Very difficult "teacher" who does not deserve to be teaching! Hard to follow lectures b/c doesn't do proofs, thick accent, and several errors. Exams are much harder than homework questions and lecture--switches single detail to exponentially make the tests higher. Hard grader too. NEVER RECOMMEND HER. AVOID HER AT ALL COSTS.

She likes to tell you that homework is due one day, and not take it up for a week, especially if it's easy, and the next day if it's hard. She doesn't give out the answers to the study guide and you will spend days going over tests saying you can redo everything, then change her policy. Terrible accent and explanations. Slow email response, if any.

Absolutely an awful professor. I tested out of her 141 class through AP credit, but took the class anyway as a GPA booster. It did the opposite. I struggled so much in her class because she grades so harshly and makes the exams extremely hard. If I didn't take AP calculus in high school, I would definitely be failing. I would avoid at all cost

Not good, just not good.

This is the worst teacher i have ever taken She is rude and degrading she actually took points off for me showing more work she doesnt cover material that is on the test in class you will have to learn through the book on your own and have to receive help she also makes things more complicated then they really are If you want a good GPA AVOID HER!!

Stella is good at being available outside of class. However, during class, it is easy to get lost, especially considering the language barrier. Entire class periods were dedicated to doing homework, after the majority of the class had already finished it and was ready to move on. She is caring, but the class is unduly and unnecessarily difficult.

By far one of the worst teachers I've ever had. She is a very tough grader and expects everything done her way. She often gets confused during class and doesn't listen to students when they respond in class. Only redeeming factor is redo-ing tests and quizzes for full credit. She's is just a bad instructor in general and expect to be annoyed.

I can stay with pretty clear confidence that she is the worst teacher I have ever had

Dr. Thistlethwaite ranks in the top 5 of the worst professors I've ever had. While she allows full-credit test corrections, she will take off points for EVERY thing that is not EXACTLY how she wants it. Her lectures are needlessly difficult to grasp. To top it off, she is outrageously condescending. I wouldn't wish this class on my worst enemy.

Stella is by far the WORST professor I have ever had. She takes off a lot of points if you dont do things EXACTLY her way. Skip more than one class? Be prepared for her to call on you endlessly. She didnt even go through all the curriculum of the class, making things way harder for those of us that have to go to higher maths.

To be blunt, Stella is the worst teacher I've had in my entire life. She bullies students who skip class or don't pay attention. She is very obscure when teaching. She grades exams to a standard she can't attain (classes always have 10-30 minutes of her making mistakes). The only redeeming thing is that she gives 100% redo on everything. Calc 3 tho

Oh dear lord, please avoid her at all costs. She bullies you for not knowing the answer to her vague questions and knocks off a ridiculous percwnt of points for tiny mistakes in algebra. If you don't do things exactly her way and completely flawlessly, expect to become her next target. I took this class for an honors credit and regret it so much.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Bullies students, very obscure, cant teeach things at the standard she expects from her students, makes mistakes constantly in class, language barrier, tons of points off if you dont do things EXACTLY her way, condenscending when she shouldnt be. If you are looking for easy honors credit dont take her honors courses.

This was a terrible course, just take 125. The entire class, made up of students who had already taken AP Calc in hs, would fail all of her exams. Her lectures do not prepare you for her tests. She is one of the most condescending people I have ever met. Unless you want daily mental abuse, do not take her class. It is NOT worth the honors credit.

She is the worst teacher I have ever taken a class from. Her explanations often contributed more to the misunderstanding than the understanding of material. She is consistently condescending and rude when answer questions making students who are struggling afraid to ask questions. Worst experience of my life. She deserves a negative score.

While working your way through the nuisance of homework assignment after homework assignment, you see light at the end of a tunnel, exam recorrections. However, those are unpleasant as well. A demeaning tone always manages to find its way into the conversation in office hours and lectures. Insulting students in class is no problem, so come prepared

Do not take her for calculus 2. She was by far the worst professor/teacher I have ever had. Her grading is extremely strict and you have to do the problem the way she wants you to. She also calls people out in class and makes them look bad/stupid. DO NOT TAKE HER.

