Worst prof I had at SFU. You have to learn most of the content yourself as her teaching is not helpful, just goes over the powerpoint slides.

Avoid. If you take a class with her, you're better off just reading the notes + textbook, and doing as many problems from the back of the book as possible instead of showing up to class. She does not provide clarification when homework instructions aren't clear. Quizzes are cumulative from ALL previous material. Spelling errors everywhere.

Really not a good lecturer. Cannot explain things in a clear way. For most of the students they were stumped trying to figure out what she saying.

Hardest prof I have ever meet. She is really bad at teaching. In her class, she only read the lecture but not explain the reason or give an example. She need you to read the textbook and the lecture notes for the exam which is really hard, tricky and come form details in the textbook. She has quiz that no one get full marks in class every two weeks

Quizzes are unclear. More time is spent trying to understand questions than answering it. Midterm covers material that has just been covered/is still being covered (optimization and parse trees). Repeats information many times but is unclear each time. Quiz once every two weeks. No one is able to get 100% on quiz. Class always ends early. Avoid.

Some of the criticisms about criticisms on this page is really unfair. We pay just as much as any other section of 354, only to get a much lower quality learning experience (and grade). The notes are unclear and lack context, the assignments take too much time for what they're worth and don't help for exams, and the exam questions are unclear.

This is likely second worst prof that I've had that ruined a typically medium difficulty course. Notes are bad, quizzes and exams questions are vague and will cost you time and marks. Would not recommend! However, would recommend taking CMPT354 next time it's offered if Ouldooz is teaching.

The professor definitely makes an effort and responds to emails quickly. However, the pacing of the course is somewhat inconsistent and the course is disorganized making it somewhat confusing to study for. The material isn't the hardest but it certainly becomes more of a challenge when the lecture slides occasionally seem fragmented. Be advised.

It is very difficult to understand her lecture due to her bad public speaking skills. And her slides are filled with horrible wording that make the content very difficult to understand. Not recommended.

Need to learn everything on your own. Any skills necessary for the assignments not taught in class.

Assignments and notes copied from the internet/textbook. She does not teach how to solve any question.

As the course progress, her lecture and slides become more and more over simplified and unclear to the point where you have to learn everything by yourself.

its not possible to do the homework because you dont learn the material nor is it in any provided material. all this work and youll still be left wondering how and what to study for the final exam...

The projects are alot of work for little value to your overall mark, and the midterm destroyed everyone due to the incoherent lecture and quality of material we get.

It seems that she does want us to really explore the course material. However, she fails to give clear instructions, lectures, and materials. As the result, the course really put toll on students' time and efforts. I know that she improve teaching in time since she really does care about students learning, but for now it is best to avoid her class.

By far the worst cmpt science prof at SFU. Barely can explain the material she is teaching in English. The difficulty of HW assignments have huge transition gaps. One assignment is easy and the next is absolutely hell. Well, we don't care about that shes teaching for first time because there are so many professors who still can do better than her.

The professor is extremely unclear when explaining important concepts. She does go through more examples in class but only after receiving feedback from students. Overall, she is just a terrible professor. Avoid at all costs!

biweekly cumulative T/F, MC quiz w/ vague questions that are kinda true, kinda false. every assignment, project, exam question taken from google or textbook. announced 3h final was 90 minutes 3 days before final. student-sourced spellcheck. added unrealistic project requirements a few days before deadline. "it can't be that bad right?" it really is

avoid at all cost. this prof does not know how to operate a course at all. project requirements are extremely ambiguous and vague. Final exam was 10 questions and 90 minutes. giving 9 minutes for each question when each question has multiple parts and requires a stupid amount of writing just doesnt make any sense!why does sfu even hire such a prof?

SHE IS VERY BAD INSTRUCTOR.

The final worth a huge chunk of our mark was decided in less time than the midterm... Unfair assignments, examinations, and notes/lectures of questionable quality. Take a course with this prof if you really need the credit, but other professors and the textbook are your best friend. SAD.

I have noticed all of her materials from lecture slides to practice exam questions are all taken from other websites. There is no effort being put into the materials at all. She also threw a project at us which we only had not even three days to complete when exams started. Oh yea, and you only get 90 minutes for a 3H finals. Gotta love SFU LOL.

