2.0
Quality4.2
Difficulty21%
Would Retake193
Reviews21%
Would Retake
193
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
193 total ratings5
20
4
18
3
16
2
24
1
115
What Students Say
“He is super disorganized with his lectures and assignments”
MATH232 - 1.0 rating“The course is much harder than it looks and Pyke makes it worse Does not teach properly and uses methods that we haven't learned before while also leaving questions unanswered Gives major Dr Osborn vibes”
MATH232 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
19%
Textbook Required
0%
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Predicted Grade
C+
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4.6
Reviews (192)
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Really hard class but really interesting. Very good professor
Notes is ok. Helpful/Nice. But MT/Final is very HARD AND CRAZY!!He expect u write everything down without thinking! Questions is UNBELIEVABLE(Qs may from text/note, but u never expect). Also Qs is very LONG, u Never have time to do. Taking his course, GOOD LUCK!!!
wears the variations of the samething everyday
lecture is fine, but sometime its boring....
A very boooooooring prof who cares nothing less for the students even though they're sleeping. Best to rely on the textbook instead. It could be very helpful.
I agree with everyone here, VERY boring prof who won't do anything to perk up students and is difficult to follow/understand at times.
This prof kept making mistakes in class.
A nice guy who gets kudos for showing up to teach kids calculus every day at 8:30 AM... but that's where the praise ends. Lectures are very boring and extremely difficult to follow and I don't have much time in my schedule to get extra help. You will rely on your peers and the textbook to learn in his class. The tests are very difficult.
toooo hard
people ought to stop being bitter and obsessing over their grades. True, his exams are not the easiest, but they are meant to be challenging... I found him extremely approachable, very helpful, and an all-round nice guy. He is actually extremely knowledgeable, and when organized/prepared presents and explains the material extremely well.
Do not take math with this guy. I think he is too advanced to be teaching a beginner level calc course, the lectures do not make any sense whatsoever. I taught myself from the text, which is useless because his exams don't reflect the book at all. His notes are disorganized and all over the place, he makes lots of mistakes in lectures, good luck!
Pyke's exams are insane for an entry level math class. Though he is certainly a nice person and helpful, he seems to be overburdened and limited on time. Lack of organization is another fault, had the largest homework of the semester due 2 days before a final that was 25 pages long. I would avoid, if possible.
makes a couple of mistakes in class and he wont fix them unless u find out its wrong. but how can u do that if its an intro to math class, u dont know anything about it. hes a good speaker and knows how to teach more than what the textbook gives. but midterms and finals are difficult and time consuming. questions take more time to read than do.
Randall Pyke is a very ridiculous professor. The notes he gives in class are the exact same from the textbook; no point in going to his lectures. His exams are beyond entry levels. He expects you to know everything on exams and it is very time consuming to do the questions. Usually no one finishes his exams and leave 1-2 Q's out. Stay away from him
very difficult prof. cannot teach at all. midterms and exams are difficult - he expects you to be able to do what he is capable of. confuses himself easily and tends to fall behind in lectures. (rushes during the end of the semester). get above average on everything and you will be alright.
Worse math 100 prof ever. Has no respect for students or questions they have. Ignorant. Not helpful. Makes a load of mistakes, stutters, rubs his bisceps too much, stutters, says "um". Not always available for help, don't even go to him for help. If you have him, good luck =.=! Our class avg on midterm 30-40%. CHICKEN XD!!!!
You need prior knowledge to understand this course because there is definetly no review for those of us who don't remember everything about gr.12 math. He is so hard to pay attention to, jumps around the boards and doesn't engage the class at all. The exams were very hard, you need to be able to go above and beyond. Seeing him for extra help is som
This class is hard and has a lot of content. You cover 10 chapters in 3 months and there is A LOT to remember. This course is based on proving mathematical statements, and unfortunately Pyke doesn't teach proof theory very much. His proofs are very confusing and he expects your proofs to be ridiculously rigorous for an intro course. Very hard exams
Probably the most fruitiest math teacher ive ever had. His notes are all over the place,frequent mistakes which r sometimes never corrected. I attended every class, took notes, reviewed, but the midterm and the Final were extremely difficult.He made the final exam worth 75% of our grade...GPA KILLER
He always seemed to be confused when he was teaching us. The exams were difficult and unrelated to what was assigned in homework. When I had him in my MATH157 as a sub, he managed to confuse everyone.
Taking his courses= INSANE EXAM, Low GPA, Tons of HOMEWORK and BORING CLASS. GOOD LUCK!
Really tough
An all around nice guy. If you take interest in your assignments you will do fine.
Although most people complain about the difficulty of his course, I believe he does it as a favor. After seeing my Burnaby friend's midterm, I thought it was a total joke, and then I realized that even though I only barely have a C in his class, the difficulty has made me a much better mathematician. I also respect him for his love of the subject.
never engage this proff
Personally it was the worst course i have ever taken. Take a course with him if & only if you dont have ANY other option. Lectures are clueless and assignments take more than a day to figure out(TA's dont have any clue). If already stuck in his course make sure you do all assignments....they might save you!
