2.6
Quality4.0
Difficulty40%
Would Retake87
Reviews40%
Would Retake
87
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
21
4
12
3
5
2
23
1
26
What Students Say
“Very tough, provides no study materials”
CHEM201 - 2.0 rating“your book is your best friend in this class, unfortunately I found that out too late”
CHEM200 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
92%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.05 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM000
5.0
(1)CHEM542
5.0
(1)CHEM580
5.0
(2)CHEM342
5.0
(1)CHEM202
3.3
(33)Difficulty by Course
CHEM01
5.0
CHEM200
5.0
CHEM201001
4.5
CHEM202
4.1
CHEM201
4.1
Reviews (87)
Great teacher. Wish there were more like him.
Nice enough guy, but probably one of the worst TEACHERS I've ever had. I suppose if you really understand chem well you might do ok in his class, but for someone that has trouble with it, he doesn't explain anything. And when you don't understand, he just explains it again exactly the same way. I would not recommend him.
The worst professor I have ever had in my 4 years at Western. Hands down. Aside from the fact that he CANNOT teach, he is a complete jerk. Refuses to offer help on anything. If you don't understand he berates you in front of the class for being an idiot. Let's just hope he doesn't get tenured.
Worst teacher ever. doesn't understand when the students dont understand the first part of the semester they can't build on to something. its sad how the students failed him on the last test, not him failing us.
He's a pretty nice guy and can make class funny sometimes, but he isn't clear about what's being taught in class. He's big on emphasizing that by taking the prerequisites to the course, you should know everything, but doesn't seem to understand that it only requires 2 years of high school chem., and that half he class hasn't had chem. in 3+ years.
Doesn't explain things to where you fully understand what's going on. I'm praying that my lab grades will even out the class grade!!! I was overall getting a D at the mid-term, and after a class average came to a 40 on an exam, he wouldn't curve it?!?!?! Something is incredibly wrong with this picture.
Okay, if your really into the studying on your own thing you'll be fine. Like the other people have said, his methods of explaining the material are lacking something. But keep in mind when reading the rest of the comments that THIS IS HIS FIRST YEAR HERE!!! First year teachers have an incredible amount of stress...so he may calm down a bit.
strongly recommend NOT to take him....VERY unclear in his notes. his tests are horribly hard and he never does examples in class that are on the test. he expects us to remember everything from HS chem, when that was YEARS ago...and w/o knowing it, you are screwed. take ONLY IF YOU MUST and hope he isn't the prof.
He has much room for improvement. As a teacher he is absolutely horrible. Not because he's unknowledgable, but because he is truely unfair. When faced with a question his response has been... I have 80 students, I dont have time, You should know it, it's in the book. These are all things a teacher is supposed to do. Find the time, we do.
I have never worked so hard or learned as much as I have in this class. I go to the help sessions take notes and read the book and I am doing ok. He may be giving us a place to start in lecture and wanting us to learn on our own to.
He is very unclear with the material covered, if you dont know the answer to one of his questions, he'll look at you like your a moron, and he will tell you that you need to "kick it up a notch". If you want to learn anything about chemistry dont take his class. You'll do more math equations than a regular math class
I made an A. He is tough but fair.
This teacher should not be a teacher. He gave a test that failed 220 with an average of a low F. If you want to take this class I advise you to wait for a different proffesor to teach it. I really don't want to take him again, but I have to because it is a two part class. He is not very helpful in or out of class.
the worst teacher you will have. you know he is a bad teacher when goingyour advisor and she agrees with you because she already heard it or when your TA in lab talks about him as bad as you do. doesn't explain anything when eveyrone is wrong jsut tells you to go to the chemistry help center or get a tutor. don't take him, wait for another teacher.
He will Kill you!!! Let me just say that i am a second semester jr pre-veterinary medicine student who up to this point has had all A's throughtout college - seriously not one B - and it is a little over half way through the semester and i have a low to mid D. He is going to ruin my GPA. He is the worst teacher I have ever had. STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!
not helpful at all, doesnt go over material when needed, notes are not easy to follow, doesnt seem to care
He is by far the worst teacher I have ever had. He will not explain anything, and he moves quickly through material. His tests are nothing like his notes or his sample problems so studying is almost worthless. I suggest never taking this class with him.
