2.9
Quality3.9
Difficulty48%
Would Retake99
Reviews48%
Would Retake
99
Reviews
Rating DistributionOfficial
5
15
4
18
3
30
2
20
1
16
What Students Say
“His instructions are muddled or non existent”
CSC3102 - 1.0 rating“He is terrible at teaching and I highly recommend you avoid this man at all costs”
CSC1350 - 1.0 ratingClass Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
7%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.65 avg changeRatings by Course
CSC1351
4.2
(6)CSC1350CSC3102
4.0
(1)CSC1254
3.8
(6)CSC2259
3.5
(2)1253
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CSC1250
4.5
CSC2259
4.5
CSC3102
4.2
1253
4.0
CSC101
4.0
Reviews (99)
Maybe it's just me, but i hated it. You just jumped straight into programming, no intro stuff really at all.
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The user's who rated him are probably dumb biology majors who are forced to take CSC classes at our university. If they paid attention, duncan is the most available teacher on campus. He will help, repeat, and deliever information non stop until you understand it. Best teacher.
this guy is smart, I'll give him that. He knows what he is talking about. Unfortunately, he can't teach it. And in response to the first post, I am a CS major.
He may know what he's talking about, but he certainly doesn't know how to convey it. I had an extreme interest in Computer Science before this class, and I've taken Programming in C++ before. He is just an abysmal teacher, in my opinion. I believe he should stick to lab work because he hasn't got social skills.
we spend half the class fixing his errors. he may be smart, but the guy cant put thought to paper to save his life. I was CS major, Duncan made me change it!
You have to go to class and pay attention. Having intelligence is also a plus, obviously some of the other reviewers started his class out with a cripple. Really difficult and really strict about deadlines. Definitely the best CSC professor at LSU that I've been exposed to so far. Take this class if you want to learn programming, otherwise stay awa
this is my advice .. if ur taking his class .. you must attend it cause of the quizes that he gives in the beginning of the lecture it will help to increase the grade believe me and also the projects ..just do it... exams are really hard but that wont effect much even if you did little bad ...
You should know everything taught from CSC1350 really well before entering this course. If not, I strongly emphasize that you study those contents during the summer. If you enter this class with little Java background knowledge, it will kick your butt very swiftly. Duncan is a nice guy, but he certainly has high expectations.
Very intelligent, but horribly disorganized. He usually has no idea what lecture he is supposed to be giving on any particular day. The first 10 - 15 minutes of class are usually spent watching him try to find which power point presentation to open. His ability to convey the material is also abismal. Not bad enough to make me leave CSC though.
Everyone likes to dog on Duncan alot, and say he's a horrible professor, but I don't buy into that. I find him fairly easy, and pretty nice. But that might be because I have background experience in Java. I would suggest learning some of it before you get into the class, but I don't have any real complaints to speak of.
I walked into the class with some programming knowledge in HTML and a little bit of C++. This class is so far over my head that it isn't even funny, and I'm not a stupid guy. I changed my major because of this class, especially because he's the "best" in the department. Good luck. :/
Dull, boring, and takes forever to go through the material. Horrible at placing emphasis on the important parts of class
he knows what he is talking about, he is super smart, but he can't convoy his knowledge well at all. he gives 2 test that are 25% of the grade each test is 60% programming and 40% on other things(usually 2 questions). his programs are SUPER hard, i had a senior helping and i didn't get a 100. Super tough material, super bad teacher.
William Duncan is an average teacher. His tests are hard and his lectures are not at all helpful.
Duncan has very high expectations for an intro programming course. However, if you read the book before class, study his sample programs on moodle for tests, and complete all of your programming projects, you should do fine.
He can be very helpful if you go to him during office hours. Not a bad teacher
Really really boring. Duncan's class is incredibly hard to pay attention in because he just reads over power points.His tests are extremely hard, exams are 20% multiple choice 20% short answer and 60% random programming by hand and you just have to know how to do it. It's really hard to study due to his randomness with the program. Avoid.
