2.5
Quality3.3
Difficulty53%
Would Retake92
Reviews53%
Would Retake
92
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
92 total ratings5
15
4
19
3
9
2
12
1
37
What Students Say
“Will give you a good foundation for knowledge as long as you go to class”
CIVE4301 - 3.0 rating“he killed my intrest in engineering :( if there was a kingdom for the bad profs he will be the king, dont take anything with thtis idiot i dont care if you have to skip the whole year,,, it will still be better”
ECOR1101 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
36%
Textbook Required
75%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON1101
5.0
(1)CIVE3208
5.0
(1)MECHANICS
5.0
(1)82431
4.0
(1)CIVE5505
3.7
(6)Difficulty by Course
91111
4.4
ECOR1045
4.3
ECOR1101
3.2
CIVE3208
3.0
ECOR1606
3.0
Reviews (91)
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Very unhelpful. Unclear speaker and does not write good notes.
Has no compassion on any student.
Could not write notes or speak clearly for his life.
No Comments
Very hard to understand
one day i'll learn about mechanics, but not from siva...
Someday this guy will break the overhead projector with that moment crap
No Comments
suggested problem sets are too hard and discouraging, need to provide more help
Probably one Carleton's worst professors
Doesn't speak english
No Comments
not the worst TEACHer, but he is very unhelpful and rude.
No Comments
Only becomes mildly understandable once you get used to his accent. Never finishes examples. ("You know where to go from here". NO WE DON'T!) May refuse to answer questions. Can be downright rude at times. Never learned so much from an overhead
Very intolerant, extremely unclear, both in terms of spoken language and in terms of chalkboard skills. Indeed, that projector will one day be victim to bad moment.
Rude. Unclear. Confused...
better of the two mech profs i've had this year
wow...
Once you get used to the accent hes actually pretty good. It seems alot of students blame their difficulty with the course on the prof.... I do wish he would do more complete examples however.
First month you'll think he's speak punjab to you after that you'll understand him. However don't go to the class tired, it will seam like he is speaking yet another langauge. Tests are not bad, however watch out for T.A.'s. Examples are decent.
Can't speak english. Class is good for napping.
Can't say I had a problem with Siva. If you listen very carefully and keep up with the problem sets, you'll be alright. You'll need to be very independent, though - he's not as helpful as some.
I Wonder how many of these people made it into second year? Siva is a GOOD Prof. He just pushs the class to do well. I don't think that's a fault. I didn't like him either, until I had him for Foundations, and was mature enough to be pushed to pro
Good prof, makes connections to fundamental concepts. Most people complain about 111 no matter who they have. Siva is very easygoing, but you will work hard and learn a lot.
equals check mark
Good Prof
Mmmm.... good... may b because he is Srilankan Tamil...
Kinda hard to understand, the content of the course that is. Still, he's easier to understand than most of the TAs you'll get.
NOT THAT CLEAR IN TEACHING, BUT THE GUY KNOWS HIS STUFF
What did he say?
Excellent Teacher. To get the most out of this class, you need to have some understanding coming into the class. Your mark may not reflect your understanding, but he emphasizes understanding which is what we are really paying for.
i think speaking english should be a prerequisite to teaching at an english university!!!!!!!!!!
siva isn't a bad prof.. very few people enjoy mechanics no matter who teaches it. his command of the english language isn't the greatest, but you get used to his accent after a few lectures. he is a nice guy, and fairly approachable. definitely knows his stuff.
he can be a lil more helpfull nd then he will be awesome
not good
good.....
this prof. is alright with teaching mainly becoz he illustrates quite a few examples on the board...which is a big point coz the ans to these probs are long.....soo he takes the trouble to chalk them out....takes a bit of effort to understand his accent....and he is moderately helpful...all and all....an 'ok' prof.
His english is realy bad , it was realy hard to me to understand him in the class ,his accent is not clear , he gives alot of examples and thats good.overall his teaching is good and if u solve all the suggested pproblems you can get good mark , but still his english is bad
For students in first year I would recommend trying to have Mr. Salinas simply because of the language barrier with Siva, he evidently knows his stuff but he just teaches straight out of the text book, if you have Siva, just stay home and study for an hour and a half instead of getting out up and going to his class, you'll benefit more.
No Comments
Very excellent prof. U will benefit if you knew the material pre hand and payed attention in lectures. And stop critizing the lack of english vocabulary.
I have many complaints about the professor. He has an accent which is totally not his fault, but makes it incredibly hard to understand. Also, the man doesn't write any notes on the board. It was mostly all powerpoint notes. The tests were however alright. I would recommend trying to attend another prof's lectures. I personally recommend Isgor.
Knows his stuff. Does lots of examples on the board. His accent does take some getting used to. He wears some crazy sweaters!!!
He is terrible... if you can pick another prof.
he is great man coz he will spent lot time with u if u ask questions whenever during class time or after class
The only people who complain about his accent are the ones who sit at the back of the theatre. He was perfectly fine if you sit upfront, which usually has plenty of seats. His mid-term exams weren't too hard, but does make the final seem a bit more challenging as a result.
