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Fantin, Dennis

Cumulative GPA: 3.09/4.00 with 34 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 2.97
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 2.94

Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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SCM 335 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 8:47 am, Mar 22, 2013 Report Evaluation		So this class is actually pretty easy. You get to do 3 easy presentations that take no time at all to come up with and he grades really easy, the midterms are graded pretty easily, and there isn't really homework or anything. If you want a class that all you have to do is prepare for the midterms and finals, this is the one for you. On another note, its a lot easier if you are a chem major or understand sciences.

SCM 335 Junior Grade Earned: N/A General Ed 10:19 am, Mar 16, 2013 Report Evaluation		I'm going to start this review with the facts. There are 4 oral presentations (15%), 2 exams (25% each), a final (35%), and a fair amount of reading. Now, for my opinion. If I were asked if I would take this class again I would SCREAM NOOO!! This class is already hard because Dr. Fantin is blind and he talks very fast while the aid scrambles to write everything on the board, which makes it hard to listen and write all this stuff at the same time. However my chief complaint is that Dr. Fantin grades his exams WAY too strictly. If you do not have the upmost detail in your answer, but you correctly answer the main theme, he will still mark you wrong. For example, in a question with 6 parts, worth 3 points (this is A LOT because the exam has few questions), and you did 1 part wrong you would get 2.5 points taken off (which is 4% of the exam grade). In conclusion, Dr. Fantin fails to realize that this is a GE course, as well as it is hard for the students to get ALL his points because he lectures fast and does not write the info on the board himself.

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 8:42 pm, Jan 28, 2013 Report Evaluation		okay so i was SOOOO freaked out all quarter cause i literally thought i was going to fail. i got a D on both midterms, (not a high D either). i really didn't study and just didn't apply myself at all. i realized i was pretty screwed and studied a decent amount for the final. not really sure but i probably got a B or C. now saying that, i still got a solid C in the class. he curves A BUNCH. so like just try, do the homework, probably study for the midterms unlike me, and you're definitely okay. he's ridiculously nice, and super helpful in office hours. i actually can't get over how nice he is. and he's a GENIUS. so yeah, don't be too worried you'll be fine!

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 6:45 pm, Dec 21, 2012 Report Evaluation		you may not know but he is fully blind so that defiantly takes some getting used to. but if you study very hard and work i could have defiantly gotten an A but i slacked so get ready to work had and you will be rewarded.

CHEM 111 Senior Grade Earned: A General Ed 9:25 pm, Dec 17, 2012 Report Evaluation		the man is blind. i'm a very liberal person, and will give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but he is blind. why is he a professor

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 3:41 pm, Dec 11, 2012 Report Evaluation		This class is extremely hard to sit through. I had an awful high school chem teacher so I basically knew nothing going into the class. I definitely recommend taking the workshop the school offers. You can pass the class with a solid B as long as you go to workshop. If you're really self motivated as long as you teach yourself and study for the midterms and final going to class isn't very necessary aside from finding out what homework is assigned. But Dr. Fantin is super nice and loves when you go to office hours. He curves a TON.

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 10:23 am, Dec 3, 2012 Report Evaluation		Dr. Fantin is INCREDIBLY intelligent. he's blind and he can still teach a chemistry class. this class was difficult, but honestly if you really try you will pass. he doesn't try to trick you on exams, there's minimal homework, and lab was interesting. however, if you think you doing well in your high school chem class means something in college, it doesn't. you NEED to study for this class, and if you do you will be fine. if you didn't have a pretty decent high school chem teacher, this probably isn't the teacher for you. lectures are hard to sit through, but i mean it's chem...so that was expected. Dr. Fantin is really nice and totally willing to help you. GO TO OFFICE HOURS, he loves it and he's super helpful. don't freak about your first midterm, HE CURVES A LOT. but basically, actually try and you'll be okay.



CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 3:28 pm, Mar 27, 2012 Report Evaluation		Class average on midterms was in the low D’s. I was barely above the average on both and pulled off a solid B in the class. Meaning HE CURVES a ton. Do well in the lab (meaning actually TRY) and you’ll pass. He’s a sweet guy but the lectures are a bit sporadic. B/c he’s blind he has a TA that will write on the board. Chem is horrible and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I passed so take Fantin.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 4:23 pm, Feb 2, 2012 Report Evaluation		This was a very interesting class, and Professor Fantin is not limited by his blindness at all. He lectures the whole time and a TA writes on the board. It can be boring and he mumbles sometimes but the tests are fair and homework is optional. I went to most of the classes most of the time, but it really isn't super necessary. Notes are printed out and given to you which is really nice as well.

SCM 335 Junior Grade Earned: B General Ed 6:42 pm, Jan 14, 2012 Report Evaluation		Is willing to help and the material for nuclear science is that at all bad. Very kind man who wants you to succeed.

CHEM 106 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 10:42 am, Jan 4, 2012 Report Evaluation		First off, Dr. Fantin is blind. Cool for awhile, then annoying. His lectures could put an insomniac to sleep, and his TA has to write everything on the whiteboard. The HW is difficult, as you really have no way of knowing if you are even close to correct until after you get it back. Midterms get much harder throughout the quarter. I got 87,88, and then an F. Studied the same amount for each, but got hammered on the last midterm, bringing my high B down to a C. Couldnt make up for it on the final, so got a poorly reflective grade. Unfortunately, you probably don't have a choice of teachers if you are in chem 106, which is basically high school chem for the people that took physics in high school. Tips: do the HW as best as you can, checking your results with classmates. Study a lot for the last few tests.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 5:48 pm, Mar 21, 2011 Report Evaluation		Fantin was the best for Chem 110. Although he's blind, he still knows what he is talking about and is ready to help students. I'm horrible with chem and this was pretty much my first real instruction of it. If you're having trouble in the lecture GO TO HIS OFFICE HOURS. I did really bad on the first 2 midterms and he will help you. No joke, I went from an avg score of 50 on the tests to a 72. He does curve all the tests at the end of the quarter which does suck since you don't know where you stand going into the final, but he is nice with the curve. Def. recommend this professor.

CHEM 128 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:37 am, May 21, 2010 Report Evaluation		When you account for the fact that he\'s blind and requires a teachers aide you realize he\'s a great teacher. He\'s another genius professor. Beware of his aide though, he/she puts the tests and quizzes together under vague direction from him. He curves the hell out of everything though to make up for this so hit the class average and you\'ll be okay. Works through a bajillion examples in class so you can just read through the book and notes and you\'ll do very well.



CHEM 110 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:52 am, Mar 26, 2010 Report Evaluation		Everyone is scared of chemistry but Fantin was awesome. Go to his office hours, he remembers you and wants to help you out! Unbelievably intelligent, I would take him again. Doesn\'t try to trick you on exams and answers all questions. I would recommend studying lecture notes more than the problems in the textbook.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A General Ed 6:35 pm, Mar 23, 2010 Report Evaluation		I would HIGHLY recommend taking Chem 110 with Dr. Fantin. He is a really good professor who is knowledgeable and caring about his students. He really wants the students to succeed and is willing to give extra help if you need it. Office hours are very helpful. The class consisted of 3 midterms and 1 final. All are SUPER straight forward and he tells you what you should focus on before each test. The tests are very simple and don\'t go into much depth. They are all multiple choice with a few true/false and he curves them which is nice! I thought this class was going to be really hard but I put some effort into it and ended up with an A. I would take another class with him if I could! Dr. Fantin is awesome!

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 2:35 pm, Apr 14, 2009 Report Evaluation		He is very knowledgeable on the subject but his lectures are sooo slow. At first I thought it was beneficial because you have time to digest the material, but in a 2 hr class I ended up not being able to focus my attention throughout the whole class. His tests are very straightforward, he won't try to trick you or pull anything funny. Go to office hours! He gets really happy when people do and he remembers that you went! Even if it's only once, he may boost your grade a little because of it.

