2.4

Robert Gauthier

Engineering - Carleton University

2.4
Quality
3.8
Difficulty
30%
Would Retake
84
Reviews
2.4
Quality
3.8
Difficulty
2.2
Helpful
2.5
Clarity

30%

Would Retake

84

Reviews

Rating Distribution
Official
84 total ratings

5

12

4

10

3

13

2

20

1

29

What Students Say

Gauthier is very knowledgable, but he does not teach well

ELEC3908 - 2.0 rating

Pathetic but hey you and I are footing his $130k salary

ELEC3105 - 1.0 rating
Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

38%

Textbook Required

33%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 20 grades
Most common grades:
B+ (7)
Not sure yet (5)
Incomplete (3)
Grade Distribution
A(5)B(0)C(3)D(4)F(0)A-/B+(9)
Based on 32 reported grades
B+: 7
Not sure yet: 5
Incomplete: 3
A+: 3
Common Tags
Tough grader (8)
Get ready to read (5)
Lecture heavy (4)
Test heavy (4)
Tough Grader (3)
Respected (3)
Caring (3)
Lots of homework (3)
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.31 avg change
Oct
Dec
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

86240

5.0

(2)

ENG3000

5.0

(1)

ECOR2607

5.0

(1)

97565

4.5

(2)

ELEC

4.0

(1)
+16 more courses
Difficulty by Course

ALL

5.0

ECOR2507

5.0

ELEC25073105

5.0

3105

4.5

2501

4.3

Reviews (83)
2.0
4.0
ELE315
Nov 28, 2001

He is the worst prof ever!!!

5.0
1.0
86240
Grade: B+
Mar 21, 2002

No Comments

2.0
4.0
97315
Oct 30, 2002

This guy is awful, His notes suck, his class is boring, and he thinks he's cool.

5.0
3.0
86240
Nov 20, 2002

Great Prof, funny guy, keeps me interested, love the friday jokes

3.0
4.0
97315
Dec 16, 2002

lack of effort ...

1.0
4.0
97315
Feb 19, 2003

it wouldn't be so bad if he was just a bad prof, but he's also a total ass

1.0
4.0
97315
Mar 1, 2003

doesn't talk loud enough in room full of computers. says almost nothing that isn't taken directly from slides.

5.0
3.0
97565
Mar 19, 2003

Great Prof. He really knows what he's talking about.

2.0
3.0
OPTICS
Apr 22, 2003

Didn't learn a thing

4.0
3.0
97565
May 1, 2003

Very good Prof. I learned a lot and very entertaining.

4.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Jun 18, 2003

He's ok...just don't let him tell you he'll "be right back".

3.0
2.0
97315
Sep 17, 2003

never replies to emails.

3.0
3.0
315
Nov 15, 2003

the goat!!!!

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Nov 28, 2003

Useless! that sums him up

2.0
2.0
ELEC3105
Dec 4, 2003

This guy used to hide lecture notes for the next lecture from us by displaying a link to them during the first 5min of class while everyone was still braving the elements to show up for class on time. The link would be taken away from us within minutes.

1.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Dec 7, 2003

This guy is a jerk! Pulls a surprise multiple choice final when he told everyone it would be a long answer exam. Also, instead of zero for a wrong answer, you got -0.5. Completely ridiculous!

4.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Mar 24, 2004

If you try hard.. he will give you a good mark... 90% passes... his class i got an a- and i did not know half the material....he is mean but he understands...

5.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Apr 12, 2004

I found him to be very helpful, willing to spend lots of time solving problems with you. He also seems to really know his stuff.

2.0
5.0
3105
May 6, 2004

No Comments

2.0
5.0
ALL
May 6, 2004

No Comments

2.0
4.0
ELEC5605
May 28, 2004

Solid knowledge of material, but didn't seem to care that he was boring students to tears! Needs to write more clearly on the board, show less overhead projections taken from textbooks. Term project was very educational, should have been better emphasiz

5.0
1.0
ELEC3105
Jul 6, 2004

Excellent professor

2.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Jul 25, 2004

Hard course made worse by this man. Goes through a boat load of material (this course by far has the most material though) by clicking away on power point. Avoid if possible!