The final exam was just a mess. Do not take with her. SFU better do something.

her lectures are good sleeping aids

Literally all of her slides were just ripped from the textbook, you're basically paying tuition just to read the textbook.

If you ever think that a professor is terrible, well you haven't seen this one yet. She one of a kind. Terrible lectures, give unreasonably difficult assignments, does not reply to student's requests. I am just happy that i got through this course and never have to take a class with her again.

Quiz expects you to memorize meaningless details of the history of SQL; She does not write examples on board, so she struggles to make students understand even the simplest concept like a Join.

My biggest regret in Ouldooz's 354, other than enrolling, is that I did not skip every single one of her class and just read the textbook instead. I would have learnt much more.

TA is unhelpful, teaching insufficient.

It was not an exciting learning environment. Sometimes she seems just as confused as you are and does not give the best explanation/ illustration for important topics that you need to know from front to back.

I took 371 with her last year. She hasn't improved one bit. When you ask a question, her answer is mostly useless and leaves you more confused. The class is almost always half-empty because her lectures are boring, uninspired, and sometimes don't cover things in the homework assignment. I wish I could say more. A nice lady but a horrible teacher.

During 354, Dr. Karimi has threatened to dock marks for asking questions, dock marks for choosing to do a group project individually, for not attending class during a pandemic, and given inadequate instruction and support. Her apathetic attitude is not only disrespectful to her students, but also to her colleagues, and the name of the university.

- gets mad at students for writing quiz at home during a pandemic (code quiz code from friend who attended class) - docks marks for not informing her of who your group partner is by email IN ADDITION to Canvas - threatens to dock marks for asking questions about the project This seems to be the underlying attitude of this prof. Avoid!

Took this class at the start of the Pandemic. The prof went from not the greatest to the worst prof ive ever had. When classes switched to online she gave us a 15 min video per week instead of online classes. She deducted marks from people for asking questions about her poor wording. She refused to answer her email and refused to accommodate anyone

This is an online class SERIOUS review. She posted 15 lecture videos / week for you to watch. The lecture video HAS A VERY LOUD EDM BACKGROUND while she is talking. Students dislike this very much and asked her to remove. Instead, she said RESEARCH SAYS IT IS GOOD TO HAVE BACKGROUND MUSIC. She doesnt remove it, and doesnt lower the volume. AVOID

Lectures are just reading definitions of network terms. Quizzes/Assignments are just copy-pasting textbook problems. Worst part is, she can't even do that right, as there are many times where she forgot to put the correct answer as a selectable option. Should've listened to the reviews, but how she is still teaching is beyond me.

Her exams are extremely unfair, she will give you 45 minutes for 45 question. IN A 4th YEAR CMPT COURSE!! She claims it reduces "cheating" but I don't think anyone can solve math questions and theory question in such a time limit. Assignments are graded based on "keywords". If you don't specify a keyword, you lose marks.

Copy paste textbook questions, reword sentence structure and replace variable (abc) with (xyz) - plagiarism of the highest degree. Horrible pre-recorded lectures, made the content extremely dry and uninteresting. Reading the textbook by yourself is more engaging than listening to her speak. Profs like her do nothing but tank SFU CS' reputation.

Lectures were dry and not explained in depth, you will need to read the textbook to get a real understanding. Quiz questions are worded poorly and not entirely related to lecture content.

Her attitude appears to be better than previous courses since we moved online. Only tweaks content when we get higher ups involved and she can't teach complex concepts. Her quizzes require in depth understanding of what she glosses over in class. So if you're forced into her course like me, prepare to take very detailed notes. Otherwise avoid her

Ouldooz is a bad prof. Lectures are dry, she avoids using visual aids, and never uses examples to clarify concepts. She is very stubborn and doesn't change course content between semesters. Online quizzes that contain broken questions (literally broken) are not removed or changed for future offerings. Assignments do not relate to material.

Lecture/Lecture notes are completely useless, don't bother studying them. Just study the textbook. Test/midterm questions are copy and paste/multiple-choice, but then she gave us only 75 minutes for 45 questions for the final. Exams, homework and lectures felt incredibly disconnected.

