Polyratings.com: Kearns, Tim

Home Professor Search Professor List Evaluate a Professor About Us Contact Us

Kearns, Tim

Cumulative GPA: 1.98/4.00 with 55 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 1.96
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 2.07

Computer Science Department, Cal Poly, SLO
Full Statistical Analysis
Evaluate This Professor

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Major) 10:50 pm, Apr 28, 2013 Report Evaluation		Discrete structures is a hard subject by nature, so even if the teacher teaches well, it is still difficult to succeed in the class. In this case, Kearns is pretty good at presenting the material. He is not so good at recognizing when the class as a whole is struggling with a concept, but he does generally seem concerned for his students. Solid teacher, extremely hard subject.

CSC 141 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 11:32 pm, Apr 1, 2013 Report Evaluation		Kearns is a decent teacher for discrete structures. Coming from someone who retook the class (after getting a C- from Hatalsky), I think I can make a good judgment on how well he taught. The midterms and final were not at all hard, and were VERY VERY SIMILAR to the homework, although there was one tricky question usually in each midterm/final. The final was not very tricky, except the one thing he didn't put that we needed to know on the study sheet (we needed to know adj. matrices/lists for directed graphs and that wasn't on the study sheet), but the rest of the final was pretty basic and covered already. He also provides more information than Hatalsky on stuff you'll see in CPE 103, and helps you get a little bit more prepared with what you'll be seeing there. Overall, you want to take this teacher over Prof. Hatalsky, since Hatalsky puts tricky questions on his quizzes and midterms, assigns very difficult questions for the homework (much harder than kearns), and teaches things unnecessary for CPE 103. Both Kearns and Hatalsky have similar teaching styles, but Kearn's tests and final are much easier than hatalsky's.

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Support) 10:49 am, Mar 30, 2013 Report Evaluation		Professor Kearns was very bad at explaining the material without using jargon to present information to the students. As a teacher, you have to be able to understand the material well enough to explain the most complex subjects in simple terms, and he in no way had the capacity to do that. I personally worked and studied very hard in the class, and it is true that at least half the class ended up failing the course. He didn't curve anything and seemed to have a complex about students that couldn't quite grasp the material. I'm not trying to say to rip on Mr. Kearns, only warning you that as a teacher, he didn't present the course very well.

CSC 141 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Elective 10:23 am, Mar 25, 2013 Report Evaluation		Wasn't the best experience. He would post videos for us to watch, and then assume none of us watched them because when we would ask questions in class he would just tell us to watch the videos. Tests were really bad, but if you just focus it is possible to pass. You will just have to make sure you understand the material on your own.

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 8:05 pm, Mar 21, 2013 Report Evaluation		He really is not the type of person that should teach people. He can't explain clearly and his class is just so sleepy. His midterm is insane and half of the class failed. (literately, 50% failed), and he still didn't curve. He also posted a proficiency exam, which won't count expect he will fail you if you get lower than 90%. Avoid this guy!

CSC 141 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Elective 4:23 pm, Mar 6, 2013 Report Evaluation		Why is this guy still allowed to be a professor? They really need to fire him and remove CSC 141 from the curriculum. He acts like he's this accomplished computer scientist when in reality, he hardly knows what he's talking about. He is extremely unclear in his lectures and unhelpful in answering questions. He will actually refuse to answer your question if you didn't "watch his video" (even if you did watch the video and just didn't understand it). His midterms are insanely hard and he doesn't curve them, so you will probably be failing for a good part of the quarter. Furthermore, he gives out a PROFICIENCY TEST, where a 90% or above is passing but doesn't affect your grade, and ANYTHING below that is an automatic F in the class. Why would anyone give a test that can only hurt the student? It blows my mind. The material of this course is stupid and irrelevant. Avoid this class at all costs.