She has her pros and cons. Pros: She allows full credit test redos, she will basically always extend homework, and she answers emails reasonably quickly. Cons: She is extremely picky about her grading! She went after the capitalization of my u on a test. She Will pick on you in class. Her lectures suck. I have to research myself from Khan

Terrible

Due to COVID the past semester was online, and therefore homework, quizzes and tests were online as well. This woman will give you homework and quizzes online and never tell you about them. Several times this year she assigned quizzes on gamedays. The only plus to this professor is the make up assignments. If it wasn't for those I would've failed.

The material isn't difficult. Her recitations just end up confusing a lot of us though. She's very condescending, and she is hopeless when she comes to using technology, a downside which affects me badly since I attend her recitations online. She does not coordinate well with Professor Stephenson, and Stephenson doesn't coordinate well with her.

This whole semester has been nothing but fighting through emails because I am unable to attend. She is still a bully. But my biggest issue with Stella is her lack of communication about assignments. She posts things with a due date of that day or the next and doesnt say anything. You can get extensions but if she doesnt like you, she will decline

It's very obvious she is very bad at communicating. Her lectures are confusing and she never allows enough time for students to learn. But what makes her unbearable is the way she treats her students. I've watched her fail students who could not come to class due to COVID complications. She does not care about her students success at all.

Thistlewaite was not a pleasure to work with. She frowned upon students using zoom instead of coming to class. Hard to hear and would raise her voice into the mic to get us to speak up. Seemed very disappointed when we did not understand a new topic and acted above us. Tests had no partial credit at the start. many quizzes in class and out. run.

Stella seems to not be able to teach very well, and also she cannot speak the English language very well. She is quiet in a large room of people, and she chooses the worst ways of teaching, in my opinion. As someone who taught themselves geometry in HS, I cannot follow some of her lectures.

Before Dr. Thistlethwaite, I thought it was only possible to accumulate more knowledge over time. Now, through her abysmal communication skills and 3rd-grader level technology competency, she has shown me that it is indeed possible to unlearn.

She is very bad at teaching and grades very funky.

She is a very nice person and wants the best for her students. She is, however, very bad at explaining the material. Her lectures are very difficult to follow. Furthermore, her test grading is even more difficult to follow.

This woman is lost She doesnt understand basic calculus even when she is copying it from a book. If you end up in her class drop as soon as you can.

If you haven't taken calculus before, stay away (Well really stay away in general). She struggles to do basic calculations. She also bullies students for asking questions. Also check for homework often because she regularly posts assignments with no warning and then gets angry when no one has done them.

While shes very nice and understanding, she is very bad at explaining content. She gets confused with her own work and doesnt use a textbook to check herself. She will also assign hw and quizzes online without mentioning it. She will give extensions whenever you want, but she takes off points on exams for stupid reasons. Do NOT take her class.

Stella is, generally speaking, a nice enough person. She is not a good or even adequate lecturer. Do not even try to get your assignments revised; I spent 2 days emailing with her trying to explain simple grammar just to get the points I deserved. She is technologically inept, struggles with basic English, and often makes mistakes during lectures.

Stella should never be your choice for a class in math. Not only is she not able to use tech, but she is the hardest grader I have ever seen, your exam must be an exact match to her answer key. She is very rude and will keep putting you on the spot if you answer something wrong. Her tests are harder than that of other professors. DO NOT TAKE.

Stella was harder than the other 141 professors. She's unhelpful when answering questions. Kinda hard to understand and her notes are hard to follow. She gives easy quizzes that she walks you through but everything else is hard. She deducts arbitrarily and took points off for showing too much work. Her tests are harder than other 141 sections' test

Made this class way harder than it needed to be. Tests were harder than other 141 classes and lectures were more confusing.

