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Devaney, Kevin

Cumulative GPA: 3.71/4.00 with 54 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 3.65
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 3.56

Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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CE 457 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Elective 12:28 am, May 20, 2013 Report Evaluation		Devaney is great! I've been able to take him for a couple different classes and he has been really consistent about teaching straight out of the professional building codes that relate to his class. It doesn't make for the most exciting course but it is DAMN USEFUL because its the type of stuff your gonna be doing for the rest of your career. He knows his stuff and can explain the theory behind all topics extremely well, but the key selling point here is that he makes his class APPLICABLE, not just a shit ton of useless theory that so many other teachers get caught up in. While the lectures are often slow, full of example problems, and referencing different engineering texts (that he goes out of his way to print for you so as to save you from buying the book); the labs have been really good experiences that connect all the lecture notes to real life design issues. Take anything he is teaching when you can, definitely one of the top teir CE professors; up there with teachers like Chadwell and Bing Qu.

CE 457 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 9:03 pm, May 24, 2012 Report Evaluation		As a CE having material that I was truly interested in, broken down and explained in a way that I could truly grab a hold of was great. I try and take Devaney whenever I can. Even though almost every class Ive had of his has been at 7:40.... way to put the good teachers at a time that no one wants to go to class. classic cal poly

CE 356 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 5:06 pm, Mar 24, 2011 Report Evaluation		Devaney was an awesome teacher for steel! The workload is not too bad, only a couple hours a week outside of class. Granted, steel is much more straightforward than concrete, and he teaches to the Steel Manual, which does pretty much all your work for you if you know how to use the tables and look things up. Don't bother buying the textbook, you will never use it. On his midterms, 80% of it is the same types of problems as the HW, 20% is modified somehow so it looks trickier to solve, but if you understand the material you can usually figure out the right way to approach it. The final was basically the first two midterms all over again, but with numbers changed. Devaney is unlike most professors in that he'll tell you exactly what you will need to know and use in real practice, and skip over the extraneous information or advanced topics. I would take him again in a heartbeat.

CE 356 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:50 pm, Mar 25, 2010 Report Evaluation		I will say that I learn well under Devaney\'s teaching style. I just think he is incredibly boring. The material is already pretty dry, and all we do is solve problems, so I\'d just like some passion. But, Devaney is very straight forward, extremely fair (if not easy), and reasonable. The class is a gimme, just do the work and study, and you\'re good.

CE 259 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:01 pm, Feb 25, 2009 Report Evaluation		So everyone else has already said this, but Devaney is the man. He always looks like he just got done with his son's little league game. He is one of the most chill approachable professors i have ever had. i love this guy. granted he did give me the only B i've ever gotten in college. It definitely was fair. I just had fun in lab, I learned a lot but didn't put too much effort forth. He is t one of the fairest graders. I love this guy. he's clear and concise, if you don't get it, he'll explain it in a different way. and if you have other questions, he'll answer those too. he knows his stuff and you can definitely tell. take devaney if you can. end of story.

CE 355 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 2:50 pm, Feb 24, 2009 Report Evaluation		Mr. Devaney is the man I like the way he teaches straight to the point. He doesn't go much into the theory, which I believe is good, who cares if in 19?? Joe created blah blah. If he does he will not test you on it. If he does, his tests are open book open notes. Why shouldn't they? This is how the PE test will be like anyways. Devaney teaches all that you need to know. In addition, his examples during class are very usefull for a visual type of person. Take his class if you're able to get in.

CE 355 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 3:33 pm, Dec 14, 2008 Report Evaluation		Devaney is a great instructer for those interested in practical engineering analysis and design. His great examples and insight are very refreshing compared to researcher/professors.



CE 259 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:22 am, Feb 12, 2008 Report Evaluation		Devaney is the man, hands down. He comes to class like he just got off a construction site and is on his way to a little league game, but presents the material just as you need to know it. he clearly understands from working in the field what is important for students to know and what is not. try to take him for as many courses as possible, he's a genuinely good professor, extremely approachable and makes plenty of time to help out his students to understand material. Devaney for the win!