He gave us a project due during dead week. That was total BS and he should have thought about the students and all the other classes that we need to study for. It was a totally unnecessary project too. Pick another teacher if possible
Not necessarily the most lively professor, but he gets the job done. If you're having trouble following the class just go to his office hours and he'll help you out. He doesn't put grades in Moodle (which is really annoying) so you should probably go to his office hours anyway.
CSC 1253 is an introductory programming course using C++. Computer Science majors will take 1350 instead of this class. Grading is made up of three tests, five quizzes, five programming projects. Duncan gives six unannounced quizzes at the beginning of class, but other than that attendance is not mandatory. Lectures are basically from the book.
Very disorganized and unpredictable. Somewhat unfriendly in class, but not as bad outside of class. He tries to follow power point, but often complains about them and tries to change something, only to get lost and confused. Usually focuses on strange things, leaving you rather confused on how to actually program.
Overall a great professor. Lectures are a bit dry, but he's extremely helpful and doesn't talk down to you. He has obviously spent time programming in the real world, he has great knowledge on how to optimize code and how coding is done professionally. Computer Science isn't for everyone, if you think he's hard you need to change major.
This is an extremely hard course for something that is supposed to be an online course. His tests are extremely hard. The class averages for the first two exams of the semester were 63, and 54. He will not curve at all either. Programs are hard, but doable. Most of the time you can find a similar example with a google search.
Duncan is a great person. Now that, thats out of the way, his tests are unnecessarily tricky. I would compare this course to a Calculus class in difficulty. His teaching methodology is pretty boring, but he is consistent and give lots of analogies. C++ is the worst language to learn. This class will be very difficult, even with a c++ background.
An embarrassment of the CSC department. He writes code on the board for the 1st 50 mins in class, then tries to compile it and never gets all of the syntax errors fixed. Idk how he survived teacher evaluations and still remains his position. TheNewBoston channel is your life. That's why no one wants an CSC degree, fulfilled of terrible teachers.
The class material was confusing, but the professor did his best to explain. He definitely knows his stuff. There are a lot of projects throughout the semester, but they are pretty straight forward and easy if you listen to his hints in class. I went to him a few times for help on projects and he was very helpful.
A very good teacher, I think people rate him lower than he deserves due to the nature of an intro level computer science course: some people understand CSC, some don't. He explains everything very well and is very willing to help students out with grading issues or projects. If you understand the material, the tests and quizzes are easy.
He explains how C++ works and how to perform basic programs and operations. The class is fairly dry in nature as it is. He tells you how to use certain techniques and functions and asks you to apply them in projects. If you do the projects ON YOUR OWN, then tests are a breeze. Everyone I knew that had trouble did theirs in groups. No prior C++ exp.
Avoid taking Duncan if possible. He writes on the whiteboard all class and often contradicts himself, making learning hard. By far the worst part of the class is the grading criteria. Here too he contradicts himself, taking off for things he said he wouldn't in class. You would be better off purely reading the textbook yourself.
Overall, you have to work hard for good grades. The 3 hour labs literally took 3 hours to complete sometimes. The lectures were unorganized and confusing until after midterms. After midterms, the clarity and structure of lectures was great. Grades are not really posted, but the teacher is always there for you to check grades or ask for help.
He bored me out of my skull. And if you want to check your grades, you have to go to his office hours.
Duncan knows his stuff. If you study and prepare for his class you should be fine. He can be pretty funny in his lectures, but sometimes he has trouble translating his knowledge to the low level of an intro Comp-Sci course. He's always available and happy to answer questions in his office hours.
I had Duncan for 1350 & 51. I enjoy CS and he made this class relatively easy by giving an excellent sample-exam before the real one was given.
Duncan is all over the place. He's smart but he contradicts himself constantly. If you can take another professor - do it. If you've taken Java before you'll do fine otherwise you better read and do the textbook work. He also gives unannounced pop quizzes and he gives a practice test for each exam which is almost identical to the test.
