2.4
Quality3.9
Difficulty29%
Would Retake106
Reviews29%
Would Retake
106
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
9
4
18
3
22
2
23
1
34
What Students Say
“My first semester in college was the worst experience because of this professor”
CHEM103 - 1.0 rating“He doesn't teach anything”
CHEM10301 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Attendance Mandatory
62%
Textbook Required
78%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.84 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM330
5.0
(1)10401
4.0
(1)CHEM253
4.0
(1)CHEM1030
3.5
(2)10400
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
103
5.0
CHEM104001
5.0
CHEM10401
5.0
CHEM 103
5.0
CHEM243
4.5
Reviews (106)
Always late,unprepared,no established course work or reading assignments.
No Comments
He move too quick in class and never took the time to make the complex and even less complex material more student-friendly. It was a true task to pass his class. Anyone who said he was a good teacher, taught themselves Chemistry!
he is helpful, but never showsup in his office. his teaching style is worst. he never make the things easy for the sudents.
Birke is a brilliant prof who loves teaching and loves chemistry. He has no interest in just telling you what you need for a test or MCAT. Most students just don't want to do any extra thinking. If you want to learn chemistry, he is the prof to take. If you just care about grades, take Salame.
this guy is not very good att eaching. We never get to ask questions and he doesn't make chemistry simple either. He makes the easy stuff harder than it seems and the hard stuff seem like it's a foreign language. It's a miricle to pass his class, and to get a good grade too.
horrible
Questions straight from the text book
Horrible, at teaching, speaking, homework and at tests. Thats all I can say.
If U stop wanting 2 b spoonfed everything & read your textbook b4 class U can understand exactly what he is saying as for exams He practically gives U the exam on a golden platter it is up to U to take advantage of it. Newsflash college is about self teaching one cannot learn everything in class.
He does not teach very well he basically talks to himself in class
hes a cool guy overall but his lectures are pretty boring. He starts off slow but towards the end of the semester he'll speed up because he needs to finish the material. Just make sure you now his old exams that he lets u see in the library and u'll do well on the exams.
"Meat and Potatoes" has been used to describe his teaching style. He is old school: put in the work: (read the book, go to lecture, do the problems, practice old exams) and you will get an A. Kids these days are used to getting away with doing nothing.
He needs help with his teaching style, but a great guy who tries to help each student.
No Comments
NIce guy...but that doesnt help cuz his teaching methods are horrible...Makes the class like hell..the lab for this class is okay..but if u have Svetlana as ur instructor..watch out..VERY RUDE and a total *****!hard grader..Concept of class is great..but the prof. really makes it way to hard and leaves a lot of stuff out. ur on ur own..
You don't even have to attend lecture, read the textbook get his old exams, take the workshop because its free points and ypu shoul get an B+ at the very least.He's a cool professor but he's just boring.
This teacher sucks all the way.He does not have any good criteria.first,he always come at least 30 minutes late in class,second when he showed up, he just talked for 10 minutes and he let his graduate student who can hardly speak the language(English).He also has bad manners like eating yogurt and orange in class.Avoid him please.
He's a nice guy. Even tho' he can make the subject matter REALLY boring, he's more than willing to help you and answer your questions.
Birke is a professor that can you can either love or hate. Love because he shows a keen interest in Chemistry and goes in-depth whenever he can. Hate because he can overdo it and, in some instances, put you to sleep. If you're looking for problem solving techniques, run to Salame. But if you actually want to learn Chemistry, run to Birke.
Birke is an ok professor. His lectures are quite boring and its diffcult to understand what he's saying because you are too busy dictating the notes that he writes down so fast. You can easily skip his class and learn the same material from the book. His exams are easy if you look at his practice exams. He drops the lowest grade of the 3 exams.
hmm...what to say he's not bad, but you definitely need to pay attention to the textbook, then the lecture can become bearable. Just read the textbook and solve as many questions as you can. Good luck on taking him!
He teaches all material. It has a lot notes, but that is very clear. Students can ask him anytime in class, he would give the detailed answer. The exam is open book and notes, the piont is the exam is very easy. He would make the curve for grading.He said he does not want to fail anyone. So, difficult course become easy.Take with him if you can.