If you're not a chemistry major and don't NEED to take this class, DON'T. He is constantly screwing up notes in class, and I really have no faith that our quizzes and tests were graded correctly. If you have a question, too bad, you won't get a good answer. You're gonna need your book with this guy. He is pretty nice though, if that matters.
Cannot teach AT ALL. Refuses to help. Insults you when you do not understand. Obviously enjoys it when the whole class fails an exam. DO NOT TAKE HIM- take this class at spoon if you have to but not from him. To call him a professor would be excrutiatingly generous. The book is a better teacher than he is.
He is a hard teacher but fair. I think he wants us to do a lot on our own. I just found out I got an A for the second straight semester. PARYT!
Terrible teacher. He gives out information that in the end is not even legitimate. Marked a 5 point test question wrong when it was clear that it was right from our notes and he shrugged it off and refused to give us points back.
He is fun and nice. His lectures are fun.
He is not that great of a teacher. He confuses his students by screwing up his notes and equations. And his lame jokes are not funny! I seriously hate even seeing him because I know that the crappy jokes are coming. I find him very smug and rude to students. He seems to enjoy singling people out and making them look stupid which is uncalled for.
i like his lectures. he teaches the hard stuff but keeps it funny. he uses lots of examples about the real world.
DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS! Wait until he leaves or you will be sorry! Difficult to get any help out of and it seems that his teaching objectives are to 1. Make students feel inferior. & 2. Make the tests/class as difficult as possible for you. Do not expect any help preparing for exams.
He is by FAR the WORST teacher i have ever had.. His notes and lectures have NOTHING to do with the tests.. i study for hours on end, usually 7 hours even in one day before his tests, reading the book, doing the problems..when in fact it is for ABSOLUTELY no reason.. his tests are not legit to his notes/lectures/the book. no point in studying ever.
He is really not an effective teacher. His tests are not over the material he teaches in class and are very hard.When I took the class, out of 200 students, the class average was a 52%
no good
Dr. McConnell is an awful professor...and I'm not the slacker type either. I had a 4.0 before this and this class is going to blast my GPA. It's almost as if he doesn't want his students to pass. He has a arrogance that is very offensive. Wait to take until he is gone or you will regret it!!! This class shouldn't have been this bad.
Whatever you do, do not take this course from him! Do whatever you can to take it somewhere else even if it's during the summer. He is by far the worst teacher there is. Makes fun of students, has trouble with organization, and he never helps.
Scott McConnell is by far the worst professor I've ever had in my life. I dont know who let this man into teaching yet alone chemistry but he is absolutely horrible! He is an arrogant person and seems not to be affected by the failure rates of his students. DO NOT take this class if he is the professor...you will hate your life and him.
I wouldn't recommend this class unless you ABSOLUTELY have to take it. Unfortunately he is the only 201 & 202 teacher so there is no other options. If you have to take it just study hard and do the practice problems in the book. Also look ahead because he will quiz you on stuff he just taught you that day. He does drop 1 test, 2 quizzes, and 2 labs
i got a b at mid term and i thought i was going to do bad
Hard but a good teacher. Seems like a nice guy.
Nice guy? um.. no. good teacher? NO WAY. This man needs to be fired.. I had to drop it after a semester n a half bc i prob would of failed. Memorizing the book will NOT EVEN HELP YOU. His tests are ridiculously irrelevent to what he ''thinks'' hes teaching. he requires you to take the National Chemistry exam @ the end of the yr plus his final.
He not too hard. I like way he explain things. I think some student not work hard and not study. If you work and study you do well. If you do not work and do not study you do not do so well.
our frist test some people just but their first and last name instead of last name, first name and he call them down to the frot of the class and crumpled all their quizes and through them in the trash and yelled at them he is THE WORST TEACHER EVER RUDE WONT HELP U EVER DOESNT NO HOW TO TEACH WE ARE ALLWAYS CORRETING HIM DONT TAKE HIM AS A TEACH
McConnell is a very hard teacher. His tests are ridiculous. He doesn't help you much and if you don't understand it, it's your problem. Tests are confusing and he jumps a lot in notes. I use my book every day to highlight but nothing works. Studying is pointless!
Two semesters and two A's.
