1.8
Quality4.1
Difficulty13%
Would Retake94
Reviews13%
Would Retake
94
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
94 total ratings5
8
4
3
3
10
2
22
1
51
What Students Say
“Do not recommend this teacher for any subject”
COMS8269 - 1.0 rating“extremely rude to students”
COMSC110 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
97%
Textbook Required
64%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.31 avg changeRatings by Course
COMSC1001260
5.0
(1)COMSC
3.5
(2)CIS181
3.0
(1)COMSC100L
3.0
(1)CS110
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1008266
5.0
CIS181
5.0
COM8268
5.0
COMSC
5.0
COMP252
5.0
Reviews (93)
Knows PMP very well. Spends more time telling the class what they do not know. Not helpful with questions. No graded homework but quiz every week.
The course grading system was extremely well explained and fair. However, Professor Colber was very disrespectul towards the students and essentially treated us like a bunch of middle school students. She was difficult to deal with when asking questions and could be dismissive. She fell very behind in the grading so you received no feedback.
She is unbelievable rude and treats student like little kids.You have to wait for answers on questions a long time (2 weeks!?) and then they are shockingly disrespectful.Her knowledge in computer programming seems never to be proven in the "real world";she marks correct answers as wrong.Got an A, but absolutely not advised if you want to learn!!
condescending to students.
Not a good teacher at all. i had no exerience in programming at all before this class, and when i took it she taught us nothing. we just read from the textbook, take a quiz, and do work at home. she repeats evrything the book says. she is rude, disrupts class more than students, is not helpful, takes her weeks to give feedback, and is just not nice
In class she's incredibly irritating. She will harp on you if you get up to go to the bathroom. Shut your monitor off is her favorite sentence. She fell behind in grading, which put me ~5 points under an A in the end. Assigns extra lab work that is mandatory. Go elsewhere if you want to be treated like an adult. Nice outside of class though.
Definitely an interesting semester. I don't recccomend this professor if you don't handle frustration well. The class material was pretty neat though and very easy to earn yourself an A....flexible due dates, grades reflect effort, just go to class and turn in your best attempt at every assignment.
She may appear to be rather distanced from her class at times, but when you get down to it she really tries to teach self-sufficiency. If you love programming, then I advise this teacher as she helped me go from a D to a B in a few weeks when I came up to her. If you are new to coding then I don't recommend her.
If you want any help, dont even try taking this professor. She'd probably kill your love for computing with her off topic lectures, book knowledge, and no help
I know these classes fill up fast, which is the only reason I settled on her upon reading reviews but its worth it to wait another semester for a different Teacher, she's rude and openly insults your intelligence if you are annoying her with questions, her lectures are confusing and you will struggle getting the work done. Good luck!
i don't like her, her class is so boring and you can't ask questions. she drop me b/c i did not come to class, this class ends in 11:00 and i don't have a car, but i did finish my homework and quiz, anyway who care you attend a science class or not. you should never, never take her class
I am not going to write what I want to say, I will keep it professional. Every single comment under her name that states "poor quality" is giving to much credit to her! She lacks the passion and patience to work with her students who want to learn. She openly stated "i am not paid enough to help you guys outside of class time. Get a tutor". Thanks
This teacher grade based on if she's in a good mood or not. also if she likes you or not. you will never get your test back because of this reason. she will tell you to go up and check your grade and thats it. I know this because my friend and I we answer the same question he got -1/2 I got -2 points. same answers! (we study beforehand)
I do not typically review or contribute to this website but was compelled to do so after my experiences with Ms. Valerie Colber. Given that she has exhibited such high levels of discordant, denigrating, demoralizing, and derisive behavior toward her students, I rate her with a generous D as an instructor and will not take another of her classes.
ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. Luckily I took this class as a requirement and already knew the material. She treats you like a child, literally NO patience for slower learners and doesn't teach you ANYTHING. she literally tells you to read the book and doesn't teach. I could've saved money and just bought the book than deal with her. I DO NOT RECOMMEND!
The reviews make her out to be worse than she actually is. If you are completely brand new to programming, I wouldn't recommend her because she does expect a lot of self-sufficiency and doesn't respond quickly to questions. Grading is fair but she was behind on grading so many students were in the dark about their grade. Semi-boring lectures.
To be honest, I don't really think she's a bad teacher. She uses the book to a T and tries to be a good teacher. Sadly, she has somehow not achieved this state. Her lectures leave much to be desired, she talks about taking notes but doesn't say anything noteworthy. Worse: she forces a tedious work load. She also disperses misinformation. Good Luck.