CPE 349 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 5:54 pm, Jan 21, 2013 Report Evaluation		This is the best class I have taken at Cal Poly, and the most informative. I feel that he is speaking in earnest when talking about his primary goal of teaching students the material as effectively as possible. Too many Cal Poly engineering classes are just recycled lecture slides, lab manuals, and assignments from years past with little consideration given to improvement in student understanding. Professor Kearns, with his emphasis on a well balanced "cognitive load", offers a refreshing and, in my opinion, proper emphasis on knowledge and understanding which will definitely last much longer than the inflexible, more trivial and traditional classes that you often take. The pace of the class was a little slow for me, as I felt that we spent too much time on algorithms that people should have already been familiar with from CS103, but perhaps the review was more needed than I realized for some in the class. The exams are easy if you understand the algorithms. There were numerous small assignments throughout the quarter - these do a good job of keeping you constantly engaged with the material throughout the quarter, but never overwhelmed. It is a shame that I did not have Professor Kearns earlier in my Cal Poly career, as I would have taken more classes with him.



CPE 349 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:15 am, Jan 9, 2013 Report Evaluation		Second class I've taken with Kearns, voluntarily! Kearns is very helpful and although he may not be the best at explaining things, he tries his best and actually acknowledges his mistakes. In addition, unlike most other professors, he actually let almost (if not all) everybody on the wait list into his class and made special accommodations to fit people into the lab section. Overall, I would recommend Kearns.

CPE 349 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:28 pm, Jan 1, 2013 Report Evaluation		After taking 349 with Kearns, I regret not taking it sooner. The concepts you learn in this class are VERY important, especially when you are applying for jobs/internships. I wish there had been more programming assignments during the quarter, instead of mostly just pseudocode that did not really make the material stick. I thought it was kind of ridiculous that Kearns assigns weekly homework that is not collected, it's just like Nico assigning a chapter of reading a week. No one has time to do it. Regardless, if you pay attention, complete all of the assignments and spend the time necessary to understand it, you will be fine. Kearns can be kind of dull to listen to, but he does the best he can with the given material, considering algorithms is not all that interesting (to me) to begin with, I think Kearns does a fine job of teaching it. Once you get to know Kearns, he is a nice guy and if you go to him during office hours, he will try to explain things to the best of his ability. I would recommend taking Kearns over Staley as I have heard Staley can be overwhelming and that certainly is NOT the case in this class. Since there are few assignments, I did not need to spend more than a few hours each week outside of class to be fully prepared. A word of warning, the midterm and final are difficult and require a lot of time, especially since there is so much material.

CPE 349 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 12:10 am, Dec 29, 2012 Report Evaluation		I thought that Algorithms with Kearns was a pretty good class. This is the first time you really go into algorithms and data structures in-depth, and, to me, the content was exceedingly useful. Before 349, there are plenty of programming problems where you think, "Is there actually a reasonable way to solve this?" and here you'll finally get some mind-blowingly clever tricks applicable to any number of situations. As for the class structure, you shouldn't worry. There's weekly homework from the book that isn't collected. I never did it, but the problems are helpful if you're able to spend the time. There are assigned (and collected) problems occasionally where you have to create or analyze one algorithm or another. There are a few programs due throughout the quarter where you essentially write a couple simple functions. I found them kind of fun, and they make the material stick. The midterm and final were tricky, but if you go to class, pay attention, and complete (and understand) the homework, they're totally fair, and an A or B shouldn't be out of reach. Kearns isn't the most exciting professor you'll ever have, but he knows what he's doing, and he's done real computer science work. Lectures can a bit dry, but I'm not sure what else you'd expect from an algorithms class. He gets the material across and is sure to do a lot of examples and take the necessary time to answer questions. Lastly, I'd note that Kearns is one of the most caring professors you'll ever have. There can be a heavy workload at times, but it's an appropriate amount, and it's just because he wants you to learn the important concepts. He constantly asks if there's anything he can do to make your life easier, and he's always interested in your education as a whole and how the department can do better. If you struggle at all and make a reasonable effort to learn in class, go to office hours; he'll bend over backwards to help you out.