CHEM 111 Freshman Grade Earned: B General Ed 7:13 pm, Mar 26, 2009 Report Evaluation		Dr. Fantin amazes me! He's blind and is able to teach a quarter of Chemistry-wow! :) He speaks slowly so it's easy to follow along if you pay attention. His assistant will write problems on the board and help in answering questions. The class wasn't too hard if you took high shcool chemistry. He has quizzes, two tests, and one final that aren't horribly difficult. Just keep reviewing the material and if you do well with the quizzes you should do well on the tests, but do study.

CHEM 106 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 3:29 am, Dec 26, 2008 Report Evaluation		Fantin is a really nice guy but alot of the class depends on the TA...he's blind so he has a TA right every thing on the board as he lectures. he was very knowledgeable but our TA made alot of mistakes and alot of the things she wrote didn't quite make sense. take his class but just hope he has a good TA

SCM 335 Senior Grade Earned: C General Ed 10:30 pm, Mar 25, 2008 Report Evaluation		Dr. Fantin is an excellent professor. I found absolutely no issue in regards to his blindness and the presentation of this course. In many ways, it was actually better. The man memorizes everything that he is going to lecture and presents it quite well. The class was also very interesting. The only thing that effected my grade was that the midterm and final covered a lot of material and he IS a pretty tough grader. Overall though, I would take him in the future.



CHEM 110 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:31 pm, Feb 17, 2008 Report Evaluation		Fantin in blind. He's pretty amazing but boring. His lectures are pretty boring because he just stands there and talks while his TA writes notes down. Tests were pretty tough because most of the material was from the book and not on what he lectured on. Read the book.

CHEM 110 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:34 pm, Feb 10, 2008 Report Evaluation		So, the lectures can be kind of slow, but overall this was a good teacher. I took it in the Fall and got a good grade. It is kind of an interesting class because a TA writes everything down that he says. The TA knew a lot about chemistry, so her notes were really easy to follow and helped for the tests. The tests are pretty hard multiple choice, but the get curved because nobody does too great. I worked pretty hard, and went to office hours when I was stuck. He is super helpful in office hours, so go if you are having trouble!

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 2:40 pm, Nov 4, 2007 Report Evaluation		Fantin is a really smart guy. I liked him a lot, but I hated going to lecture. He is a good teacher, but his lectures are extremely boring. If I went at all, I would leave part way through becuase I would not be able to pay attention the whole time. If you are a student who does not like long boring lectures, do not take him. If you can learn from those kinds of lectures, then you should take the class becuase he is very educated and a good man. My biggest problem in the class were the TAs. The ones that I had would be so slow to write down what he was saying and I wouldnt be able to pay attention to his lecure and write down the notes at the same time. She would also sometimes write the wrong thing that he said, and there was no way for him to correct it becuase he is blind. There are two midterms, a final and a paper that is really easy and can be finsihed in about a half hour...and get an A. I got D's on both midterms and thought I bombed the final(I am very bad at chemistry & I didnt go to class..you could get better than that if put more effort) and an A on the paper and I ended out with a C. He is a legit guy, but like I said, if you are a stoner, slacker, or just cant pay attention tolong lectures, I would avoid taking it.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:31 pm, Feb 28, 2007 Report Evaluation		Mr. Fantin is AWESOME. Very passionate about his work and a great guy. He is blind but this does not hinder him from being a great teacher. I would highly recommend him. He is extremely helpful at office hours and is very clear with class material.

CHEM 106 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:03 am, Jan 12, 2007 Report Evaluation		I really am glad that he's doing something he's passionate about given the circumstances. However, given the option, I just feel more comfortable around someone who looks at me when I'm talking to them. I find it somewhat annoying to have to look at the TA whenever I have a question. I guess it's my problem, but overall he either has everything memorized or he's reading braile where I can't see. Either way he comes off as very informed on the subect. I didn't show up very often because he has a tendency to speak in monotone. Then I fall asleep. ()

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 2:03 am, Dec 20, 2006 Report Evaluation		Mr. Fantin is an awesome guy who just wants the best for his students. I highly recommend taking him as a lecture instructor. He is extremely easy and lets you know EXACTLY what to study for the upcoming exam. He even emails all of his students the review questions. A+ guy