3.0
3.0
572
Jan 6, 2005

two words to describe him: LAZY ASS

1.0
3.0
ELEC3105
Jan 21, 2005

very confrontational and terrible prof. avoid like the plague

3.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Aug 8, 2005

Took a one-off section of his class with about 30 people. Would explain tonnes of material, but the TA made it understandable. Final exam was insanely difficult. Probably failed final, but was given a pass in the course (albeit with a fairly steep drop in final grade). Was a jerk a lot of the time, but helpful when he actually could be bothered.

2.0
4.0
ELEC3605
Jul 30, 2008

The course material and reality seemed a few degrees out of phase.

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Dec 17, 2009

Try to avoid this prof, material was hard and he did't help at all. Hard final, no previous exams, just makes your like more complicated.

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Jan 2, 2010

Very hard professor. Not much help at all, better off looking for any answers in the textbook or going to a TA. Gives the work of two courses, assignments every class, midterm, PA quizzes and labs. Midterms very difficult, as well as exams and like previous poster don't count on seeing a previous exam. If at all possible get a different professor.

4.0
4.0
ELEC3605
Jan 19, 2010

Good teaching, alittle complicated sometimes but also very helpful. Always answers students questions.

3.0
3.0
ELEC3105
Apr 12, 2010

Extremely boring. Keeps going on and on deriving equations after equations but has no idea if anyone is listening or not. Midterms are hard, assignments every class but easy final!

1.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Oct 29, 2010

Apart from being a useless professor with no teaching or research skills, he is world renowned in the department for being extremely LAZY and not interested in anything other than his pay cheque. Known to brag to his student about how much money he makes while doing little work. Pathetic but hey you and I are footing his $130k salary.

3.0
3.0
ELEC3105
Jan 3, 2011

do the problems and go the the TAs for help. If u do that, u will pass with A

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Nov 8, 2010

VERY LAZY, limits help sessions to "10 minutes", which you have to take an appointment for, hes basically saying "have fun catching me sucker". Uses 1 textbook and 1 workbook with completely different notations! as if his HORRENDOUS teaching wasn't confusing enough. Sometimes I want to pour molten lead in my ears than listen to his voice.

5.0
1.0
ENG3000
Nov 16, 2011

this was a great prof, learned alot from him

1.0
4.0
ELEC3605
Dec 10, 2011

Very disorganized when writing his notes on the board, barely does numerical examples and a lot of theoretical examples. Better to just read the textbook instead of going to class. Even then the textbook has basic examples.

2.0
5.0
ECOR2507
Grade: Incomplete
Mar 6, 2014

Horrible online support. His website is a cluster of random comments, labs and very important updates which he often neglects to mention in lecture. To make matters worse, he mainly uses ".docx" files on the website. Sometimes he even uploads each page indiviualy as an image file..

1.0
4.0
2501
Mar 11, 2014

terrible prof! his teaching is terrible. very dependent on text book. never gives examples. avoid him if you can!!

1.0
5.0
ELEC2507
Mar 15, 2014

This professor is so bad. I have no idea why is he still allowed to teach. try to avoid him if you can! SO BORING!!!

1.0
5.0
ELEC25073105
Grade: Not_Sure_Yet
Mar 24, 2014

He doesn't do many examples. Expects you to read the entire chapter before class or you will not understand. Worst prof so far at carleton

2.0
5.0
ELEC2507
Grade: Drop/Withdrawal
Apr 22, 2014

If possible, do not take any class with him. He is by far one of the worst prof's I've ever had.

1.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Apr 23, 2014

the worst prof you can ever have. he doesnt answer your questions properly and he always looks half dead. his exams are the hardest you can ever imagine. its mostly theory based. dont take any classes with him if possible

1.0
5.0
ELEC2507
Apr 24, 2014

Terrible prof..doesn't do any numerical exams and derives equations for most of the class. Isn't very helpful. Exam was very difficult, 40 questions with not enough time to answer each. His evil grin makes people cringe. Avoid at all costs.

1.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Apr 24, 2014

Avoid this prof if you can. Boring, derives equations for the entire class and doesn't prepare you for quizzes or the final. Hard final, equation sheet he have was useless, so much material that you have to learn on your own as he just derives the starting equation. Worst prof in ELEC courses by far.