CPE 349 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:48 pm, Dec 16, 2012 Report Evaluation		Kearns is a down to earth and overall nice guy. He is blunt and does not hesitate to let you know what he expects from you. This course is not too hard, but the first half of the class had a lot of memorization (killed my grade). If you prefer to learn algorithm concepts by actually programming instead of drawing it out, the second half of the class with be perfect for you. Kearns genuinely wants you to succeed and is very helpful in office hours. Put in a little effort into understanding the concepts, visit him in office hours to double check you are getting everything right, and you will do fine. Also, ask him any technical interview questions you've heard/need help with. More than likely he knows the answer!

CSC 349 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:28 pm, Nov 30, 2012 Report Evaluation		I'm not sure why everyone is hating on him. Kearns is one of the best professors I've had in the department. He's really caring and down to earth.

CSC 349 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 9:49 am, Oct 22, 2012 Report Evaluation		I'm a bit surprised by the polyratings of kearns. Going in to this class, i expected prof. kearns to be a terrible teacher and that i was going to dislike this class a lot. But that really wasn't the case. It seems as though kearns has seen these ratings and is trying to change things around. Already he's given us two surveys asking us how the class can be improved, and really does take in advice. I'm not done with the class as it's only week 6 currently, but kearns is definitely doing his best to help students out. Homework Load: not that bad, just like any other CSC class Midterm: he gave out a midterm practice sheet that was somewhat similar to midterm, VERY helpful. Just ask him questions and you'll be fine.



CPE 349 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 1:46 am, Jun 14, 2012 Report Evaluation		You are seriously considering taking this class with Kearns? Are you crazy?

CSC 349 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 1:15 am, Jun 12, 2012 Report Evaluation		I would rate the class difficulty as almost too easy (hopefully Kearns will make the Labs/Projects a bit harder and worth more of the class grade in the future). The problem you will have is it seems you are doing alright but then when the midterm comes you get smashed. His exams are tough, even if you think you know the material you should go through it a few more times. If you find a section you aren't sure on, go into his office hours and ask questions (he will do his best to help unlike some other professors). Kearns will also do a solid job trying to drill it home that you need to take the time to go through the assigned readings and try example problems to be sure you know what is going on. DO NOT take this advice lightly (this was my mistake among not asking enough questions to make sure I knew the material). In the end it seems other students also had difficulty on the Midterm/Final so the class was curved. I was extremely lucky to have been able to pass, and surprised given my grade on the Exams I did. That being said Kearns is a really fair professor, if he knows you are trying he will help -- but you need to ask!

CSC 249 Junior Grade Earned: C Elective 3:39 pm, Jun 3, 2012 Report Evaluation		Lectures were a waste of time and it was better to sleep in, you gained more information. His only midterm was kinda hard and the lab notebooks and hw were also a waste of time. His teaching SUCKED and I honestly felt like I learned more from reading online and books than I did from him. I took the class because I thought it would be interesting and useful, but in the end learned it all myself. A couple of times he spent more than half the class period writing out an algorithm and explaining it and then realized he made a mistake and started over again.

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 8:19 pm, Apr 14, 2012 Report Evaluation		I didn't think Kearns was horrible. Many times it was hard to understand what he was explaining, but he did the best he could. He seemed to really care about his students' grades, giving students chances to bring up their grades and by holding review sessions. He even puts in the effort to make videos if you miss class or want to relearn something and gives you links to other sources of information if you just don't understand the way he is teaching something. Although he isn't the best teacher, at least he cares. And from what I heard about Hatalsky's CSC 141 class, I would take Kearns over Hatalsky any day.

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 3:33 pm, Feb 22, 2012 Report Evaluation		Not the best teacher in terms of actually explaining students the material, but definitely a very caring teacher, who tries very hard to understand his students difficulties. His midterms are very easy, and people who dont do well in the simply do not study for them. The questions on the midterm are basically formulas and theorems and examples from the book just restated on the midterm. Thats all you really need. Memorize what he teaches you and your good to go. No need to really even do any homework. Now i do admit sometimes the tests might be hard.

