard to understand(he has an accent) so make sure you sit by the front of the class and ask questions. One of the best things is he writes down EVERYTHING so you can take really good notes.
He definitely knows his stuff! His accent can be thick, but I found that it made me stay focused on the lectures even more. A lot of material is covered in this semester, but he is willing to answer follow-up questions to be sure students understand what's going on. He is a very fair grader and there are many opportunities for extra credit.
Mehdi may be the best math professor I've ever had. He confirmed my interest in mathematics basically. I am pursuing actuarial science next year and feel quite prepared for the rigor to come! Not only did he know what he was talking about, he made things easy to understand for students aNd showed how beautiful math is. Highly recommend him.
SUPER AWESOME TEaCHER! Tests are good and has a different approach to teaching wich is really cool.
I took my first calculus class in high school and ended up not grasping the concepts. So I ended up having to redo this course in college and He has helped calculus become my top class. I hope I can find a way to have him all the way up to multivariate calculus.
- Don't buy the textbook, lecture notes are the only thing you need. - He gives you EXACTLY what is on the Exam. No surprises. - DOES NOT LET YOU USE CALCULATOR for 1st exam. (not a big deal if you know how to multiply or divide small numbers) But he will eventually. TALKS very softly so sit in the front!! You will get at least a B.
Do not like Professor Hakim Heshemi. He knows what he is talking about but does not explain himself. He just jumps from step 1 to step 3 and doesnt explain what happened
I really enjoyed this class. Definitely sit in the front as his soft voice and accent make it harder to hear in the back. He was very helpful and replied promptly to emails. Homework is manageable and is due at the end of each unit. There was a simple quiz every week and 6 tests, but the practice tests were exactly like the real exams.
This is the kind of teacher that will grow on you. I was hating it in the beginning because of his soft, mumbly, accented voice. However, after awhile I learned to respect him and love his grading style. Longgg homework assignments but I passed easily. YOU DON'T NEED THE TEXTBOOK.
Yes, Dr. Mehdi's voice is soft and mumbly, but eventually it'll grow on you. His bedside manner is extremely relaxed and his sense of humor is silly and irreverent. Calc 1 has been a super manageable class for me. "Fair" is an accurate way to describe his tests and grading -- not easy, but fair, and he offers generous extra credit. Good experience.
He has 2 day tests where you start on 1 day, then he gives you feedback and you finish it on the 2nd day. Lots of extra credit offered. Gives practice tests so you can prepare accordingly.
He is really funny, mostly without knowing it. Tests are easier than quizzes because they follow the practice sheet. Offers enough extra credit that I got over 100% even with a failed test. Can't say if it was him or me teaching myself at times, but doing the HW and working problems out yourself is imp. Lots of HW; let's you internalize concepts.
I took one of his 3 hour lectures, so if you skipped a day, you basically missed 3 days. There is a lot of homework and it's all online. His tests and quizzes are easy and he gives practice tests. He gives a lot of extra credit on tests and quizzes. Sometimes he doesn't explain things all the way, ask for help and he'll help you.
Lots of homework but he teaches very easy to understand. To help you easier to understand, he always gives you very detail and an example to make you easier to imagine the problem. I used many words easy about him to make you understand Math. When you easy to understand something, you will easy to get high score and remember as long as possible.
I took him for MATH600 (pre-college math) and he didn't explain anything on how the class worked. He just sat you down on the computer and told you to do the assignments. I had to ask another person who took this class previously how it worked. I was disappointed that nothing was explained on the first day.
A brilliant mathematician, but POOR teacher. His lectures are difficult to impossible to follow. I have to rely on tutors to explain the concepts.
Professor Mehdi is amazing. His lectures are clear and responsive of student questions. The best part is that his practice tests are almost identical to the tests! He does assign a lot of homework as busywork though but its nothing that can't be solved quickly with a math evaluator though! Best Math professor I've had!
If his teaching style doesnt fit you like it was for quite a few in my class, you are forced to completely teach yourself using the book. If you ask questions, be clear and specific. He will give you a 2 or 3 minute answer even if he isnt sure what you asked. Study well before tests and quizzes. Extra credit questions are on every one.
Fine professor but if you really struggle with math I wouldn't recommend him. Don't expect to learn everything during lectures. You will need to put in time. The tests can be pretty difficult, but the practice tests and homework usually do a pretty decent job of preparing you for them. If you bomb a test there is a lot of extra credit available.
Covered a lot of material in lecture so to get confused in it is understandable. He makes up for it by having practice tests that help you recap and study for the test. He offers extra credit in his quizzes which was nice. He was at times helpful outside of class. Book didnt help out much but his notes are very similar to the test. Hw was no help
He will give you practice test which are really helpful for the test, so just do the practice test and the webassign problems as HW is nearly 30% of your grade.
