Norman Carver - Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

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Norman Carver - Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

Professor: Norman Carver

Department: Computer Science

College: Southern Illinois University - Carbondale

Rating # 1

Overview:

Course: CS315
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Possibly just had a bad experience, but I found Dr. Carver to be disrespectful and unprofessional. Don't focus on labs because each multiple choice test question counts more than an entire lab. Limit questions or be prepared to get stack overflow type responses where you get called out no matter what type of question you ask.

Rating # 2

Overview:

Course: CS311
Grade Received: A-
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Class covers some difficult content. Felt as though more specific coding examples were not offered with explanations, so be ready to try and learn as much as you can from in class. Responsive outside of class though, as long as you don't mind his condescending, borderline snarky attitude. Be ready to work for your grade!

Rating # 3

Overview:

Course: CS311
Grade Received: B+
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: No
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Pretty harsh when asking questions and really knows how to make you feel dumb even if you are right; he loves to use words like "obviously" and "I do not understand what you do not see." Spent 25-35 hours on labs and got an average of an 80 on all of them. (2) Tests are less than an hour and count 80% of your grade. I have nothing good to say :(

Rating # 4

Overview:

Course: CS406
Grade Received: A+
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Doctor Carver is the best professor in the CS department, he really knows his stuff and is always willing to answer in detail when students have questions.

Rating # 5

Overview:

Course: CS311
Grade Received: B+
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

This guy knows his theory, and if you take this class thinking whoop-di-doo I know java, and 2 cents of C without wanting to learn about the most boring theories , and the trashiest code (AWK/LISP) you're gonna struggle, and prob get a C. The professor is funny, can talk about coding for hours, and can teach how to make your code unreadable. Great.

Rating # 6

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Ask him about his cats

Rating # 7

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 4.0
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: Yes
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Gonna watch those lecture video and look at the assignment ahead of time to keep up with materials talked in class.

Rating # 8

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: B
Overall Rating: 3.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Mandatory

Comment:

Genious and willing to help

Rating # 9

Overview:

Course: CS300
Grade Received: A
Overall Rating: 1.5
Course Difficulty: 1.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

We had three homework assignments and two tests all semester. He disappeared for weeks at a time and couldn't figure out how to use D2L. His lectures are mostly rants. Uses his own special terminologyclassifications, not standard. Easy A, but very poorly managed. Class should be automated via D2L.

Rating # 10

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Does not teach. Just rants about OS's he does not like.

Rating # 11

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 1.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: Yes
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Clearly very knowledgeable about his field, but he's just not good at passing that knowledge on to his students. Test averages for the class were always failing. Labs assignments were not well written, and it was hard to figure out what he actually wanted you to do.

Rating # 12

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Dr. Carver is hilarious and helpful. Attendance isn't mandatory, but keep in mind that he explains most of the tricks behind adequately completing the labs during class. He will push back due dates if the class is struggling. His tests are pretty easy if you just study his online review guides and do the labs. Debugging the labs is time consuming!!

Rating # 13

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: Yes
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: Not Mandatory

Comment:

Hates microsoft like crazy. Nice enough guy but doesn't care that his labs are pretty hard. He has extended our deadlines a couple times which was really nice. Tests are the only grades that matter so study the lecture slides and you will be fine.

Rating # 14

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I had Professor Carver for my Linux class. He's actually a native English speaker, so bonus points for that. He knows his stuff, and once in a while makes you feel like an idiot. He's always willing to help you learn, and explain things though. Definitely my favorite CS teacher. Oh. He does go on random rants though. It's funny.

Rating # 15

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

The man is a Linux Guru. Extremely brilliant professor, but gets side-tracked easily. Is very helpful, and easy to understand one-on-one. Don't ask him about LISP or he will forget he's teaching and go off on a tangent. Extremely nice and personable. I would recommend him.

Rating # 16

Overview:

Course: CS220
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 4.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: No
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very helpful, Especially for a hard working student. I love his class'.

Rating # 17

Overview:

Course: CS306
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 5.0
Course Difficulty: 5.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: N/A
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

good teacher; very helpful; don't underestimate his course; be very specific in your answers on his tests (e.g. don't simply say "a number", say "a non-zero positive integer less than 1024", if that's what you really mean)

Rating # 18

Overview:

Course: CS436
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 2.0
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: N/A
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

No Comments

Rating # 19

Overview:

Course: CS311
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 2.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: N/A
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

Very clear about what he wanted from students, was willing to give extra time for labs and homework assignments. One of the best teachers in the department.

Rating # 20

Overview:

Course: 306311
Grade Received: N/A
Overall Rating: 4.5
Course Difficulty: 3.0

For Credit: N/A
Textbook Used: N/A
Would Take Again: N/A
Attendance: N/A

Comment:

I do believe that Carver is one of the better Computer Science Teachers in the department. And by the way, People who says he sucks probably failed the class because they never went. No one ever fails a class if they go to class.

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