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Jun 19, 2014

This is the only time I rated a prof. Try to avoid this guy. There is a disconnect between his lectures (wasted on explaining equations) and the PA s( TA's quiz)/book. final will be hard. Lazy, website is disorganized. Seems like a nice guy at the beginning, but you will hate him at the end.

3.0
5.0
ELEC2507
Grade: Pass
Jun 24, 2014

There isn't an easy way to approach this course - there's a huge disconnect between the lectures, PAs/labs and exam. When asked what equations would be on the exam, he'd just smile and say "the non-obvious ones", as if that was going to be clear to anyone. He is nice in 1-on-1 interactions though.

4.0
4.0
ELEC
Oct 8, 2014

Hard material!! But he explains everything well in class, you just need to pay attention, go to class and work hard. Everyone complains about this course, but hey you get out what you put in. I tried hard in this class and did very well. He was very nice and helpful when I met with him 1 on 1.

2.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Nov 17, 2014

You probably won't understand anything during the lecturess, however while you're studying for the exam you'll have to look back at his notes and make some sense from them since the textbook is so awful. Brutally difficut material but fair exam.

4.0
2.0
ELEC2507
Grade: A+
Dec 7, 2014

Read the book. This course is not easy, but if you read the book, pay attention in lectures, and take good notes, you can do very well. Fail rate is high - he warns you of this at the start. It's almost certainly due to lack of following instructions and attendance. Labtutorial is not set up well. Pick your lab partner carefully.

1.0
3.0
ELEC3105
Grade: C-
Mar 25, 2015

Easy quizs.. final will kill you. Lectures are useless...

5.0
2.0
ELEC3105
Grade: B+
Apr 8, 2015

Great guy but super hard material. But alot of people just complain because it's a class where you actually need to put in some work and effort. So do your work, go to class and study and will do fine. If you try then youll be rewarded for it.

4.0
3.0
ELEC2507
May 1, 2015

A great prof, but the lectures are long (mostly duplicated from the textbook..) and it's not terribly interesting to listen to him. Class attendance bombed after the first week so I can see why people didn't do well in his class.. The final was deadly, but he graded it very easilybell curved it.

3.0
5.0
ELEC3105
Dec 16, 2015

He is not a very interesting prof, he is boring and doesn't care. But, he does tell you what he wants on the final. you go in blind knowing that you need to be able to apply your fundamental understanding of the course material. I.e. why and where you use equations, not how to use them. My exam was more application and theory of equations.

3.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Grade: C-
Jan 3, 2016

He is a fairly straight forward professor, he will make time to discuss outside class hours any problems you have. The term work that he puts forward is fairly straight forward and easier than the exam that you will write. I found the exam to be challenging but organized, it was a fair exam just a lot of material to cover.

4.0
4.0
ELEC2607
Grade: B+
May 10, 2016

I personally enjoyed him teaching 2607. Lecture were boring, as he just reads through the lecture slides, but his midterm and final exam were fair. Come to class to learn, and take detailed notes. His voice is monotone, but he gives hints about the problems. Go to Pass, to solidify your knowledge. Labs were long, but the prelab is the lab.

5.0
2.0
ELEC3105
May 10, 2016

hard class :( but he explains well the material in class and was very helpful when I saw him outside of class for extra help. Did very well in the end.

3.0
3.0
ELEC2607
Jun 14, 2016
Would take again

The material for this course isn't hard, but there was more than I expected. The midterm and exam were both fair, and the labs were graded very easily. Gauthier just reads off of the slides, class attendance is optional. He's a decent prof, although his lectures are pretty dry. Ignore what he says about buying textbooks, the slides are amazing.

2.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Grade: Not sure yet
Apr 8, 2017
Wouldn't take again

The course is theory heavy makes you do one full year project with no guidelines and then the ta comes up with some. Not specific on what the exam will be on.

Tough Grader
Get ready to read
LECTURE HEAVY
3.0
4.0
ELEC2607
Grade: A
Aug 25, 2017
Would take again

Class is difficult if you don't keep up with it. Lectures are long and exhausting. Robert knows his stuff very well but is not good at all at expressing it to students. Doesn't care much about the students either in regards to emails and out of class consultation. In comparison to other ELEC profs, he's good.