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:07 pm, Feb 8, 2012 Report Evaluation		This guy's a prick. I don't understand how else to word it. Spawn of satan, I swear. He must have taught at hell's university prior to SLO.



CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 2:01 pm, Jan 19, 2012 Report Evaluation		okay professor...TEBOWWWW!!!!!!

CSC 141 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 8:02 pm, Jun 13, 2011 Report Evaluation		I found Professor Kearns to be a perfectly fine teacher. The reason the class was boring is because it's a totally dry subject. There was no homework and 1 online quiz per week which tested you on the material that was covered in lecture. The quizzes were extremely basic; you could get a 100% on each one if you paid attention for the first 30min of class. He provided study guides and practice tests for every midterm and final, and the practice tests were almost identical to the real thing. I also found him to be a genuinely nice guy who always offered to help struggling students and created extra office hours before big tests in order to help students prepare.

CSC 141 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 2:05 pm, May 16, 2011 Report Evaluation		I've never written a poly rating before but i feel like kearns deserves one the most because he is the perfect slightly below average teacher. You might not learn a whole lot in the class but you'll learn a little bit, he wouldn't be so bad if his class wasn't so boring, but at the same time he lays the work out for you pretty well, some days you'll make it through the class without falling asleep and some days you won't. To be honest the thing that makes this class so hard to sit through right now is that its 2 hours long. If you can avoid it I would but if not, just get a coffee, show up to class, do the practice midterms and you'll be fine. Also for all the people who says hes disrespectful, I don't know if I would go that far, but I definitely see where those people are coming from.

CSC 101 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 6:15 am, Aug 17, 2005 Report Evaluation		he fucked up. no respect for students and lack of compassion. there is a line between smart confidence and ignorant arrogance. well, he stepped over both lines.

ENGR 550 Graduate Student Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 10:36 am, Oct 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		Every graduate professor I've had and heard about to date, treats each student as his/her intelectual equal. Dr. Kearns boldly broke the mold. He treated the students with a complete lack of respect. Among other problems, we were not allowed to take notes, and he assigned a bogus project. Adding to the confusion was that the required text was only available in limited quantities from Amazon.com. I didn't recieve my text until the 5th week of class. Normally I wouldn't care, but he required that we do the assigned reading before attending class. I know this sounds stupid, but not being able to read before class warrented abrasive tone and language on his part. Here's a funny story. The sylabus that he passed out on the first day of class stated that there would NOT be a final. Huh, funny. Because in the 8th week of the quarter, he let us know that we'd have a final that was to be worth a LARGE portion of our grade. I think he is a bitter, old, and bad man, who is stuck in his ways (cliche, but true). I spoke personally with 15 of the apprx. 20 people in the course, and the unwavering concensus was consistent with what I have written. We vowed NEVER to take another course from him again. Although I was never singled out, I still feel animosity towards him when I see him on campus.

CSC 102 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Major) 4:46 am, Jul 22, 2004 Report Evaluation		He's great. I love her. He knows exactly wat he's talkin about in class; he does it on purpose. he's so great that i wanna study more in CS than ever, so that i can get a good job at microsoft and fuck him over. that's right. that's right. that is right. shut up, tim. it's time to go home.



CSC 101 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 4:42 am, Jul 22, 2004 Moderated Comment		this guy is such an asshole. look. if there were any words to describe his teaching abilities, it would most definitely be: "arnold schwarzennegger wearing a g-string without bra." I dont know how he became the head of the department.

ENGR 213 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 5:29 pm, Feb 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		Kearns is an odd little man. It is obvious that he is excited about his field and that he wants to share, but he assumes that all of his students are idiots. He has a hard time explaining what he is talking about and wanders off subject all the time. He just says that we wouldn't understand and moves on. However, he is very helpful one on one and his enthusiasm keeps you from nodding off. Despite his shortcomings, I think I would take him again.