Sure, he's a nice guy and he's extremely intelligent.. BUT HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO TEACH! Extremely unorganized and can't answer questions. Exams are too long and challenging. Do not take any courses with Randall Pyke.
Also had him for 232. His notes are scattered and he jumps from place to place as though he's rushed to teach everything in 3 hours a week. If you ask him after class hes very helpful and very good at explaining! He enjoys teaching and his exams follow what's taught in class. Make sure you take good notes and write down examples and you'll be good
Highly unorganized, take his class if you have insomnia.
If he notices you're interested in material and trying your best will help you. Isn't really concerned with grades, lets you redo assignments... Doesn't really teach, you're on your own but if you read the material before heading to the class it all makes sense... Overall he is realatively a good prof among what we have at SFU... you can ace it.
He seems highly interested in what he is teaching. However, he is also highly unorganized, can NOT teach and unprofessional. Nothing more needs to be said... do NOT engage...
Exams are tough but if you are "failing" them, you aren't really failing the class (there is some scaling).
Nice guy who makes himself quite available for help. I found his lectures kind of boring and his notes were not very helpful(I read the book instead). His tests ask fairly challenging questions(i.e. don't expect to see anything right off the homework) but are quite fair in my opinion. Overall good prof.
I used to like math until this guy came around and make me want to hate maths.
Pyke puts a lot of effort into his class. He has a complete set of notes, is always on time for lecture, and always present at his office hours. He is always willing to help if you come to him with questions. Nice guy but hard to follow in lecture. His exams are moderately difficult. It's essential that you read the book to understand the material.
I honestly don't know why everyone I know said that this prof is hard. Sure his lectures are pretty bad I agree on that part but his exams and quizzes are not that hard (dunno why class average is so low tho).
Overall, this was a rigorously challenging course (near the end), but if you're up to it to do the reading, you will do really well. I personally enjoyed the subject, and Randall was an exceptional professor with fair midtermsfinal, assignments, and quizzes. He's very willing to help and truly engages with his students which is really refreshing.
His lectures aren't very helpful, but he offers good help in the workshop. You are going to have to read the book if you want a hope at a decent grade. His second midterm felt a little short on time. Overall he's a good prof.
Linear algebra itself is not very hard. However randall doesn't really do a good job of teaching the class materials in the lectures. But I can't say he's really bad, he's pretty helpful in the office hours and he cares about his students(he scales too so you'll be fine as long as you're above average).
do not bring your GPA down by taking 232 with him
This Prof is a really responsible on teaching, he knows how to make students get higher scores and this is the reason of him to make the homework counting for scores, if u finish the homework he gives u and check the answers he put on the internet, u will get good grade in this course. He is a nice Prof and i would like to choose his course again.
Absolutely worst professor ever. Doesn't want to answer questions, combined with a bad textbook makes for a more difficult course than intended. AVOID this professor at all costs so you don't need to retake it with him and have another bad time.
He is super disorganized with his lectures and assignments. Makes the an already difficult course harder than it should be.
He tries to teach but he could definitely improve A LOT. Read the textbook, you'll get more information out of it than with his lectures.
Do not take MATH 232 with him. You will regret it if you do.
I was one of the unfortunate few that took his class when he no longer takes assignment marks but quiz marks instead. No problem with that except for that fact he never gives you enough time. He's pretty chill but he does not do a good job explaining the concepts. I learned more studying from the other sources. Overall,most test/quiz avg were 50%
To the nicest prof that teaches courses for SIAT, thank you for being an amazing teacher. I have met so many terrible profs in SFU but you are amazing!
At first, he seems like a very nice and caring professor. Although it's natural for everyone to make mistakes, the later on we go in the term the more mistakes he makes, especially when the subject really matters. Also, very harshly graded and not graves. Don't take this class if there are other profs available.
Very unclear when explaining concepts and lectures are all over the place. The homework load is also very heavy, and since lectures are not helpful, youll need to seek outside sources to understand the material. If you can, stay away from this prof.
He is a good prof, but material for 232 is really abstract. He tends to make mistakes sometimes and since nobody knows if he's right or not the class average tends to take a dive. I like his lecturing methods and he's a very nice guy, but he just confuses people sometimes... Make sure you study every week because those quizzes add up.
Pyke is a very nice professor who tries to explain things in simple ways. However, he often makes mistakes which may be misleading/confusing.
Nice guy but terrible prof. Lectures are confusing & lecture notes make no sense. Big mistake taking Math 157 with him. Possible to do okay in his class but you need to put in A LOT of effort, teach yourself since the lectures don't help and a tutor is recommended. a non calculator course, he "considers" calculators for midterms but then says no.