Computer Science isn't easy. Besides from the logic, you have to learn the syntax. For those who skipped out on the easy fundamentals of programming, I'd imagine that it would be hard for you to pass. Also, it's not easy to teach this course. Dr. Duncan prepares lecture notes, labs, and projects that is just plain awesome. Don't blame him.
I've had Duncan for 1350 and 1351. In the beginning the class is somewhat tough, but once you get the idea of how his tests are it gets better. If you don't understand what he teaches in the lectures, go to his office hours. He's better at explaining things one on one.
Duncan is smart, but has no idea how to teach or communicate his knowledge. His instructions are muddled or non existent. He teaches the simplest possible versions of problems in class, then asks the hardest possible questions on the homework, leaving everyone confused. Half of the class is deciphering what he means and wants.
Duncan is incapable of communicating what he wants, providing any proper instruction, or helping students in any way. He is terrible at teaching and I highly recommend you avoid this man at all costs. Not to say that he is not intelligent, he certainly understands what he is trying to teach. He is just simply a horrid teacher.
Duncan is a solid choice and easily accessible over email and office. If you're taking 1350, you're a CS Major and should know most of the things being taught going into the course so attendance isn't necessary. If you don't understand something Lab TA's are softspoken but very helpful nonetheless. If you understand the basics for CS going in, EZ A
Tests are extremely hard and the only thing that kept my grade up were the labs and projects. I learned the material better from other places online than from him.
Not a good intro professor, he assumes you grasp basic concepts that quickly branch out to be complicated during lab activities and homework. If you have experience with Java beforehand, this class should be a breeze but if you are expecting to learn how to code from him think again.
Projects are difficult but doable. Lectures are uninteresting but bearable. Duncan himself isn't especially likeable but not bad either. Overall it was a class you definitely need to study for but if you do the assignments you should be prepared for the major tests. A midterm, a final, 2 paper homeworks, and 4-5 coding projects.
Projects are time consuming but doable. He wants the project to be absolutely perfect, meaning perfect efficiency and the output is in the way he wants it. Teacher is terrible, makes mistakes, and has very boring lectures. Still go to class! Buy the book. Read ahead. And don't plan on his office hours, they suck!!!
I took him for 1253, C++ Intro. Duncan starts off easy but easily branched into difficult concepts. You have to know the basic stuff like the back of your hand before you can master his tests and projects. He is not helpful in his office hours and the TA I had was the worse one I ever had!
He's incredibly helpful during office hours, a lenient grader, and an interesting professor. I would suggest doing outside studying (coding apps, youtube, reading books on Java) because certain important topics aren't discussed. His tests aren't difficult if you understand the practice tests; the labs go from 0-100, so get help from the TA.
I had him for 1350, and he made us do lots of projects related to math. I wish I had a better teacher my first year because Duncan's class was confusing and it'd be better to learn the basics from some one else.
People will bad-mouth the computer science teachers at LSU but I found Duncan to be very clear and helped to build my basic knowledge of C++. Although, if you have to take CSC 1254 you might be left a little unprepared because Duncan's expectations are not to par with what is expected in 1254.
Dr. Duncan wants his students to succeed. He believes in presenting challenging material in the labs in preparation for upper-level classes, but he makes the tests less difficult. He is extremely helpful during office hours and cares very much about the success of his students. This class, like all of CS, requires outside work but is worth it!!
If this class was too difficult, then you are in for hell with other professors. Duncan teaches the material well. He starts from the basic and explains things thoroughly. If you go to class, and listen then you will be fine. Also, he is helpful in his office hours. His LABS are the only thing that are challenging, but they are doable.
DO NOT TAKE THIS MAN'S CLASS YOU WILL REGRET IT!! Duncan is a terrible professor with zero communication and teaching skills, he expects you to know and learn everything on your own. He is also very rude and hates answering questions.