CSC 365 Senior Grade Earned: B Elective 12:07 pm, Jun 18, 2003 Report Evaluation		Dr. Kearns is neither a great nor a poor professor. I think the reason he is generally seen as inadequate is that he doesn't stand out very much against the backdrop of Staley, Fisher, Turner, Nico, Chirica, and the other excellent members of the CSC faculty. If he put more effort into his databases class, I think he'd be able to achieve some of that greatness. Dr. Kearns definitely knows a lot about databases, but it sometimes seems he's reluctant to impart this knowledge. Aside from some odd quirks (such as a rather extreme dislike of people coming in 'late') he lectures off his slides and uses the same labs Chirica does. The workload is pretty low, though it fluctuates. Deadlines are officially hard, but he doesn't mind if you 'resubmit' something. He'd also give a higher grade if you turn in a complete lab late than if you turn it in on time and not finished. Some extra credit is available for going to various talks. The exams are based off lectures, labs, and slides- don't even bother with the book, it is a colossal waste of money. There is technically no homework, but you might have to work on labs at home. You can work in groups, and it's pretty imperative you do if you want to get done. We had a quiz, a midterm, and the final which was worth 40% of the grade. All of them were brutally tough, with queries and definitions forming the bulk of the scores. The midterm grades were so abysmal he let us 'resubmit' them for extra points. In this, at least, he was forgiving. The thing to keep in mind is that you shouldn't be worried if you're bombing so long as everyone else is too. It seems that Dr. Kearns has too much work to do at times- he rarely lectured on Wednesdays due to a department meeting. The class seemed like a second priority for him, below being department chair. Then again, at least he didn't load us up with busywork and expect us to know things he didn't cover. This makes him better than at least some professors I've seen.

CSC 103 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 4:15 pm, Apr 23, 2003 Report Evaluation		I am the guy who wrote "Take Kearns if you want to learn how to memorize code from a book and recieve a bad grade for trying," and I stand by my words. Real life answers don't come from memorized book answers. As an employed engineer now, I can firmly say that Kearns' class didn't prepare me at all for reality in engineering. That is because engineering requires serious thought, not pre-memorized BS. If he can't handle his current responsibilities, then he should relinquish some of it. Doing several jobs in a half-assed manner is unprofessional - do one thing and do it right.

CSC 206 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 7:59 pm, Mar 31, 2003 Report Evaluation		Well, reading all these responses about Dr. Kearns sure is interesting. I've taken him for a few classes and even worked for him. I won't tout him as the worlds best professor, but most of these evaluations are sung to the tune of the blame game and "he's the reason I failed". Wake up kids. Man I feel old saying this, but grow up. If you are going to sleep or talk in class, he doesn't stand for it. In a college level course you gotta learn to respect your professor. Don't go to class if you're not gonna listen, it's useless to you and insulting to him. He's happy if you don't show up cuz you wouldn't have gotten anything out of his lecture anyway by sleeping. He's working hard to teach you some pretty tough material and play the juggling game with his position as department chair. It takes a lot of work, and sometimes, if you think the class may not be his top priority, you're probably right. I wonder if any of these people actually realize how much work and pressure he is under as department chair, but yet he'll still take the time to help you out if you go to him. And as a response to the person who said "Take Kearns if you want to learn how to memorize code from a book and recieve a bad grade for trying," take a lesson from real life buddy. You don't get A's for effort. Learn it now, or fail later, your choice. Kearns is one of those professors that prepares you for real life, your grade isn't gonna matter after college, concentrate on what you can actually learn from him, which is a hell of a lot.

CSC 349 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 10:32 pm, Mar 16, 2003 Report Evaluation		Kearns is perhaps the worst teacher in the CSC department. I don't know why they made him head of CSC, but i guess they realized he was so bad at teaching and they can't fire him so they made him department chair. His 349 lecture was boring and he explains things in a manner that is hard to understand and visualize. His tests are difficult and none of the questions are represenative of his lecturers. Be prepared to do a lot of studying and learning on your own as he tries to explain problems that he doesn't even understand during lecture.



