3.0
Quality4.0
Difficulty49%
Would Retake93
Reviews49%
Would Retake
93
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
36
4
7
3
6
2
8
1
36
What Students Say
“She is the worst math professor i've ever had, you will learn nothing in her class because she is basically there to teach and leave, no explanation, no more than two examples”
MATH8 - 1.0 rating“Exams 90% of your grade, you can drop one exam”
MATH8 - 2.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.72 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH10
4.5
(6)MATH253
4.5
(8)MATH353
4.0
(1)TRIGMATH124
4.0
(2)MATH3A
3.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
MATH88
5.0
PRECALC2
5.0
SC12000
5.0
MATH124
4.5
MATH3A
4.3
Reviews (93)
I was nervous to take this class as I am not the strongest in math. However, Miss Duong made statistics very easy to understand. Her lectures are very clear and to the point. She always has convenient office hours and will help out. She encourages students and ensures them that they will be able to succeed in her class.
Very bad instructor, highly recommend NOT taking her. All of her practice exams are irrelevant to the tests. To put it into perspective, she's the kind of general that would send her soldiers to war without putting them through proper bootcamp. Save yourself the stress and don't take her.
She is a very strict teacher. She does not curve any of the tests, or drop your lowest test score. She does not offer extra credit. She does give a large amount of homework. Her tests are much more difficult than the study guide she provides. If you receive an F on the final you will fail the class no matter what your standing grade is.
Her tests are the hw q's so make sure to do all the hw! I went to all of her office hours & asked her everything I was ever confused on. She was willing to help me in everything & was very patient with me. She sacrifices her own time for her students and genuinely wants them to succeed. Just put in effort & seek her. She'll take care of the rest!(:
Professor Duong makes statistics easy to understand despite all of the complicated formulas. The lectures are clear and are posted on Blackboard along with practice exams. She is always available and happy to help out during her office hours. Her exams are very similar to her practice exams, so make sure to do those.
Professor Duong is the best math instructor I've ever had and I'm very bad at math. Her lectures are very easy to follow, HW is reasonable amount for each section. She puts everything on blackboard, including a study guide. She cares for her students. Do all HW, the study guide, and attend office hours if needed and you'll pass every test.
Awesome professor! For every exam, there's practice questions and hw per chapter (don't study only from practice exam cuz she also includes hw problems). She won't curve. GO TO HER OFFICE HOURS! SUPER HELPFUL Lectures are super clear. She'll provide u everything, so all you have to do is put some effort and study :)
Not only is Nancy drop-dead gorgeous, but she's an amazing professor! Makes the subjects easy to understand. She is always willing to help! Take her!
Ms. Doung delivered lessons with a robotic style of instruction, assigned an unrealistic volume of repetitive work, and gave little to no regard for her students' lack of comprehension. The problems she modeled didn't match the problems assigned for homework and, therefore, did little to prepare us for success on homework problems.
Took her class over the summer. Nancy did everything possible to prepare us for the next class. Grading is weighted - 5% HW (a lot of problems, I will say), 60% exams, and 35% final exam. She drops 2 of your lowest HW scores as well as your lowest test. Put the time in, as this class isn't super hard yet requires full attendance and effort to pass.
Nancy did an amazing job given the 8 week summer course I had her for. She was very flexible, boosted our grades (fairly, but made sure we earned them), and made every student feel that they mattered. She gave me all of the tools needed to succeed, and the only reason I didn't pass is because of my own lack of effort. I highly recommend her. :)
She is the best math teacher I've had at saddleback! She is very sweet, and she is young so she is relatbale to the students and understands the stress of being a full time student and working too. There is weekly homework make sure you do it! And there are 4 tests/ 1 final. Come to class, listen, do the homework and you've got an A!
She is the worst math professor i've ever had, you will learn nothing in her class because she is basically there to teach and leave, no explanation, no more than two examples. Her exams are also harder than the examples she gives and now more half of the class is failing.