BEST TEACHER!!!!!
Dr. Mehdi is a great calc prof. He is very clear about his expectations and lays out the schedule in advance. I got a B, but it was only because I was lazy in the beginning of the course and messed up on a couple tests. Solid choice for a math prof. He's very smart and loves math, and wants to show his students how beautiful math can be.
Mehdi is a great professor, very knowledgeable, has plenty of interesting math-related things to tell you, it's obvious from his lectures that he is a true believer in lifelong learning. He is really inspiring, shows you how things covered in class are applicable in the real world and makes the material so much more meaningful.
Mehdi is very straight forward in his class. His lectures directly correlate to the homework and the exams. Going to office hours is very helpful. If you do the homework and go to class then you can be successful in his class.
He gives tons of extra credit, so don't freak out if you are not doing so great-- just reach out for help and go for those brownie points. Being in his lecture, you can easily tell that he loves math and truly wants his students to understand how beautiful it is. He is kind of funny too sometimes and knows lots of fun facts about calc.
He is one that you learn to appreciate with time. His lectures don't help much but he talks about how we can use this kind of math in a career. You can tell he understands what he is teaching very well. He also provides very helpful practice exams for every test.
He has an accent and speaks soft, but he does use a mic and is not hard to understand. He tells you not to buy the textbook, it is on the program you use for homework. Attendance is not mandatory, but this is a math class, so your choice. I would take him again, he moves a little fast but is very knowledgeable about math and how it is used.
Works really hard for his students. Goes into detail in the subject and connects the material to relevant applications used by working individuals everyday, in fields such as Finance, Computer Science, AI, etc. Gives exams back for a second chance to fix mistakes. If you cannot pass this class you seriously need to take a look in the mirror. Great!
Mehdi is a great professor, super engaging. I was a visiting student for the summer. We learned the material in depth and as I move forward in my math career I feel comfortable in my abilities of this material thanks to Mehdi. He is a great professor who is funny, and applies math to the real world. Use practice tests.
Mehdi is awesome. I was a visiting g student at Normandale for the summer and took calc1-3 at a different university. Math 2520 was the first college math class where I learned in lecture (radical I know...) and it was great. He answered all my questions well. Use practice tests they rock. He really does care about your success. Highly recommend.
GOOD PROFFESOR
He's a good lecturer, although it can be a bit over-explained and tedious. I liked how he really tries to explain the concepts in depth to the class, you don't get that from many math professors. He really tries to get you to understand the material and, at least for my class, we were able to do test corrections and fix any mistakes we made
His lectures are boring, but there's not too many professors that could make a 3.5 hour lecture on Calc 2 interesting. I personally didn't learn anything from his lectures and found it easier to study the material on my own. The exams are exactly like the practice tests and he offers exam corrections. (Do well on your first attempt of the Gateway)
He is simply the most terrible teacher Ive had. Never explains things, teaches in an unclear and confused way. He once gave us a bunch of assignment about coding but never taught us a thing about that language. Also dude has terrible accent so dont take him or youll regret
He's a decent guy, but his class was hard to follow. Tests were either easy or hard. Grading criteria was not very clear, and neither were project instructions. Uses WileyPlus (bleh). Classes consited of reading problems from the book for 50 minutes. He had about a 50/50 on responding to my emails or not. Has an awesome and soothing voice, though.
His class is very nice. Attendance isn't mandatory. Tests are hard but if you know what to study it shouldn't be a problem. Complete all your homework. This class isn't a breeze but it doesn't also require a lot of hard work. Make sure to ask questions when you need help. Work hard and do your part and sure enough he'll do his
It's rather hard to understand him at times, but it's easy to tell he is very passionate about teaching students the beauty of mathematics. Extra credit is offered from him due to the difficulty of the course. You will likely need to self-teach yourself at times to make sure you understand the material. Overall, he's not a bad choice.
Tests are either brutal or a joke. Quizzes are brutal, as the material the quiz is on is often far more convoluted and ugly than example problems leading up to the quiz itself. Normandale has other professors that are more clear, concise, and forward on what will be on their graded events. You're better off with them.
Professor Hashemi was a very unique teacher, and personally kind and soft spoken. He started the semester with a quiz, fairly quick into the term. I did poorly on it, but because of the feedback he gave both in paper and when we met in person, I was able to avoid those same mistakes on the test. Which I did well on.
For how much work I did in the class, not much got graded. I was doing very well in the class for about three-quarters of the semester and then I completely bombed a test. My grade kept going downhill, and I tried new study methods but nothing was working. I ended up doing poorly on the final. I just didn't understand the material in the class.