The lab and projects for me was the hardest part. The tests are 80% syntax and 20% application. The projects and labs are about equal. I'd advise teamwork. This class will decide whether you want to stay in the major or not. He makes you work for your grade.
Awful! Duncan is one of the worst professors Ive ever had. his class is boring and he is not a good teacher. Try to avoid his class.
Unless you previously took Java I wouldn't advise taking this course. Group work and outside study is heavily recommended. Good luck!
worst professor you could possibly have
Dr. Duncan is one of the best Computer Science professors! His lectures are very well planned and delivered. His knowledge of CS is through the roof. He is extremely helpful outside class (most out of all my professors). His labs can be a little hard sometimes, but the TAs help you. His exams are straightforward! Revise class notes and nothing else
His projects are way too difficult and he isn't specific in his project instructions. He wants you to do the project in a certain way but he doesn't say it in the instructions. He covers things too quickly and then covers unnecessary things.
I love Dr. Duncan. The projects are fairly easy, but the tests and homeworks can be tough. My only major complaint is that he gives you literally 2 days to do the homework (ex. he assigned a homework on Tues due Thurs, but some people had a math test on Thurs so they had to forgo studying to do the hw.) The midterm is much harder than the final.
Duncan is fairly standard in the classroom. His classes are lecture heavy but he does his best at explaining some fairly complex issues in class. He gives homework with fairly short deadlines and it can be a bit time consuming. However Duncan is amazing at his office hours he will bend over backwards to makes sure you understand.
Duncan's lecture style is cryptic at best, and most topics can be learned from Google rather than attending lectures. Projects and homework are brutal, so I recommended you start on them as soon as you get them. Midterm and final is open-book, but don't walk into the test assuming it'll be easy.
He doesnt really clarify anything in his lectures. He rambles about random things after the first thirty minutes of class which ends up wasting my time. None of the instructions on his projects for c++ are clear. Hes a heavy grader, or better yet his graduate assistant is. Hes the only teacher for csc1253 at LSU which is a bummer.
he dope
If you can take someone else for CSC1253 do! Duncan himself is not unreasonable but his TA's are and they are who grade. They give no remarks and easily take off points and a lot. For a class with no homework its a lot. Also the majority of my class failed the 1st test and it was never addressed by him.
always all over the place, but still really good at teaching. tests were pretty hard but that isn't because of him. SI sessions were extremely helpful. labs are easy if you know how to communicate. never visited him during office hours.
I wouldn't say I have a problem with Duncan as a teacher/ lecturer. HOWEVER, I'm currently halfway through my CSC1253 class. I wish I could give a rating as far as his grading (which is carried out by his grad assistant, not himself), but LITERALLY NOTHING has been graded. We've had a test, and 2 projects so far. None of it has been graded
Dr. Duncan has charm in his lectures that really made me enjoy the class. He's pretty funny. The projects are very time-consuming. Attending lectures is a must because the textbook will tell you more than you need to know. Tests are genuinely difficult, but he does curve. If you haven't had past programming experience, it might be really tough
The difficulty of the class comes from the subject itself. Prof. Duncan is VERY responsive during lectures, and has no problem spending several minutes doing work on the board to answer a question or clarify something during a lecture. Exams are pretty hard, but representative of what was covered during lecture.
He is a very good teacher any question I ever asked he's answered and explained it. The problem is that he teaches us the simple concept of how to set up loops/arrays and then the labs will be the hardest most understandable concepts. Everything before loops and arrays was fine but now it is getting very challenging.
Horrible, taught something so simple but the labs were so difficult! Do not recommend..
This was the single most frustrating class I have ever taken in my life. He does not teach things that would be on the labs we had to do and wanted us to go above and beyond. This professor was unhelpful and I ended up changing majors. No one understood the labs and most of us were lost on what to do except for a few which guided the rest of us.
Mr. Duncan is not an unreasonable professor but in order to pass this class, you MUST do well on the Exams. I wouldn't say they were difficult but Duncan expects you to grasp complex concepts very quickly and does not really explain them well. 3 exams and 4-5 projects. Gives a small curve at the end depending on how badly the class is doing.