By far the best math professor I have had at Saddleback! The notes taken in class are clear and organized. She puts anything and everything onto blackboard. Her office hours are very helpful too. As long as you attend class, at least attempt the homework, and complete the practice exams you will do fine. Definitely would take again!
She is an awesome professor, gives great examples and for the first time I really started to understand math. Do the homework, practice tests and you will do well in her class. She really does care about her students which is great, my favorite math teacher at saddleback for sure.
One of the best teachers I've had at Saddleback so far. She cares about her students and also understands we have lives outside of math. As long as you attend class, do the homework, and review before the exams you should be able to pass the class.
Nancy is a great teacher! If you have trouble understanding a problem, she will work with you to understand it. Do your homework every week (she drops 2 of your lowest scores), take every exam (she drops the lowest one), and attend every class (you get a couple of freebies to miss, which I do not recommend) and you will do very well in this class
I do NOT recommend skating through this class as if it's nothing. I did and got an "A", but I really shouldn't have, as I was lucky enough to know most of the material from Math 8 that I dropped the semester before. Show up, ask questions, be diligent, and you'll be greatly rewarded. Take her if you can! She's cute, too, but don't be fooled.
Prof. Duong is a well rounded professor as well as a person. She's fairly young so she can relate to her students, and truly wants you to succeed. She covers criteria quickly, so don't skip! If you're having to, make sure you get a classmate's number to copy notes. Lot of homework, but only worth 5% of grade, while the final is 35%. Take notes!!!!
YOU GUYS SHES AMAZING! She teaches like a tutor and is so helpful! As long you go to class and pay attention you will pass! I've always been horrible when it comes to algebra and she has helped so much! Also, she doesn't try to trick you on the tests and she drops the lowest test score!
For having to retake this math class for a second time, I'm SO glad I took Prof Duong. She is super helpful, goes at a slow pace and really tries to work out each problem and example with you! She is a somewhat tough grader, but just show up, take good notes and follow along during lecture and you will pass! Class consisted of 4 exams, 1 Final.
Nancy Is awesome! She's funny, helpful and caring. Her tests are hard but she does her best to give you as much credit as possible on each problem. If you skip class you will struggle. Just go to every class and do the homework and you will be fine.
Nancy is a terrific professor, but that does not mean her class is easy. There is copious homework, 4 exams, and a final. However, the lowest exam is dropped and each exam features 1-2 bonus questions for extra credit which is nice! Homework is graded on completion and the tests consist of questions directly from the homework. Great class!
A FANTASTIC professor! Nancy really made this math semester breeze by for me! The lectures were very detailed and very helpful. Every test has multiple bonus questions that can really add up points and she drops the lowest test score as well! I got over a 100% on almost every test and ended the class with a 99%! It's not an easy A, DO the Homework!
She does free response tests, you would think that would mean if you dont get an answer she would give partial credit, but she does not. Lectures are slow, so much homework and it isnt worth enough in the grade.
This is a very difficult and unforgiving class if you are not a math person. Tons of material in a short time; not enough time to learn it well. Exams 90% of your grade, you can drop one exam. HW 5% - 70 to 100 problems a week; Classwork 5%. Both HW and CW not worth enough in grade.
Prof D is so nice and sweet, I understood the material since I took pre-calc in highschool, so it's harder if you havent but she is available with office hours. She does assign lots of work, and it sucks that tests are 90% of grade with one grade that can be dropped, but it was an okay class for me.
She's the most down to earth professor you'll ever have. She teaches and explains things in a way that even those with subpar math skills could understand. Whenever you take this class, you'll definitely feel like she's just another person instead of some entitled professor. She should definitely teach Business Calculus (Math 11).
Nancy was the best math professor I've had so far! I used to really struggle with math, but since taking her course I've learned to like math, and did very well in this class! You have to put in the work, time, and effort, and you can get a great grade. Go to her office hours she will help you with any questions. She's so sweet and funny!