Lectures are confusing, he barely touches on what he is teaching. Instead of showing how to solve math problems, he treats lectures like he's reviewing things we already know. Lectures are skippable b/c they are useless. Tests are fair. You need to put in a lot of work and teach yourself. Praise Youtube.
Awful awful awful!
He is a very nice prof and very understanding of student's concerns. He does make some mistakes in lectures, but we all make mistakes. We shouldn't be picky about that. If you do the study sheet, plus the homework online and textbook. You'll do fine. I recommend doing all of the textbook questions, and go to the workshop everyday from open to close
Dr. Pykes lectures can be a bit rushed and disorganized at times. Therefore, you MUST put in the time to keep up with the content and weekly HW. That being said, Dr. Pyke is very friendly and wants his students to succeed! He was always available to answer questions from students. The exams were fair and were similar to the review sheets!
Good professor. Friendly, very accessible and happy to make time for students to discuss their grades or answer questions, tries to engage the class and keep things interesting by asking questions during class instead of just reading off the slides.
He is A-MAZING!! Last semester he taught me Math 150, and this semester even though he's not teaching he still comes up to campus to help me with math 152 homework (that he's not even in charge of teaching!). He's super caring and very approachable, if you don't understand something always ask! His explanations are da bomb
this Prof is perfect and gives feedbacks on grades. it is very easy to see him outside of class and he even answers question right before the exams. Im looking for other courses that he teaches.
This professor gets a lot of flack but overall he truly cares about his students and tries to be as accessible as possible. Now (During the COVID pandemic), he has been my most available and transparent professor which means a lot to me. The class is hard, but he assigns a lot of useful (optional) practice questions to help you stay up to date.
He was an amazing prof and I want to have all my math courses with this man. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Prof. Pyke, do yourself a favour.
Randall is a great prof! He is really helpful and I found his tests are fair and not necessarily difficult. As long as you practice the homework problem, you are golden. And he is just really helpful. This semester because the covid things are crazy but he is the most responsive prof I have! He hosted 3 review sessions online which is just amazing!
I took MATH 130 twice with Randall Pyke a few years ago. Pyke is a very energetic and caring prof and he wants his students to do well. His main flaw is that his course content and explanations are very unclear and confusing. He communicates a lot with students and is very available, but I felt his actual content communication needed some work.
Randall is an amazing prof if you are willing to put the work in. His class is difficult, but you learn a lot from him. He is really helpful and willing to help outside of class. However, his notes and teaching style might not be for everyone.
His lecture notes are not organized. Found it really hard to learn from them. It felt like he expected everyone to have an insane passion for math. If you have that insane passion, you'll do fine. With the online learning I found the tests to be fair, compared to past exams. He's willing to help outside of class time. 232 is a fast class, dont fall
Worst teacher I've ever had in my entire life. I don't know how this person even became a teacher. Worst ever! Would never take this class with him. Doesn't make any sense, doesn't explain anything, and has no heart. Worst experience of my life.
Randall clearly knows a lot about math, but he is literally the worst professor I have had in university. He goes over stuff extremely quick, messy and unorganized notes, expects you to learn a lot of stuff on your own, very rude to students who ask anything unrelated to the lecture (even if it's about math...). Trust me, don't take his class.
I've always heard bad things about Linear algebra and I took this class expecting to get a C, but it was not as bad as I thought. Pyke was very unorganized with the assignments, but the lectures were very helpful. His midterms and exams were not THAT difficult. If this helps, I got a B in Calc 2 and got B+ for MATH232. He's not bad at all.
This is by no means a very difficult course, but made difficult only because of the instructor. Nice guy, very passionate about math, but lectures are confusing, disorganized, and exams are sometimes way too hard or too easy.
Dont expect him to answer any of your questions during his lectures. Hell always respond with You should already know this or Yeah you can check over it later. Quizzes are literally impossible, its always on stuff that we havent learned or havent gone over in class. Oh and class is not curved even though the class average is 50%.
Worst prof I've had in 11 years. If you think I'm being biased because I got a bad mark, our class average was 51% and the other class had 49%. Pyke has 0 teaching ability and every student I met said they learned everything online and nothing from his lectures. This class is necessary for most, but I beg you to try and find a different professor.
His online lectures are absolutely horrible, I don't know if its his age or what. He constantly trips over his words and cannot explain concepts properly. I always find that I have to teach myself everything through youtube videos. Do not take this class with this lackluster professor.
Horrible horrible horrible teacher. I did a 1-hour tutoring session 4 days every week for the whole semester and still barely ended up with a C+. For reference, my grade in pre-calculus 12 was 94%. The material in the textbook, if gone over with proper instruction is fairly easy. Pyke's teaching and ridiculous exams increase the difficulty tenfold.