Least favourite professor in my academic career. While course content is well structured and organized, the negatives were overwhelming: Constant typos in lecture material, tests/quizzes, and assignments, lecture videos provided no value, and somewhat inconsistent marking on quizzes. I would highly recommend avoiding her classes if you can.

Her lectures are dry and confusing - slides aren't detailed and don't have accompanying visual aids. Assignments, quizzes, and exams have nothing to do with the lectures and aren't connected. Her wording is very unclear as well and she cannot articulate correctly. For the group project, you are required to teach yourself because she does not help.

Ouldooz was often late to class (including the last day) and made very last-minute changes to the course and deadlines without notifying students. Assignments are not related to lecture material and graded without any rubric/consistency. Although she tries to be consistent, she fails to communicate course content effectively. Avoid her at all costs

Prof Ouldooz is a nice human being, but a bad professor. She explains like a closed book. Zero guided practice, so it means there is no way for students to realize if they understood the concepts until they face exams. Confusing explanations and unpredictable grading. You'd *really* better not taking any course with her. You'll regret it deeply.

The course I took didn't provide me with enough knowledge on cloud and distributed systems; instead, it focused more on technical jargon and confusing language. Although the course was geared towards engineering, the instructor failed to explain the practical applications of each concept, leaving me unsure about how they could be applied.

The instructor's articulation was poor, with too many filler words like "basically" and "um" which made her already ambiguous explanations painful to comprehend. Additionally, the way she organized the course content was very poor, the slides lacked any logical flow, containing only lines and images cut from other textbooks and papers.

As a student, I was let down. Ouldooz lacks subject knowledge, making lectures tedious. She often dismissed or belittled students, creating an unwelcoming and hostile environment. Emails and in-class questions went unanswered, showing little interest in our concerns. Sadly, a true disappointment. Would avoid at all cost.

It's a yawn fest to put it bluntly. Recycles all the materials from Kurose / Ross textbook and basically reads off them verbatim. Didn't even try to make this course more interesting. Requires minimum weekly input. Little programming required. Open book everything.

90% of coursework is trying to understand what a question is even asking you. Most requirements are as clear as an opaque wall, lectures are ramblings of loosely connected streams of thoughts, and explanations usually come with a circular definition. Course content is interesting, don't expect to learn or understand any of it though.

Really poorly executed. Lecture content didn't map well onto other coursework, so there is constant uncertainty about what is important to know. Group project is probably the worst I have experienced at the school; requirements are very vague yet not marked lightly. The material is interesting, so I wish the class wasn't such a mess.

She is just presenting the concept at a very high level; requirements are very vague and not marked lightly, so you never know what's important to know. Group project was a waste of time. Optional reading is not optional. Just study the papers and skip the class. Distributed systems is interesting, though.

I don't usually write RMP reviews but this is easily one of the worst teachers I've had in my whole life. You constantly have no idea what is going on in cIass. I basically had to make all of my own notes to help prepare for the midterm as her slides were just copy-pasted odds and ends from random websites and research papers. Waste of time.

!!!AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!! My previous rating was removed for some reason, but try your best to avoid her classes. Passive-aggressive, the lecutre was EXTREMELY BORING. If you do take any of her classes, get ready to see concepts and stuff you have NEVER SEEN in any lecures. Don't delete this comment again

This course is like playing Dark Souls—you step in full of hope, armed with what little knowledge you have, only to be mercilessly struck down by something seemingly insignificant. Every concept feels like a relentless enemy, each problem set is a boss fight in disguise.

An EXTREMELY BAD instructor. Recommend avoiding her courses. Gives very poor explanations of concepts. Slides are vague and lack examples. Quiz questions are odd. Unclear homework and project expectations. She lacks knowledge (eg. doesn't really get Spark). Her course was the WORST uni course I've ever taken. Many in my MPCS cohort dislike her.

If confusion were a teaching strategy, this would be a masterclass. Disorganized lectures, no clear focus, and passive-aggressive responses to questions. Projects graded unfairly. The "clear pass" rule punishes students despite effort. Just a very frustrating and discouraging experience. Good luck for future MPCS students RIP

Avoid this professor at all. Bad grader and teacher.

As a graduate-level course, the instructor should avoid putting too much shit on the slides that she does not fully understand herself.