Before this class i had never taken a calculus course, and without the help of my friends who were in higher level math i wouldve absolutely failed. Her lectures are impossible to follow and she doesnt cover the material necessary to complete homework or tests in class. The homework is 10x harder than the quizzes, DO NOT TAKE HER IF YOU LIKE LIFE

Generally speaking, she is a nice person. She mostly always allows you to correct your tests to improve your grade. As a professor, by far the worst I have ever had. She makes everything so much harder than what is necessary, gives enough homework that you will hate life, and every bit of your answers must be like her answer key. Just don't

I have always been good at math (straight As in HS and 32 ACT) and failed every test. She assigns homework the day it's due, takes points off for not including things that weren't even in the question, and offers no extra credit. She messed up the notes so often that practically the entire page was white out by the end of class. Don't take her.

Prof. Stella's lectures are worthless and confusing. All learning will come from outside sources and none will come from the notes. Also, there is homework due nearly every day after lecture, which gets in the way of studying for other classes. Do yourself a favor and pick someone else, or take it at a community college over the summer/winter.

The class itself is not very difficult, the exams are like the homework, and she will allow you to make up points. This is the most exhausting class i've ever taken. There are webassigns due every night that are at a minimum 20 questions long, and often due the same day as learning the material. If you work or take other classes, DO NOT TAKE HER!

Stella Thistlewaite was probably one of the worst professors that I have ever had. Her lectures did not make much sense. She had so much trouble with the computer and projector. All the homework that she assigned was online, so it was so much easier than the tests she had. I never listened to her lectures and just did the homework in class.

Stella is one of the worst teachers I have ever had in my entire educational career. She is extremely rude and condescending, and makes constant mistakes and gets very hostile when corrected. If you ever have the misfortune of being assigned this arrogant, spiteful woman, do yourself a favor and switch sections or just drop the class.

Stella is not a very clear teacher and her lectures are very confusing. I'm in her class right now and I am having to teach myself all of the material on my own time. She is condescending and if you ask any questions she will belittle you and you're lucky if she answers the question you asked at all. Do not recommend at all.

Stella has been the worst professor I have ever had. She criticizes students for asking questions and is not understanding of any outside circumstances. She degraded me throughout the semester by insulting my intelligence and work ethic although I was one of the hardest workers in the class. She also grades people unfairly.

Stella is easily the worst professor I've ever had. Calculus is not an easy course, but it's made infinitely more difficult when your professor is incapable of expressing herself and elaborating on complex topics. The homework isn't too difficult, but there's a lot of it. Definitely take anyone else if given the opportunity.

This woman is the worst math teacher. If you can avoid her then please do. The only reason is she has a job is because of her husband. She took points off because my lettering what too large for her liking even though the work was correct. If you happen to miss a class she will interrogate you and disrespect you. Whatever you do don't taker her.

She is just straight-up mean. The only good thing is that the late hw policy is great and she will let you redo quizzes.

One of the most difficult and nitpicky profs at UTK. She'll deduct points if you draw a line that's off by even a decimeter, among other things. In addition, if you try to take an excused absence, she'll make it as inconvenient for you as possible, often in times when you don't need any extra hurdles. Only saving grace is her test correction policy

I would highly advise dropping the class or taking another professor if you can. Calc 3 with Stella is not worth it. She does giant proofs the entire class that nobody understands. She assigns 50-60 question webassigns multiple times per week. There are sometimes multiple pop quizzes per class period. She makes Calc 3 harder than it should be.

Stella is a very nice teacher and does try hard to help her students, but she just isn't a very good teacher. Her lectures are fast paced and messy while often repeating material, her homework is ridiculously long with many questions that aren't covered in class, and her tests are very hard. It's best to just not take her, it's not worth your time.

honestly she made this class so miserable and every lecture was an endless cycle of being confused and wanting to leave instantly. So much webassign and most of them are 20-30 questions. Her grading is so random and inconsistent.

Adding on to her arrogant attitude, the email she sent regarding my grade/final was very unprofessional and basically stating to me to stop bothering her. Why is she even taking up teaching if she doesn't want to be bothered? IT'S HER JOB TO ANSWER EMAILS! Honestly, you are better off with anyone else. I am struggling to give her a 1/5.