The only reason I say this class is non-mandatory is because you dont learn anything since he can't teach. You're teaching it yourself and your gonna fail anyway so just let that sink in
Be prepared to teach yourself... He will consistently make many mistakes, sometimes even saying things that are entirely false or the opposite of the truth, and will not correct himself. Leaves a lot of things "for you to think about". You cannot rely on him to be correct, so teach yourself. At least the tests are easier than the quizzes and hw.
I have never seen a prof like him. impatient, annoying. His quiz is difficult, and his exam is even more difficult. When we asked questions, he just likes: how stupid you are, you suppose to know it by yourself. If I know it I do not need to ask you ok? Unfortunately, MATH 157 is the must-take close for most of the student.
He is the worst professor i have met His lectures never explain clearly how to solve questions, and he always says lots of nonsense doesnt show examples. His quizzes and tests are totally different from his lectures and midterm reviews. Especially midterms! Do not take his course! Do not take his course! Do not take his course! You will hate math.
Doesn't allow calculator, class isn't curved, lecture is useless. Questions on quiz and test are totally different from homework/practices. Worst prof ever.
Do not take it with him if you have a chose. Shows up on time for lectures at least, but is very bad at explaining. Explains one thing and doesn't finish and moves on to the next. Expects everyone to know everything. Says things like "I'm gonna give you this just to mess you up" and never answers questions.
I'll keep it brief for people who want to know if you should take this teacher. Do not take this prof. EVER. Quizzes are impossible to finish on time. Lectures are useless. Very unprofessional. Messy notes. Tests are painfully hard and he makes them harder. Can't complain because apparently he is the head of the math department. DONT TAKE THIS CLAS
Yall ever go through sleep paralysis and see this man in the corner of your room? Or is it just me?
HE'S THE WORST. he makes you think you're stupid.
Midterm averages were 40% and this man had the audacity to blame the class for not preparing. Hes a joke. Avoid this class at all cost.
No. just no.. LITERALLY NO. See his name and run other direction...
Heres a review for those who took Calculus 12 in high school and want a reference to how you will perform with Randall Pyke in MATH157... I got 94% in Calc12 and my current average in MATH157 is about a 75% (includes quizzes, and both midterms). Midterm 1 average was around 50% and the second was about 40%. Class is NOT curved so grades are final.
Pyke is not good. His lectures are a mess, he can't teach, and he explains concepts in extremely confusing ways. The class average is below 50% and he blames us for not studying enough. His "10min" weekly quizzes are way too long and hard. Honestly you're basically just paying for the credits. If you get him, be prepared to teach yourself.
Honestly if youre thinking about signing up for this class, you might as well set your money on fire because youre getting the same result.
I have never met a prof that is so unwilling to teach his students! Like..... isnt that your job?? Randall Pyke catchphrase, you can figure that out
Expects you to know everything about the course as if you've already learned it. He makes you feel stupid with condescending comments when you ask for help. Exams are drastically harder than homework questions. Lectures go through information stupidly fast and notes are messy, save yourself an hour and just teach yourself the concepts instead.
I dont normally go out of my way to write reviews but please take this as a HUGE WARNING. Stay away from Dr. Pyke. Course content is not that difficult but his lectures and unorganized notes make them extremely confusing. Homework and exams are also super difficult. (TAs often get confused with his questions) You are better off teaching yourself.
If you're considering taking Randall Pyke, just don't. You're probably looking at the other comments now too, and yes, they're all correct. His quizzes are insanely difficult, he consistently makes mistakes in his answer keys and lectures to the point where it confuses you. At this point, it's best if you teach yourself because he'll NEVER help you
If you want to learn, I suggest just watching YouTube. He legit has called us all stupid and told us not to ask stupid questions. In his mind he's the best teacher, and if you don't understand, that's your fault. Run away as fast of you can!!!1
During course selection, I checked his RMP ratings and it was a solid 3.3 rating so I decided to take his class. I don't know what happened to him, whether his wife finally divorced him or online school made him go nuts but he is definitely NOT a good prof. Averages are below failing and class is not curved so good luck...
If you think Pyke's actually gonna teach... lol. better off watching youtube and using his catchphrase "figure it out"
Don't do it. I'm helping you here, just don't take class with Randall Pyke. If you see him, run the other way. You can't handle the ignorant man. Don't do this to yourself, you deserve better.
Randall Pyke is a one of a kind professor. His quizzes and exams are extremely challenging with questions that are much harder than the homework. There are barely any ways to make up the marks so expect this class to bring down your GPA if you are even able to pass. The prof also isn't scaling this class so that doesn't help either.