If you didnt get a good grade in this class its because you didnt work on your homework and learn the math. She gives guided study guides that prepare you for an A. Do the work, get the A. Its possible to ace this course. Dont take if you are lazy.
While PreCalc isn't the easiest of classes, Professor Duong made it easier to understand. If you pay attention in class, take notes, and do the homework you will pass. She does drop your lowest test/ homework scores. It was super easy to relate to her/understands that students are busy. In all, she is a great professor who cares about her students
Duong is the least intimidating math teacher I've ever had. She's friendly and more than happy to help with any questions. She occasionally lets some info slip by in class that shows up in the homework, but she's organized for the most part. Lots of homework, but plenty of time to get it done with just 4 tests before the final. She's great.
An amazing teacher and so helpful. She is kind and caring and wants to see you succeed. don't hesitate to take her, she is very approachable and can assist you if you
visit her during her office hours.
Horrible at explaining concepts. She tries to be helpful to everyone but clearly picks favorites. The tests are super hard and the homework is literally a packet, but it's due at the end of the week. Has office hours and if you arent done with hw she lets you turn it in to her at the end of the day. She seems sweet but dont be fooled.
I took her Pre-Calc class and she pushes too many topics into her tests. She has 4 tests, all worth 20% each but she drops one which is nice. If I had any recommendations for this teacher, it would be to have more exams that are worth less so we do not have as many topics pushed into one test. The final is worth 35% of your grade.
i took for her for precal and she is one of my favorite professors!! lectures are long but a lot is taught in two hours. homework isnt too bad, she allows you to turn it in by the end of the day. much easier than the other precal professors. 10/10 recommend!!!
she is really nice and funny but absolutely do not take her in the summer. The class is impossible, theres too much to learn in such a short period of time. tests are difficult and she won't give us even 1 formula. One test, we had to memorize 18 formulas and weren't allowed to use a calculator. I've cried over this class. multiple times.
Terrible teacher. She is inexperienced and has no idea what shes even talking about 99% of the time. I took math 124 with her to have a stronger background going into math2. She makes thousands of errors herself in her lecture, but expects you to make none. She gives 4 tests with 3-4 questions on each one of them to make getting an A impossible.
6 week summer class is impossible. Go next.
Best math teacher I've ever had. I was super nervous for this class but Nancy is such a good teacher and explains everything extremely well. Would take a class from her again.
This woman RUINED my GPA and I cried during exams TWICE. College algebra should not have been this insane. No matter how hard you study, you don't get the grade you deserve. I quit a job that I love for this horrific course. Her tests are completely unfair and insane. IT SEEMS EASY IN CLASS AT FIRST BUT THE TESTS WILL RUIN YOU DONT TAKE HER.
Oh Nancy, seems like a wonderful person outside of the class but is probably the worst professor I have ever had. Four tests, drops your worst one, makes you buy an online course to do homework that does not help you at all. She crams in new lessons on a Tuesday when we have a test on Thursday. Overall I could write a whole paper on how bad she is.
Nancy Duong couldn't be a nicer person. Genuine care for her students. However, if you are an average math person like myself, then get ready because the headaches are fast approaching and extreme stress is about to mount. Homework take 2-3 hours minimum. The amount of material on the test is absurd. If you take this class... godspeed and good luck
God I wish I had more space to write a full review for her. In terms of her personality, I have never seen any human being to lack empathy, compassion, or any sense of kindness or helpfulness the way she did. In terms of academics, she is determined to ruin your gpa and make you miserable. Her tests are designed for you to fail. Avoid taking her!!!