CE 259 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:59 pm, Jun 19, 2007 Report Evaluation		Mr. Devaney is a great instructor. He is one of those who works in the field and has a great way of explaining concepts. He was able to use many real world examples to help relate the stuff to classwork. He has a great personality and is easy to get along with. Course was basically 70% lab work and 30% final. Final was open book open notes, and fairly easy if you had most of the material on hand. I didn't study and must have done well on the final to get an A in the course. This was so far my favorite course in CE because you utilize most of the engineering concepts to real work applications. ND.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:24 pm, Mar 9, 2006 Report Evaluation		Really great lecturer. Explains material very clearly and grades fair. His diagrams are awesome! He should be called Kevin DaVinci!

CE 204 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:08 am, Jan 6, 2006 Report Evaluation		Excellent teacher, he explains the material well. There is a rather large homework load but he grades it really easily and I think it's important in order to learn the material anyways.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:03 am, Dec 19, 2005 Report Evaluation		Professor Devaney is one of the best professors I have had at Poly. He does an excellent job explaining each topic with clear, concise drawings and examples that are like the test questions and homework problems. The best part of the class is that HW is worth 20% of your grade and is NOT graded! All you have todo is complete each problem and circle an answer and you get full credit. If you just do the 8 problems or so a week you will get 20% of your grade an A+. His quizzes are also easy and are worth 20 percent of the grade as well. If you study for like 15 minutes before you should do fine and he drops the lowest score. There is one midterm and a final that was easier than the midterm. Take Devaney for CE 204 if you want to pass and learn this important material.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:00 pm, Dec 14, 2005 Report Evaluation		Devaney draws very very VERY good pictures and illustrations, it is unparalleled and people should be calling him DiVinci instead of Devaney! The quizzes and midterms are VERY straightforward. An equation sheet with illustrations is allowed, which helps totally on the final. There were many homework problems due each week (10-20), but half of them were totally easy. He's a great teacher.



CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 11:48 pm, Mar 22, 2005 Report Evaluation		Devaney lectures very clearly and efficiently. If you ever have to choose between him and Kasper you would be a real shit head to pick Kasper. Devaney's tests were hard and jam packed with questions; however, they were fair and straight forward, no tricks. Is he bald?

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 10:18 pm, Mar 10, 2005 Report Evaluation		this guys an awesome teacher for 204. the homework is fair, doesnt take too long, and, at least for the first midterm, took problems exactly from the homework and changed the numbers. he does a great job explaining te material thoroughly and clearly. this class is soo much better than 205 w/kasper. as long as you put step by step directions on how to do the hw problems on the study sheet youre poertty much guaranteed an A.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:47 pm, Mar 1, 2005 Report Evaluation		Excellent teacher and by far one of the best in the structural dept. He always brings lectures down to a level where everyone can understand no matter how difficult the material is. I think his practical examples are the best and his reference to how things are done in practice...this is really important and many professors here don't understand that.

CE 259 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 5:45 pm, Feb 15, 2005 Report Evaluation		In this course, we always get out early. It usually lasts an hour and a half. The first few weeks are really boring; we test aggregates. Then we move to concrete, and that is more exciting. So far we have made concrete cylinders and a reinforced concrete beam. All of them will be tested (crushed). The lab write ups are relatively straight forward, but they can take awhile to do. The labs and lab write ups are done in groups. The only test is the final. Overall, it is a mildly interesting and low stress course in my opinion.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:48 pm, Jan 6, 2005 Report Evaluation		Devaney is flat out one of the best professors i've had. he explains everything very simply and clearly, making sure to explain his processes as he moves along. he's an extremely nice guy, has worked and still currently does work in a local engineering firm, so he can really relate the material. take him if you can. the best.

CE 204 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 8:42 pm, Jan 1, 2005 Report Evaluation		not too much to say about Kevin. He's not a full time teacher because he is a working CE. If you get the chance take him and make time for office hours. If you need it he will go over and over the same problem so long as no one else has any questions in teh offce hour.



CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 5:18 pm, Dec 19, 2004 Report Evaluation		I really feel sorry for Devaney. The school had him try to teach a class like strength of materials to over 120 students. Don't ever take an engineering class that has this many students. Devaney was pretty good during office hours, it was just hard to get much time with him since he had so many students. He presented the material very well in class, and really gave us a lot of opportunities to get our grade up. The first midterm was really hard, the average was a 63%, but he does curve the whole class. He made the hw worth 20% of our grade, but graded only on effort, not on answers. There are solution cd's for this class, but I suggest not using them. I probably would have done much worse on the weekly quizzes, also worth 20%, if I had used it since the quizzes were based on hw and I actually understood what I was doing. The final wasn't too bad, just study exactly what he tells you to. There was only one question on the final that I wasn't really expecting. He is pretty straightforward, and shows genuine concern for his students. For the CE department, don't ever make one of your classes this big again, students can't learn as well.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 4:59 pm, Dec 15, 2004 Report Evaluation		Devaney is an excellent professor. He understands the material very well and presents it clearly so that you too will understand it well. He spends extra time on difficult material, and never went to fast in any part of the class. The amount of homework is reasonable, although it is very difficult. His office hours are almost always packed with homework questions. But the quiz and exam problems are much easier than the homework, so theres no need to worry. Take this professor, do the homework, use his office hours, and you will definately do well in the class

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 11:48 am, Nov 18, 2004 Report Evaluation		I would only say he is an average teacher. He doesn't have a very deep understanding of the material, so as a consequence, he gives lots of special case formulas that really aren't necessary. With that said, he is a decent instructor and would make a fine choice.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:50 am, Apr 26, 2004 Report Evaluation		He's a great teacher. Explains things clearly and fully. Good guy too. My only complaint is that he was a hard grader on the exams. If you mess up something in the beginning of a problem, you will typically get little to no credit for the problem even if you did the rest of it right. Or at least, that was my experience. You'll learn alot, but if your prone to making small mistakes like me, you'll get knocked on it some.

CE 206 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:30 pm, Mar 27, 2004 Report Evaluation		Excellent lab prof. Collects lab reports in bundles and a final, no quizzes. Reports have to be done well, but he tells you EXACTLY what he wants. Final was hard, but was open book, notes, etc.

CE 500 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:39 pm, Nov 18, 2003 Report Evaluation		He's cool



CE 259 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:39 pm, Aug 6, 2003 Report Evaluation		Everything that you have ever heard about this guys is true. He is awesome. He made every day fun and easy to understand. And his lectures, on those few occasions, were so straight forward that anyonoe could learn the subject. Labs were easy to right and he graded them as such. Take him if you have the chance.

CE 355 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:25 pm, Jun 19, 2003 Report Evaluation		good guy and a good teacher. all around good professor

CE 205 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 5:21 pm, Jun 17, 2003 Report Evaluation		kevin's lectures were very thorough and easy to understand and he always explained the material clearly. he always did exmple problems in class and gave excellent notes. he gave 4-5 quizes througout the qtr, which were very similar to the homework. his tests problems are fair, but long. he is a nice guy, easy to talk to and very helpful during office hours. i would recommend taking him for ce 204, 205, 206 if possible. you will understand the material and earn a fair grade.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:51 am, Apr 16, 2003 Report Evaluation		Devaney is bad a** and that is all that I can say. He is one of the best professors I've had. He can teach you the material with ease. He works at an Engineering firm in town and he basically uses that as a basis for teaching you exactly what you need to know. His tests are tough, but he curves. You are in good hands if you get the privelage of taking Devaney!

CE 205 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 12:41 am, Apr 9, 2003 Report Evaluation		Good teacher. Explained the material clearly and precisely. One of the better teachers ive had in an engineering support course. Beware of the midterm and final. One or two of the types of HW questions that take forever to figure out or are extremely hard to do usually ends up on the test.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 8:36 am, Apr 1, 2003 Report Evaluation		A really GREAT professor. His tests actually test you on the material that he covers so if you know the material you are pretty much guarenteed a good grade. The final is just like the two mid-terms but a little bit longer. You are aloud a equation sheet for all the quizes on (usually) wednesday and the midterms and the final. He wants you to know how to do the problems not be able to memorize stupid equations. If you actually try to do the homework then you get full credit but definitely show some work. Overall the quizes are easy, midterms a little long but definitely doable, the final-really clear and strait foward. TAKE HIM> YOU WILL REALLY LIKE THIS CLASS!



