Terrible teacher. Makes consistent mistakes and won't admit when he makes them. Barely speaks English and hardly understands students' questions. Very boring and arrogant. Whatever you do: DON'T TAKE HIS COURSE

worst professor ever

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Caution: Back Away From This Professor. He doesn't speak good English so he doesn't understand students questions. He often makes mistakes and isn't very clear when explaining.

His tests and lectures do not contain problems like the ones in the book at all, so it makes it nearly impossible to prepare. I don't think he even knows what he's talking about half of the time, and students end up telling him where he went wrong in the problems.

He doesn't speak english very well so it's hard to ask him questions. He makes simple things very complicated. Your only hope is the TA. Tests are insane and cover practically nothing that you've learned. Even if you did take calc in H.S., don't take this course unless you absolutely love math.

Worst teacher I've ever had. He could almost never answer homework questions in class. Lectures were usually incoherent and were loosely related to the problems given on tests. I would stay away from this teacher whether or not you have had calc before.

DO NOT TAKE!!! Seriously you can't prepare for tests or even ask him questions if he has an idea of trying to explain. The only lifesaver is the TA, if you accidentally get him miss class and go to the lab. You'll learn so much more there.

This man could be the worst teacher I have ever had. He is incredibly boring, arrogant, hard to understand, and he doesn't seem to care very much whether everyone in his class passes or fails. Terrible.

this is the worst class ever. I took calc in high school, honors, then AP because i liked it. 99s in both classes, and yet had to drop this class because its so horrible. he is the worst teacher ever and you'll either fail or drop this class, so dont bother signing up. work does not count on tests

horrible teacher!! he never helps you and is very difficult to understand. i knew there would be problems when he tried teaching us fourth year calculus instead of the basic stuff he was supposed to be teaching. if there is any way you can avoid him, i strongly reccommend that you do!!

he is an awful teacher and has no sympathy for students or understanding of how to teach... if you want to pass math you need to take it with another teacher. my whole class and the other section he teaches is failing and he doesn't care. avoid him at all costs!

incredibly unaccomodating, unwilling to sympathize, poor teacher-student relationship; this professor should not be teaching here.

His tests do not reflect material taught... dont take him unless you want to ruin your GPA like I did.

What they are saying is true....run. He is seriously the worst teacher I've ever had.

Seriously, switch to a different prof. if possible. He is careless, confusing, and unapproachable. His tests are generally 10 multiple choice questions. Each test is worth something like 20% of your grade. He writes horrible questions.

completely unhelpful

riedel does not answer questions in class. nor does he explain the homework he assigns. his three exams are 10 multiple choice questions, and there is no partial credit. he doesn't teach from the textbook, and he goes on major tangents during lecture. he has no office hours. avoid classes with him.

RUN, DON'T WALK AWAY FROM THIS PROFESSOR! I was unable to drop the class because i only took 14.5 hours. i went to every class, did the homework and failed both the first 2 tests. then i stopped showing up, never even looked at the homework, and got a C. The tests are not based on lectures OR textbook problems.

WORST PROFESSOR I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED. he does not teach; he answers homework questions ONLY and yells at students sometimes when they ask for help or explain how they got an answer. my advisor said to me recently, 'if you had told me you were taking a class with Riedel, i would have told you to drop him immediately!' AVOID AVOID AVOID.

This is the most HORRIBLE experience of my college career! Doesn't teach, doesn't count homework or attendance, grade is based only on three non partial credit tests and one final. GET OUT OF THIS CLASS THIS PROFESSOR SHOULD BE FIRED. He is not helpful, nor does his material in class match his tests.

Awful. Absolutely awful. I don't know the slightest thing more about calc now then I learned in high school. Got a generous D-. This man is bad news

Absolutely horrible. I learn literally nothing, thank god for my helpful TA.

When I told my advisor that I had made the mistake of taking a class with Riedel, she said I should drop it as soon as possible. She added that his classes usually start out with 50 and end up with 9 (people who can't drop). A certain dean said that Riedel is THE most pressing issue on his list, but that he can't get rid of him due to tenure.