I had to drop this class, was entirely my fault. This class is one of the hardest CSC classes. All profs have same curriculum, but some teach better. I do think Duncan is one of the best CSC profs. He cares about your success and he curves a lot. If I have any advice to give, know what your getting yourself into, the difficulty is not exaggerated.
3102 is a HARD class. Duncan teaches it really well. Pay attention to the lectures, know every example problem, and you will pass. It takes a lot of work. Its worth it, because now I know a lot more about data structures. Hes a treasure in the CSC department at LSU, it just takes a lot of focus. His lectures are good. Assignments are hard
He was an average professor in Discrete Math; however, he can't teach 3102. He makes the class harder than it needs to be and contradicts himself a lot, especially in relation to his notes. He is vague and doesn't clarify. I don't think teaching. 3102 is for him to teach. Data structures is expected to not be as easy, but he doesn't teach it well.
Duncan is not the worst professor in LSU's computer science department, but he's not a good one. He constantly contradicts himself and is very vague about what he wants for solving algorithms and such. He says to go off of the conventions done in class, but that makes his handouts pointless since they don't match up to what is done in class.
Duncan is a very kind professor and cares about his students. If you go to class and follow his lectures, you will do fine. If you skip class and rely on his extra material, I've heard there are many contradictions in his conventions. This can certainly lead you to failure and is Duncan's main, fatal flaw. Projects are very difficult but doable.
Beware of Duncan! All of his exams are autograded (making his life easy) which means if you have a typo you won't get any credit. Deciphering the format in which he wants you to submit your work was sometimes harder than the work itself (typing trees in spreadsheets??). Also you will never know your grade unless you go to office hours and ask him.
Programs are long and whats expected can be cryptic, but you are given ample time. Homeworks are fairly difficult, but are similar to tests and are good for studying. While not required, you need to go to class to understand whats going on, get decent examples, explanations, etc. Just don't wait till last second to do programs and you'll be fine.
Participation is not required, but it's highly recommended to understand what's going on. He's kinda funny to me w/ his humor, so it might not be so dead. His grades are based on 2 exams, 1 final, and projects (I had 5), and the project just gets harder. Make sure to not do the projects last min, it's gonna crush you. He curves, it saved me.
This course is based on a few exams and projects. The difficulty of the projects gets more complicated, and the professor discusses materials that isn't even needed during the time frame of a certain project. Otherwise, take good notes.
I have Duncan for both 1253 (large class) and 1254 (small class), and 1254 is SO MUCH better compared to 1253. I find him super funny with his shenanigans (You'll see in class). Tricky part of course: challenging projects *graded by TA* + miswritten codes/handouts. My solution: GO TO OFFICE HR, go to his class, and ASK HIM! I recommend him!!
His labs were really hard and he wasn't exactly very exciting. No homework though and I didn't find the tests to be too bad. They were auto-graded by Moodle though which could end up being tragic.
DO not take his class. His labs are extremely hard. The instructions to his labs are like scavenger hunts. The only good thing about his class is that he curves the grades depending on the class's average outcome. Prepare for 4 question test that has nothing to do with the study guide he sends.
Hes kinda rude but answers qn. Very few labs were graded. Labs were almost always calculators and TA were helpful. His lectures confused me more so read the textbook and practice writing code for studying. You actually need to study for his exams. There's SI, they go over the practice exams he gives. Put in the work and the grades will be there. GL
A very important thing to note is that this is for CSC1254 and CSC1253 which are for computer engineering majors. If you do have him for these courses, he's a great teacher and will go over topics in great detail, but his class isn't easy. His projects and tests are difficult but it is very possible to score 100's if you're invested into computers.