This prof is terrible. Choose another prof! The man should not be allowed to teach, he can barely speak english and makes everything a lot more confusing than it is. His exam is brutal! Try not to get this prof he sucks!
No Comments
yeah, has an accent. so what ?
By far the worst prof I have had yet. He has a really strong accent which makes him really hard to understand & even if you can understand him he doesn't make much sense since he doesn't seem to know what he is talking about If you have this prof don't bother going to class you won't learn anything useful. He also wears same clothes everyday gross!
His accent is difficult to follow, but he knows his stuff. The person below has no clue what he'she is talking about.
one of the most arrogant teachers I have seen.
Emphasizes fundamentals, and is very good in explaining stuff
this prof is terrible. Couldn't understand a word he said so don't bother going to class the material isn't too hard to learn from the textbook.
Really boring class. I don't think his accent's as incomprehensible as other people are saying, but he's not fun to listen to. Plus, he teaches the class of power point when it should taught off the blackboard.
Uses textbook slides, which are okay. Wished he used the board more to show how to work through problems. Makes the concepts of moments, forces, etc. very clear.
It's easier to teach yourself than attend class and STILL TEACH yourself
The quizzes and midterm are fair, but the final was ridiculously hard. He did not place enough emphasis on the last part of the course. The lectures are excellent: slides for theory, blackboard for examples, his accent is very understandable.
very bad . dont take the course with him even if he was the only prof there.
He appears at opportune times during the exam review to reveal a few mustache hints.
what can i say !... he killed my intrest in engineering :( if there was a kingdom for the bad profs he will be the king, dont take anything with thtis idiot i dont care if you have to skip the whole year,,, it will still be better
Very excellent prof.
very nice and helpful person
No Comment
This professor is the worst you could have for ECOR 1101! He makes the midterms so complicated that is hard to get a good grade. If you don't want to take the risk of failing...don't take the class with him.
He enjoys annoying students by making and complicated exams. Very boring classes. Notes very theoretical and not practical.
I believe this professor was one of the best ones i ever had. He approaches the content in a very consistent and chronological way. After all he is a geo-technical engineer so soil mechanics is his main thing. DON'T LISTEN TO OTHER PEOPLE THAT WHINE ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE MIDTERM WAS HARD HE IS BORING AND ALL THAT. HIS QUESTIONS APPEAR ON EXAMS.
JUST DO ALL THE HOMEWORK AND PASS THE CLASS. He is like a fairy princess that solves the questions in one step. Let him use his magic wand to put you to sleep. Go to class, but don't expect much.
It's hard to say anything positive about Siva, except for his flawless attendance. My PA sessions were more useful to me. Siva made a lot of techniques hard to understand, and he places importance on number-crunching and basic knowledge than the techniques we need to learn. Also, I feel he didn't prepare us enough for the final (midterm was okay).
he is very tough grader and not to be taken chances with him . i guess he should be out put some work in assignment .12 pages question paper. dnt goo for it. he will runie your life
Professor Sivathayalan made Geotechnical Engineering a breeze. I will say that the lectures were quite boring due to the material, not the professor. He gives you everything you need to succeed, meaning that assignments, the midterm, and the final were all fair game and straightforward. Would highly recommend.
Will give you a good foundation for knowledge as long as you go to class. He posts useful supplementary lecture notes which will also help you get a good footing. If you do not take consistent notes, you will be in a pile of trouble. Tutorials are really useful so make sure to get your bearing.
I started this course having heard Siva was difficult. Fast forward to the end of the semester and I have been very satisfied with how he teaches, and his flexible/easy going attitude. His lectures mostly focus on theory, with examples in the tutorials. He is nice to students, very knowledgeable in geotechnical/foundation engineering.
Makes the course less interesting. Do not take a course with him
Terribly Organized. One of the worst profs I've had at Carleton througout my Civil Engineering degree. Glad that CIVE 4301 was my first and last course with this professor.
you are the best professor i have ever seen in my academic life
he is the worst
The reason people hate him is that his class is hard especially the first year engineering mandatories... However we covered everything in depth, is well organized, and you should have no problem if you finally start understanding his accent (Indian but not to heavy)
Good Prof, however you have to get used to him. That being said he is very professional, knowledgeable and competent...
SA'd me during office hours.
Siva is a nice professor, but his teaching style is extremely boring, and his notes are all hand-written and difficult to read. Classes are generally completely theory-based with examples only being done in the tutorials. Everything I learned was from the tutorials.
Nothing for Mr Sivathayalan sir
Awesome professor. His experience is outstanding!
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
36%
Textbook Required
75%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Improving
+0.36 avg changeRatings by Course
ECON1101
5.0
(1)CIVE3208
5.0
(1)MECHANICS
5.0
(1)82431
4.0
(1)CIVE5505
3.7
(6)Difficulty by Course
91111
4.4
ECOR1045
4.3
ECOR1101
3.2
CIVE3208
3.0
ECOR1606
3.0