Pyke is a below than average human. He doesn't actually want to help the students succeed the way he says he does. The lectures are content heavy and he doesn't explain anything well, making every concept covered harder to learn. I never took calculus in high school, but I did fairly well in pre-calculus 12 (92%) and am doing horribly in this class
I was shocked to see that Randall Pyke was my new professor after I was informed my professor was on a leave. I broke down to tears after seeing the sheer reviews on this man. And boy were they true, please if you want to be happy in life do not take this teacher. Take this as a warning, DO NOT TAKE PYKE.
absolutely terrible professor, no clue who issued him his degree to teach, takes advantage of online learning and can't answer simple questions. Pace is way too quick and makes errors every lecture. Do not take Pyke even out of curiosity, immense waste of time and money. Better off not even going to university and learning everything on youtube!
Does not care about his students, doesn't answer questions. Homework and review sheets are completely different from exams and quizzes. Good luck...
Why did I pay money for a course that I taught myself? I literally did not even do that bad in this class and it was the worst introduction to university I could have experienced. Professor Pyke is such an incompetent teacher it is almost laughable. If you ask a question in class, do not expect an answer. Stay away from Pyke I promise.
He is very disorganized and tells students to rewatch lectures or that they should already know the material if they asked questions. Always goes overtime too. Us having Calc 12 knowledge when Calc 12 is not a Beedie admission requirement is unreasonable to expect. I am glad I took Calc 12, but even so, I still needed to watch online videos.
Just learn from youtube honestly lol. I dont think he is that bad but still he does not teach very clearly...I had him twice because I failed once however the course material was hard alone. The second time around everything was much easier and I could actually see the tests were very fair. Still, read the book, study everything. no need to attend
Let me start off by saying I got 100% in Calc 12 in high school. Even so, I acknowledge the transition from high school will drop my grades. However, the only reason I am surviving this course is because of my calc 12 background. This professor does not teach and his notes are illegible. Most people learn off of Youtube. Avoid at ALL costs.
Take a light course load. You may be paying to take this class from Pyke, but if you want to learn anything, you'll need outside sources because lectures are brutal. Ask a question like "wasn't that supposed to be negative not positive?" and his response will almost certainly be "oh, maybe. It's not my job to do algebra. You figure that part out."
Do not take him, I repeat, do not take this prof under no circumstance. He is the worst teacher I have ever met in my entire life.
Absolutely terrible, he's confusing, rude, and not concise at all.
Easily the worst prof I've had in my four years at SFU. I saw a review saying "the people complaining are the people who didn't bother to get help". Not true. Every student I know is watching tutorials or being tutored because Pyke's teaching is atrocious and his grading is unfair. We all wouldn't agree that he is incompetent if it weren't true.
Do not take this professor under any circumstances. Outside of his terrible lectures, horrific exams, and impossible quizzes, the man is just downright mean. He refuses to answer questions posed by students, responds snarkily to those who point out errors, and cut our final time from 3 hours to 2 hours and 15 minutes, TWO DAYS before the final.
man this guy sucks. just go set your money on fire, it's the same thing.
Randall Pyke is the most sinister math professor. He is extremely passionate about what he teaches. This leads to none of the students understanding the topics because he believes that our math abilities is as good as his. When questions are asked in class you will have to deal with his sarcastic comment and catchphrase "you figure it out". DO NOT
This dude messes up in the lecture and proceeds to say "you guys can figure that out". Better off paying tuition money to Youtube than this useless prof. Only Pyke would have his previous ratemyprof rating drop 2.5 points in one semester.
Horrible teacher with extremely hard exams and quizzes, impossible to do well.
This man got big dawg status prior to me enrolling in his class. The reviews were REALLY GOOD so I'm convinced he or someone wrote those comments so future students would take his class not knowing how sinister this man is. Watch fall 2021 comments be good (there's more time to leave good comments). Anyways, don't take math with this man.
Coming into this class with no calculus background made it nearly impossible. On top of this Pyke expects you to have the same math knowledge as him. Use a different method to get the right answer other than his own, well be prepared to receive a 0 for that. Highly recommend not to take this prof.
Imagine being in elementary school and learning single digit addition in class. But then when it comes to exams, your questions are all multiplication, something you havent learned before but in theory with the concept of addition u should be able to solve them. Thats Randall Pykes quizzes in a nutshell.
I am a first-year who has prior knowledge of calculus and I struggled in this course. Pyke's lectures are subpar, he doesn't finish the examples even though the remaining steps aren't clear. The homework is fair, (98%) but the quizzes are absolutely crazy, there are 10 minutes to do 2 insane questions (47). I would suggest another prof for math151
By taking Calc 12 in high school, I was able to survive for the duration of this class. Notes are messy, talks too fast often make mistakes in his lectures. His favourite line is "Figure it out yourself." Quizzes are not designed to complete within ten minutes and exams are difficult. Expect to teach yourself cause he won't answer your questions.
Super disorganized makes tons of mistakes, and you can't understand what he says 75% of the time. Pyke told us that he doesn't give the solutions for midterm and final reviews because "the real test doesn't give you the solutions". I took pre-calc 12 and got 93% and I barely survived. His rating doesn't do him justice he should be a lot lower...
