2.1
Quality4.4
Difficulty23%
Would Retake132
Reviews23%
Would Retake
132
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
22
4
8
3
11
2
16
1
75
What Students Say
“He is bad at teaching concepts and very tough with grading”
COMP4320 - 1.0 rating“Once cornered, he makes excuses like "I teach two classes, I stay up late”
COMP3500 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
37%
Textbook Required
24%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-1.33 avg changeRatings by Course
COMP3550
5.0
(1)COMP3500OS
5.0
(1)CS7300
5.0
(1)COMP3510
3.0
(8)COMP3500
2.4
(16)Difficulty by Course
COMP
5.0
COMP7300
5.0
CPSC3273
5.0
CPSC3280
5.0
4320
4.8
Reviews (132)
Tought course. Good prof.
His class wasn't easy because the material wasn't easy; he is, however, the most available and helpful professor at Auburn.
Best teacher I've ever had! Very clear, fair, understandable (if that's a word), and a great guy.
English please...special, spatial?
Both his OS and Networks classes are tough because it's tough material, but Dr. Biaz is the best professor I have had while @ Auburn. Best thing he does: if one person asks a question, he sends answer to whole class via email.
Great professor - amazing command of the subject matter. Class was tough, but I got far more out of it than people who took it with Dr. Lim. Also, Dr. Biaz is fair - almost to a fault.
Very laid back, great guy.. He knows the stuff very well, and gives a lot of points in quizzes and exams.. his not perfect english is not a problem, if there is a one negative thing about him, he does not want to be visited except office hours and he has only hour for students a week..
I am one of his student. He always picking on my english because i am Chinaman if someone in the class with me in Spring 2004 class you know who i am. His english is so funny. But his test is like 17 pages long and 10 front size. Sometime his test is kind of little tricky. Watch out guys.
He is no doubt a good teacher. But is not helpful and doesnot make his project requirements clear. so all you can do is turn in your project and pray to god. He spends too much time on simple issues and leaves important topics for the students to figure out. problem is he doesnot start his class from where he left in the last class.
He was a very effective teacher. I learned a lot more than I expected going in. He is a very animated lecturer, and he does a pretty good job of keeping your attention. His reasoning for certain multiple choice questions is maybe a little fuzzy, but he's extremely fair all around.
No Comments
One of the Best Profs in CSSE, Very systematic and fair person. you need to work for his class, lazy people step back. respect his class do your home work on time and don't worry. gives bonus points. tricky long exams, but you need this class with him to build a hard Computer science basement. he knows how to keep his class entertained and Funny.
One of the Best Profs in CSSE. This is a must for all Future Computer Engineers. Lazy people, dont even think about it. He is a very systematic guy.
Available in office any time. If you visit office he is not helpful. Frustrated that you bothered him. Does not listen to questions. Makes you feel bad for asking questions in class. Great detail about simple problems - basically skips over hard problems. Grades fairly. Gives bonus points occasionally if you ask. Programming assignments ambiguous.
One of the worst professors at Auburn. Some of the favorable comments here may be from ??. Do not expect to learn anything from him, read the book. Heavy accent. He will say something and do another.
The material is not easy but he makes it enjoyable and understandable. Dr. Biaz is very reasonable and tries to get you the grade you work for. Don't expect an easy A but an A is definitely achievable with effort.
He has turned me on to networks. Super interesting material. However, if you are not a star student, don't take a class with him. His exams are FAR harder than labs and homeworks. Not to mention, he will not let you see your exams after you have taken them. And your exam grades are basically your entire grade for his class. Nice guy though.
I did not enjoy having Dr. Biaz as a professor. His tests were extremely vicious - "None of above" as an option for every question. When asked for help, he would make you feel stupid. He required you to attend office hours in order to get good grades. His grading is also very mysterious as he won't show you your actual tests.
Avoid this professor if you can. Very difficult projects worth very little of your final grade. Tests are very hard. Biaz is very unclear of what he expects of you on the tests. Told us explicitly that we didn't need to know code, and yet it was on the test. He does not let you see your tests. You have no proof that your tests grade is accurate.
Very difficult labs worth tiny % of grade. Test VERY hard and you'll never see it to know what you missed. Policies are unpredictable. Expectations unclear. I thought we were going to have 4 chapters on the first test but there was only 2, wasted 50% of study time due to unclear exam expectations.