This class is literally a joke. Everyone in the class is totally lost... You should absolutely avoid a class with him. If you aren't a total master of algebra, find another section! Before you can even get to the simple Calc, you must do IMPOSSIBLE algebra. Four tests with six questions each... Multiple choice with none of the above.

Just get ready for the most frustrating class ever. His lectures are pointless... The algebra is impossible. I am smart but I might not even pass.

not a good teacher. makes mistakes on the whiteboard almost every class and doesn't realize until someone points them out. only about 1/3 of the class attends every class because he only does homework problems, never actually teaches. tests include material never covered in class

I am BEGGING you to not take this teacher. You won't do well, and you will make a bad GPA which makes Tulane look bad. PLEASE DON'T DO IT.

Funny guy, but a horrible teacher. You don't have to show up for class, just study the textbook before the tests. Try to avoid if you are weak in math.

Being someone with almost no calculus experience, this class was terrible. Even people who took it in high school struggled because he cannot explain the concepts so that a normal person can understand them

Professor Riedel is terrible. He takes way too much time showing how mathematicians created equations and theories as opposed to actually solving problems with them. His tests are 8 MC questions with no partial credit. Attendance is pointless because he just goes on rants about ancient mathematicians and confuses everyone more. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

His lectures are pretty much history lessons. He gets irritated when you ask a question in class. He shouldn't be a professor. Did not prepare me for the final at all. He told our class we could use a calculator then we showed up to the final to find out we couldn't. For your own sake, DO NOT put yourself through this. Take someone else!

HE IS THE WORST! first day of class he said I don't care if you do your homework or come to class, so motivation shot. his tests are easy and you can easily get help, but the department final is so hard.

Honestly, don't take Professor Riedel if you can avoid it. His lectures are more calculus history than anything else, and his tests are multiple choice with no partial credit. Homework is optional, but essential if you want to understand the actual math. I learned more from reading the textbook than I did actually sitting in class.

He is a horrible man. Has no idea what he is doing and does not know the subject matter. Doesn't care if you come to class or the effort you put in. Does not curve in any way and has 0 compassion. I can't believe I paid to take this class, a waste of my tuition. Disgraceful and absolutely horrible professor, avoid at all costs.

I never learned a thing from this professor. He has no idea what he is doing. I would ask questions and he couldn't solve even the simplest of them. He would teach class by writing one equation on the board while copying it straight from the textbook paper, then spend the rest giving a history lesson. Examples on the board were always done wrong.

Useless. I just sat in the back and did homework while noting what would be on the exams. If you can't teach yourself math, don't take this professor. "Lectures" are useless. Examples often don't go where he wants them to, and he just kind of throws his hands up and moves on. Puts off questions, but never gets around to answering them.

yeah he was nice but not someone i would willingly choose again

AVOID THIS CLASS AT ALL COSTS. I left lecture feeling more confused than I felt going in. I'm usually a good student and I can usually follow lectures well. If you do have to take him don't bother going to class, you'll learn more by reading the book and doing homework problems on your own. If you miss 1 question on a test it's a B, theres no curve

Nonsensical and hard to understand. Seems like he's lecturing to one student at a time but there's 45 others that can't hear him.

Confuses himself daily in class, it is really best not to go. If you want to do well you must keep up with optional homework before the weekly quizzes. Going into final, about half of the class had D's or worse, seemed go give out a lot of C's. Either read textbook or learn material from TA before quiz, because you won't learn from him. (Calc III)

After attending the first 2 days of class I decided it was best to skip his lectures and only go to the labs. Quizzes are 40% of the final grade and are somewhat easy, but beware -- the exams are much, much harder. If you get stuck with this class, find some online Calculus lectures, pay attention to the TA during lab, and you'll probably pass.

I passed this class, barely with a C, but this was because I read the entire textbook front to back, as well as endless hours on yotuube trying learn what we skimmed over in class. He would spend the entire class doing the proof of the material but would rarely show examples that would be in the homework or tests. Luckily, my TA was really good.

Make sure you read through the chapter before class or you won't understand a thing he talks about...