I used to like math, but she successfully made me hate it. I had to withdraw before she destroys my GPA. Her tests are ridiculously hard. She never understands what students are asking and always gives irrelevant answers. Makes tons of errors while lecturing to the point that she confuses herself and everyone else. She shouldnt be allowed to teach
Each test is 3 chapters with 4-7 sections in each chapter. She makes mistakes during notes and u have no idea what u are doing. She uses weird terminology and u can't understand what she is teaching. Graded way to hard on tests. Homework? Say goodbye to your weekends. Start looking at other schools to transfer to cause GPA is going down the drain
She is just not a good teacher. She doesnt have any teaching strategies. None! Ive never been in a class where basically the entire class is always lost. When shes teaching, its almost like she doesnt even understand the topics bc she makes tons of errors. She doesnt care about her students whatsoever. Im surprised some people felt otherwise.
The worst teacher I have ever had since like elementary school. You would think having a younger instruction who understands students better would be a good idea. She teaches you one thing and tests you on completely different things. Her exams are impossible to pass. I changed major after taking her class. Save yourself and your gpa don't take her
lectures are long and her 4 tests are basically 10 chs in 5 questions which is not easy to pass. I withdrew from her class and hopefully I can take it with a better instructor next semester. She asks if there are any questions but hardly ever answers them. Either does not understand them or says something irrelevant to questions. Go to LRC a lotttt
Shes horrible I do NOT recommend her You can legit take any other professor for math 8 and get better grades
The worst teacher at Saddleback. Take your math classes at IVC professors at IVC are way better OR any other teacher but her
Just wow. Some people just shouldn't teach. By far the WORST professor I have ever seen in my life. her lectures are so hard to follow she expects unnecessary things its crazy legit youd be better off with any other professor whos more experienced than her its like she graduated yesterday
She is HORRIBLE. After reading these reviews, Im glad Im not the only one who has cried during her exams, more than once. Im depressed
Nancy isn't the worst teacher ever. If you end up having to take her class, be prepared to put in the work. I'm not horrible at Math but this class was hard because of her teaching style (not straight forward) and the way she makes her tests. There were a lot of times where I looked at the exam and just wanted to cry.
Professor Duong is very caring for her students and she's very kind. However, I feel that many of her students struggled with the material at times because she would not show enough work in her lectures or how she got to a certain step in the problem. This was also the first semester she used ALEKS, and we were the guinea pig class. Best of luck!
This was my first math class in 8 years and I was so relieved to have her as my professor. She was super nice and unintimidating and super helpful with office hours. I see a lot of people complaining on here and I saw that in class as well. In my case I saw these people skipping class a lot and when they did show up they were texting all the time.
Honestly a great teacher! Clearly cares about her students and very clear about grading. The homework also helps and can even boost your grade at the end of the semester! She drops a test which is nice and puts all the lectures online which is a major bonus! Definitely recommend her as shes very kind!
If you want to get an A, do NOT take her. She might seem like a nice person, but she will make sure your grade suffers. If you care about your gpa, take ANYONE else and you will be better off. She makes a trillion mistakes when lecturing, but if you make the tiniest mistake on your exam you get an unfair grade from her. Homework HEAVY too. Avoid
She was awful. I will have to retake this class. I have never even had a B before, let alone a D. she will make your grade suffer that is for sure. She goes above and beyond to take off as many points as she can from ur tests, quizzes, and homeworks
New. VERY strict grader. Videos mostly cover material, no live lectures, and doesn't efficiently answer student Q's. Feels like she does basics to get paid and ditches us. 1 low exam dropped. No extra cred. But the very 1st exam which should've been easiest, had a class average of D! If the ENTIRE class is failing you're doing something wrong...
I think that she is a great professor. However, our grade is mostly based off of tests and a little bit of participation. Out of the four tests we will have to take in this course, she takes out one test that you did bad on. From the one test that we have had, it seems like she is a very hard grader because the class average for the test was a D.
If you're not the best at math or you are taking other classes, I wouldn't recommend this class. She grades like you are automatically gifted with the material with seemingly no leniency whatsoever. There's 5 exams and she drops the lowest one. They are proctored with webcam with microphone.