Very difficult tests. Breaks university policy by not handing back tests to students. He won't even let you look at them. Struggles with English, hard to understand him. Tough grader, a simple mistake can leave you with a 5% on your labs. Lectures are mostly banter, is very hard to known what to actually listen to and what you are expected to learn
Horrible
Terrible teacher, lectures are ok but he's rude to the students, exams are hard and he provides no help at all.
I had to push back my graduation because of this professor :( I passed all my classes but this intro to networking class. It's because of the professor. He doesn't know how to teach and he's an even worse grader. You think he's fine until test days and you realize, despite doing everything he told you to do, that you aren't prepared. Dont take!
Yeah don't take this guy. He's rude and reuses old tests. Not bad except the tests are so old he forgets what he's supposed to teach you. Also the group projects are insanely hard. He makes a 3 credit class a 5 credit class
Save yourself! Do NOT take this guy! I took his Embedded Systems class as an elective and it is my worst grade of the semester. His lectures are easy to listen to, but his test are EXTREMELY tricky and projects take FOREVER. Missed about 20 points on the first test because there was not enough time; there was only one person who finished it in time
Average lecturer. Difficult projects fraction of grade, have to teach yourself. Tests are most difficult and most of grade. Very unreasonable however he talks about how reasonable and fair he is. Would never round up a 79.9
Dr. Biaz is a great teacher. But his grading is brutal. He expects you to take initiative to learn, he doesn't force-feed anything to you. *If* you spend time trying to understand what he teaches, and *if* you go to class and take notes and ENGAGE your mind - you'll be fine. If you fail to do any of those things, you'll be lucky to get a D.
This professor is terrible. He is probably the most unclear professor I have ever had. He completely fails at teaching the concepts we need to know. He is also the most uncaring professor I have ever had. He doesn't care if you struggle. It is up to you to fit his teaching methods. If you don't you are fighting failure all semester. Stupidly hard
One of the most unclear professor in terms of concept, he has problem with English language and most of the times takes hours to remember english words, he cant teach properly!! Please dont take his class
Not too bad. Go to his office every time you have an assignment and he'll point you in the right direction. Definitely do the extra credit on the labs too. Tests are tough and the final is tougher but it's not impossible. Good professor overall.
Avoid. Labs are weighted at basically nothing and will cost you AT LEAST 40 hours per lab. The final is worth 40% and you get no study guide like with the previous tests. Talks about "fairness" so he can avoid adjusting his poorly designed syllabus. Other than the lab assignments (for the network code experience) this class felt pretty useless.
Yeah, worst professor I've ever had in all my undergraduate. Unclear on everything. His tests are old and he reuses them, but he's forgotten what's on them. Tests are nothing like class notes, if you even call his class notes that. They're like two or three bullet points on a slide and yet you get 10 questions on it. Horrible. Will never take again
Terrible. Topics are glossed over in class but covered in extreme detail on the exams, which are long and confusing. The material on the labs and assignments was also hardly covered in class, if at all. Multiple "self-study" quizzes assigned per week. Mandatory attendance. Marks you late for arriving on the hour. And poor English to tie it all up.
He's really not that bad if you work really hard in the class. That being said, he gives a lot of busy work that doesn't matter much to your final grade, but doing the busy work helps with his tricky tests. Tests count the most by far so doing well on them is absolutely essential. Go to his office hours if you have trouble, though he may be vague.
I have a love/hate relationship with Biaz. Right now I love this man. He cares so much for his students. Lectures are engaging, but students don't participate. Projects and homework are straightforward and relate to in-class material. Exams are fair. Attendance is not mandatory, but you will want to go to class. Also attendance bonus points...,
Horrible horrible horrible. Don't even think about asking a piazza question unless you want to be made out to look like an idiot by Biaz' unnecessary rudeness. Tests, labs, and homework are all COMPLETELY unrelated to lecture. Labs graded way too heavily for not receiving any in-class direction. HORRIBLE TEACHER!!!!
Dr. Biaz is a wonderful professor. He is both effective and entertaining. However, you are not going to coast and the exams are punishing. He allows you access to old exams to practice, but memorizing them is a huge and common mistake. Work hard, and it pays off.
Dr. Biaz was a very fair professor. His lectures were informative and sometimes entertaining. He very kindly offered old exams to prevent some students having an advantage over others. Those old exams, combined with the homeworks prepared us well for exams. The group labs were manageable because Biaz was always on Piazza to answer questions.