Tough Grader
Skip class? You won't pass.
LECTURE HEAVY
2.0
1.0
ELEC3908
Grade: A+
Jan 3, 2018
Wouldn't take again

Gauthier is very knowledgable, but he does not teach well. Advice for people taking 3908 next semester who want an easy A+: 1: skip class - Do yourself a favor and save yourself an entire class 2: do the previous years quizzes - material is all rinse and repeat 3: do McGarrys practice final questions to study for the final

3.0
4.0
ELEC3908
Grade: B+
Jan 25, 2018
Would take again

Prof R.G knows what he's talking about. He makes the lectures interesting even though students don't show up to class because he uploads all the lecture slides and notes. For the A+ guy congrats for doing so, but I have taken Prof R.G as a professor twice before (ELEC 2607, 3105) & I REALLY don't think he repeats finals especially from other profs

Tough Grader
Respected
Get ready to read
5.0
1.0
ELEC3908
Grade: A+
Jan 25, 2018
Would take again

I love Professor Gauthier. He is a G. The course is such an amazing thing that happened to me. I congratulate people who got an A+. Whoever got less than an A+ gotta drop engineering. Final Exam was too easy I forgot to study for it but ended up acing that paper anyway. Would recommend taking it with Gauthier since he's the one and only real G.

Respected
Amazing lectures
Caring
4.0
3.0
ELEC3908
Grade: B+
Dec 7, 2018
Would take again

Gauthier is a really reasonable guy. There is a lot to remember in his class, but he doesn't make it any worse than it should be. He's very helpful after class and in his office hours.

Gives good feedback
ACCESSIBLE OUTSIDE CLASS
4.0
2.0
ELEC3908
Grade: A-
May 14, 2019
Would take again

Gauthier is a very fair prof. All of the test and final used questions and theory straight from the lectures and textbook. Beware that he is very theory-heavy, my suggestion would be to know the theory well first, then go over the practice problems. Easy labs, overall pretty easy class

Respected
Caring
1.0
3.0
ELEC3908
Dec 15, 2019
Wouldn't take again

takes down resources from sites where notes were previously available, does not provide notes or slides, forces you to buy all these things from him. hates using the mic for some reason. monotonous voice and condescending attitude. You can feel how much he doesn't want to teach, makes it hard to focus. doesn't let u detach eqns sheet during tests

Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
ELEC2607
Grade: Incomplete
Dec 15, 2020
Wouldn't take again

Not a good prof. Just read the slides over. Dont take him

5.0
3.0
ECOR2607
Dec 22, 2020
Would take again

My best prof so far at Carleton. He totally updated the course for online and asked for feedback so it was optimal for students learning. The amount of effort he put in for his students well being was amazing and truly made it feel like he had learning as his number one priority... also a really cool class.

Inspirational
Amazing lectures
Caring
5.0
2.0
ELEC2607
Grade: A
Jun 3, 2021
Would take again

he adapted to the online transition very well to make the course much more interesting than it would have been otherwise by incorporating a hands-on portion to each lab, which was great. he's very helpful too and the TAs help a lot as well. material for the course is easy for the first half but gets more interesting and a bit tougher later on

Lots of homework
Accessible outside class
Lecture heavy
1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Incomplete
Oct 6, 2022

He is so AWFUL AND BORING. Can never take a class with this prof again, he reads from the slides and doesn't actually teach the course. As a student you could also read off the slides not too hard no offense.

1.0
4.0
ELEC3105
Grade: D+
Dec 18, 2022

Professor Gauthier comes with a plethora of mannerisms that ensure a hatred of the class. He is regularly condescending to students, regularly goes on boasting tangents of his previous work, and has slides that look like gibberish. He seems to go out of his way to make the course harder for students and seems to enjoy it. Avoid him at all costs.

Tough grader
Get ready to read
Lecture heavy
1.0
4.0
3105
Grade: D
Dec 18, 2022

Does not teach anything, just reads off powerpoint slides that are barely readable and look like picasso threw up on them. Only smiles when mentioning how hard he can make exams. He has an ego and seems to enjoy seeing students struggling. He knows the exam averages reflect his teaching ability but blames students for not practicing enough problems

Tough grader
Lecture heavy
1.0
5.0
3105
Grade: D+
Dec 20, 2022

This professor's teaching method are awful as it largely consists of reading off slides that were created by another professor and passing them off as his own work. Additionally, the professor attributes the poor midterm average of 36% to laziness and lack of practice rather then his poor teaching abilities. Professor also has a weird ego complex.