CE 205 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:01 pm, Mar 25, 2003 Report Evaluation		Take this teacher when ever you can. Best teacher I have had in college. To bad he does'nt teach fluid mechanics (HaHa).

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 5:14 pm, Feb 3, 2003 Report Evaluation		Davaney is just like a little league coach. Not only does he resemble one, but he always supports the team. He would cover the lecture at the classes pace and would always leave time in the end for HW and questions. The HW is not layed on too thick and he assigns just the right amount so that you learn the topic. Quizes are easy as long as you prepare an equation sheet, he doesn't through any curveballs. However, his midterms is hard. He squeezes an hour and a half test into fifty minutes, leaving the class scrambling to finish. Other than the difficult midterm, he is a very fair teacher and good at recognizing the class's strengths and weaknesses.

CE 201 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 8:07 am, Jan 17, 2003 Report Evaluation		Devaney's a stud. He wears boots, wranglers, and Hawaiian shirts to class everyday. Lectures are always relevant and interesting. Tests were very fair, maybe overly so. And I never felt like I was learning something that I would never use--he was very good about showing us the practical applications of what we were learning. Homework was geared so that if you did one problem a night during the week (and they shouldn't take you more than about 15 minutes each) you would get all the homework done. He's also very leniant about late homework...I mean not if you're a dick about it, but if you have one off week and you go and say, "hey, kevin (he goes by kevin in class--isn't that cool?!) My dog died and subsequently I spent all weekend burying him, would you mind if I turned this stuff in next week?" He's cool about it. I would reccomend Kevin for anyone.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 1:36 pm, Jan 7, 2003 Report Evaluation		Kevin Devany is one of the nicest teachers I've come across. There weren't enough sections of CE 204 so Kevin taught another one, despite the fact that he is still works as a civil engineer outside of Cal Poly. He makes sure that the students are understanding the material and writes very clearly. Plus...how many teachers come to school in jeans, a hawaiian shirt, and a hat. Definately take him if you can.

CE 204 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:26 am, Dec 18, 2002 Report Evaluation		Devaney is a great teacher. He takes his time, is very practical, and makes sure everything is presented clearly. I really can't say enough about this guy. If you get the chance, sign up for his class for sure.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:54 pm, Jun 21, 2002 Report Evaluation		Devaney is a great professor and I would highly recommend him. He goes really slow and draws all his pictures really neatly. He really wants you to learn the material. Devaney is also really great in his office hours. Be sure to avoid El Ghandor.



CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 1:37 pm, Mar 18, 2002 Report Evaluation		Devany is a great teacher, he moves slowly and really wants you to learn the material, I would highly recommend him.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 7:37 pm, Jan 8, 2002 Report Evaluation		Great teacher, well organized, not like anyone else in the engineering department. He is a real engineer, and what could be cooler than a teacher who wears wranglers to class?

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 6:12 pm, Dec 20, 2001 Report Evaluation		I found Kevin Devaney to be a great teacher. His lectures are relevant and informative and he spends ample time on examples and student difficulties. Homework is due once a week and graded on completeness. There are a number of short quizzes, one midterm, and the final exam, all of which are reasonable. Office hours are very helpful. Kevin (that's what he wants you to call him) is a great teacher for 204; he wants his students to learn the material and succeed.

CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 1:25 pm, Dec 19, 2001 Report Evaluation		A truly great professor. His lectures are simple and straight-forward with lots of examples. Homework is due once a week and you get full credit for trying even if you don't get the right answers. He's a really nice guy and makes sure that everyone understands that material presented. The class material is pretty easy and he makes sure the class is easy. I should have had an easy A in the class. If you're taking 204 take Devaney!