Tough course and he was a tough professor but very fair. Gives you all the tools needed to make a good grade, but you have to work for it.
The professor is very condescending and when he is shown that he is wrong, he makes very childlike excuses. For example, when someone questions a mistake he makes, he immediately fires back by telling the whole class that their study methods are wrong and primitive. Once cornered, he makes excuses like "I teach two classes, I stay up late." Really?
RateMyProfessor keeps deleting my review, but do NOT trust the positive reviews on here. Many of the ones that contain words like "systematic", "fair", and "reliable" were written by Biaz himself. He is extremely rude to his students, is very inconsistent and ambiguous with his grading, and punishes the whole class for his own mistakes.
He is bad at teaching concepts and very tough with grading. Labs are insane and feel like a class all on their own. He struggles with english and is actually surprisingly rude. I know for some people classes come easy to them and they can never show up and get an A , but for the rest of us that need a teacher to teach this class is a nightmare.
If you get this professor drop the class. If you can't drop the class, drop out of college and live under an overpass. Stupidly hard labs. Lots of Busy Work. Content not covered in lecture or in book on exams.
Prepare to teach yourself in this class. Dr. Biaz attempts to explain concepts in lectures with no structure to his teaching, explaining things that are barely relevant to your busywork that will be due every night you have class. Labs are time consuming and worth barely anything. Want to be taught networks? Find another professor.
If you truly want to learn about networking take Biaz. He gives a bunch of HW, but that's to prepare you for the final. His lectures are amazing and hilarious. He has been the only professor in Auburn that i could pay attention to the whole time
Here is the deal. He is a really good lecturer. His busy work is insane, though. The labs aren't hard, you can easily find a skeleton online and update the internal math. The exams suck, 111 questions in 40 minutes. But in all that, I am learning. He is crass, but he is very available on Piazza. You'll feel remorse, no doubt, but you will learn.
If Dr. Biaz spent his time developing his lectures instead of making ratemyproffesor reviews of himself, he might actually be a professor worth taking. But probably not. Dr. Biaz likely suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. His Piazza responses are sarcastic, rude, and arrogant. Expect to be belittled for wanting to learn.
Quite possibly the most controversial prof in the CSSE department among students. In my opinion, Dr. Biaz is a prof that clearly puts a lot of time and effort into his lectures and is incredibly engaging and fun to listen to. You will learn a lot from him IF you put in the effort to pay attention in class and put in the work outside of class.
Dr. Biaz is truly unique. Every class is unpredictable - will he call on you to do an IP dance? Will he use bizarre analogies that will be forever seared into your brain? You'll never know. The one and only thing that is certain is that you will learn valuable concepts in his class. The OSI Model? Piece of cake.
DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS!!!
"No hard feelings" - he tells us minutes before the final. Avoid this professor if at all possible. Good guy at heart but gets caught up in "trying to make things fair." Final completely different than the quizzes. Lectures are long and seemingly never-ending to a point they don't help your understanding. Makes fun of questions on piazza
This class was easily the most amount of work I've done ever. The class took on average about 10-12 hours a week just to do all the online quizzes he assigns. We had over 100+ grades in the course. Dr. Biaz is 100% clear with his students and he always tests fair. I learned a lot in the course but it was not easy at all. Good professor, hard class
Be ready to teach yourself. He puts up short, vague lecture videos and quizzes you on each video. If you dont understand a concept and have to ask him, be ready to be told to google it. He is very rude and belittles you. If he took time to teach instead of give you 5-15 min long videos and make fake reviews on here he might be an alright prof.
He is the worst. He is super sarcastic and is the rudest professor I have ever had. If you can avoid him, DO IT!
It is very hard class, attendance is tough.
People always ask me about Dr. Biaz, It's fantastic. Let me tell you about Dr. Biaz. I do very well with Dr. Biaz. I love Dr. Biaz. No one loves Dr. Biaz more than me, BELIEVE ME. Dr. Biaz loves me. We're going to have so many Dr. Biaz you are going to get sick of Dr. Biaz. The Dr. Biaz just got 10 feet higher. I have the best Dr. Biaz.
Genuinely the worst professor I've ever had. Refuses to give correct answers to missed questions so that you won't "memorize them". Class time consists of him defending his ridiculous policies and all lecture material is via videos online. Consistently puts up unnecessary barriers for seemingly no reason. Avoid at all costs.