Stella was awful. She would take random points off of your test and make it unclear as to where you lost points. I forgot to write an equal sign on an exam and she took off a point. Not only did she try to teach past the time class ended, but she would go on long theorem rants. It would be better to teach yourself than learn from her.

Just take somebody else, she does not explain the material well and just confuses you. Much easier to learn through somebody else

Don't

The most unorganized and scattered professor I have had. She makes many many errors during lecture and doesn't know the material well enough to teach.

The average for the first exam was 42. Did offer corrections for that exam, but it shouldn't be that low to begin with. She only gives you 5 seconds to answer in-class problems so rip participation grade. Blames her multiple in-class errors on ADHD. Just a mean person who only has a job because of her husband's contributions to knot theory.

take anyone else

Professor Thistlethwaite is by far the worst professor I had this semester. She is simply a terrible teacher, exam averages were all below 50%, if it weren't for the quiz corrections she allowed us, 70% of the class would have failed. The only plus I have on her is that she grants extensions on homework assignments, but everything else is terrible.

Worst calculus professor. Prepare yourself for frantic, confusing, and convoluted lectures. Insane amount of online homework. She will call on you to answer questions during lecture and if you get them wrong she will berate and embarrass you in front of the entire class. Take literally any other professor if given the option. For your own sanity.

Sooo hard

She sucks

An incomprehensible lecturer is not good when paired with difficult material. If you are currently taking her class, I'd suggest learning the material elsewhere (Youtube is a great source!) If you have yet to take her class, do yourself a favor and don't.

I want to preface this by saying Mrs. Thistlethwaite is a nice lady. But, whatever you do, do not take this class. I made a mistake the day I decided I would take this class even though I saw her rmp. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS. Impossible to understand. Insane amounts of homework. Tests with questions I have never seen. Pop quizzes nearly weekly.

I am free from this hell

I am free from this hell. Do not make the same mistakes as me.

She blatantly lies. She told us we would receive our last exam back before the final so we would know what to study but didn't. If you email her she'll try to gas light you into thinking you aren't "patient enough". I really don't understand why this woman is a professor at all. She isn't deserving of anything, and should be ashamed of herself.

The most incompetent math teacher ever. Constantly made mistakes & any technical difficulties she will make it the student's problem/fault. Calls on people by name to see if they're paying attention, but her frantic lectures are more harmful than helpful. Also held me after class because my registered name didn't match my preferred name. AVOID HER.

Professor Thistlethwaite is the most unorganized and confusing professor I've ever had the displeasure of learning from. Her lectures are confusing, her tests are even worse. She loves assigning multiple quizzes during class. Pray that you don't have her for an online class. This is the 2nd time I've had her, so trust when I say avoid at all cost.

Calculus 1 isn't a super hard class, but she finds a way to make it like you are reading ancient hieroglyphics when doing math. If you are stuck with her, I recommend watching YouTube videos and reading anything you can about the topics.

Prof. Thistlethwaite is a very tough teacher and is genuinely hard to deal with, let alone learn from. She constantly hands out quizzes for in-class work and requires participation when we are just learning. She also gets frustrated when students do not know how to do the things that we are learning. I plead with you to take another professor.

I honestly do not understand how she is till teaching at this school. She seems incompetent half the time because she makes no sense and gets half of the answers wrong after going through the entire process and then doesn't explain it the correct way after. She also has been extremely rude at times. Worst teacher I have ever had. DO NOT TAKE HER.

Very difficult to learn from. She doesn't actually teach calculus she explains things using trigonometry that completely defeats the purpose of understanding how to solve a problem using calculus. Tests have the worst format I've ever seen and are so hard to understand what it is asking. Would never recommend to anyone.

