This is the worst professor I have ever had. I am very interested in chemistry and have enjoyed it in the past but he has ruined it. He frequently makes errors while explaining equations and 9/10 times the class corrects him. He is very new and should definitely have had a little more practice before teaching a lecture class. Extremely frustrating.

Was of little to no use as far as questions were concerned. Seemed to be confused himself during lecture.

Incredibly boring class. Terrible organization of lectures. He rarely follows a chapter all the way so it is really hard to cross reference the book. Don't ever take his course if it is more than an hour or you will be so bored and exhausted and confused by the end of the class.

Worst professor I've had at Grand Valley so far. Does not explain well, and hard to keep up with in lecture. Exams are extremely hard, and always includes material that hasn't even been taught by him, and he calls them "challenge problems" but they are not worth extra credit, they count toward your actual grade. Hes not fair. I wouldn't recommend.

Probably the worst professor I've ever had in my life, he doesn't teach, he just pretty much talks. the exams are impossible unless you have outside help that he doesn't provide. DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS

Prof. Hoekstra is a new teacher who doesn't know how to teach well, if at all. His lectures are confusing and there is no clarity to the material he's teaching. If you have questions during lecture, don't bother asking because he makes you feel humiliated for not knowing the material.

Would not recommend this professor to anyone. I spend countless hours at the chemistry success center and have a personal tutor and still struggle to get above 65 on the exams. He is not helpful in rephrasing concepts and makes you feel dumb for asking questions. He also gives very little partial credit even if you've done the majority of the work.

One of the worst profs I've had I took chm 115, had a b+ I knew what I was doing in that class so I had all the basic knowledge from 115 that you need for 116. This class was ridiculous the notes were horrible he went through way to much material in one class period and his tests were a joke always 10x harder than what we learned. DO NOT TAKE HIM

Exams and quizzes are ridiculously hard. Class averages were in the low 60s and he said if you were in the 50-70 percent range you were doing okay. Lots of homework but not an accurate representation of what is on exams. Would highly suggest not taking this professor if you have a choice.

Save yourself and do not take him. Literally the hardest class I have ever taken. The material could be understood if he taught correctly. He uses huge words that no one knows what he means. Grades super hard. Doesn't teach how to do problems and when asked for help he says "Im going to let you struggle with it on your own". Abort mission now!!

Get ready to teach yourself in and out of class. Definitely avoid!

This was the professor I have ever had, do not recommend him. His lectures did not help and made no sense. Tests and quizzes were nothing like the notes taken in class. Get ready to teach everything to yourself!

Get ready to teach yourself. Ryan was the worst teacher I have ever had. He is constantly talking about his own personal achievements and is belittling to students who as for help. The content he teaches isn't accurate and majority of what he lectures on we are not tested on. He is an awful teacher. DO NOT TAKE THIS COURSE

Dr. Hoekstra was an awful professor. He was very poor in explaining every concept. The class has no structure and the students never knew what chapter we were on. He was unable to help any students who asked questions. Went to him during office hours and he gave me the answer to a problem instead of explaining it. Be ready to teach yourself.

He is one of the worst professors. During lectures in class, he will not explain concepts clearly or how to solve problems. The homework will have some questions similar to the ones in class, but everything else is either not discussed or taught until future chapters. He organized the tests in a way that causes low scores, and he seemed proud of it

if you have him in your schedule, get out.

The homework is way harder than the stuff we do in class, and the tests are way harder than the homework. Avg test scores are usually below a 70. His famous sayings are "I'm going to let you struggle with this on your own for a bit" and when teaching us "I'm not gonna write this down because I already know it." A student, prolly gonna get a B-/B/B+

THE WORST. I took him my first semester of freshman year thinking I could deal with a low rated prof because I had a bad high school chem teacher and still understood concepts and liked the chem.. boy was I wrong. he goes SO fast in lecture, skips lots of steps, and left me very confused half the time. if you have him, get a tutor ASAP.

Very condescending and makes you feel stupid for not having your own PhD in Chemistry. I had a tutor, did all the homework, went to every class and still struggled beyond belief. He lectures make no sense and he skips over specific details that you need to know. Would never recommend, do NOT take.

One of the worst classes I have ever taken. The class average on multiple exams were below 40%. I personally Know of three other people who failed this course in a class of about 25. we once had to beg him to hold office hours the week of an exam he begrudgingly agreed only to cancel later that same day. Avoid if possible.

Replies late to emails, and is never clear with what to do (I am taking this class online). He doesnt even lecture and its pretty much a teach yourself class. Coming from someone who hasnt taken chemistry since high school definitely wouldnt recommend this professor.