Tough grader
Test heavy
1.0
4.0
3105
Grade: B+
Dec 26, 2022

He is an extremely lazy prof. Hasn't done applied research in 20 years. Has been teaching the same courses for 20 years. Zero practical applications. The problem with him is that he is actually proud of being a lazy, disorganized, awful teacher. He's always trying to maximize how little he can do while still raking in $100K financed by students.

1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Not sure yet
Nov 2, 2023

:)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))) lovelt professor great exams 11/10 would 1000% take agaian :)))))))))))

Tough grader
Get ready to read
1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Not sure yet
Nov 8, 2023

Professor Gauthier follows a strategic method of attempting to explain the theoretical part of the course. However, he does this simply by reading off his slides that contain various equations and unorganized thoughts which makes it more sophisticated. He runs out of time to do examples as he spends endless time explaining the theory unsuccessfully

1.0
5.0
2501
Nov 8, 2023

He wears endangered animal's fur, and takes his shoes off so his toes are out during lectures. He does not clean the poop out of the corners of his eyes and picks every scab on his body. Man doesn't use soap, he just rinses his body in the shower. He brings his laptop into the bathroom when he goes #2. Creeper Hoodie vibes

1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: C+
Nov 10, 2023

Horrible midterm. Slides and teaching are awful and labs too. Barley cares about the students and tries to screw them over even more for not attending his lectures when he can't teach.

Tough grader
Lots of homework
Test heavy
1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 7, 2023

The midterm exam is one of the hardest things in this world, totally different things on the midterm compared to the given materials. Formula sheets are useless. When you taking the exam it seems like the questions are saying:"Thanks for your donation, see you next time!" And you fail.

Lots of homework
Lecture heavy
Test heavy
1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Rather not say
Dec 18, 2023

reads off of the slides, boring lectures, hard exams not a fun experience probably a weed/out class. this is the first time I'm rating a prof ever just because of how bad this was.

1.0
5.0
2501
Grade: Not sure yet
Dec 18, 2023

Worst prof ever. DONT TAKE. All he does is read off of his horrible lecture slides which are complete gibberish. Is unclear about the exam pattern. His midterms and final exams are nothing like what they go over in the slides and PA sessions. He doesn't post answers to any practice question from the PA sessions or sample final paper.

Tough grader
1.0
1.0
2501
Grade: A-
Jan 10, 2024

Professor Gauthier is not an innovative person. His lecture slides are old, really complicated, and not organized. You can see him changing slides and re-posting them a day before his lectures. His lectures are based on reading off the slides, he doesn't do any math-based problem-solving even though his course is highly related to math.

Tough grader
Test heavy
5.0
1.0
2501
Grade: B+
Feb 13, 2024

He retired!!!! WHOHOOO

Tough grader
Inspirational
Online Savvy
1.0
5.0
2501
Feb 21, 2024

make course sooooooooo crazy !!!!!!!!!

Class Info

Online Classes

100%

Attendance Mandatory

38%

Textbook Required

33%

Grade Predictor

Your expected effort level

LowHigh

Predicted Grade

B

95% confidence
Based on 20 grades
Most common grades:
B+ (7)
Not sure yet (5)
Incomplete (3)
Grade Distribution
A(5)B(0)C(3)D(4)F(0)A-/B+(9)
Based on 32 reported grades
B+: 7
Not sure yet: 5
Incomplete: 3
A+: 3
Common Tags
Tough grader (8)
Get ready to read (5)
Lecture heavy (4)
Test heavy (4)
Tough Grader (3)
Respected (3)
Caring (3)
Lots of homework (3)
Rating Trend

Declining

-0.31 avg change
Oct
Dec
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Last 6 months
Ratings by Course

86240

5.0

(2)

ENG3000

5.0

(1)

ECOR2607

5.0

(1)

97565

4.5

(2)

ELEC

4.0

(1)
+16 more courses
Difficulty by Course

ALL

5.0

ECOR2507

5.0

ELEC25073105

5.0

3105

4.5

2501

4.3

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