She failed me when i was only one point away from passing. She humiliated me in her office when I questioned her on the way she graded my exam. Now, I'm a UCSD student with a 3.9 GPA and I can confidently say that she is the stingiest, nastiest, most malicious, and unkind professor I have ever had. I graduated SB with honors and failed her class...
She failed me when i was only one point away from passing. She humiliated me in her office when I questioned her on the way she graded my exam. Now, I'm a UCSD student with a 3.9 GPA and I can confidently say that she is the stingiest, nastiest, most malicious, and unkind professor I have ever had. I graduated SB with honors and failed her class...
If you want to loose your money, time and effort just take this course with her.
She requires ALEKS for homework. Enough said. I wasted money on the most difficult time consuming worthless homework site ever. Only does pre-recorded videos, dismissive, leaves the students to figure it out, extremely nitpicky grader, and I ultimately learned nothing. Pre-Calculus is NOT a hard subject the teacher is what makes or breaks you.
She seems to not care about her students at all, she will not help or be flexible when students reach out. Since the class was online for COVID, she gave up on teaching us and we had to learn every single thing ourselves. Youre better off learning from YouTube how to do trigonometry than from her.
Never struggled with Math until I took this class. The tests are only 15 questions but include ten lessons + she grades very harshly. Most people struggled in her class as the test average was always below 60%. Prof. Rivera is a great person but her class can be very difficult if you don't dedicate lots of time to studying the hw and reviews.
I found this class super easy. The lectures made everything clear, and the hw wasn't too bad- normal stuff. I found the lecture vids funny sometimes just bc of some things she would say idk. Grade relies on test for the most part, but she rounds. I loved the class & teacher. Random discussions thrown in so keep an eye out (suuuuper easy tho).
The lectures are LONG - some can be 1h20m, but the cool part about them is that they are recorded videos. She has optional zoom meetings so that you can meet with her, ask questions, review tests. She drops the lowest test. For this class at least the average grades of the 4 exams plus the final was about 76%. It was difficult. She will help you.
Professor Nancy demands a lot of homework (4-5 hw a week). Her lectures are videos that she upload in Canvas but I have to admit that is much better than Zoom Sessions because you can watch it whenever you want. If you watch the videos and do all the homework you WILL get an A. Her exams are based on the homework and she excludes your worst one.
I took Rivera during the Summer of 2020 (COVID time). She was great and super nice! She made great lecture videos and I was able to do everything at my own pace. The amount of homework was reasonable and she also has office hours to get help. However, her tests are difficult and she is a hard grader. Rivera also uses a proctoring service.
A LOT of work; 30 assignments in Khan Academy, notes(3-4 hours),participation questions(grades harshly), and hw has 40-60 questions. THATS JUST FOR 1 WEEK! I was more focused on finishing the work than actually learning it. Its so time consuming! Also, the tests dictate most of the grade. But she is sweet, does Q/A's & drops the lowest test grade.
STAY AWAY. This professor practically gave me depression because of how hard she makes math. I am relatively good at math, until I took her class. She is a nice person, but she does not know how to teach and gives you a ridiculous amount of homework to teach yourself. She also uses Honorlock for exams which is an invasion of privacy and data.
I took her trig class in the summer and it is the worst experience I've had at Saddleback. The course is shortened, so a lot of work makes sense. However, the amount of homework due each week is impossible and unhealthy. I think it ruined my brain a lot. You have to be staring at difficult problems 24/7 and the long lectures do not help.
NO! Please just don't. If you have to good luck! Ruined my straight A's with a rounded up B. Life was a living hell. Unfollowable lectures that last forever. I've never stared at my homework and tests blankly for so long! Examples during lectures go from trivial to WTF JUST HAPPENED! I have a life outside of school this isn't Harvard lady.