Ms. Thistlewaite might genuinely be the worst teacher I've ever had. Grammar is broken, and English is bad. Lectures are Long, repetitive, and always off-topic. No late or makeup work. Exams are not like HW. Tests AVG was low 60s for whole class. Ask for help? She'll say, “Its not my class; its the coordinators.” Save the frustration, Do Not Take!

Stella is probably the worst math professor I ever had to take. She makes mistakes a ton while explaining the content, when you ask for help, she makes you understand the content less than before. While reviewing for the quiz, she even makes mistakes while showing the work resulting into getting wrong answers 99% of the time. AVOID !

She is by far the worst calculus or math teacher I have ever had the excruciating pain of listening to, I sometimes wonder if her incompetence is due to her aging or family matters, she constantly has technical issues and gets simple math concepts wrong, and continues to go on until she runs into an issue later. DONT take if you value comprehension

She's really not good. Choose someone else; last resort but need to take the class - type of professor

Don't trust positive reviews. I have never had a worse professor. If you get her please switch out before it is too late. You WILL be teaching yourself. She is so bad I had to formally report her to the department, and the department has had to intervene with her before. The final wasn't written by her and was the best grade I got in that class.

Assigned worksheets worth 10 percent of your grade at the last few weeks of class, which we were supposed to do during the entire semester of class.

Avoid this class at all costs - confusing lectures, unhelpful professor, and unreasonable assignments. However, unstuck study was a lifesaver for exam prep.

Very hard to understand and makes lectures very confusing. Expected me to come to class with the flu. In class participation is mandatory and for accuracy. Not very friendly in general. Avoid at all costs.

Extremely sweet lady, and I wish her the best. Now that that's out of the way, how she is still an active professor at this university is laughable. Truly indescribable unless you have taken her. If God forbid you end up with her, put some air pods in and do not listen. Depicting her train of thought will leave you more confused. Stay away.

You don't get sick, okay? If you do, you get dragged into her closet of an office for an interrogation. She accuses you of cheating because you can't explain the concepts from the worksheet completed during the class you missed. Then she lectures you about how she always attended class, even when she was sick. A disgrace to the title of professor.

She's a sweet woman who cares about her students, but that's the only good thing I can say. Her lectures make no sense and her pacing is terrible. We spent weeks on vectors but learned three major theorems in ONE DAY. She also micromanages more than any teacher I've ever had. If you want to learn, take literally anyone else. I'm being so serious.

I used to LOVE math, but she made me dread going to this class everyday because of the hostile environment she created. 3/4 of the way through the semester, we were being tested on material other calc 3 classes tested on during their first test. If you value your education and actually want to learn something, please do NOT take her.

pop quizzes for attendance. WILL cold call on you. Biggest benefit is that the class is easy to pass as long as you put in the effort and review the webbassigns for exams. don't take unless you have to, but if you do its not the end of the world.

This is the worst professor I have ever had. She doesn't understand the concepts she teaches whatsoever. She also teaches excruciatingly slow and over explains stuff (wrong) A LOT. There is also an extreme language barrier as well with it being very hard to decipher what she's saying. DO NOT TAKE THIS TEACHER AT ALL COST

DO NOT TAKE THIS PROFESSOR. She barely speaks English and it feels as if she is talking at you not to you. Nothing against her harsh accent, but it makes it hard to understand for native English speakers, which is everybody in my class. I will be dropping ASAP. Only take if you absolutely have to

I'll start by saying that Stella was a nice lady, and that is the last nice thing that I can say about her. Lectures are her rambling about the subjects with no clarity whatsoever. Exams were pretty easy, and the online homework was somewhat helpful. I stopped going to this class with about a month left because I wasn't gaining anything from going.

Stella was AWFUL. It's damn near impossible to understand her with her accent. Her attendance is mandatory with the use of a ttpole for a grade that takes most of the class. After she gives 0 instruction on how to actually do the math. You're better off going to the math place every day than showing up to class. If you get her drop the class ASAP.

Very disjointed and confusing lectures. SUPER SWEET WOMAN but I would not recommend her teach this class. You will probably get an A in her class but will be taught almost exclusively via web assign.