I hated requirement to write algorithms before code. It took more time than code took. But many short exercises in each Lab gave a good practice and programming experience. Imho Sometimes she was too severe. I didn`t feel feedback.
She is a very nice lady, who is fun to have conversation with after class. As for the class. Im Sorry but her grading is BS half the time. -1 for getting a question wrong in a lab. Thats ok but -5 for not putting user input on the same line?? That is ridiculous. She also marks you off silly points for stuff that was never in the requirements.
Completely agree with the person below me on her excessively harsh grading system. For example, yes, I should get points off for missing a detail in the user instructions, but a 10% reduction just for that? The point penalty seems to be disproportionate. Aside from that, she does try to be helpful, but she has a tendency to sound condescending.
If you're a CS major or especially interested in programming, I would recommend this teacher. While her emphasis on algorithms was be a bit much and helpfulness with actual programming oftentimes lacking, I do think at the end of it all those frustrations made me a better programmer for it. Careful though - this class has a hefty workload.
Pros: She's passionate about the content and teaching. She's pretty knowledgable. Cons: She confuses herself and does not have clear expectations. Every week she grades differently, no consistent grading standard for her assignments - constant ambiguity, not helpful for an intro course. She's also militant with attendance and class conduct.
Her teaching style is unorganized. I don't believe she has a credential, so she doesn't seem to understand the methodology behind explaining the subject, but is obviously very knowledgeable. Since this is an introductory course, I expected to be walked through the material, but she makes you dig for answers, which is a good skill, but unwelcome.
If you want to get an A pick a different teacher!! Me and my friend spent at least 10-15 hours outside of class studying the material and working on the labs. The actual material itself isn't hard but her grading is unreasonable and gives no feedback. This can be a very easy class if you get a good teacher
Ms Colber is a very educated woman.. but she steps over herself constantly. She will start saying something then jump to another idea and to another before getting to the point. She isn't a very approachable person either. There's an online quiz for every chapter, ten programming assignments, five tests [which are impossible], and a final.
I learned a ton in this class and found it relatively easy to earn an A. The tests, the hardest aspect of the class, are based on the book. Copy down the notes she gives in class and highlight them in your text book. You absolutely have to read the chapters assigned and always be one chapter ahead, as she will tell you. Others had issues, i didn't.
-- Knowledgeable about the subject -- Lectures are 45 -- Reexplains if needed -- TOUGH grading criteria -- Stupid easy exam (if you study and have put in effort-- duh), but her grading criteria is quite critical -- Dings off points for every minute error on the weekly homework -- Speaks Clearly -- Would I retake a class with her? Sure.
worst teacher i have ever had by far. i got a good grade but only by becoming great at cheating. Book doesnt match class, some material on tests are not covered by lecture or book. Condescending, rude, no patience you really wont learn anything. will scream at you if you try and help each other with programming.
she is a hard teacher but at the end of the day you will learn a lot about computer!
Hardest teacher ever . Didn't think this class would be this hard. Actually, it shouldn't have been that hard, she just made it difficult for everyone ! If you can take someone else , do it ! Got a good grade , but I wouldn't recommend this class to many.
Talks for 100 minutes. No breaks. Nags. Nags and nags some more. Confronts students when they leave early. Confronts you when you get in late. 14 quizzes, 10 programming assignments, 6 tests (I think), a final, a midterm. That's a ton of testing for someone who doesn't know how to teach. Also, watches too much T.V. $100 textbook you won't need.
Hands down, worst teacher I've ever had. Scattered lectures where she trails off and says "well, you know..." - no, we don't. Really rude. Constantly talking about TV and commercials. Took forever to grade stuff. She actually gave me an A on an assignment I didn't even do, which made me realize she was phoning it in. Avoid her at all costs.
One word: TERRIBLE! Scattered. Doesn't know if she's coming or going. Treats her students like middle-schoolers. Expects everyone to be passionate about computers and can't grasp the concept that some of us take COMSC as a requirement for other degrees. Not approachable AT ALL and beyond rude. Move along, you'll regret enrolling with Colbert.
Prof. Colber has had many hours working in IT; she will tell you, in class, exactly what it's like. If you don't understand the material she is there for you to explain it, not do it for you. Read and underline. In lectures, make sure that you listen because what she says will be on the test. Directions are crystal clear. Humorous, sometimes.