CSC 349 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:43 am, Jan 31, 2003 Report Evaluation		Professor Kearns has a problem understanding his student's perspective. He lectures as if he is re-teaching himself the course material instead of teaching minds new to the subject matter. I had him for CSC 365 as well, and during both courses I got the feeling, being department chair was more of a priority than teaching. With respect to this class in particular, there are essentially weekly homework assignments, which he supposedly grades, but never returns, two difficult midterms, and of course a cumulative final. Unfortunately, between Kearns and Brady, there are only two options for those required to take Algorithms: take Brady and kiss your social life goodbye but learn a lot, or take Kearns cross your fingers for anything higher than a D and learn little. Kearns should keep to his work as department chair and stay out of the classroom.

CSC 141 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 9:38 am, Jan 15, 2003 Report Evaluation		This guy is bad-ass. He knows his stuff and he's good at explaining it. He's one of the best teachers I've had, period. After the first few weeks of class, I thought Kearns was just plain evil, but I eventually realized why I wasn't doing as well as I wanted to: I wasn't being precise. My definitions weren't precise, my proofs weren't precise -- I was sloppy. I learned to be precise from Dr. Kearns. And it's a good thing, because in Computer Science you can NOT be sloppy. At Cal Poly, with the best CSC program in the US, you better expect some intellectual rigor, and Kearns can provide it. If you can't handle a challenge, don't take anything class taught by Kearns. But if you can, Kearns' class will force you to become a better student and a more precise thinker. If you're already a good student, the course will still be challenging enough to keep you interested. Tips on passing 141 with Kearns: 1) Be precise. Every word in every definition is important. Every step in every proof is important. A sloppy definition on a quiz will cost you points. 2) Memorize the definitions. Make flash cards for tests AND quizzes. 3) DRILL! Do the homework, and then do each problem again before the tests. Do previous test and quiz problems as practice. You need to be able to do the test problems quickly if you want to finish. Each test in Kearn's class is a race against time. 4) Go to class and go to office hours. Although Kearns might sound condescending after the whole class bombs a quiz, he's really a good guy and he's definitely friendly. Kearns even holds special sessions before tests! This guy wants to help you. 5) Don't be afraid. I bombed my first midterm and still managed to get an A in the class. A lot of people complain about Kearns, but I think he's a great teacher. Yes, his class was hard, but this is a university. Challenge yourself!

CSC 205 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:47 pm, Aug 26, 2002 Report Evaluation		Good instructor. You can really learn a lot from him and he can give you a different perspective on the major. I would recommend him for project classes like this one

ENGR 213 Freshman Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 9:31 pm, Jun 27, 2002 Report Evaluation		As mentioned below, Dr. Kearns was one of the lecturers for the horribly organized ENGR 213 class. And, as was mentioned, he had to discuss something PROBABLY wasn't benefitial to any of us in the class. His lecture was a bit boring and he made everyone move to the front and yelled at people who slept, but he had more than adequately prepared for his lecture, and tried to explain the matrix table to the best of his ability. And, even though he is chair of the CSC department, when I had questions about the matrix, he was willing to take a few minutes out of his extremely busy schedule to show me how it was done. So, even though I haven't experience him for a quarter, based on this - I would take a class with him, because he isn't a lazy joke of a prof and was willing to help out, even if may be a bit moody.

CPE 365 Senior Grade Earned: A Elective 9:30 am, May 29, 2002 Report Evaluation		I have read past reviews and am having difficulty recognizing the professor I had in class. Yes, he has difficult exams. Yes, he gives some hard assignments. YOU'RE IN COLLEGE!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS THAT YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO DO WORK!! Okay. Kearns will give exams that may seem difficult and his grading policies are very stringent. He doesn't give much partial credit at all and even says that he doesn't expect people to get an A on his exams. It's a challenge... just like the real world. Live up to it, study the material, and you'll be fine. His lectures, although given from powerpoint slides, were well explained. Any questions I asked were answered clearly and distinctly. He performed exactly like I expected a college professor to perform. Questions he didn't know the answer to, he either looked up himself or pointed us to a location where we could research the answer. I'd take any class he taught in a heartbeat.