Drop It ASAP. Trust me. Unless this is your only class... Drop it still.
So you've been diagnosed with Biaz. Since you probably don't have a choice, here is how to survive the class: Make quizlets for the SSQs and reviews and collaborate with your fellow students (each quiz takes a few questions from a bank, so you won't see every question on your own). Get results from everybody's first attempts before doing your 2nd
Biaz is the worst professor I have ever had. I took this class during the summer of the pandemic (minimester) and he has been very difficult to work with. For his labs, he stated that without early feedback to expect to receive less than a 50. I turned my lab in 4 days early requesting feedback and never heard a word from him. Try to avoid him.
Horrible. Do not take. He does many things that are out of the ordinary. Just to name one thing that is strange, he decides how many questions and how long you will get to take quizzes and test based on past classes average so if you work a little bit slower than average, good luck. The first mid-term had 118 questions/parts and we had 60 minutes.
Very condescending man. He assigns way too much work, and believes that he is never wrong. Luckily, he is either too oblivious to realize or doesnt care that the answers to his work are online, so the internet will be key to maintaining your sanity.
Dr Biaz is, by far, the worst professor I've ever come across. His lectures are a rambling mess and his assignments are extremely confusing and riddled with errors. He insists on the Socratic method of teaching but instead in working through a question he'll just aggressively berate you for not knowing the answer. Don't even bother asking questions
One week before classes even started he sent out an email to everybody saying that we were a week behind and that he was disappointed in our performance. One week before class started. You can fill in the blanks for anything after that. His one class took up 80% of my time in a 15 credit hour schedule.
This class feels like 4 credit hours when it is only 3. Dr. Biaz is not the best professor I have ever had. However, he does make an effort. You do learn in this class it is just painful. You could do a lot worse. That being said do not take Biaz unless you have 12 hours every week to do the coursework.
Biaz is SO underrated. He is a good example of how some profs shouldn't teach some subjects. I bet most that rate him badly are a bit lazy. Had him for OS. Didn't like him. But I learned a ton in networks. Get started early. Do a bit (not much) EVERY day. Ask questions. If you don't understand, tell him. He is patient. You will have to try for an A
Dr. Biaz is a miserably bad professor. His lectures do not line up with the quizzes associated with them. Things he says are not important are 80% of the quiz. Lecture videos are over five years old. Does not show correct answers to quizzes because he reuses the questions for the test. Over half of the class has dropped the class so far. avoid.
DON'T EVER TAKE HIS CLASS. You gonna have 110 questions in 90mins on Final. Everyweek has a quiz with probably 30 questions in 15 mins. Questions on quiz he never covered example in class. Don't take, otherwise you'll work your ass. You need to remember the answer but not learn it to finish the quiz exams. Tough professor, be careful!
Be ready to work harder than you've ever worked for a mediocre grade. Dr. Biaz is condescending and does not help his students. Get used to the "Socratic method" and Googling how to solve problems because you will not get anywhere by asking him questions. Makes simple things much more complicated than needed. AVOID AT ALL COST.
I know a lot of people dislike Biaz's way of teaching, but I really like him. Class is very difficult but keeps my brain stimulated. Best advice, stay ahead, ask questions, and pick a partner. He's very intelligent and if you take the time you can learn a lot from him and he's my second favorite professor at Auburn. You'll never be bored.
Here's the thing about Biaz. His tests are pretty difficult in that you just have very little time to check your work for calculations. You can use notes on the exams, so write very small to pack it in. He is very clear about deadlines and the class structure unlike some profs. I like this level of order. Beware, Project 1 is very confusing.
This professor made me drop out of college. There is a reason Auburn Online has only 50 graduates so far, and Biaz is that reason. I don't know of a single person who learned a single thing in any one of his courses, he teaches from a 10 year old textbook.
Do not take from him. Spend most of my semester studying for this class and its 100+ assignments. Jokes about the difficulty of his tests. I think he means well, but this course is ridiculous. Worked so much in this class, only to receive an average grade.
Will only teach one day of the week. The other day is reserved for class quizzes/exams. Every week there is a class quiz or exam. Oh, and prepare for there to be about 6-9 additional quizzes every week. The workload for this class is actually insane. Dont bother asking a question about it because you will just be directed to videos. doesnt teach.