Literally the worst professor I have ever had. Never graded assignments on time. No feedback until a couple of weeks later. Grading was not consistent. If you have a valid concern she will simply reply in a condescending manner and tell you to leave. I went in during office hours and heard her yelling at another student seeking help. Simpl
Pros: All of her lecture and lab assignment is based on the book, however, expect to spend a LOT of time making the assignment. Has a really constructive lesson and clear schedule. Cons: Not recommended for those without basic c++ knowledge. She is rude, Her grading is harsh and REALLY slow, so don't expect any feedback on your assignment.
RUN as far away from this instructor as you can. Obviously she has little control in other areas of her life because she wants to micromanage every little breath you take. It's one of those classes where the teacher wants to make the grade the challenge rather than learning. DVC can do better.
Prof Colber may be decent at coding, but she is a poor teacher. She often neglects to complete her sentences. Her midterm and final are about memorization of the book and not about learning the core concepts of c++. This class is a blitz rush of c++, when it SHOULD be about building a foundation for students to learn, get excited and build off.
Terrible professor, does not help students at all. Will not give any help to students and just tries to go through the book as fast as possible.
Professor Colber was not an effective communicator. I have never heard so many "um's" and "ah's" inserted into sentences in my life. This stalling use of words was done so much, it was hard to take anything she took seriously and made it seem like she was extremely unprepared and inexperienced. I had to teach myself the class from the book. (D-)
Worst teacher on DVC and CCC campus. If you really want to learn coding. DO NOT TAKE HER! She's the laziest and worst teacher I ever took. SO RUDE! Don't grade anything on time. Super hard labs you will end up googling because you won't learn anything from. I rather watch YouTube videos than to go to her class. I repeat do not take her!!!
Bad news! Her Powerpoints are 50 pages long, and the lectures are scattered and disorganized. Terrible, uptight voice. Is a micro-manager beyond belief. Tests are ridiculous!
Do not recommend this teacher for any subject. Poorly presents herself, lectures are a joke. Assignments are graded strictly but feedback is minimalist and nothing is returned for reviewing your mistakes. No test prep is given, assignments are based on the textbook, coming to class is a joke (waste of time) but necessary in order to pass.
If I wrote this review before taking comsc165 I'd have given her a scathing review, as I hated doing this class. However, once I got to the next class, I realized how well she prepared me for 165. Lots of other reviews are accurate BUT if you want to be a programmer, she is the teacher for you. If you get through her class with an A you'll be set.
DO THE EXTRA CREDIT!!!! These are extremely easy to get points, and there are a lot of them! Use communities like C++ forum, StackOverflow. Do not rely on your study group, or the community in the canvas, really not helping much since others are just as confused as you are, and the professor won't answer you anything useful.
Excellent teacher. Crystal clear and concise. This class will prepare you for the next level for sure. As others have said, she is INCREDIBLY nitpicky, but hey, so is C++. Programming demands perfection. Grading system is awful though, very easy to lose a lot of points for small errors. Also FAR too much emphasis on algorithms. Still, good class.
No break time. No whispering with classmates. No electronics. It is really hard to get a A in her class, for example, there are around 50 points that you could lose for an assignment worth 15 points. She sometimes changes the homework requirements AFTER it has been posted. Hard to understand why points are taken away just by reading her feedback
Terrible teacher! extremely rude to students! very unapproachable! DO NOT TAKE HER CLASS! She is very lazy at grading so expect to get your assignments weeks after it was due. Extremely easy to loose points. This was an into to C++ class. I lost all motivation in wanting to pursue my major in COMSC due to this professor. WARNING DO NOT TAKE HER!
This class is not easy. However, she prepared us SO incredibly well for COMSC-165. Her lectures are very clear and easy to understand and she gives you an assignment/drill once a week you can work on all class. Excellent teacher, she is tough as others have said, but I can't stress enough how well she prepared us for the next level. A++.
I don't know why most people don't like her, but I think it is really easy to get an "A" in her class. Maybe she has a heavy lecture, but if you reading the book carefully, you can solve almost all problem. The most important thing is that she gives so many extra credits. If you finish all extra credit, you don't even have to take the final exam!!
Colber is very knowledgeable in programming and is definitely preparing you for advanced classes or career in programming. She spends lots of time talking about Elon Musk and then rushes the end of the lecture. SHOW UP & DO THE EXTRA CREDIT! She can be rude and demeaning at times, but if you have thick skin you'll be fine.
before I took her class I was self-taught on programming and her class did teach me some good things a programmer should do. however, what I can't stand is her attitude towards her students. she nags (a LOT), micromanages everything, treats her student like their in high school, rude and gives feedback 2 weeks after its due. DONT TAKE HER CLASS
Rude. Unclear grading criteria. Gives feedbacks after weeks.
