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Patton, J Scott

Cumulative GPA: 3.43/4.00 with 21 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.10
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.57

Mechanical Engineering Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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ME 347 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 3:25 pm, Jun 9, 2011 Report Evaluation		Anybody who says that Dr. Patton doesn't know the material has apparently never ventured far enough from their comfort zone to ask him a question in class or office hours. He is a doctor in this stuff and has plenty of work experience, so he can explain concepts to any depth you need. He's most definitely qualified to teach, so let those fears be assuaged. It's HOW he teaches that can be debated. The first half of class is extremely derivation-heavy--moreso than any other class I've taken. The second half of class is biased much more toward examples, which made it the more comfortable half for me. All the time, he'll make little quips about students in the class or what's going on in his life. It keeps the fifty minutes moving, but sometimes the class feels so informal that it becomes harder to pay attention to what's actually important. Also, the lecture always feels somewhat intangible... it's tough to explain, but I felt it easy to get lost in a sea of partial derivatives as he was deriving things on the board. Despite all this, you will cover a ton of material, and his lenient grading is there to back you up when you need it. One midterm, and no graded homework. Beware the lab reports--they're long. Really, Dr. Patton's a guy you need to experience to understand, so take him.

ME 347 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 1:28 pm, May 12, 2011 Report Evaluation		If you want to play iphone games during class and get by without learning anything, Patton is fine. You'll get a grade from his A through C random grade generator for showing up for tests and the final. But if you want to learn something, he can't teach for shit and doesn't try. He's the laziest pos ever and doesn't understand the information himself.

ME 347 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 6:09 pm, May 11, 2011 Report Evaluation		Patton is 5'10" 260lbs about 60 and runs a 4.4 40! he can clean & jerk a a pen and he swears he was cleared sane by a psychiatrist.... well idk bout that last one. his midterms are easy and he will make sure u dont get anything lower than a C. im in his class this quarter and we had a midterm today, so trust me. if u can take this guy do it!

ME 347 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:39 pm, Mar 16, 2011 Report Evaluation		He's back bitches!

ME 302 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 1:54 am, Dec 15, 2010 Report Evaluation		They don\'t call him Easy A Patton for nothing. He is incredibly generous with partial credit. All tests are open notes open book. For the material we actually covered, he did a good job explaining it. However, I feel underprepared for thermo 2. He made class entertaining for the most part.

ME 341 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:00 am, Feb 13, 2008 Report Evaluation		Bestest teacher evAr! It is too bad that he left Cal Poly last year, but on his way out he gave everyone A's!

ME 347 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 3:32 pm, Jun 29, 2007 Report Evaluation		You can pass fluids by either working your ass off in LoCascio or taking Patton. I chose the latter. You can learn a lot from him if you really want too, but you can also rely on being able to spit out example problems on tests. Either way, I waited a year to take him for Fluids I and II and it was the best thing I ever did. Sadly, he is leaving Poly so everyone who needs to take fluids is going to get an new asshole from LoCascio.



ME 347 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:47 pm, Jun 26, 2007 Report Evaluation		Ah. Didn't learn much from Patton, so I'm pretty much screwed in fluids. But a nice guy and caring teacher. He's off to Florida so you won't have him, but I just wanted to leave a good review for him.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 9:54 pm, Jun 19, 2007 Report Evaluation		Like most people say Dr. Patton was very theoretical. Test resemble the difficulty of example problems. Homework problems are usally very hard. If you can get the idea of what is going on in the homework, and can redo the in-class example problems, you should be good to go. Tests are open book open notes (no homework or solutions). Unfortunately, Dr. Patton is going back to his roots in Florida so you guys won't have the opportunity to take him. Thanks Patton. ND

ME 347 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 5:54 pm, Apr 2, 2007 Report Evaluation		Check out the big brain on Scott. Lord Patton is a fun professor who makes the lecture go by quickly with off the wall jokes and weird comments. The HW doesn't really reflect the lecture or tests at all, pay more attention to the examples he gives out. He is a very fair grader, If you give him something to grade on a problem, he'll hook you up with points. Fluids is kind of out there, but so is Scott, so they fit perfectly together.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:03 pm, Jan 7, 2007 Report Evaluation		True to his word, Patton is an easy A. However, don't think that fluids is easy. It is one of the most theoretical and wierd ME subjects. I had a hard time understanding it, but Patton made it bearable. He tries to balance between lecturing on theory and doing example problems. The homework is generally harder and doesn't resemble the midterm and final. The examples, however, are much closer to the midterm and final. Overall, I'd take Patton again.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:03 pm, Jan 7, 2007 Report Evaluation		Professor Patton is a great teacher, he definitely makes fluids feel doable. His tests are fair and he grades them twice to make sure you receive as many points as possible. On our final he literally went through every problem and gave a basic approach as to how to solve. He's really big on theory in lectures, but makes up for it with in class examples that you can use of exams!