Ugh. Nonsensical lectures. Insisted on using a bizarre personal vector notation. Terrible at responding to questions. Taught myself Calculus 3. I'd just sit in the back and do HW, just to follow topics. Also gives multiple choice tests with no partial credit, so he doesn't waste time grading. Got the impression he didn't care much about students.

Ive never had calc in my life and I had to learn it all by myself (or learn how to bs my way through the homeworks and tests). I didnt learn anything on the first couple of months I went to his class, so I never came back. He doesnt know what is going on in his own classroom and teaches things that are not in the hw. Honestly, dont take him.

The worst professor I have had at Tulane. He confuses himself regularly. Rarely solves problems correctly on the board. The homework NEVER relates to what little we've done in class. He makes the final (that he himself does not write or grade) worth 40% of the grade. AVOID AT ALL COSTS! your gpa will thank you if you do not take this class.

He is so unclear, never does examples. He basically just stands up there and talks. Horrible handwriting and just uses the black board. very hard to follow.

Riedel is a rough teacher, but for most its hard to avoid taking him. His lectures are basically pointless and 90% of the class didn't go after the first week. The only saving grace was the TA's. He rambles a lot, doesn't teach all of the material and the tests are written by a different teacher that we were never prepared for. Pretty big curve tho

This professor is maybe the worst I have ever had. Drop this course if you don't have any prior calc experience. Couldn't care less about a single aspect of his job. Avoid at all costs.

Even if you go to every class and take notes, you WON'T get a good grade. Can't understand why he is still teaching

I have not gone to his lecture from the second week of school -- he tries to simplify math by talking about it as cooking recipes. The only good thing about him is his Birkenstocks and shaved legs. The class is entirely graded on quizzes and tests and the only reason i did well is because of my TA (Zak aka Zaddy).

this is like THE WORST math professor i have ever had. He barely taught during lectures... he focused more on picking different colored markers than actually teaching us something. People stopped going to class it was pointless. Please dont pick him as your professor unless you can teach yourself. this was the worst mistake ive made here at tulane!

This professor was hard to understand, unclear on his expectations, and the coursework did not help to learn the materials. Most people stopped showing up to the lectures after the first week. He assigns weekly quizzes. He does not have standard office hours. Due to all of this, calculus has become a self-taught class for me.

The worst professor at Tulane.

I have never hated a class or professor more. His lectures don't always match up with the homework and he goes off topic. Nobody goes to class and I wish I didn't because his lectures honestly just further confused me. The midterm and final were each 8 multiple choice questions. I would not wish this class on my worst enemy.

I love almost everything about Tulane except this professor, who is horrible. His lectures are impossible to follow and make the math that you are trying to learn more confusing. If you did not take calculus in high school prior to coming to Tulane, good luck.

Not a very good choice for Professor, cannot not communicate his points clearly. Easily distracted and not present. Incompetent with basic Calculus.

Absolutely the worst professor I have ever seen. Would confuse himself and write wrong formulas on the board. Not understanding at all and will make students feel stupid. This class made me have weekly breakdowns. PLEASE do yourself a favor and DO. NOT. TAKE. HIM. UNDER. ANY. CIRCUMSTANCES.

Take Mike Joyce, Reidel may be the worst professor at Tulane. He commonly does not know the material himself and is unable to explain anything well. He will not respond to your emails and instead forward them to Joyce. Avoid this class at all costs.

Worst class I've ever taken. Never gotten a C in any class in my life until him. He describes nothing, his handwriting is not readable, and his lack of organization and heavy accent make his lectures impossible to follow. The tests are also IMPOSSIBLE. Skip class because it's a waste of time and get a tutor, but if you don't have to take calc don't

He does not teach what will be tested in quizzes or tests. The homework content does not align with what he teaches AT ALL. Skip class because it's a waste of time. His examples also make no sense.

I stopped going to class after the first week and watched Prof Stafa's lectures. Avoid at all costs. Only did well because I knew calc from highschool. Goes over examples in class but does not really teach. If you don't know calc / don't want to teach yourself, take someone else.

Take any other professor... I stopped going to class because his lectures were so confusing that they were actively hurting my learning. I don't doubt that he's a smart guy, but he's a bad teacher. The class average on the final was a 57%, and he didn't curve it at all.... If you want to succeed (or even learn) please don't take his class.