Don't take this class online. The recorded lectures are difficult to understand because of the audio quality etc and do not line up with the textbook/homework/exams in the same order and topic groupings. Credit on exams is all or nothing, no partial credit, because MyLab grades them. I think he'd be a great professor if this class was in person!
Professor Hashemi was a pain to deal with. I'd say he's old school for someone teaching an online course. Every homework and test was done on paper; you must scan it through a printer in 1 pdf file to submit it. If you don't, you instantly get 0/100. I'm not a tree hugger, but I've printed about 200 pages for this class. I wasn't a fan overall.
It's rather hard to understand him at times, but it's easy to tell he is very passionate about teaching students the beauty of mathematics. Extra credit is offered from him due to the difficulty of the course. Self-teaching is recommended if you take the course through him. Overall, he's not a bad choice.
I took the online course so I can only say so much. One thing I can say for certain is you have a 50/50 chance for an email response. Even then the response is minimal, which sucks since it's coming to finals. It is also a VERY test heavy class. He also does not drop lowest scores. I would recommend taking another professor if possible.
Not too much work and tests aren't that challenging. Grades quickly. Would take again.
All of his lectures are pre recorded from 2021 with terrible quality. Don't waste your time watching lecture videos. Responds to emails about half the time after a few days which isn't helpful for a fully online class. Tests have no partial credit option since they are graded thru Pearsons my lab. Maybe would be different in person. Dont do online
This professor is uniquely terrible at his chosen profession. He includes material on exams he does not cover in lecture. Lectures themselves can be hit or miss with how coherent they are. Hard to understand, Insulted his students when the first exam average was a 50%. Does not curve(despite saying so). Does not respond to emails, do not even try.
Tests include things that haven't been covered in class. It's tricky for no reason. "I don't know why you guys can't think of this", he said when he was reviewing the test that our class failed. I don't know, maybe put the questions on the review or homework? He doesn't respond to emails AT ALL. He makes me feel dumb for even asking questions.
Very nice guy who wants to see students succeed
This professor does not know how to teach. His accent is difficult to understand which isn't his fault, but he is also very soft spoken which makes it really tough to understand. I basically taught myself this course but he uses StatCrunch as well as RStudio which makes it easy to plug in data during the tests.
He is a terrible professor, do not take his class
Bad professor, he lacks teaching ability
Professor is very test centered. He has a unit test every other week on average. Lectures are sub-par, he borderline whispers and his thick accent makes it objectively hard to understand and follow. Unclear communication with test and quizzes. Prepare to teach yourself this class. Know the semester schedule because he won't give you a heads up.
Very Good professor.
you can't have any sort of exemption or extension even if your entire house blew up but he gets to cancel whenever he's too lazy to get off his sofa. also a terrible communicator. he ignores everything anyone says to him. not to mention, he's just all around horrible at teaching.
Almost completely incoherent lectures. He doesn't use lesson plans at all , nor prepared slides, no d2l posts, or use of online tools, rarely responds to emails, nor does he make any effort in making the class palatable for online students. The homework's due dates are inconsistent, and when the hw is available its never posted in d2l.
Solid teacher, really seems to love math
lecture wasn't good, but you get to do your exam twice.
Professor Hashemi's class can be challenging, but his passion for the subject makes it worthwhile. The lectures can be dense, so using resources like unstuck AI alongside the textbook is helpful. Attendance is mandatory, but the tests are manageable with preparation.
Can see why he would be a mathematician but might not be built for teaching. English isn't great obviously not his fault just can be difficult to deal with. Not tech savvy at all took a week to be able to have access to our assignments. Isn't available a lot of time you wont get a response. The average scores on both exams have been below 70%.
He seems to be a very strong mathematician, but I did not have a good experience with him as a professor. Not the best English, you'll very often not get a response to emails, and very low effort in assisting students in my personal experience.
Pretty terrible professor. His policy is to not round any grades, so an 89.95 like I had is equivalent to a student with an 80. That's an extra 9.95% that's just wasted. Achieve and D2L show different grades. I could never pay attention. He doesn't care to do any teaching, never posts anything in D2L, never ports grades over until last minute.
I almost got dropped out of this class because I did not do the homework. He will have homework on different websites, and he won't remind you when things are due. So if you are taking his course, read the syllabus very carefully and make notes on when the exams and homework are due.
I didn't really interact with him because I had a fully online class I will say though he doesn't answer his email so if you have to talk to him about anything you have to go to open hours.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
23%
Textbook Required
41%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
A-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
-0.02 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH700
5.0
(1)COLLEGEALG
5.0
(1)MATH2520
4.8
(4)MATH1521
4.5
(2)2520
4.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CALCULUS1
5.0
CALC1
5.0
MATH13
5.0
CALCI
5.0
CALC2
4.3