CE 205 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 6:09 pm, Oct 27, 2001 Report Evaluation		This is an excellent professor. He is very patient and understanding and I never felt stupid asking any questions. His lectures are very thorough and well planned. TAKE HIM IF YOU CAN!! He is way better than the instructor I had for 204.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 1:27 am, Sep 29, 2001 Report Evaluation		Devaney is a nice guy but there were a lot of problems understanding the material. He would lecture straight out of his notes and do example problems. The problem is that the material taught in this course is also needed for CE 205. Concepts were not stressed enough for retention to help you get through CE 205 and CE 206. There aren't very many choices for CE 204, but whatever you do, study concepts as well as doing all the homework.



CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 1:27 am, Sep 29, 2001 Report Evaluation		Devaney is a nice guy but there were a lot of problems understanding the material. He would lecture straight out of his notes and do example problems. The problem is that the material taught in this course is also needed for CE 205. Concepts were not stressed enough for retention to help you get through CE 205 and CE 206. There aren't very many choices for CE 204, but whatever you do, study concepts as well as doing all the homework.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 8:42 pm, Aug 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		Kevin is a good professor. He is very consise in his lecturers and moves slowely and patiently. Writes neatly on the board too and is generally helpful when you have quesions. Exams are straightforward and fair. Seems like a very mellow and easy going guy. He could make the class a bit more intersting by forcing more interaction though; ie, a bit bland in his presentations.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 11:39 am, Jun 20, 2001 Report Evaluation		He is the clearest lecturer at this school that I have encountered. His tests are fair but challenging; he goes over everything until you get it. I recommend taking any class from this instructor.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 9:06 pm, May 1, 2001 Report Evaluation		Professor Devaney has got to be one of the best professors I've taken here at Cal Poly. He explains all the basic concepts you need to know to do well on his quizzes and exams. He's also very helpful with homework problems during class. It should be really easy to do well if you pay attention and do the work. I didn't try very hard, but it was still a good learning experience. I highly recommend Devaney.

CE 204 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:45 pm, Apr 5, 2001 Report Evaluation		Devaney is one of the few CE professors I have really liked. He is great at explaining things in a way we can understand the first time. Very cool guy and great in office hours.

CE 204 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 5:57 pm, Mar 12, 2001 Report Evaluation		Great prof.! Very clear, patient, understanding and fair. Never expects you to cover his mistakes. Very easy going and nice. Tkae him if you want to understand and not get lost.



CE 204 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 8:44 pm, Oct 23, 2000 Report Evaluation		Kevin is an excellent professor who makes his classes interesting with little stories about how things work in the real world (he is currently working outside Cal Poly, unlike those old, old engineers trying to teach us how things work). His classes include quizzes once-a-week and one midterm and final. Quizzes and midterm are very straight-forward and he drops the lowest two quizzes. This professor knows the material very well and everyone in his class should come out knowing the stuff in the text. I recommend you take him over Larsen, who I heard uses a weird electronic text that's difficult to work with.

CE 205 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 11:32 am, Jun 22, 2000 Report Evaluation		I had Dr. Devaney for CE 204 and he knew his stuff pretty well and did a good job of teaching. However, for CE 205, he seemed a lot less direct and clear. He'd do examples that had nothing to do with the homework or leave stuff out. In his defense he hadn't taught 205 for a couple of years before this quarter. He also drones on a lot and it's easy to nod off or lose you attention.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 4:27 pm, Mar 27, 2000 Report Evaluation		Dr. Devaney is a good and fair teacher. His midterms and finals are based on what he teaches you and the homework. Advice: study the examples as well as the homework for his midterms. I throughly studied the homework only and I got a C on the first midterm. He also is ready and willing to help when you ask. Sometimes he can be pretty boring though.

CE 204 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 2:36 pm, Jan 5, 2000 Report Evaluation		If you want to understand the material the first time around then take Kevin, he explains things in student terms. Do the homework and go to class and you will get a B. If you fail then you should probably consider changing majors.

CE 206 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:48 pm, Jun 28, 1999 Report Evaluation		The only 206 instructor that I have heard of the gives a final on what the lab covers not the 204/205 lecture. His lab grades are based on the lab write-ups and the final not weekly quizes and similar nuisances. He is a very fair grader and very helpful with the labs. His class is not a walk though. To do well on the labs requires a fair amount of time but I would say he is one of the easier 206 instructors.

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