Riedel's inability to teach compares to a pig's inability to fly. The HW has absolutely nothing to do with what is taught in class (I'm forced to teach myself what a derivative is) and what little content can be understood must be further explained by our TA. If you have the choice to take someone else, DO SO. If you don't, wait to take the course.

During the first unit, I kept thinking, "Wow, I am SO happy I took calc in high school because I'd be lost". During the second unit, I was in fact lost. My class averaged a 46% on Midterm 2. He literally does not teach at all like he genuinely doesn't go over the material. Impossible to understand. Take ANYONE else. PLEASE. He's so awful.

I hated this class, goes on tangents and gives history lessons during lectures. If I could i would give him a 0/5 it was hard bc he wouldnt teach

You have to teach yourself. Homework is very lengthy and has little to do with class. Tests were very difficult and short. I do not recommend this professor to anyone.

Only went to this mans class maybe 3 times lol. If you took AP calc in high school, dont even worry about going to his class like hes so weird and random and makes things harder than they need to be. Got an A+ in is class and dont even remember what the dude looks like. Lots of online homework u need to do well on. Be prepared for quizzes.

He is nice but horrible lectures. One option is to attend a different lecture but register for his class to take advantage of the SI sessions. The homework and exams are standardized across all sections. Go to the math center for help. Everything is on WebAssign.

He was my only choice as a professor because I waited too long, and if you are reading this you probably did too. There is a reason everyone avoids this teacher. The first midterm had an average of 45% in my class where I got a 54 which was high amongst the class. He would not curve it class is waste. PLEASE AVOID HIM I'm Taking summer class now.

Horrible professor. He seems nice, but he can't teach. Stopped going to class because it was only hurting my knowledge. Weekly in person quizzes during recitation, which aren't the hardest, but are not easy. The average on the first midterm was a 54%.

Avoid taking this professor at all costs, especially if you have never taken calc before. I took AP Calc in high school and that was the only reason I did well in this class. I stopped going to his lectures because they made no sense and made the material more confusing. What he teaches does not help with WebAssigns or exams. SI sessions helped.

SO awful.This is the most unorganized class and he admits that.Lectures are awful he is too old to be teaching.I had a quiz every week in recitation those were nightmares.First test the average was a 54 and he did not care. I cried every week.Take stats a different semester If he is your only option,its not a class that you can just get over with.

Professor Riedel is one of the most abhorrent professors that I have ever had the misfortune of taking. His lectures are disorganized, his TA's are in the dark about grading and material students have learned, his textbook has no correlation to the class, and he is cagey about grading criteria. Prepare to teach yourself the entire class.

Ive been an A student my entire life and consider myself someone who actually studies. This class is awful if youve never taken stats. I went to class and did problems in the textbook and went to SI and I still ended up with a B-. All exams had an average of around 50. The curve at the end of the semester is really really really disappointing.

It shocks me that this man is still teaching at this school, I truly have never experienced such a trainwreck of a class like this. He makes no effort to teach in a coherent or clear manner and his quizzes/exams are notably harder than what other professors of the same class use despite the insanely high rate of failure. This man needs to retire.

Doesn't know how to teach. If you want to pass, you have to teach yourself everything through the incredibly difficult to comprehend textbook. If he's your only option, don't take it. Seriously. If you think you'll be fine, you won't.

I have never done poor in math, and I constantly struggled in this course. Lectures are unorganized and unhelpful. He barely has a lesson plan and is hard to contact (he has no office hours and just says to go to the math center for help). I have only learned from the TA and SI who seem to stress over having to re-teach what we dont learn in class.

This is the worst professor I have ever had. I go to every class, learn nothing, and have to teach myself. He rattles on every day, can't teach, makes no sense, and goes on weird history tangents. I could not emphasize strongly enough - do not take him. It's laughable how bad he is at technology, teaching, and communicating with TAs. Please retire.