Ive thought about this for 2 months now and I know what I'm talking about. I got and A in 201 and a B in 202 with Dr Mcconnell. He is a very hard teacher. He doesnt give any slack at the end. This is what I tought about for 2 months. I think the answer is because he wants us to learn chemistry and be able to use it. I learned alot. Good job.
Tough Class...You will hear rumors that the only reason he is still at Western is because his wife is the department chair, and he has tenure. I would agree with that. You have to work your butt off in that class, and study the book...his notes are just too random. Gives old tests, which are the only way I was able to pull off an A. Final was hard.
i was one of those who tore him up in my first semester here. now i've had 331, 332 and 341. he really is good. most people just won't realize it until they get to other chem classes.
long tests, but I was just happy to have a professor that spoke english. I never thought that that would be my #1 characterisitic in a professor until I came to WIU
Absolutely useless. He doesn't tell what to study in the book and doesn't post lecture notes. In tests, he gives the option "all of above" of "none of above" just to cover his ass in case the right answer isn't listed. I had to correct him on a test question that he accidentally graded wrong for the entire class or(scantron). not recommended
Tough class... his quizzes have A-D options, and E and F which are none of the above, or all of the above. He is a hard teacher, but at least he speaks english.
Dr. McConnell expects students to learn the material on their own. He does lectures and occasionally shows up for lab sessions, but never assigns any homework.
He is fair with me.
Also Chem 202. This teacher does not care about helping students. I took him a few years ago and the class averages were about 40% for 180 students. He then went off on us like we did something wrong. When almost 200 kids fail, you did something wrong not us.
Even though the class may be a bit difficult and your definitely going to have to work hard, its very easy to follow McConnell's information and you definitely learn alot in the course...if you try that is
BEST PROFESSOR!
McConnell is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. Most of the class fails his tests, and he is aware of that fact. He does not expect you to do well. He is a poor teacher, and makes most subjects much harder than they need to be. I got an A in the class, but only because I had taken a class with this material in high school. Avoid if possible
This teacher blows...he doesn't use the book at all. He is mentally retarded. He can't spell or teach! Elll is how he points out his L in a word. I only listen when he talks about his favorite beverage the BEER in class. Idk. If you study your ass off you can make it through i guess. He doesn't help or care about your progress. Goodluck!
McConnell is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. Most of the class fails his tests, and he is aware of that fact. He does not expect you to do well. He is a poor teacher, and makes most subjects much harder than they need to be. I got an A in the class, but only because I had taken a class with this material in high school. Avoid if possible
McConnell is one of the worst teachers I have ever had. Most of the class fails his tests, and he is aware of that fact. He does not expect you to do well. He is a poor teacher, and makes most subjects much harder than they need to be. His lectures are confusing, and he rarely uses the book. No homework, just tests and quizzes. Avoid if possible!
Thank you Dr Scott
Dr Scott is very organized and helpful. He helped us make good seminars.
he is an amazing teacher. he is very organized and helpful. i love his class and i think everyone should take his class!
Overall a decent teacher. Thought his note structure was clear and organized. Made material relevent to students. Class is difficult though. Material on tests is on a much higher level than anything taught in class. Good class is you like a bit of a challenge
Avoid at all costs! He expects you to ALREADY know the information, gives incomplete examples in class, doesn't allow enough time to copy down notes. You have quizzes every Wednesday (10 points). Nothing is like the "old exams"/ study guides as he calls them. If you can't teach yourself, don't even bother!
Incomplete examples, there is no way to write down all the notes in the time alloted for the course. Exams are RIDICULOUSLY HARD! If you are not one to read and study outside of class YOU WILL NOT DO WELL. Take a different professor if available.
He is very organized and a good insturctor. He is strict.
chem teachers at WIU are terrible beyond belief. He syas in order to get help from him, you need to take notes and go to help center etc, then when you go to him he refuses to help you. Everything is extremely hard for no reason. Getting a D in this is like getting an A+ anywhere else. You have to be a chem genius to pass.
This class is very difficult. He knows what he is talking about, but sometimes doesn't convey it in the easiest way. He won't give you help, he makes you go to the help center. He picks on people during class and expects you to know the answers. He excepts you to know the material already coming into class as well.