If you have the option to have a different prof, do so. I did not take calculus in high school so this course was already more difficult for me however Dr. Pyke makes it even harder to grasp simple concepts. Watch YouTube videos to help you understand concepts better and do all the CNQ and IQs through the semester and youll pass.
Yes hes rude, and yes his exams are difficult but all in all his class is doable. Attend every lecture and make sure to have a thorough understanding of the concepts BEFORE the lectures and you will be fine. Dont get too caught up with his weekly quizzes, I averaged 65% on the quizzes but still ended up with an A-. Just focus on the midterm/final
Medium difficulty exam/quizzes; fair final. Messy notes. Says he does not curve or scale but scaled the final grades. Very accessible during office hours (barely anyone goes). Rambles too much. A hard class for students with no calc experience; decent for students with. Calc is a self-taught class regardless of prof. Be ready to study a lot.
As a first year, I've tried to make my own notes, review his lectures and study the textbook. I found it rather increasingly difficult to follow along in his class as he refuses to address questions during the lectures and displays unreadable, messy note taking. He does not seem to care for us students and sends unprofessional emails.
Professor Pyke is hands down one of the worst professors I've ever had. He is extremely arrogant and unorganized. Often, it is easy to differentiate a bad teacher from a bad person but not in this case. His tests are very difficult and never similar to what he's taught. Worst instructor ever.
Pyke wasn't that bad of a prof since I had worse teachers in high school. However, I did have to self teach myself on certain topics. The first half of the course are things taught in highschool so if you did fine in precalc 12 and calc 12, you should be fine. His midterms and finals are similar to his reviews so study them and the txtbook quest.
If I could give him a 0 I would. No examples only proofs. Messy handwriting. Haven't taken a test yet but the entire class is clueless. Makes 0 sense. The textbook is garbage. Homework is not just difficult but the questions are confusing. Also removed recordings cuz ppl weren't attending but doesn't understand ppl are in different time zones
He was an awful lecturer, I learned everything from The Organic Chemistry Tutor on yt. He only taught us the concept behind it, and he didn't even do that well. He assumed we all knew calculus at a university level, even though it was not required. Never taught us the complicated algebra necessary to complete questions. The reason I passed is YT.
Would prob be a better prof for a higher-level math course. For an entry-level course, he assumed we knew way more than we did & skipped over lots of questions in chat. Also, intimidating - I was afraid to ask any questions after he told me I didn't know what I was talking about when I asked a question week 1. Heavily relied on YT to teach me.
Never take Randal unless you want to fail
Coming into this class with no calculus background made it nearly impossible. On top of this Pyke expects you to have the same math knowledge as him. Use a different method to get the right answer other than his own, well be prepared to receive a 0 for that. Avoid him at all cost
Condescending, impatient, and inaccessible. Holds students to too high of a standard, expecting you to know everything while being hardly taught. His explanations are rushed, and when he does go into depth, he's incoherent. Only reason I got a B was because I took AP Calc in high school from a GOOD teacher. If you don't have calc background, avoid!
Explanations of theory and concepts were quite exception but more examples would be better. Posts plenty of practice problems in the textbook and on lecture notes. He is quite accommodating and encouraging towards questions. Quizzes however are a bit long for 10mins. Midterms lack margin of error. Final exam was quite fair however.
Quite possibly the poorest quality professor in my university experience. He loves to blame students for his inadequate instruction, and regularly refuses to answer questions, even having called a student "dumb for asking that". If you can take this course with anyone else, please do. Do not waste your time and money on somebody who doesn't care.
Course taken: Math 309 (not appearing under RMP course list). Very little material given to work with. Good lectures, but solutions to homework skip steps and often don't give answers. Lecture notes are messy and are often unclear. Seems hostile in correspondence.
This is MATH309. Fails more than half the class and doesnt care. Dont take his class. Expect to leave at least half of the final empty due to the lack of time given.
The course is much harder than it looks and Pyke makes it worse Does not teach properly and uses methods that we haven't learned before while also leaving questions unanswered Gives major Dr Osborn vibes
Avoid this man at all costs.
Terrible at explaining things in the online lectures he's posted.
One of the worst profs I have ever had. He has no teaching skills at all and likely to make everything not understandable. Avoid him
Arguably the worst professor you can have at SFU. If you asked him to explain what a straw does, he would tell you it's a device that's made out of plastic that creates a negative impact on the environment. Disorganized and makes an already difficult topic nearly impossible to understand.
How is this guy even allowed to teach??? We pay like $600 for this class and instead of teaching us, he assigns us to watch pre lectures (accessible by anyone) on YouTube. During the scheduled lecture times, he pulls out so called examples but clearly improvises and doesnt prepare a thing. The examples are covered with mistakes, please avoid Pyke.