To say that Professor Birke is boring is an understatement, I slept in just about every lecture. Howvwer, I did manage to bang out an A in the course because I read the text religiously. Read the text, do the problems, and you can't fail. Be sure to attend the lectures also so that you get an idea of what to focus on for the exams.
i just took his chem 103 class in the spring 2008 semester and got a b- in the class. the class however was hard. the average final grade was 60.5total for the class. the average frade on the final exam was 52.5 for the entire class. the class was crazy hard.
Ok. He is an ok guy. He has powerpoint but he likes to go through the lesson himself, which is a plus. MAJOY PLUS: most or all the time, his practice is a slight replica of the test is gives in class. So study and practice the practice test and you NEED the texbook- no choice here.
DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR IF YOU NEVER TOOK CHEM BEFORE. he is very boring.you will never learn anything in his class. if you can read chem book like bible than its not a problem, but if you are new to the subject than either you have to pray and get through or either be a book worm.
He really helpful. May be boring, but if you can stay awake you will learn chem. He does many example problems in class which is really nice. His exams don't differ too much from the practice exams. Work hard and an A is definitely possible.
He is very friendly and approachable. But as the class progressed, and the material got much harder, he devoted LESS time to explaining the material and more time to doing problems. If he had finished as he started, I would have given him a great rating. The tests are hard (very long for the time given) but not unfair. Must memorize all formulas.
He uses materingchemistery online, which is the only thing that helps. His lectures sucks. You can't understand what he says and you can't read what he writes. His handwriting is like a doctors writing on a prescription. Superhard to take notes during lecture! IF YOU TOOK HIM, THEN: do masteringchemistry online, READ BOOK, STUDY HIS PRACTICE EXAMS.
Very unorganized professor. Really bad hand writing, during lectures it seems like he is talking to himself, hard to understand him ;/ He uses Mastering Chemistry which I think is the best part of the whole class. His exams are tricky, each question has "something" when you have to stop and analyze, its nothing like for example prof Salame's exams.
Very tough class. Exams are NOT straightforward. He throws in tricks and links answers, so if you missed one question, you missed a bunch. But he's very helpful in terms of posting his notes online and giving you one on one time. Practice exams don't completely prepare you for the final, but if you don't do them you won't do well. Read book!
work hard and A is definatly possible. He cares for his students alot. but you have to study, exams are not that easy but are doable.
it's a lot of work, but it's a hard subject. how you do in this class is dependent upon you. his lectures, though boring, cover problems (that aren't always in the book) and key concepts for his exams. he posts practice exams that are almost identical to the actual exam. also, do the hw. not worth much but it helps understanding the material.
AVOID IF POSSIBLE. Exams are ridiculous. He cannot teach. Exams are graded by TAs and they aren't very generous in partial credit. His lectures are extremely boring. I studied very hard and only received a B. Salame's exams are A LOT more easier. Please take Salame's class. Birke's class is the worse experience i had ccny.
its the middle of the semester, and i haven't learned anything from him.
Not good at explaining and can be difficult to understand in class, but Read the textbook and you'll be fine. Tests are hard (no multiple choice),an A is certainly possible.
If you rate him for long term, then he is a great professor because his exams are really hard which makes you study and learn a lot. Although his exams are hard, if you do practice exams and go to workshop then getting an A is easy. His lectures are boring when he goes over the PowerPoint slides but interesting when he actually works out problems.
His lectures are pretty much useless and his tests are tough too. However, the one thing Birke does do extremely well is give his students all the resources (PP, tests, class notes) they need to succeed. Put the time in and you'll get your A.
It's hard to learn anything from lectures because he's boring and is disorganized. His tests are hard but almost exactly like the practice tests he posts online. He gives a lot of online resources so if you put in the effort to learn material on your own you can get an A
Terrible professor, avoid if possible. IF you don't have any choice then take him but just dont go to lecture. If you study on your on then you can get an A. Use the notes that he gives you and you can pass the class.
He is a very boring professor, but he's highly intelligent--got his PhD from MIT. His class is fairly easy if you do and understand the practice tests he gives you. I'd recommend his class, I never went to lecture just did the HW and his practice tests and I was fine.
Birke is an good professor. His lectures are boring, but if you are able to focus then you will learn something. He assigns more Mastering Chemistry problems than most professors at CCNY. This is good for practicing in between lectures, but his disorganization leads to some homework overload which could be overcome. Overall I would recommend him.