She just made my Mathematics harder than it is. And listening to her explain during her online lectures give me so much headache. Her voice sounded sleepy and I am not even interested to listen to her. She has a way to explain things, and assumes that her students already know how to solve the equation. EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. Never taking her class!!
Every week there is 2-3 sections of participation sheet and homework for those sections due. Every homework I did in mylabs has 1/3 of the questions that you gotta watch examples on how to do cause she didnt teach them in the lecture video. She uses honorlock to do test witch is a Invasion of privacy btw. She gets off topic a lot as well.
I have never had a math professor assign SO MUCH HOMEWORK. Like most students, doing hundreds of problems doesn't help with the learning process, it just makes us miserable. Take another professor that doesn't assign hours worth of homework a week.
Took her class as a freshman at saddleback. Since transferred to my desired college, I am now a junior. I STILL remember 2 years later while im sitting in class right now how horrible of a teacher she was. don't take her. Horrible teaching style. My tests were 7 chapters, 6 section each, in one test. 4 test total.
Worst teacher ever. Tests are impossible, no remorse for issues outside of class that effect academic performance and is rude. Do not waste your time FIND ANOTHER PROFESSOR!!
Almost changed my major to avoid math but stuck through it you must put the work in watch the lectures and come to class you put forth and show that you are putting in the work she will help you if not do not waste your time asking for help I bet that all those bad reviews are from people that felt entitled to an A and thought they could skate
I hate math even more now as a result
Honestly the class wasn't hard. Effort on homework is required but as long as you do it, everything is good. She drops your lowest test grade and allows a single flashcard for notes during test. She's really nice and adjusts her office hours to her classes! Would take her again!
She is a great professor, super nice and very helpful. Great lecture videos, amount of homework is reasonable, also has office hours to help. The lectures made everything clear. grade is based of exams, participation and HomeWorks. Participate and do all the homework you WILL get an A. Math needs to put time on it.
Very straight forward grading rubric. Hybrid online in class. Watch the lectures, show up to class, do the homework and you will pass. Not a difficult class at all
I'm not sure why her Math8 ratings are so low, but I took her Math8 ONLINE course for Fall '23. Extremely easy class AS LONG AS you do the HW. As for any Math class, you will find behind quickly if you don't do the HW. She is extremely nice and the lecture are extremely easy to understand. Textbook purchase is required for HW.
Super great semester with Professor Rivera. As someone with accommodations for ADHD, she made it extremely simple and even went out of her way to communicate with me when I was being forgetful about scheduling time slots at DSPS for exams. Her lectures are very straightforward and her homework is very useful. Definitely show up and listen!!
As for any Math class, you will fall behind quickly if you don't do the HW. She is extremely nice and the lectures are extremely easy to understand. She even offered extra credit.
This professor seems nice, but the grading is tough: 60% for exams, 25% for the final, and 15% for homework. I get recording during exams, but the rules are too strict. no sunglasses, hats, hoodies, and textbooks, or notes. It might as well be an on-campus class.
Gives extra credit after every class. Pre-records her lectures so you stay ahead and offer's printable pdf notes. Allows a 3x5 notecard cheatsheet for each exam and drops your lowest score. adds extra credit to your exam scores. What's not to like? Math is a tough subject.... But it doesn't have to be miserable!
Every week, there are about 3 lectures that are around 45-60 minutes each and after that, there is a homework assignment for each one that took me around 1 hr. on avg. The tests are worth so much too. That being said, I don't think Nancy is a bad teacher, just maybe not the best and this class is just difficult, regardless of who is teaching it.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
82%
Textbook Required
0%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.72 avg changeRatings by Course
MATH10
4.5
(6)MATH253
4.5
(8)MATH353
4.0
(1)TRIGMATH124
4.0
(2)MATH3A
3.7
(3)Difficulty by Course
MATH88
5.0
PRECALC2
5.0
SC12000
5.0
MATH124
4.5
MATH3A
4.3