I was so sad to see Biaz with such a low score. I could easily say he was one of my favorite professors at Auburn. You can tell he cares about his students and teaching the material in an understandable way. Had canvas quizzes each week and lots of canvas videos and questions. The class is hard however just because of material covered. Take him!
Get ready to take 6 to 8 quizzes a week, not including the exam/review quizzes on Thursdays. He will not respond to questions in person or over email but will reply "did you post it on Piazza?" His PowerPoints do not cover the material, so most of the learning will be outside of class. Unless this is your only class, do not expect an A.
This professor assigns way too much work each week. He treats it as if this is the only class you're taking and assigns work as such. Strict grading criteria. Would not recommend. Although Biaz himself is a nice guy and means well, and is decent at explaining concepts. he just assigns too much work in a short period of time.
I've been in this class for a week and I'm regretting taking this professor. The workload for this one class is the equivalent to a semester's worth of work for a full-time course load. Please take someone else if you can. I wish I could switch to the prof that has a lower rating on here just because he assigns less work.
Nice guy but terrible teacher.
It is so bad I want to give you a zero, but that's not possible. So I give you a one.
I honestly don't know where to start, but all I can say is, do not, under any circumstances, take any of this man's classes. He is easily the rudest, most confusing and uncaring professor I've come across. I put more time and effort into this class than my others combined and I am barely passing, despite doing well on exams.
A lot of people on here are very soft in my opinion. You're in engineering at Auburn, it's not going to be as easy as your community college lmao. Suck it up, this guys isn't that bad and everything you need to pass is online. Watch the online lectures, take the weekly quizzes, the tests are easy. Suck it up
Only take his class if you do literally nothing else in life other than school. You will have 5-10 quizzes per week plus exams, hw, and projects. This class consumes your life. You won't have time for anything else. DO NOT take this class if you want to succeed in your other classes. You will learn a lot, but at the cost of your sanity!
The lectures are so bad. In video lectures, he teaches you the parts of an airplane (while leaving out crucial information that he expects us to know, such as a "vertical stabilizer"). On homework and tests he instructs, "Now go fly the airplane from US to Saudi Arabia. Oh and also, what's a vertical stabilizer?" If you get this analogy, great.
Easily the worst professor I've ever had. I recorded how much time I spent each week on this class, and it was usually between 9-12 hours. This single class had nearly twice the workload of all other classes I had combined. Homeworks are strictly graded, and tests are difficult. He answers questions passive-aggressively or not at all. Do not take.
Biaz has spent far too much time in Academia and has nearly lost his mind. I think out of all his responses on Piazza I witnessed 2 maybe 3 cordial respectful replies from him. He is passive-aggressive or just straight up disrespectful to students. The weekly breakdown was: 7-8 Quizzes 2-3 Hrs 1 Homework due 3 Hrs 1 Program due 3 Hrs Exam Study
Professor Biaz means well, I think. He posts everything at the beginning of the semester and has some of the most detailed lecture recordings and reading lists I have ever seen. That being said, the man is insane. I have learned A LOT in this class at the expense of every other class. 12 hours of pure homework each week is frankly unacceptable.
Tons of homework and tests every two weeks. You learn the content very well because of the sheer volume of course work you must complete, but it took more work than my other 13 hours combined. If you want a good understanding of algo, this is good but be ready to work.
Far and away the worst professor I've come across. All studying you do is micromanaged and will exceed the rest of your classes combined. Out of ~50 students, about 20 dropped, and 2 got As. Unless you want to live and breathe networks avoid at all costs. You'll come out of this with a Master's understanding of networks and a Lexapro prescription.
Awful. Avoid at all cost.
Gives way too much work for an undergraduate class, more work then all of my graduate level classes combined. Counts off points for ticky tack things on assignments. Exams aren't bad if you study the reviews. You get a partner for homework (due every week) and projects. You have like 4 quizzes due every T/TR. Has a lot of weird rules for no reason.
I think Biaz has not worked a real tech job in a really long time and it shows in his material which is very outdated. He has a very warped perception on what academia should look like. Honestly one of the worst professors I have ever taken. This man can not answer a question directly to save his life.
This was easily the worst prof I've ever had. I don't know if I can add anything to what has already been stated. However, I can certify that his communication skills are non-existent. He encourages you to ask questions and communicate on Piazza. But when you do, he belittles you or doesn't bother answering any of your questions.
