Didn't help you if you asked.. Couldn't teach!

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Class sylabus caused much confusion about which chapters would be on tests. Expect to ace one test and bomb the rest. He's veru defensive and anal about his grading techniques. For his online classes, his lecture notes are ineffective study material.

Hands Down the WORST Professor I have ever had. 1 he thinks all the students are going to be geologists and therefore thinks that we should be as dedicated as he is. WRONG he teachers this 120 LvL class as if it were a 3 or 4 hundred LvL course. Not very helpful in class or out of class for that matter. Worst teacher ever.

Read chapters 1-3 for test 1 and read chapter 4-5 for lab quiz 1. Lab 1 and test 1 are on the same day but chapters 4-5 will be on test 2. If this confuses you, then you will spend the entire semester confused.

HE NEEDS TO GO!!!!!! That class was the hardest class I've taken and I didn't even pass the damn thing. His tests are completely ridiculous and hard. He doesn't give enough credit. AVOID HIM! Listen to what people are saying about him...why is he still here?!!!

Not a good teacher. Not helpful and doesn't care if you have the materials for the tests.

Way too hard! This is supposed to be an intro course, people who have no interest in science but need it as a req should be able to do reasonably well. He is very hard to understand, not good at explaining things and is down right unfair. This is CLC not Duke University COME ON DOWN! Avoid him like the plague, its too late for me, save yourselves.

I hate this class. He is rude and harrasses his students into participating. He does not follow his syllabus. He doesnt teach the material on the day it is supposed to be taught. His accent is so thick it is impossible to understand what he is saying. In short, this class was horrible and the teacher was worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you ask a question make sure you didn't already talk about it in class because he will treat you as if you are incompetant. He rarely answers a question and by the end of class you will still wonder what the answer is. Don't sign the participation sheet! He will still harrass you about participating even if you didn't sign it.

Very difficult for a non-science major class. He won't directly answer any questions and offers no assistance in the on-line class beyond telling you to read the book and labs. Some actual teaching would be helpful! He does not tell you about lab errors until you have spent hours trying to figure out the issue on your own and point them out.

Xiaoming assigns a fair amount of reading, but does no teaching to accompany it. He spends over half of class time talking about the responsibility of students opposed to instructing (his responsibility.) He refuses to help when people have questions. I've never encountered such an unhelpful "educator". Avoid him at all costs.

I took this class online because I have a disability so I thought it would be better to take online. I wish I had taken it in school with another teacher. Zhai doesn't work with us, makes us grade our own work after turning it in, but doesn't give much room for error. I tried working with him, but it didn't change how things went.

Tried taking this class online and it was a huge mistake. If you're looking for a teacher that is willing to help and actually teach, look elsewhere. Expect to teach yourself and grade all of your own work. I have never took an online course where the teacher didn't do any teaching and just expected you to learn on your own.

I would run far from this professor while you have a chance.

Horrible, horrible experience. The absolute worst teacher I've ever had. I was a student that was on his way back into class for the first time in a long time, school was scary. He not only went out of his way to make it miserable, he brags about being a bad teacher. Having that many withdrawals at a certain point is reflective of you, Xiaoming.

This teacher assigns a QUIZ every week that is 100 questions. He also assigns weekly lab reports that are several pages long. This is absolutely a self taught class. He is extremely condescending to students and says if you fail, it is because you clearly didn't try hard enough. If you have a chance to take this with a different teacher, DO IT.

He was one of the very few teachers who I did not like here. He was very rude when I went to meet with him during office hours and even yelled at me. His lectures and class in general was not organized at all. He wasnt helpful, the class was very stressful and he was rude to students who actually tried to learn.

This was the absolute worst class and teacher I have ever taken. This teachers response time over email is more than a day. His grading system is completely messed up. Each week he gives 100 question quizzes along with online discussion problems, lab, and every two weeks he adds in a lab test. He provides no lectures and no review guides.

Extremely hard. Every week you take a two-hour quiz with 100 questions. You get lab reports every week to. I found those to be very hard. He really does not provide much help and constantly emails us on how if we dont do well its all our fault & that we clearly didn't try hard enough or make enough time for his class.

This is one of the worst teachers I've had at clc! If you have the choice do not take! He is incredibly dry and boring with tons of homework and participation. This is the hardest class I have taken since high school and grading is swayed to how much he likes you in class. I would NOT recomend if you want a easy science class.

Dude is terrible at responding to emails and he is very rude and doesnt care bout his students

Terrible teacher. Doesnt help at all and doesnt care for students

This prof was horrible. He does not care about his students. If you require any accommodations he will not only refuse but he will give his input. He is harsh, disrespectful, and has extremely high expectations. Do NOT take science with him unless you are an AP student and enjoy being yelled at with extreme amounts of criticism and pressure.

RUN AWAY. He makes his classes difficult for no reason at all.I took one of his classes in person and one online, both were unbearable. He makes you grade your own labs, then grades them himself and gives you a different grade anyway. You can expect up to 2 labs, 2 tests and 1 lab test in a single week. He made me dislike the earth sciences.

Dr. Zhai is by far the worst prof at CLC! He makes you feel like it is your own fault if you don't understand the material. When you ask for help, he says you should just drop the class because you aren't spending enough time with the material. If you have to take this class, do yourself a favor, don't take Dr. Zhai.

Do not waste your time taking this class w/ this professor. Absolutely ridiculous. If students are struggling, it's their fault, they aren't motivated, not self-disciplined, they've lost confidence, do not have time to complete the assignments, etc. He has said these things himself. This a reflection of your teaching style & lack of understanding.

DO NOT TAKE HIS CLASS. Just because a student is struggling to complete long labs, lap reports, several discussion posts, 100 question quizzes, etc. EVERY WEEK, does not automatically make them a bad student Prof. Zhai. The reason for the countless drops are solely because of you. Reflect on yourself rather than bashing & blaming your students.

Do not waste your money or time. Take a course with a better professor or even a condensed course with a better professor. It's not worth it to take a course with a professor who thinks his class is the most important. I am a driven student & have spent 12+ hrs a week working on this course. Not worth the stress & emotional drainage.

I read these reviews before taking the class & was confident I could get through it. It's week 4 & I am done. One course should not feel like a full time job. We have other classes that are important too--not just the study of rocks. Students deserve professors who understand they are in other classes & have other obligations. This class is a JOKE.

You will hate rocks after his class. Assumed everyone was taking just his class and devoting 40 hours a week to the study of rocks. Made you read 30-40 pages, and watch an hour long video multiple times on top of a one hour class. Worst class I have ever taken, and I wish I dropped it.

This course was absolutely awful. Professor Zhai says he is always willing to help and answer questions, but as soon as you reach out to him he makes you feel dumb and irrelevant. He is absolutely no help and expects too much of his students. I wish I had checked rate my professors before I took his class.

Worst class and worst professor I've had. Every week we'd have to do 1 quiz, 1 lab report, and 1 lab test along with reading chapters. This is an intense course with a Professor who doesn't help at all by supporting. Just like the other reviews, he makes you feel dumb for reaching out to him. I wish I had looked here before

Total overkill! Earth Science can be more interesting if Dr Zhai was better at engaging the class. His curriculum consists of reading the chapter, taking an 100 question quiz and 15 page pdf lab activity+report every week! Which you will also have to grade yourself, and if he doesnt agree with the score he would give you what he thinks u deserve �

I'm not good at science and I thought this course would be easier for my non-lab credit. I was wrong. Dr. Zhai is very strict, but all he really did in class was talk about his trips to different national parks. The rest of the material came from 80+ slides online, an overpriced textbook, and outside videos. You have to grade your assignments too.