PHYS 121 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:29 am, Aug 4, 2006 Report Evaluation		Dr. Fantin's class was very quick and painless. All the quizzes are the exact homework problems he gives from the week. So if you do the homework you should get an A on all the quizzes. The tests don't come directly from the homework but if you study hw and quizzes you shouldn't have any trouble. I rarely went to lecture, except for quizzes, and still got a B+. He is also very nice and willing to help you if you come into office hours.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:17 pm, Mar 27, 2006 Report Evaluation		The only reason I ever went to this class was because the TA was amazingly HOT, but seriously the class was very boring and same thing week in and week out. He is probably one of the smartest Professors on campus because being blind he had everything memorized. A really nice guy if you go to his office hours and he hands out practice tests that have probably HALF the questions on the test. Not hard to get a B/C but really hard to get an A.

CHEM 110 Freshman Grade Earned: C General Ed 3:28 pm, Mar 22, 2006 Report Evaluation		He is incredibly boring, as he lectures the whole time in the same voice. Like I'm talking REALLY REALLY boring. But you don't have to go to class, and the 2 midterms and final are pretty basic stuff, as is the 2 page paper that just has to do with chem. I'd recommend him, because it was a really easy C and could have been a B with a little more work (but not much more)

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 4:37 pm, Mar 21, 2005 Report Evaluation		ok so there were 4 tests (counting the non cumulitive final) i went to5 lectures, the first day and all the tests. all you do is grab a houndout at the review session, listen carefully read the handout and your review notes over like 5 times, then take the test. i got a 94, 89, 87, 90 with this method. Simple. the lab sucks though dont take dr jones.

CHEM 110 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 1:45 pm, Jan 29, 2005 Report Evaluation		Dr. Fantin is great. He is VERY intelligent and just a kind man. He will go the extra mile to help you if you go to his office. The guy on the bottom of this page is obviously an idiot because he couldn't even find a teacher's office. He exams are easy if you attend lecture and do a minimal amount of reading (his handouts). You probably dont even need to buy the book for this course.

CHEM 110 Senior Grade Earned: B General Ed 12:30 pm, Jan 3, 2005 Report Evaluation		Fantin is a good and fair professor. Read the hand outs and you will do fine.



CHEM 110 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 12:44 pm, Dec 16, 2004 Report Evaluation		This teacher was a lot of fun. Don't think that just because he's blind that he doesn't understand chemistry. He gives you extra credit and he's incredibly friendly. I felt very comfortable coming to speak to him and he explained things pretty well. He can help you with your test, don't listen to some of those other comments. I didn't put enough effort into the class to get above a C, but I learned a lot and enjoyed the class. I suggest Fantin because he will work with you to improve your grade. He curved the entire class and gave everyone at least 5 extra points for those who were near failing. He also has a lot of energy.

CHEM 110 Sophomore Grade Earned: B General Ed 5:21 pm, Oct 25, 2004 Report Evaluation		he is a really nice guy but wow, his lectures are hard to attend. i dont know how poly lets a blind guy teach a class. there is a TA and she was hot and that is what made me go to class. just glance over the book and DO the study guide that he passes out before each exam and this class will be cake.

CHEM 110 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 10:34 pm, Mar 30, 2004 Report Evaluation		THE GUY IS BLIND!! Im not pointing this out because i think you'd miss it, or because im entertained by it, but because this fact alone swayed a lot of my feelings about the course. The course itself was not horrible. Similar to a high school chemistry class. He makes an effort by doing handouts of all his notes (a TA writes on the board) and doing a review session before each of the three exams. The problem i had was the delivery of his lectures. He stutters and pauses as he feels his braille notes which is distracting. The man is very intelligent but makes for a very difficult instructor. He does give extra credit for attending one of his office hours...only problem is...the room listed on the syllabus has someone elses name on the door...apparently no one bothered to visit...Bottom Line...hes not horrible and the class isnt too bad (still dont know how i got a C though...i would had gone in after the final to disscuss it...but how much could a blind guy tell me about my exam?)but if i had a choice i would had tried another professor....

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