Let me be clear that I went in to this course with already a good understanding of the content from my previous Co-op work experience. I have not been in a situation like this since high school where a teacher made it clear that they did not care to understand your question or line of thought. His class has made me reevaluate my opinions on tenure
Lots of typos in the math in his lecture slides (getting comparison operators backward, incorrect indexing, wrong variables, incorrect use of bounds). He confuses himself pretty often in the lectures and will often just give up and move on. The assignments are hard to interpret, I assume due to his lack of knowledge of the material it covers.
The lectures do not help much with the hw quizzes or exams. He gives a good lecture... until you take the quizzes. I wish he would spend more time explaining the lectures in the same way he words the quizzes - and then he should do the same for exams. This is supposed to be an INTRO course.
Do the SSQ's and Reviews and you'll be fine on tests. He's not a bad professor for networks. It can be a lot of work but he's not as bad as people say. People are soft
At least you will learn a lot, but at what cost? (your soul)
This is not a class where you can get by without paying attention. Dr. Biaz is an incredible teacher, and its the first class where I have actually learned instead of memorized. You need to participate in the things he gives after class and put in the time during class to understand the material. Dr. Biaz is accessible and eager to answer questions
Biaz is one of the best comp sci lecturers in Auburn. He makes the concepts easy to understand. Many of the reviews here will mention the daily quizzes - he no longer has these for credit. You'll have to put a good amount of effort in, but it's not impossible. Some of his questions are trick questions. You can get by with memorization.
Attendance isn't mandatory but I'd highly recommend going to the lectures. They're engaging and he presents topics in very digestible ways. Take advantage of the SSQs and Module Reviews and you should do well on the Exams. He's strict but fair. What you should expect out of a 4000 level COMP class. Overall one of my favorite professors at Auburn.
Dr. Biaz is one of the best, most engaging lecturers at Auburn. I highly recommend attending class. If you have trouble understanding the material he is presenting, you will at the very least be entertained. Workload is higher than most other courses I have taken in COMP, but ever since he made study questions optional, it has been manageable.
The course material itself is harder than most CS classes, but it is somewhat manageable with routine studying. The instructor seems to have a very petty attitude towards students, making class way harder and more annoying than it needs to be. If there are other professors, take them. If not, you'll be fine.
Dr. Biaz is an exceptional, passionate professor whose efforts to explain and define concepts to students is hampered by how inarticulate he is (or can be) with the English language. Trick questions "meant to challenge students" sometimes boil down to if you recognize how the phrasing was in SSQs. Serious time investment is required to survive.
Of all the professors I have had at Auburn, Saad Biaz is easily the worst. On day one, he told us that his role as our professor was not to teach but to "punish us." Boy did he deliver. He misses the good old days of using canes in schools and now takes it upon himself to permanently traumatize us. If I hear one more thing about TCP I'll snap.
This man will not directly answer questions, and often makes fun of students for not following material. There will likely be times you feel like your grade does not reflect the effort you have put in. Do not expect accommodation from this professor because he can do no wrong, as far as he is concerned. Avoid Biaz if possible, otherwise good luck.
Biaz started off this semester about how people consider him a "bad guy" for supposed unknown reasons, and either he knows exactly why people don't like him and doesn't care, or is genuinely just a terrible teacher and can't learn from criticism. Apparently pushing attendance statistics first is more important than pushing final exam grades. Weirdo
Terrible
Semester ended 2 weeks ago and I still have nightmares about this class and professor
Good lecturer and engaging, but his lectures aren't at all what he tests you on.
Please don't be scared off, Biaz is a great professor. That being said, this isn't a class to put on the backburner. Attend class, do the SSQs(tests are based on them & they count for bonus). Preparation for the exams is essential, he allows a cheat sheet and you'll need it. Walk into class with an open mind, you'll be fine. Don't try & you'll fail
Steer clear of any classes taught by this individual. The abysmal academic outcomes experienced by many students indict his teaching prowess. He lacks the fundamental ability to educate effectively. If his tenure persists, relegate him solely to research duties. Failure to heed this warning may result in serious academic detriment.