Makes a relatively easy course quite difficult. Very unorganized and not great at explaining concepts. His YouTube vids have too many mistakes and are too long as well. Avoid this prof.
Worst prof ever. Says enough
Lots of students act mean with Pyke and I think it's not fair for him. He's not a bad professor, I think he genuinely cares about the students. If you take more courses, you'll find that there are a lots of profs who intentionally makes it tougher for you to success in their class. Skim thru materials before going to class & you'll find it useful
The worst teaching/professor experience in all 18 years of my life. I am convinced sfu has him so that people fail the class and retake it again so that they earn more money. Please do better, we pay too much for this treatment. any positive reviews are fake I'm convinced.
Dr. Pyke is a great person but a terrible teacher! His lectures are extremely tedious to watch and his explanations are confusing and difficult to understand. He also tends to be very disorganized and unprepared when doing examples. Sometimes, he wastes time and rambles for a long very period, not that he'll say anything very helpful.
An enthusiastic professor with very fair (and fairly easy) midterms. The majority (if not all!) of the questions on the quizzes and midterms were taken straight from the homework (not necessarily assigned) or in-person lectures. Pyke is receptive to feedback and is crystal-clear with his explanations. Simply an excellent professor!
super easy quizzes and very generous with dropping the 3 lowest. honestly not sure how you could even fail this class unless you literally don't know what an integral is
Creates midterms that cannot be finished in the allocated time given. Has required weekly quizzes that are midterm/final style questions to be done in 10 minutes but takes away your given time by discussing new examples just not to finish them (These questions should take 4-5 minutes each and he gives you 3 of them). Would not recommend Pyke.
I think Randall is trying to raise the level of students. His questions are non trivial, he makes them think and tries to keep some standards, high standards. Now, a lot of students do not like that. That's unfortunate. How can we be so fragile and spoon fed? We all want to be Usain Bolt, but don't even want to run. IRONY.
Pyke talks ALOT and very quickly too, but none of that discourse is ever put to explaining the actual subject at hand. He'll go on tangents about his latest studies and the history of mathematics, but when you ask him a question about the actual math, he'll say you should know it already. The worst professor I've had so far. DO NOT TAKE THIS PROF!
(For MATH 260) Randall Pyke seems to be pretty enthusiastic about the course material however his lectures are difficult to follow and understand. Quizzes were okay, although occasionally they were very difficult. Exams were fair, despite having a reputation of making difficult, theory-heavy tests.
Worst prof, I've encountered. Don't know how he managed to get a PhD when he can barely do the problems he **attempts** to teach. Designs impossible midterms and then acts confused when the avg is " less than 50". His weekly quizzes often contained the next week's material that wasn't even covered in the lectures.
Pyke definitely isn't as bad as people make him out to be. He is an ok lecturer, sometimes boring but gets the general point across. He makes some mistakes in lectures which can make them hard to follow but he also asks questions to keep the audience engaged. Quizzes were often difficult but exams were straightforward if you remember all the method
easy exams
It is naive to believe you will pass. I do not care what marks you previously got. I do not care what your GPA currently is. All that is about to change when you first set foot into randall pyke's classroom. There is no method to the madness, and logic is indeed scarce. Sanity is insanity and insanity is sanity here. Welcome to the underworld.
Pyke is a good guy overall, but the way he teaches is just really disappointing. His tests and quizzes are based on his textbook questions, and sometimes, they aren't based on anything at all. I don't know where he comes up with his questions but he hasn't taught them at all. Rushes through lecture notes and examples, and doesn't explain anything.
Horrible explanations and convoluted manner of teaching. Would not recommend
Mayor of Yappington, Duke of Yappinborough, The Yap Knight Returns, Rise of the Yapper, 21 Yappin. If you like yapping and brain-rot lectures he's your man.
Randall is not good at teaching whatsoever.
Randall Pyke is a pretty smart, eccentric guy. His teaching isn't great but you can sorta tell he tries. If you're taking a course and you already know your stuff like calc 157, then maybe take this class to ride the curve. Everyone else would probably suffer and you can get a high grade. Otherwise, if you can't learn yourself, DO NOT take this cla
Horrible lectures, doesn't know what he's talking about. Online videos are even worse. Can't understand a thing
Good lectures. Gives enough time for quizzes. Very accessible.
He doesn't know how to teach, nothing makes sense in his class ranging from his lectures to his assignment description. HIS QUIZZES ARE NOTHING LIKE THE HOMEWORK OR THE LECTURES. I have never met an instructor this bad
This class isn't easy and Pyke isn't a great lecturer but these ratings are completely unhinged. The quizzes are pretty similar to the practice problems he gives. If you aren't capable of doing the practice problems then obviously you won't do well. There are many problems he gives, but a lot of them tend to be simple computations
Randall Pyke is by far the WORST professor you can ever get. If you get his class drop it IMMEDIATELY! Not worth risking your sanity trying to decode his pre-lecture videos. He writes with his left hand, covering what he just wrote, so get ready to write fast. Honestly don't even bother going to the lectures unless you want to lose brain cells.