Going to his lectures is useless. You will have to teach yourself the material through mastering chemistry. His tests are difficult. Approachable guy though
He really wants his students to do well, very approachable and willing to go over the material and explain it. He go off topic very easily during lecture. However he provides practice exams which resemble the exams. Mastering chemistry and your workshop leader are the means of learning the material. Do the chap problem in the book.
Birke is an average Professor, but leans more towards bad professor. I didn't like chemistry and he didn't change that. He was pretty boring and simply read powerpoints from the textbook. I just wish he had been a little more extemporaneous. I just kept thinking why should I listen to him when I can read it at my own pace.
Not such a bad professor, his exams do resemble his practice exams which is always a good thing. some want him to be more enthusiastic but be happy that the exams are what you expect, so practice
worst. too much mastering chemistry homework is given. boring lectures. only the workshop n lab helps.
BEAR of a class. Semester's biggest surprise (Not a chem whiz but got an A in 103 w/ a relatively easy prof). Exams are long with relatively complex problems. Lectures can be tangential although I wouldn't agree w/ some that they are bad. Takes a lot for granted but does give hints for exam. Think added attendance cr to final but no class curve.
He is boring as hell!! Puts you to sleep, with a very monotone voice
Very difficult to learn from his lectures. Way too much Master Chemistry HW, which is terrible website, and not enough grade credit for the time it takes to do well on the hw. Exams are tricky, and not just due to the Chemistry involved. His class will demand a lot of your time!
He is nice. He is one of the hardest prof at cony. Bt I managed to pass his class eventhough i failed his exams becuase of lab and hws.
Really nice guy, but goes through a ton of material in an absurdly short amount of time. His tests weren't that hard if you had time to study all the material, but that goes with the class design. Wouldn't recommend taking unless you're really into chemistry.
So very boring, I took him at night. His tests are very very hard. Our recitation leader Eytan was not helpful at all for our learning of the material. didn't really explain problems at all. I feel like the immense amount of mastering chem hw was absolutely ridiculous. He's a really nice person but a dreadful teacher. Don't take him
prof Birke gives lectures that go over the material pretty well, but to get a good grade in the class you need to to all the home work, study the text, ask for help--he's there at office hours to help you if you take the time. other students say they don't like him because he makes us work. and sit in the front of the lecture if you want to learn.
Reads off powerpoints in the entire lecture. Mumbles alot and you will learn more from the lab and workshop classes then you would learn from his lecture.
Dont take him
Professor Birke's exams are VERY Tricky. Redo all mastering chemistry problems before an exam. Read the textbook and you should be fine.
You can get through the class with a decent grade, but you'll have to put in massive amounts of time even for that. Tough grader, long and boring lectures, and constant online homework that you'll probably forget to do. If you to take him do it, but don't bother suffering through it if you have other options.
One of the worst professor at ccny. Please do not take him, I am begging you. Take anyone else, literally, beside this guy. Fricking changes my grade from a B to C because of 0.2
Just terrible, I literally recommend any other professor before you take this guy.
Not the best but you need to be a good student to pass. Just do what is assigned AND GET STUFF DONE. Form study groups and go over past exams and practice exams. This was the most helpful part for me and if you don't understand something, look it up. Google will be your best friend. He is available during his office hours so go if you do need help.
Although Professor Birke's lectures are not the best, his tests are very fair. They are based exactly off of the practice exams, so if you study those well, you'll be fine. There were three midterms and he dropped the lowest grade. He' is also happy to get questions during office hours.
worse professor ever, his exam are extremely hard and he does not know how to explain. he expects so much from students, yet he doesn't teach you anything. lecture are pointless and bored. don't take him. he is extremely bad explaining.
This class is going to require a lot of self-studying. He's not too great with concepts and it's easy to space out during lecture. Luckily, his exams are 90% math problems and he gives out practice exams (really study the practice exams). Review textbook questionsexamples. Go to review sessions too, those help a lot.
The professor is a tough grader. Doesn't explain lectures or exam material well. Expects you to know content with out him explaining. He also comes to class with his notes written and doesn't give nearly enough time to copy notes. They are posted approximately 2 days before exam, and not enough time to study.
Just don't take him. You'll save your money and time.
Sweetest man ever but be prepared to learn the material on your own. Really use the practice exams he gives, his exams are almost identical. It's very easy to do well if you know how to answer the exam questions. Try to maintain at least a 90 on homeworks.