The projects are incredibly difficult but manageable, Duncans main downfall is that he is very lazy and does everything through moodle. Duncan himself is very knowledgeable but contradicts himself a lot and gives incredibly vague instructions, overall, if your up for the challenge you will learn a lot, but this class is far from an easy A.
daddy duncan
The thing about Duncan is he is LAZY! he has a Ta and an SI that does half of his teaching, and the TA does all of his grading. this is probably the hardest intro class on campus. first lab was super simple (a staircase) and now we are doing a whole bunch of complicated labs with complex math problems that I have never even heard of. TESTS ARE HARD
William Duncan has to be the single worst teacher I have ever had. He is enthusiastic about the class, but has no idea HOW to teach. His instructions don't make sense for the labs and in class all he does is ramble on and on, losing everyone in the lecture. Even people who knew what to do going into the labs and exams were confused after lectures.
you will be teaching yourself everything and you're left in the dark for labs if you have no previous experience. coding the area of a cylinder for hours.... The SI was basically my teacher. Duncan knows his stuff but everyone that sticks it through his class doesn't end up also knowing. He is really nice if you go to his office hours !
Duncan is ok, but his teaching seems more suitable for an upper-level class. Lectures are a bit unorganized and the instructions for labs are often lacking clarity and are much more difficult than the lecture material. The TAs try their best to help during lab, but they don't have an answer key and, in some cases, are as confused as you.
Not the most organized. Not a great lecturer. Tests are fair. Projects are difficult, but he will give hints on them. Make sure to watch his review before the exams and you will be fine.
not accessible, disorganized, and the class is a lot easier than he makes it. For example, for one my projects, the instructions were on 3 different documents in different sections on Moodle. Avoid at all cost, SOS. Im a straight a student, and recognize there is a difference between a challenging class, and unnecessarily complex. He is the latter.
Duncan gets a lot of hate from the students in the CS department. This class is hard as hell, and the way Duncan teaches makes it harder, but he is extremely nice if you ask him about anything. He is funny in the classroom, just hard to pay attention the whole time. Just do your work and try your best and I swear by it, Duncan will bless you.
He teaches the lecture well I'd say, but I didn't learn how to code well from him. he has a practice exam and tells us what we're expected to know for the exam so it's not hard to do well on his exams but his projects are very hard, START EARLY!!! and go to his office hours if you need help rather with the assignments or exam and you'll do fine.
Taught the concepts very well in class, and is entertaining too. When it came to code, he didn't teach us the about implementation as well as I would've liked - I struggled with errors in my code because I didn't know how to declare something properly. Office hours solves this problem - he explains clearly and respectfully. Don't procrastinate.
Professor Duncan is NOT what is wrong with this class. There are NO grades for this class. Exams are 4 questions, and there's a midterm and a final. You have to have self-discipline to pass this class. It's important to go to every lecture, or you'll be behind. To pass, you have to study outside of class and use practice problems. good luck
RUNN!! Avoid this class with Duncan at all costs. He may know the material, but his lectures are unclear, he portrays notes by writing chicken scratch on the board, and the grading is brutally exam-heavy(2 exams 1 final=75%). The tests are far harder than the projects, and the only reason I passed was the end-of-semester curve.
His lectures aren't mandatory, and his projects aren't hard. The hardest part about his class was his Moodle exams. His practice exams are similar to his exams. He does not curve exams; however, he does curve the end-of-semester grade. If you got a C- on Moodle, you will probably get a B- on Workday. If you failed the first exam, don't withdraw.
Class Info
Online Classes
100%
Attendance Mandatory
25%
Textbook Required
7%
Grade Predictor
Your expected effort level
Predicted Grade
B
Grade Distribution
Common Tags
Rating Trend
Declining
-0.65 avg changeRatings by Course
CSC1351
4.2
(6)CSC1350CSC3102
4.0
(1)CSC1254
3.8
(6)CSC2259
3.5
(2)1253
3.0
(1)Difficulty by Course
CSC1250
4.5
CSC2259
4.5
CSC3102
4.2
1253
4.0
CSC101
4.0