ME 347 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 1:04 pm, Mar 30, 2006 Report Evaluation		Patton is a great guy and a fun professor. He's big on theory. His exams are very similar to his examples in class, and not like the homework. He is a fair grader. He's solid.



ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:08 am, Mar 14, 2006 Report Evaluation		I had mixed feelings on Patton early on in the quarter. He tends, especially in the beginning, to lecture on ALOT of theory and really go fairly in depth with each derivation of the base equations used in the class. But, by the midterm he had really kicked up the amount of example problems he did in class which was extremely helpfull on the midterm because they were essentially the same, only a bit longer on the test. I think I learned a huge amount in this class. He knows that alot of the stuff teachers try to cram into a quarter is rather worthless, so he really trys to focus on the most important material and the material you're likely to see again which I was glad for. The homework assigned is always WAY harder than you'll see on a test and he hardly ever mentions anything from the homework much less lectures at anywhere near the same pace the homework moves at. Its more of perfunctory task he assigns just to make sure you're doing something for the class, rather than just waiting until the first (and only) midterm to study. He's extremely smart, one of the smartest professors I've come across at poly, but its not immediately obvious by his off the wall humor. If you're having any problems keeping up I definetly recommend going to see him in office hours. He's extremely helpful and his humor makes you comfortable enough to be willing to ask any question, no matter how stupid you may feel it is. Its been said that there's a fine line between genius and insanity, and I think Patton might be somewhere near that line....which side he's on I'm not sure. Overall, I thought he was an awesome professor and I'm really glad I had him and he really sparked my interest in fluids so i ended up taking fluids 2 with him and I'm hoping to get him next year for the grad level fluids class he said he would be teaching.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:37 pm, Feb 22, 2006 Report Evaluation		Prof. Patton is a very good person. He is a good teacher and truly cares about us learning the material. He has a weird/dry sense of humor and tries to crack jokes in class, but everyone is super shy and doesn't laugh, so it makes it pretty awkward for him. The homework is really hard and I suggest getting the solutions from someone. But don't worry because the midterm and final are pretty much the same as the example problems he hands out. He is a very very generous grader. I felt like I didn't learn anything and got a 79 on the midterm and ended up with a B in the class. Can't complain...it was an easy B and if I tried a little harder, I could have gotten an A.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:40 am, Dec 19, 2005 Report Evaluation		I had to re-take fluids with Patton, after having got a D with Kean. Honestly I feel I learned more and understood more about fluids with Kean than Patton. Pattons lectures cover a broad basic aspect of fluids that I felt didnt adequately teach the required material. However he tested us on his lectures not on the required material. That is why he is known as "Easy A Patton", he also grades very generously. If you want to understand fluids or are interested in the subject dont take Patton you wont learn anything, Id reccomend Kean. However if you just want to pass this crappy class and get it out of the way Patton is your man.

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 8:06 am, Dec 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		What? There is a good professor in the ME department!

ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:04 am, Dec 14, 2005 Report Evaluation		Professor Patton is a really nice guy! I would recommend taking him bc he really cares about his students, however I feel that i didnt learn as much as i could have. He is way less stressful than taking someone like locascio for fluids and he likes to have a good time during class by making jokes. I wouldn't miss the oppurtinity of taking him if you can.

ME 341 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 1:20 pm, Dec 13, 2005 Report Evaluation		"Easy A Patton" isnt such an easy A, but its very possible to get an A in his class. There are a few homework assignments worth 10% of your grade, one midterm worth 40% and the final worth 50%. The midterm was very straight forward and fairly easy. (the avg was a 77%) The final was 10 times harder and most people took the full three hours to finish. He spends about half the class in theory and half doing problems. The only complaint that I can give him is the handouts that he passes out. Instead of lecturing on all the theory he uses handouts to cover some of the lesser important stuff; however, his handwritting is not the clearest and its hard to follow what he does on the handouts. If you get a chance take Patton I would recommend him; you learn the material but he's not out fail students for making stupid mistakes like some other proffesors that teach fluids.



ME 341 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:21 pm, Jan 31, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dr. Patton made me actually want to go to class. He is funny in a cheeseball kind of way which makes lectures go by faster. I heard fluids was really hard, but it ended up being my favorite ME class so far. He conveys material well and is good in office hours. Midterms and finals are open note and open book, but you have to know your material. Tests are moderately hard and LONG, but not unfair. He gives good partial credit. I am taking him again this quarter for thermo and plan to take any class possible with him. He is good. Take him.

ME 341 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:48 pm, Nov 17, 2003 Report Evaluation		Patton is very available for students to talk to and get help from. He's very open to students with questions--not at all intimidating. His lectures are interspersed with humor and audience interaction. Be prepared to do odd jobs for him in class, like passing out papers. Fluids with him is probably as bearable as it can possibly be. There's a lot of crappy math in this class. He spends about equal time deriving expressions as doing examples. I recommend taking Patton for fluids or whatever else.

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