James Brennan - University of Kentucky

Professor: James Brennan
Department: Mathematics
College: University of Kentucky
Rating # 1
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 2.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
TAKE DR. BRENNAN FOR AN EASY A. He is not the best teacher; he messes up a lot in class and has horrible handwriting. But he is super nice and pretty much tells you exactly what is gonna be on the quizzes and exams if you go to class. Took this online during COVID and only had to put in minimal effort for an A. Also he doesn't assign homework.
Rating # 2
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: Not sure yet
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
There is no homework and the textbook that he he references is the worst I've ever seen. It does not have hardly any examples worked out. You cannot understand what he is saying because he talks at a whisper. Often makes mistakes. Quizzes are easy. The class is frustrating but not impossible.
Rating # 3
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
He does 'not believe in extra credit'. He will not tell you what it is you are learning until about halfway through. There is no homeworks, you are only graded on weekly quizzes and exams. You can't hear a thing he says, he is rude. If you can avoid this class avoid it.
Rating # 4
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: A+
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 1.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Brennan's class is as straightforward as it gets. If you show up and copy the example problems, then it will be the easiest A you will ever receive. The quizzes are super basic and the exams are a cake walk. Take this man at all costs.
Rating # 5
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
He frequently gets to the end of problems and has gotten them wrong. He also speaks barely above a whisper and has atrocious handwriting.
Rating # 6
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Horrible lecturer. He made things so confusing. I genuinely thought the class was just hard until a TA subbed for him for a week and everything made sense and I realized Brennan is just horrible. Also, he has terrible handwriting so good luck with notes. DO NOT TAKE
Rating # 7
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: A
  • Overall Rating: 5.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Mandatory
Comment:
I really liked his course, and thought that while there wasn't a lot of opportunities for grades, (no homework), he always announced exactly what was to be on the quizzes, and the tests were very similar. He also didn't do much partial credit on his tests, but gave extra points. The first exam you could have gotten up to 150 points, which all count
Rating # 8
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: No
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Dr. Brennan is by far the worst professor I've had so far at UK. His lectures are incomprehensible and it is very unclear what material you are responsible for, since he gives no class schedule or reading assignments. Almost all of the grade is based on a few very difficult tests that are graded with little partial credit.
Rating # 9
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
One of my two favorite math teachers ever. I took Dr. Brennan every chance I got.
Rating # 10
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: B
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: Yes
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
The only grades are tests and quizzes, so be prepared to work hard for your grade. Now that this class has common hour exams, though, I think Brennan teaches topics most clearly among the other Calc III professors.
Rating # 11
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • 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:
all the grades on quizzes and exams only. no curves and he said once the best way to learn is the answer it wrong in the exam
Rating # 12
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 3.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
If you want a good grade in his class, you'll really have to work for it. As long as you attend the lectures, ask questions, and study (what you're supposed to do for any class), you should be fine. A lot of the test questions are either exactly like the example problems he does in lecture or very similar.
Rating # 13
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Very hard to understand because he talks to the board. He is sort of friendly and does try to make jokes. There were 150+ students the first few weeks of class and on final day, there were maybe 50. If you want to pass his class, you HAVE to copy all in class examples, and study them well. No homework + no exam curves + no attendance retake.
Rating # 14
Overview:
  • Course: 213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.5
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: Not Mandatory
Comment:
Brennan was no doubt the toughest teacher I've had at UK. Probably the worst I've ever had. He mainly focuses on proofs in class and expects you to know how to do examples without actually doing examples for you. I learned way more in recitation than I did in lecture, and his tests are unbelievably hard. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!
Rating # 15
Overview:
  • Course: 213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 1.5
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Brennan is a very hard professor. If you don't plan on attending class ,don't plan on passing his class. There are no office hours, no homework, no course calender, so overall not very helpful. Puts the hardest questions possible on the exam where you need to prove things. Some exam questions are straight from in class examples. DO NOT TAKE HIM.
Rating # 16
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: Yes
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
No attendance, no homework, and no emails... He will walk into class and immediately start deriving an equation with no explanation to what it is or what it does. He does not communicate to the TAs what to cover in recitation. His tests are ridiculous. DO NOT take his class or prepare to teach yourself
Rating # 17
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 4.0
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
I greatly appreciated Dr. Brennan's availability outside of class. Sitting in class, sometimes the content is presented in a confusing way. However he does many examples, which appear on the tests, as shown in class! If they are not clearly solved, I highly recommend that you utilize his office hours. He will walk you through each step.
Rating # 18
Overview:
  • Course: MA213
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He does not take attendance or give homework. He occasionally gives some assigned example problems but not nearly enough. Some of the questions he puts on the test are directly from in class examples but many times he makes mistakes on these examples or is unclear how he got the answer. I would not recommend. He does not curve the tests.
Rating # 19
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.0
  • Course Difficulty: 5.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: No
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
He's a relatively nice teacher (for being an old one that is). Unfortunately, his class is pretty hard. He will walk into class and immediately start writing random equations on the board without explaining anything. His grading is not generous at all (I missed 15/20 pts for not having a negative sign).
Rating # 20
Overview:
  • Course: MA214
  • Grade Received: N/A
  • Overall Rating: 2.5
  • Course Difficulty: 4.0
  • For Credit: N/A
  • Textbook Used: Yes
  • Would Take Again: N/A
  • Attendance: N/A
Comment:
Brennen was a great professor. Genius and he deserves a higher score then I have given him but the fields above accurately describe his teaching. It is a lot of work, yes. But if you are not lazy and are in the right field then just work the problems and think about it and this should be no problem. Easy A for any engineer except civil.
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