Stay away from him at all costs, his tests are worth 80% of the total grade and they are nothing like the reviews he gives, he loves putting edge cases that never show up as test questions. If that wasn't bad enough, he arbitrarily changed the grading scale 1 hour before the final messing with peoples grades and has yet to fix them for final grades
Biaz is a tough professor, but the class is doable with hard work. Attend lectures, use the free textbook, and consider apps like Unstuck AI for study prep. Exams are challenging, but he allows cheat sheets. Worth it if you're up for the challenge.
I wouldn't…
The teacher is awful for several reasons: 1. He refuses to communicate with students outside of a 3rd party website named Piazza. 2. His quizzes and assignments often ask questions that are NOT covered in the lectures nor textbook. 3. Several quizzes and exams require a malware program called Respondus Lockdown Browser.
Barely could understand him. Impossible to ask him questions and get a straight answer of any sort. His test and quizzes have material we were never taught. Worst teacher I have ever had, and I've had a guy with dementia teach me.
Single handly the worst professor/teacher/faculty I have ever run across in my time in higher education. Refuses to communicate with students, and if they do, they will belittle you and treat you as inferior. Be prepared to invest all of your time for little to no return. If you must take them, do what you have to to pass, and move on.
Puts things on tests that are not covered by the class resources, uses subjective and unclear grading criteria, explains material poorly, and has badly organized class resources.
Biaz is unquestionably the worst professor I have ever had the displeasure of being taught by. His lectures do a terrible job of teaching the material. He asks questions on the exams that are not covered by the textbooks, lectures, or practice tests. I also witnessed multiple instances of him personally belittling and insulting students. AVOID
A tough professor, much of what he tests you over will be linked to information he has taught, but was never directly explored in his course. Heaviest course load I have ever experienced in any course.
There were over 70 assignments in 2 months. He does not give feedback to your homework or tests to ensure that you identify & correct your mistakes. He does not make it easy to communicate. You have to go through a whole different site than the app that is on canvas. Not a good class to take if you are head of household and raising a family.
Worst professor to have strolled into this college. At the beginning of the semester, Dr. Biaz stated that this class was only 3 credit hours--yet it was to be treated as if it was 4-5 credit hours... He pushes all of his problems onto the students, blaming them for his faults or mistakes (such as him forgetting an online lecture he had planned).
Lectures are absolutely useless but material is fairly intuitive. Tests are very similar to HW & Study Questions and offer no partial credit so it's easy to make a mistake on one question and go down a whole letter grade. Review quizzes / HWs do not show correct answers so hard to learn from mistakes. Avoid.
This professor is the worst professor I have ever had, and this is my third degree. You can have all of your answers 100 percent correct but if you miss one small instruction, it is an automatic 25 point penalty. In addition, responses from the professor when asked on Piazza are often rude. He will often insult his students as well. AVOID
Everything that has been said about this man is true, and I have endured worse. He is negligent towards his class, to the level that myself and other students were unable to submit work due to his broken proctoring solution, which was only resolved by escalating to the dean. Avoid at all costs if you value your academic success and mental health!
He may be knowledgeable, but he is a terrible educator: disorganized & rude. Quizzes are not always aligned with material lectures. Online courses are not accessible. Arbitrary, harsh rules about assignments take more penalty than not knowing the material. RUDE to students in the 3rd party public forum required to communicate. Learning DESPITE him.
If Biaz has a million haters, then I am one of them. If Biaz has only one hater then that is me. If Biaz has no haters, then that means I am no longer on earth. This class is a measure of how much you can fit on a cheatsheet, and if you can decipher his 2 decade old questions. You will learn absolutely nothing, and struggle to get a high grade too.
This is the only class I would even slightly recommend taking with him. I have him for multiple classes(MISTAKE) and this was the "easiest" one. As long as you do the exam reviews the tests are easy. Exams are 75% (two midterms and a final) so if you do bad on one its very hard to climb back.
Dont do it. If this is the only professor for computer networks just wait for next semester. If you do choose to take them the first two exams are similar to the exam reviews but the third and fourth go very heavy on IP Routing, Packet Tracing, and NAT Translations(there are no review questions on NAT for whatever reason).
Avoid Biaz at all costs. His exams are completely unreasonable even with the allowed cheat sheets. The exams do not gauge how well you understand the course content and are focused on how well you can avoid getting tricked by his cryptic wording. The exam questions are significantly harder than any of his preparation questions. Beyond frustrating.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
37%
Textbook Required
24%
Grade Predictor
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Predicted Grade
B-
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