I have a lot to say about this prof, but I'll resume it quick. YOU. WILL. SUFFER. This professor doesn't give any lecture in his class, he just gives u exercises to do with a group then gives you the correction sheet and leaves. His office hours didn't help at all, he makes you see videos as a lecture but are superficial and not related to the test

At first I thought he was a pretty funny guy and I still think he is but hes a terrible teacher. He doesnt make his own exams so what you learn isnt necessarily on the exams. He doesnt lecture us during our zoom he just puts us in groups to figure it out. Would not recommend to take again.

Worst professor ever. Lectures, quizzes, and homework are all completely different content and he claims to be there to help but he isn't, he just tells you to watch the lectures again even though they don't help. A large majority of us had to parachute into CHM 100 after getting below 50% on the first exam and now have to take CHM 115 again.

CHANGE PROFESSORS IF YOU CAN. Tests are rated so heavy compared to other professors. Lectures are videos that make no sense and our zoom class is just you being thrown into breakout rooms to do work when no one says anything or even turn on their mic or camera. Offers no extra points and office hours are a waste of time. So many people dropped...

DO NOT TAKE HOEKSTRA!!!!! I took this class in high school and passed with flying colors and have been getting C's on almost all the tests. You most likely will fail with this man. DO NOT DO IT. SPARE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!

Prof. Hoekstra has not been helpful at all this semester. He posts a total of about an hour of lecture videos online every week; during our zoom lectures, he just puts us into breakout rooms. I already took this class and am still having a hard time as I'm just teaching myself the material on my own again. Would not recommend for a class like chem.

Very tough Grader, Doesn't explain concepts well, lectures are very confusing so you will be teaching yourself, I do not recommend for CHM 115

Prof Hoekstra was by far the worst teacher I have ever had. I enjoy and usually do well in chemistry, but I have never struggled more in a class. His test we nothing like the homework, video quizzes, or the pre-recorded lectures. If you have to take him make sure to have friends in the class to work together.

Save your sanity and take a different professor. This class was the most frustrating class I have ever taken, homework and quizzes do not prepare you for the tests, and the tests were nothing like the exams. Class time was spent in zoom break out rooms "working" with partners on a worksheet.

Hoekstra is the worst professor I have ever had. He has prerecorded lectures which almost never pertain to the homework or tests, the tests are full of material way harder than anything taught, and any request for help is denied rudely. Do not take this class if you want to stay sane.

Took him Fall 2020 during COVID, worst thing I've ever done in my life. By far, he is the worst professor I've had at GV. His lectures were okay and I understood them (very lecture heavy tho), but the tests were beyond possible. How can I understand the material, yet fail EVERY test. Had to drop with a W. Worst. Professor. Ever.

Gives lots of homework (webassigns and learning modules) the tests almost never have the same content that the assignments do. Doesnt really practice or go over problems that will be on test very much.

He can only explain things in one way, if you ask him a question you will get exactly what the lecture videos tell you. And there is so much on the exams that isn't in the lectures/textbook.

If you get this prof, may as well call it quits. Tests are absurdly hard; one ? is often worth 8-18pts and theres 10 ?'s max on each test. One ? wrong? Welp, say bye bye to ur grade. Lectures are horrendous, same w learning modules - will have to teach urself. Hes a good guy but the way he runs his class is terrible. Do NOT take if u want to learn.

Dr. Hoekestra is a nice guy, but he does not know how to teach. He mostly sends you off into groups and tries to have you figure things out on your own. He also assigns and ungodly amount of homework. This professor also does not really teach material well. I would avoid this professor at all costs.

I have always done well in classes, however, in this class, I have totally failed one test and got a 50% on another. I do every homework assignment and get good grades on them, but the tests do not compare at all. He words test questions differently and makes them on his own so they're 10x more challenging. Overall, don't take him to stay sane.

Super harsh grader. Incredibly long assignments. Impossible tests because he makes everything up and nothing on the tests are stuff in lectures.

assumes every student knows all the content, moves way too fast to obtain information, has hand-writing that is barely readable, and doesn't teach step by step and instead skips over important notes.

Tests are very different than what is taught in lectures. Goes too fast and skips important steps.

Please, literally begging future students to switch teachers IMMEDIATELY. So many nights crying over the homework I had to teach myself. He makes everything super difficult to understand and has the worst handwriting alive. Homework doesn't match lectures and neither does the test. Expects us to understand after skipping steps. worst class ever.

He doesn't really go over what is on the test during the lectures. Not very helpful when I tried to get help from him. Had to end up dropping the course.

switch professors

This was a core class and I knew by the third week that I should've asked for it to be considered pass/fail to save my GPA. Chemistry comes hard to me and his teaching style was really bad. He talks for the whole class and when he's not doing that, he's quietly walking around the room loudly pointing out your mistakes.