Professor Colber can be condescending towards students. She grades extremely tough and you may lose almost half the points from a 40 point assignment. She also has changed assignments after assigning them and expect you to re-do yours. She is not a very understanding or kind woman. She has little patience and will not help you with problems.
This teacher is a rude!!! Especially she does not support students especially when we ask questions. I remembered when a student ask a question instead of helping she laughed it off. If I had to grade this teacher I would give it a F-. -1000000 out of 10!
If you don't put enough effort, you will fail. Besides that, it's not hard to pass the class. It's true when she said "DO NOT WORRY ABOUT YOUR SCORE."
- Take her if youre already an expert at programming - Expect 3 hour power point presentations - Does not give feedback/grades in a timely manner - Be prepared to be treated as a middle schooler again (need to ask permission to use restroom, no more than once per class without being questioned) - No breaks
Ding Ding Hint Hint Clue Clue every single day
When you run into a problem writing your code she won't help you and tell you "I won't tell you what's wrong because you won't learn." Well after 2.5 hours of trying to figure it out the kid next to me helped me against her word & in that 4 minute lecture by him, i learnt more than i did in the whole class. Also walked into midterm knowing nothing
Avoid her at all costs. Constantly changes assignments while youre working and no consistent schedule. She purposely gives test that you will fail. She refuses to grade work until the last week of school so you cant get any info on your grade nor how to correct mistakes. Very rude and unhelpful. Class started with 35 and maybe 3 passed.
Most of the learning for this was on my own time. I got more from textbook than lecture. Not helpful; you're better off figuring out questions on your own (she'll even tell you this). Very nitpicky. Lots of EC. Assignments were hard, but if you truly want to learn computerscience, you will learn lots! This class did prepare me well for 165 and 200.
After reading such terrible reviews on this professor I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and sign up for her COMSC-110 class over the summer. That was a BIG mistake. She graded EVERYTHING when the semester ended so nobody has no clue on how to improve or any knowledge of their grades. Only gives a few hours to complete assignments!
Every time she says "ding ding ding hint hint hint clue clue clue" get ready for your grade to drop 10 points. She marks down unnecessary points, but she procrastinates her grading and ends up giving everybody A's. If you're a Harry Potter fan, get ready to meet Aunty Vernon
Absolutely the worst computer science teacher I have ever had. She made me hate programming. She is so bad I would not wish my worst enemy to take her class. Luckily I made a friend and he helped me get thought the assignments. I would have failed otherwise. She gives a lot of extra credit, which saved me and exams are not worth that much. AVOID!!!
Oh my God! I cant put her into words that can explain what kind of professor she is. I think I might have to take the class again because I know nothing. She teaches from a script that only she knows. smart and experienced students dropped the class on the first week but we are stuck with her. DON'T TAKE HER AS YOUR PROFESSOR.
One word: the horrible experience of my life DONT TAKE HER PLEASEEEEEE
We are currently within days of the end of the semester, and she has barely graded anything, justifying it with the fact that she gives lots of extra credit so it shouldn't matter anyway. Complains that students aren't understanding the way she wants them to do things when she hasn't graded anything all semester. BE WARNED BY THE REVIEWS HERE
Won't stop talking about Elon Musk.
i have post traumatic stress from this course
I took this class a while back and I wanted to wait till I was done with the CS program to give an honest review. This class is like nothing I've ever been through, its hard, unreasonable and complete hell. BUT this class covered pretty much everything I needed to know and prepared me for the rest of the program. Its hell but pays off later.
DO NOT... I will say it again DO NOT. I looked at these comments and didn't believe she would be as bad as she turned out to be. I am now learning my lesson and dropping with W. Do Not Doubt These Words.
This women is the worst professor I have ever had. She does not care about your grade nor does she care to teach you.
The class is certainly difficult. The teacher goes off on tangents. I can understand the low reviews as even this entry-level course is difficult and not being able to get feedback until the entire course is finished is beyond frustrating. You can tell the teacher cares about her students. However, her grading habits really hurt the course.
The class was super long and boring and late at night and then she assigns homework that is due THAT NIGHT. In my final week of class and she still hasnt put in like half my grades so i have no idea how im doing in the class. Marks you down for using anything she doesnt teach in the class. Words things really strangley on the test and quizzes.
Not enough time to complete assignment, arbitrary and overly harsh grading. The average score on the midterm was about 50%. The only way you can save yourself in this class is doing tons of extra credit work and she acts like office hours are mandatory. I didn't get any grades or feedback during term. no idea how I did in class.
WORST TEACHER EVER! DO NOT CHOSE THIS TEACHER! Multiple students complained about her to her department chair & the conduct officers. What a nightmare!