Randall is a great prof. You have find time to watch videos lectures before the class.
A very bad prof who has no clue what hes doing himself. Gets confused by his own material, and leaves questions unfinished due to him not being able to complete them. Very hard to understand and tests are super difficult. Get this guy fired he doesnt know what hes doing.
Avoid this man at all costs!!! His quizzes are extremely difficult (1 quiz had a 15% average), and his exams are nothing like the practice exams he gives you. He is unfair and incredibly misleading. Computing assignments are difficult and time consuming. His video and in person lectures are useless. Be ready to learn the entire course on your own…
Doesn't know how to teach, very difficult grader. Do not take this class with him if you wanna pass. For all students including SEE and MSE students, its better to just miss however many terms necessary if you cant find a class without Pyke than to take it with him. Go to Burnaby, wait more terms, DO NOT take this class with him.
unless you like theory, you'll HATE it here. You will not get by by just doing textbook questions, practice, or knowing how to compute certain questions. On the midterms, you need to know WHY everything is the way it is. It's a headache, bc 1) he goes off on unrelated tangents and 2) when he finally gets to the point, you're just.. more lost. sos.
Whatever you do, DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE WITH HIM!! Defer it till the summer, take it in Burnaby, take it at another university for all that matters because no matter how hard you try, you can never know what to expect. His courses WILL tank your gpa no matter how hard you try. For your own sanity, don't make yourself suffer.
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very great!
Dont take - Run away - very bad -cant teach-cant mark- final exam was worth 127 marks across 28 pages. Avoid at all costs, take in some other term, take in another campus, take in another school, take in another country, but NEVER take with randall.
"Sanity is insanity and insanity is sanity here. Welcome to the underworld." - A victim of Randall Pyke.
Professor was very great, final was very short and very easy. People that can't do math can't succeed in this course
took this class even though he had bad reviews bc i didnt want to go to burnaby 3x a week. WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. literally so many people failing AND ITS NOT CURVED. other 157 classes got calculators/formula sheets on their exams but we didnt. he literally cant teach everyone hated him. hes also rude and enjoys watching people fail. HORRIBLE
dont believe any good reviews on here he clearly writes them himself. not helpful at all &everytime someone asks questions he answers it so ambiguously, literally even asking him about how the class is graded he wont give a clear answer.doesnt even know what hes teaching like he will literally be figuring out the question as he does it. f u randall
Very clear and easy to understand lectures. Was a pleasure to take this course!
countless hours of videos that he expects you to watch prior to lectures, lectures are terrible too. hes just bad bro. honestly just read the textbook instead. will not curve either
Horrible professor probably the worst ive ever had. Whatever you do, do not take him. Avoid him at all costs. Super hard exams, no curve, and has no clue what hes teaching himself. Learned everything from online chem tutor.
Class wasn't too bad. Boring professor with confusing lectures but he's free to talk if you have any issues with the material. If you're not strong at math I wouldn't recommend this prof, but also most people were so you can't blame him for your bad grade. 1/3 of the people were even at lectures so it makes sense lots of people did bad
Randall Pyke… I don't even know where to start. This man doesn't teach math, he performs it. Every lecture is a masterclass, clear, passionate, and somehow fun. He makes the impossible feel easy. If math were a sport, Pyke's already in the Hall of Fame. Absolute legend.
I feel like Randall gets a lot of bad reviews because of the class he teaches which is calc as many people fail and then blame it on him. Overall, he was a good prof with a clear grading format. If you keep up with the class and do his IQ questions, you will do good on the midterms and finals. Yes, he does curve the class.
He's kind but can't teach. You'll need to teach yourself (I used the textbook). Attend lectures because he'll occasionally drop a formula not in the book. Do all assignments in full and train for speed for exams and quizzes. Quizzes are paced extremely fast, exams a bit slower but the content is harder. A deep understanding is required for success.
he cannot teach. watch professor v on youtube if you want any chance at passing the class. hes also rude when you ask him questions.
Very easy professor that can teach very well! Also very kind when you ask questions. Very very good!!
Almost failed but he helped me a lot
He's not that bad. The class is very fast-paced, and he makes it clear at the start that you need to make time to study linear algebra, whether you like it or not. He offers good review packages before each exam and the questions are similar to those ones. The computing assignments were the most difficult portion, even with some coding knowledge.
randall is by far the worst prof i have ever and probably will ever take. expects hours among hours of pre-lecture videos that must be watched. he gives lots of practise but the tests are never anything like them. i BARELY passed that course after making it my entire life for 3 months. bless the textbook because its the only teacher in that class
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