He's an awful teacher and not really helpful 1 on 1, I think. Recitation is the only way you'll learn anything. He grades harshly considering how poorly he teaches. The final at least reflects the exams he gives throughout the semester, but he's not an easy grader. Don't take him if you have another option.
After just now completing this course, I now understand why people despise birke, and I add myself to the list. He has to be the worst prof. I've ever taken. Not taking any of his classes and sitting in the departmental finals are better than going to his class. Don't take him for the sake of yourself, and the sake of your GPA. Doesn't curve btw.
You SHOULD never skip workshop, when taking Birke. Workshop is key to survival in his class. Lectures are very boring because he reads off his slides. When he attempts to solve problems it gets confusing because he gets confused by his own work. Avoid if you can.
Birke is not a great lecturer - he can be messy and confusing, and his inexperience with the electronic overhead system doesn't really help. HOWEVER, the class is very fair. Workshops are a big help and, despite his confusing lectures, Birke makes it CRYSTAL clear what will be on the exams. Study extensively on your own and an A is very possible.
A lot of people complain about Prof. Birke, but he is actually a pretty resonable guy. His test are tough but you can always go back to get points. Lectures are long but it helps to go to class until the first test because then you will learn his style. Then again why are you taking this class if it aint to learn?
Not the best but not the worst, go to workshop, review the textbook, notes are clear most of the time, the usual, tests are easy if you study for them and the occasional in class review
Not so great! His lectures are long and boring. Very unorganized. Mumbles most of the times. you don't have to be in the lecture but have to go to workshop. Do the practice exams!!!! They are really helpful. i regret taking him though. :(
I went to lecture class everyday. If you pre-read the textbook, you could understand what he says. Otherwise, it is hard to follow up. Everything counts. Workshop, Homework,lab,3 exams(drop the lowest) and the final. NO CURVE. Practice exams are really important. If you study them, exams should be fair.
If you want to be well prepared for your MCAT or DAT exams, take Chem 104 with Prof. Birke. His slides may be boilerplate, but they cover all of the major topics for the MCAT/DAT and will prepare you well. His exams are incredibly fair, considering his actual exams mirror his practice exams posted online. A genuine, and nice professor in person too
Stay away if you want to pass
The professor is very kind and always willing to help. His lectures may be a bit too fast paced and not clearly explained. The lectures are all posted on blackboard, which helps. The class is easy, mainly due to his practice exams being almost identical to actual exams. Also, the workshop sessions helped greatly. Youtube videos helped me the most.
Easy class if u study. I didn't study much and got C, and I think it was fair. Well if u study I am telling u are guaranteed A. Professor Burke seems cool but as a professor not so much.
If you find out that the departmental final is being created by him LEAVE ASAP. Thing guy changes the format a lot. If you thought Bu's or Simm's final was hard. Guess again Birke will show you a whole new final with questions harder than that of the MCATs.
Professor is not always clear with lectures + are also very long. Bases lectures off powerpoint slides but has difficulty conveying his point across. Practice exams mirror the actual exams so if you go over the slides, chapters, + do ALL the practice exams, you will ace all exams + Final- Guaranteed. Don't skip workshop- its unorganized but helpful
Not really interested in knowing whether the students understood the course or not. His lectures are very easy to follow if you do a self study before hand. But his exams especially the finals are way too difficult and completely unexpected format.
He doesn't teach anything. I mean he will just read off the slides. The TA's do all the teaching including lecturing, solving problems and answering questions. I will not take him again. Very dull and drained Professor. I have 1 advice for Chem dept., please hire young energetic Professors so that more students major in the sciences.
Birke is seriously not that bad. You won't really learn too much in his class because he's boring. His test are hard, but if you study you can definitely ace them. You can sign in and just leave the lecture. I suggest you do all your studying at home. He also drops the lowest grade out of the 3 tests he gives, and his final is hard .
Terrible professor. You might as well study things yourself than go attend his lectures. He just reads the powerpoints that he gives in Blackboard.
He explains every chapter very well, you just have to be there to actually listen to him. He gives out Powerpoints on blackboard and going over them helps on tests. He gives review sheets, just do those and you'll get a good grade. Attendance is taken in a google forms so in case you don't go...
Hard tests and the lectures out of control. Loud noises during the lectures and he speaks so low that you have to sit next to him to hear him. The tests are as hard as he can make them and the rate of dropout students is raising.