My only saving grace for this class was I had an extremely strict teacher at my community college for CHEM 201. If you are a sports player you will be used for every example in class. Ask him for help and he will send you to the help center. DO study guides - they help. But material on tests is much more difficult then material in class
best class ever
He isn't helpful and gets aggravated when you don't answer a question right. Can be very sarcastic and unclear. your book is your best friend in this class, unfortunately I found that out too late. He takes everything out of the book except his problems the tests and quizzes are hard and hw is on stuff you have yet to cover in class
He is a character. I had to take this class twice! I never thought I was going to make it out of 202 with him being the professor. He def knows what he talking about when it comes to Chem but just doesn't know how to teach it. He expects way to much from his students. Would say AVOID but you have no other choice but to see what I am talking about.
this guy is a great teacher. he knows what hes talking about. he give examples from everyday stuff and talks to students. if you try n do the work and can't just go to his office for help.
He is very educated in the field of chemistry. However, he is terrible at teaching. His quiz questions are all multiple choice and designed to trick you. He often makes fun of you if you have a question in class, I'm not sure if it's intentional. He seemingly enjoys people doing poorly and is not helpful in answering questions.
I highly recommend not taking his class. I came out of high school with a 3.8 GPA and am nearly failing. Even with all the extra studying, his tests and homework are much to difficult for a 201 class. I've even gone to the chem help center for homework help and they often cannot do problems . DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS
he is very fair
He is the poorest professor of the chemistry department. 2 years ago we signed a petition to ask for a new instructor but the petition reached no where because his wife is the chair of the department. he doesn't know chemistry.
Poor teacher. Does not understand chemistry
This man has no chemistry background. he get furious when you ask him a simple question.
He goes way to fast & doesn't give us enough time to write things down.
i signed the petition. i thot he was the hardest prof in theworld. then I took chem 331 332 341 and 370. he know the chemistry and got me ready for hard courses. hes a great prof but you wont know it until you take more chem.
If you want to really learn Chemistry he is awesome. With any class you have to study, YOU MUST GO TO CLASS TO GET NOTES he does not post notes online. He is fair with his grading and drops lowest scores in HW, Labs, Quizzes and 1 Test. The labs are important as they count for a large grade portion and help your grade. Easy to get at least a C+.
If you want to learn Chemistry he's great. You must study for this class, MUST STUDY. Go to class and get notes as they are never posted online. He is fair in grading and drops lowest grade in HW, Labs, quizzes, and 1 test. Go to labs, they help your grade a ton at the end of the semester. He made class entertaining and I never dreaded going.
Dr. McConnell is a good teacher, but you need to put in the work. He assigns homework because you finish learning the subject in class. So you need to read the book to know all the material that will be on the quizzes and tests. The tests and quizzes have the options none of the above and all of the above which may trick you.
He's the worst professor I have ever had. His stories are hilarious, but his material is tough and he teaches as if it is a much higher level class.
Very tough, provides no study materials. Awful teacher
Honestly he is one of those teachers that you either hate him or love him. If you really try to study and look over your notes, you'll do fine in the class. He drops so many things at the end of the semester that it's great. He's really funny and tells funny stories. As long as you actually try you can pass the class no problem.
Great professor, He is really tough until you hit the last day to drop. He does this to weed out the class from those who want this major vs. the ones who don't. He is also exrememly funny and smart. best professor I have had here
doesnt give you enough time to write notes and he doesnt upload notes online, tests and quizzes are hard and he gives no study guide, doesnt like the way he teaches at all
Great professor. Super nice!
He is nice and respectful. But, you are expected to quickly write down the notes while he presents. He doesn't post the notes online so if you do not have the notes, then you will fail. Tests are hard so it is mandatory that you study because there is no study guide. If you miss class, you will not have the material. I do not recommend him.
The course was very challenging. I would not recommend taking it if you havent taken the 100 level chemistry first because this professor doesnt start from the basics. He throws a lot of material and explains poorly. Most of class he is making corny jokes instead of teaching. He has a very monotone voice and does not make the course interesting.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
38%
Textbook Required
92%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
C-
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Stable
+0.05 avg changeRatings by Course
CHEM000
5.0
(1)CHEM542
5.0
(1)CHEM580
5.0
(2)CHEM342
5.0
(1)CHEM202
3.3
(33)Difficulty by Course
CHEM01
5.0
CHEM200
5.0
CHEM201001
4.5
CHEM202
4.1
CHEM201
4.1