They don’t give me enough characters to list everything wrong with this teacher. If you are forced to take her class be sure to read whatever chapter is up next to learn PRIOR to meeting for class. She will not explain it well. If you have a question good luck because she won’t answer it properly. Ur better off learning thru codecademy first
Don't do it. Just find someone else.
i bet anyone who gave a low rating was not putting in what they wanted to get back. not a class goes by that she doesn't urge us to ask ?'s or to come to tutoring hours. she takes the trophy for most responsive professor. she's not afraid to tell you how it is and genuinely wants everyone to succeed. she is truly an enjoyable person to learn from.
She assigned so much work, including homework that would be due that night (class didnt end till after 10pm). She worded things very weirdly on test a lot of the times, so it was hard to tell what she was even asking. She would assign things that she said were extra credit and then assign things that seemed to assume you did the extra credit.
she gives us a date and time to turn in work but she grades it at the end of the semester, so us not knowing how much point we got on those assignments and to make changes or re-do it is not possible. she gets distracted a lot and almost all the time in the 4 hour class we spend only last 50 min to learn about something.
Just do not take this class, this teacher is not worth your time. Too many assignments, too many instructions which she never goes over, every excercise has like 4 assignments plus labs. You will be working more than you would like to. Very rude, she always tells us to ask question and would get mad at us for asking them. Just dont.
The biggest issue is that she didn't grade *any* of our coding exercises during the semester. The only things that were graded was the midterm, final, and daily quizzes (these were auto-graded). If you brought this up, she would waste class time ranting about how grades weren't everything. She turned in final grades weeks after the deadline.
The worst teacher I have ever had. Do not take her summer class unless you want to torture yourself. Sadly I'm not even exaggerating. Ridiculous amounts of hw that is EXTREMELY tedious, will take you HOURS, only to get almost all your points off. 16 hours a week of CLASS ALONE, hw will triple that. Wouldn't wish this class on my worst enemy.
Lectures for 16 hrs/wk only to teach you nothing. Put her on mute, learned from lecture slides/textbook. No late work, you get a 0. Hw due day of at 11:59pm. 4th of July weekend 3 labs were due, each taking 2 hrs to complete. ON A HOLIDAY WEEKEND. Tons of pts off on stuff that takes you hrs. This class took yrs off my life, and for what? 4 credits.
Lectures are just a waste of four hours. You could learn more from reading the lecture notes and textbook in 15 minutes than in the 4 hour period she teaches every day. The semester just ended and she's only graded 2 papers as of now.
There is no way this class is real. She makes us sit through her irrelevant lectures for 18 hours a week and I can confidently say that 1. I learned nothing through them and 2. she is infatuated with Elon Musk. She talks extensively about him and I honestly believe she is jealous of his wife. I beg anyone who is reading this to avoid at all costs!!
Passive aggressive and never clearly answers questions, assigns huge amounts of extremely tedious homework. I have 4+ years in computer science background and worked 50+ hours a week on this class to receive a B. 16 hrs of lecture/week: useless, mostly ranting about technology companies, and classmates could explain everything to me in 5 minutes.
I found her class intense and busy. You read from a textbook that is cheap to buy, luckily. The work amount IS necessary. Learning, and essentially like attending camp for coding at the same time. Do the assignments, and then play with the handful of coding to aid understanding the assignments. Concepts not hard. Plenty time, and office hours.
This teacher was completely unfocused during lectures and lots of times was so monotone that you couldn't even understand at times. Consistently didn't stop to answer questions, always was passive aggressive towards you, and made it near impossible to understand the material. If you have zero back ground in tech and don't take her class.
15+ hours spent on homework just to have it graded into the ground. No time to do Ex credit/takes as long as HW. 0% feedback on how to make a program work if you don't understand it, even after receiving credit. Office hours: she dismissed any questions I had and said to go play with the old homework, had no time to do that. Failed first semester
She made me hate coding and school.
Ok so I understand the issues people have with her. A lot of them are true and she is quite strict. That said, this is a great class for anyone who wants to really hammer down the fundamentals/learn. As another poster says, this class is exactly what you'd expect if you went to an in-person coding boot camp. The weekly drills are important.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
97%
Textbook Required
64%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B+
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.31 avg changeRatings by Course
COMSC1001260
5.0
(1)COMSC
3.5
(2)CIS181
3.0
(1)COMSC100L
3.0
(1)CS110
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
1008266
5.0
CIS181
5.0
COM8268
5.0
COMSC
5.0
COMP252
5.0