STAY AWAY FROM HIM! His tests throw you off and if you're going to take him, you are going to spend lots of time self studying. All of our exams had failing averages and when I tried going to his office hours for help he would get mad and say we already learned this in class. And his tests are not even chem 103, he adds info from more advanced chem
Stay away if you can. His lectures are boring and reads off power point. Does not really explain anyhting. Only way to pass this class is to study by yourself. The workshop is poorly organized but helpful. Don't rely on his practice exams, he changes the format frquently.
I recomend taking other professors or taking class at a diffrent cuny college. I was forced to take this class because no other classes were open. You will learn nothing from him.
Birke is the worst teacher ever! You can never trust his practice test because he always adds tricky questions that throws you off. His teaching skills are horrible and the chemistry he teaches is so much harder than the department final.
My first semester in college was the worst experience because of this professor. I had high hopes for Chemistry major, but he shattered my dream. Whoever is forced to take his class, please study things yourself. I don't recommend this professor to anyone.
He is a good choice if your chemistry knowledge is solid. He doesn't take time to really explain concepts and only goes over slides in lectures. That said, if you go to office hours he will take time to explain things patiently. You'll have to put in a lot of effort to get a good grade.
Birke is barely even a professor. He's just an old man who reads straight from the electronic version of the textbook in class and yet he is known for giving the trickiest tests. Don't take him for your teacher or else prepare to do a lot of self or group studying. I learn more from the workshop leaders, group studying, and substitute teachers.
Pr. Birke managed to make my favorite subject uninteresting. The lecture slides are on Blackboard so there is really no point coming to lecture, because he literally just reads the slides. Please avoid unless you are okay with studying by yourself like I did. He is actually not a tough grader, just does not prepare students well for his tests.
The lectures are boring and ineffective. You are better off learning in lab/workshop and on your own. The one good quality was the predictability of his exams as he gave 1-2 practice exams that were 80-85% similar to the actual exam. Not much help outside of class. Do the practice tests thoroughly. Predictability is the key to passing.
The only way to legitimately pass his class is to review his practice tests. Review all of them. He WILL give you exams that he or someone has completed. Review that too. If you want to pass, memorize the practice tests and how you show work for the questions. That way on the actual test, you will see the exact question with different values.
You could stay home and read the slides and learn about as much as you would have if you had attended class. Homework barely helps at all, writes the formula to make it look more complicated than it actually is, and doesn't seem to know how to explain things clearly. Don't take him if you care about your GPA.
He is an excellent teacher. He is also very generous when it comes to grading exams. I don't know where this tough grader comes from. If you set the problem up correctly and make stupid mistakes, you can still get 90% partial credit. Exams are only worth 70% of your grade and a 90 is an A. Recommended !
He is extremely badd!!!! the only ones who got an A are the ones who were knew the topics or received private tutoring from others. Look, if you came from an amazing high school with great professors then you would be a little more prepared than the rest. But if not, then avoid him. Taking his class means you must teach yourself the course.
As friendly as he is, its time to retire. Attendance sheet so you have to show up to listen to him read directly off a PowerPoint thats verbatim out of the textbook. Ive learned more for this class via YouTube than a single thing this man has said and it has been 7 years since my last Chem class. Memorize how to do the practice exams to pass
His class really prepared me for the MCAT. It might be really difficult, but his exams make MCAT questions look elementary.
Nice guy. No point in going to lecture as you will have to teach yourself the material. For all three tests, class averages were failing as the tests were way harder than any practice exam he provided. Will give back points if there are grading errors.
His lectures are pointless, but you have to go. If you take him, be ready to teach yourself. The content isn't too hard, luckily. He still used an old school projector which is hard to see in a big lecture hall. Somehow I had an A+ all term but got a C on the final and it brought me down. Gives partial credit, but not so much on the final.
His lectures are basically reading off the textbook so you'll have to self teach but most intro chem professors at CCNY are like that. He's probably a more solid choice though cus his exams are just like his study guide, so if you practice that, you'll do well. curves a lot. recitation is more important than lecture.
Class Info
Attendance Mandatory
62%
Textbook Required
78%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.84 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM330
5.0
(1)10401
4.0
(1)CHEM253
4.0
(1)CHEM1030
3.5
(2)10400
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
103
5.0
CHEM104001
5.0
CHEM10401
5.0
CHEM 103
5.0
CHEM243
4.5