DO NOT TAKE THIS GUY. The homework never reflects the type of questions on the tests (way more complicated) and he normally assigns 2 per week. And his tests are so HARD (3rd tests class average was below 60%!). This class was a whole semester's worth of stress. Please don't take this guy if you value your mental health and GPA.

He is a prime example of who not to be as a teacher. His homework never reflects test material, every test has content that is never gone over in lecture which results in you having to blindly guess, he admits that he's lazy with lectures and grading so even if you pay attention in class he barely goes over the material. Do not take him.

If your favorite pass time is crying and banging your head into your laptop keyboard you'll love this professor! He was the reason why I decided to change my major. For the safety of your gpa take literally any other professor.

He is a nice guy, but if you want to do well in chem I suggest taking someone else. I used to like chem in hs and I got here and it's so different. His lectures and homework are nothing like the tests and compared to other classes our tests seemed like 400 level class tests. I do think he's very intelligent, however, he isn't a very good teacher.

He is the absolute worst teacher I have ever had in my life. He does not care whatsoever about his student and even if the entire class fail, he will not do anything. If you want to pass this class, take any other professor, even other professors know how awful of a teacher he is.

Hoekstra gave much harder exams than other CHM 115 classes. He also had horrible hand writing so it was very hard to see what was going on. My test scores were always much above average and I still only finished with a B+. Take anyone else for CHM 115 if you care about yourself or your GPA.

Save yourself the trouble and don't take this class with this professor. You're better off forcing yourself to wake up at 7AM every morning with another professor than to have him. You're gonna bang your head into a wall and cry every night and you don't deserve to go through that pain. I can't stress enough how much pain this class brought me.

Just did not like him as a professor

Probably the worst prof I've ever had, literally take anyone else. I tried to give him a chance but I regret it. Just take my word for it. His tests and homework are nothing like you do in class, and his notes never help.

I originally saw his reviews were mostly negative, but still decided to give him a chance. I regret it. I felt like when he explained, he talked like he assumed everyone already had a big background in chemistry and skipped a lot. I always get As in school, but I am constantly struggling in his class. I would recommend anyone else for this class.

Hoekstra teaches although you have a pre-existing knowledge of chemistry and this is a struggle for most students. I had a very good understanding going into this class and that is the only way I got the grade I did. He taught the information in the worst way possible, and therefor I only used my old knowledge to pass this class.

Just finished with his final, where he told the class that the final exam would be the same format as the last 5 exams. We expected multiple choice and short answer questions, even the final exam review was only multiple choice questions. He gave us the final exam with only short answer questions, don't take him unless you like the opposite game.

This dude legit tried his hardest for his students to lose any points possible. You can do all the math part correct and get the exact answer, but if you didn't put the little charges on the elements, boom half your points are gone. Tests are doable, just be warned that he will try his hardest to make you lose any points.

Dont take his course if you dont learn well from online lectures.

He was not a good professor at all! Not helpful or good at teaching!

His class template didnt work for my learning style!

Hoekstra doesn't teach in class AT ALL. He posts videos on BB that you are supposed to watch and give a small quiz about. The lectures are a waste of time. He hands out a worksheet and expects you to know how to do it. He goes through whatever he can in last 5 minutes. Exams are not that hard but final would screw you up.

This class is extremely difficult for no reason. He does not lecture during class periods and expects you to figure out everything on your own. If you can avoid this class with him, please do!!

As someone who previously took this man over a year ago and has gone through orgo, I will tell you that orgo was way easier than whatever this man did. This man did so much damage to both my GPA and mentality that I had to come back and warn ya'll. Hardest tests ever that never matched hw, lots of hw, and awful lectures. Take that 8 am over him.

Very difficult grader on exams. Lacks in explanation.

I first had this professor in the fall of 2022 for CHM 115. After I realized the class wasn't going to be easy, I started going to the tutoring center for help. They were very helpful but he was not. Most of the class period was spent having students go over problems for homework by themselves. The class was not structured at all. Don't recommend.

Despised by anyone i ask, he is a way to singlehandedly ruin your Gpa. avoid at all costs

i k liked him just too heavy on work

If you have him on your schedule for any class DROP HIM , he posts lectures that are old on blackboard and you watch them do a homework quiz and go into and he just gives you a worksheet and expects you to know. The test are insane and sometimes down seem to match up, I overall wouldn't recommend just save yourself the trouble .

Took his chem 116 lecture in fall of 2025. He is absolutely horrible at teaching his students. It is very hard to feel comfortable in his presence. His class is based on online video lectures and in class we are given worksheets that don't match up to those videos. He isn't helpful at answering questions and teaches the material in a difficult way.