Michael Norton - James Madison University

Professor: Michael Norton
Department: Computer Science
College: James Madison University
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: CS149
  • Grade Received: C
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Professor Norton ruined Computer Science for me. He has made the class way more harder than it should be, and expects every person to be expert coders when were actually beginners. Labs are made on terrible deadlines. Boring lectures, combined with reading off of slides that arent even his, I felt like the class couldve been framed better.
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A-
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Graduated from the program in 2020. Norton is very kind and always willing to help but you need to be proactive. Pay attention in class. Yes, fundamentals are boring, but everything you do after this class builds on what youve learned. Always try to understand your homework/projects and always ask for help from Norton/TAs if youre slumped. GLHF
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: CS149
  • Grade Received: C
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Expects you to be perfect for a beginner coding class. IF your code isnt perfect he will give you a 0
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: B+
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Good choice for 159. Most class periods are half lecture half lab period. He is very helpful during class and class itself was fun. He is down to carry on a conversation about random nonsense in the middle of a lab period doesn't care if you come in late or leave early. PA's were difficult yet doable. START EARLY.
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Great professor who grades on how well you understand the material more than anything else. Nice guy and gives good feedback in office hours.
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
He's a fun guy and really nice if you open up to him. He can get a little political every once in a while which is unnecessary, but overall very helpful and not too bad of a class.
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A+
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
He may not be super open at first, but if you actually talk to him; at office hours, before, or after class, or just in participating in class, he makes sure to put in the time to make sure you understand. Open to a little bit of banter, but not way too much.
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
He doesn't explain material well at all. He lectures heavily then he gives out hw that is confusing and takes forever to do. He knows a lot about CS but he doesn't translate that knowledge well to the students. Also literally told us to google a certain method instead of TEACHING us how to do it.
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: CS474
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Insanely boring lectures. Literally reads the notes he posts aloud to you. He conveys no passion for the subject whatsoever. Worst computer science class I have taken.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
BE PREPARED TO WORK. HW can be confusing and take a little longer than expected, but you will learn. PA's are long and tough, do not wait to start on them. Tests are not too bad, just make sure you understand the homeworks and review all his material. His test reviews/ practice problems helped me. Tells you to get the textbook, but I never used it.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
This class is the hardest thing I have ever done. The specifications for PA's are 30 pages long (just requirements). I have spent so much time doing work for this class its ridiculous. Class average for one of the PAs was a 47%. No matter how hard you study for tests you will still bomb them because the questions are so difficult :(
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
The amount of homework in this class was ridiculous. There's three homework assignments each week, and the PAs are huge and take a really long time. Lectures were pretty light and a lot of students that I talked to felt consistently confused. Dr. Norton is a nice person and cares about his students, but I don't like how his course is designed.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: CS474
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Pros: -not too hard -Slides have all the information you need for tests Cons: -Reads off slides -group projects -his projects are based around fixing and using a really poorly made database about medieval manuscripts Overall: If you want a database course that is a bit easier than other professors but don't learn as much then take him.
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: MUS373
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Norton is primarily a CS professor, so having him as a music professor was weird and also hard to connect with him more. His teaching technique is not the best; he expects you to read, go to class, and read again which I did not find helpful at all. Would study for hours and his tests would be made of things that I didn't study for class.
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: CS474
  • 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:
While other sections are building web-apps using SQL, we're trying to figure out what on earth a medieval musical manuscripts parts are, and convert a spaghetti database from the University of Waterloo into something reasonable. Conclusion: I will be a godless heathen who uses Mongo, burning in damnation, before I ever touch SQL again.
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Had to retake 159 due to not doing well enough to get into the major my first try. Norton had the best lectures I've heard and every assignment was extremely structured withing clear grading criteria. Extremely detailed feedback/Great help Attendance matters. Tough but comprehensive exams. Favorite CS teacher by a mile. Got an A and into the major.
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: B+
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Just took him for CS 159, you need to have known a lot about the material before hand to not have a hard time. If you know nothing of the material you are going to have to work hard to get the grade you want. There are a lot of homeworks and 4 PAs and 2 midterms. Everything from the homework and PAs will be on the tests. He is an ok professor.
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Extremely knowledgeable on his topics and genuinely interested in helping you understand. Really wants you to ask questions even if they should be obvious. Would definitely recommend.
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: CS159
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.0
  • Course Difficulty: 3.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
Assigns homework almost every class so be ready for it & make sure you do it because you will see it again in tests and PA's. Grade consists of the 3 tests and 4 PA's along with hw/attendance. Lectures are boring and his answers to questions are always vague. TA's are the truly helpful ones so go to their office hours. For 159 hes not the worst...
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: CS139
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
For CS149, was very helpful whenever we needed it. He wanted to help us succeed. Sometimes I wouldn't understand his lectures as well as I wanted, but overall I learned the content well. He says the book is required, but I never used it, then again I took a course for java the last semester so half of the class was review. Great professor!
Add Your Review Below:
Search Professors:
Welcome:

Before signing up for classes every students should gather as much information as possible to make a decision on which professors as well as which courses to take. This website will help you make this decision easier.

Here, the students can rate, research and cross-reference the overall performances of the professors to select the best ones, and always be informed and up-to-date with what’s important.

Join the fun! Visit all pages and get all the information you need to choose the best class and best professor that you’ll enjoy listening to and learning from.

Our Friendly Sponsor:
Schools:
Our Friendly Sponsor:


Celebrity Net Worth Visa Bulletin