His lectures are utterly pointless, and unrelated to course material. The homework is unnecessarily difficult, and unlike any exams or quizzes taken for the class. He is inaccessible outside of class, and is horrible with technology. He doesn't not understand zoom, web assign, even outlook. Never take a class with Riedel under any circumstances.

Do not take this class!! Taking a math class at Tulane is the worst decision you can make, especially with this professor. Take prob and stats at a different school to get the credit. The professor is horrible, he doesnt teach anything and isn't helpful. Anything you learn on the homework or in class is nothing like the exams which are so hard.

WORST PROFESSOR EVER. He does NOT teach the class, and leaves all of the work to the TA's. I basically taught myself everything this semester. Our final average was a 65 and no one got higher than an 87 out of maybe a hundred people. If not a single person got an A, or an A-, that really speaks to the quality of the professor!

This class was ridiculous. Don't bother going to the lectures he just talks about JFK's assassination. Recitation quizzes were difficult but doable and the first two tests are fine. The final being MC is the nail in the coffin bc theres no partial credit. the final is WAY harder than any other exam or quiz and brought my average down 12 full points

He is so terrible. Lectures are pointless and centered more around history than statistics. I relied solely on my SI and TA to teach me the material. Tests are pretty manageable but not curved. He said he was going to curve the final, but then only did so if you received an F to make himself look better.

This professor was awful. Incredibly difficult to reach, the homework did not match the sessions with our TA, and those didn't match the quizzes or exams. Awful experience of a class.

DO NOT TAKE HIM. Tests are heavily weighted and are very different from quizzes and homework. Provides no help or communication with the TA. I would spend hours on every homework because of the no instruction.

If anyone is saying anything other than to not take him, dont listen. His lectures are awful and hard to follow. He doesnt use slides and goes off on tangents that have nothing to do with the topic. He is seriously one of the worst professors I have had in a long time. Save yourself and take anyone else.

Horrible, does not know how to lecture or teach math. You'd be better off watching the online videos and going to the SIs.

Absolutely atrocious professor. Lectures very much went off-schedule often, never stays much on topic, and when he does he uses these very long random speals about different mathematicians. His exams come with formula sheets which is rare at Tulane.

i took this class never having toke calculus before. i don't go to class i watch the lectures he posts from another teacher. and i ended with an A

I am a freshman in the fall semester of 2025. His lectures can be helpful, but very rarely. He goes on tangents: He calculated the number of years it would take to build a pyramid. Mind you, this is a week before the exam. I highly recommend learning on your own through YouTube and the Math Center because he does not help with anything.

So hard to understand, nobody shows up the lectures and you will self teach this class. Recitation periods were pointless and not useful to the content covered in class

He uses zoom or every class, but still doesn't know how to use it. Will call IT every week and blame them (he was trying to use a monitor as a touch screen). He will rarely cover the subject and mainly talk about Lee Harvey Oswald or some other random thing from history. It never connects, he just starts talking about it. Never went to class.

I showed up a total of 4 times, the first day, the two midterms, and the final. He's utterly useless. Yapped about JFK for over half the class on the first day, and I never looked back. Exams were pretty easy and standardized across all stats teachers, so take someone else. Needed it for the math credit. SIs gave me my A, made it very easy to study

He is so sweet, but honestly so unhelpful. I went to maybe three of his lectures and left more confused than when I walked in. He's a very kind person, but he doesn't help you learn the material. The class itself is terrible — you either need a tutor outside of class or you have to teach yourself the entire curriculum.

Do not take this class! He doesn't lecture about anything relevant, you will 100% self study and have to teach yourself everything. The SI is good but Riedel does not communicate (likely does not know how to use email) with her ever so she is unable to give any advice on tests beyond gut feeling. I am amazed that he still has a job.

Here's what you're going to do. You're going to go to class for 1 week, then instead of going to his lecture you go to the hub and watch Michael Joyce's zoom lectures. He posts them on the canvas every MWF. They are astronomically more helpful than anything riedel will say.

sweet old guy but horrible professor. people stopped showing up to his lectures within the first month cuz hes rly hard to understand and doesnt really teach the correct material. everyone i know including myself went to joyces lectures instead. if you get riedel dont worry js show up for joyces lectures instead they dont do attendance n dont care