CSC 103 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:21 pm, Feb 17, 2002 Report Evaluation		Tim Kearns is as moody as a cat in heat. If you have ever heard a cat in heat howl all night, then you allready have a good idea of how his lecture will sound. You probably can learn more about coding java from a cat in heat. Most of the pro-kearns reviews here look like kearns himself wrote them himself. Avoid this man because he lacks every quality that you would expect a competent teacher to have.



ENGR 213 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:14 pm, Dec 24, 2001 Report Evaluation		Tim Kearns gave one of the weekly lectures in ENGR 213 (see Dr. Dan Walsh). His was on DNA sequencing, and the algorithm that helps it along. It, like most of the other lectures in the class, was unapplicable to a majority of the students in the room. Kearns also gave us a lecture on how if we didn't become better students (i.e. not fall asleep during boring lectures, take better notes, kiss up), we'd all lose our first jobs. Then he started crying about how he was the only person allowed to talk, as if we were highschoolers.

CPE 205 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:20 am, Dec 21, 2001 Report Evaluation		I put a lot of work into this class, more work than any of my other classes. I was also in one of the better groups too. The midterm and final weren't even that hard, despite that, I limped out of this class with a B. It must be that dumb ass manager evaluation based on his "feelings" that count for about 10% of your grade. This guy always seems to be in a bad mood so I wouldn't expect him to dish out accurate evaluations. Despite this manager evaluation bullshit you can learn a lot from this guy. He has a lot of industry experience and is a good person to take if you want to learn something useful.

CPE 103 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 12:12 am, Dec 21, 2001 Report Evaluation		This guy was hard. He challenges you, but he doesnt challange you more than you can bear. He expects out of you what should be expected out of a college student. All the bad reviews for this guy are by lazy people who need to realize that they aren't in high school anymore and need to take some responsiblity. He is a good teacher. He knows his stuff well. And he is a pretty friendly guy. His midterms/final are pretty tough. Stay caught up and you shouldnt have a problem at all. He also curves the tests. I got a 50 out of 100 on my first midterm and a 61 out of 100 on my second midterm and had about a C average for my programs. I got a B+ in the class, which I dont really know how, but I know it was thanks to a nice curve. Overall, he's a good teacher. I'd take him again.

BIO 213 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 2:23 pm, Dec 18, 2001 Report Evaluation		Dr. Kearns gave one of the weekly lectures in ENGR 213 (See Dr. Walsh). He took up time from the lecture lecturing us like high schoolers about how he was the only one allowed to talk. He also mentioned at the end of lecture that if we continued not to pay attention, we'd all lose our jobs. I say let us figure that out for ourselves, you baby.

CSC 103 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 11:41 am, Dec 6, 2001 Report Evaluation		Kearns has no business teaching programming. He can't write code and barely even understands code from the text book. He made us take 103 in Java because C++ is obviously too complex for him. Also he makes you memorize every algorithm in the book - what good does this do for me? None. I could just look up a binary search ifi need one, so why memorize it for a single test. I think he tests this way because he would struggle to come up with his own programming questions to test us on since he doesn't know how to program himself. Wait for a better teacher ifyou want to be a strong programmer. Take Kearns if you want to learn how to memorize code from a book and recieve a bad grade for trying.

CSC 205 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:32 am, Dec 6, 2001 Report Evaluation		Mr. Kearns is the worst teacher that I have ever had. He brings his personal problems into the class room and dumps his stress on the students. When he is having a bad day, you can count on him taking it out on his classes. This is not even close to being professional and is the biggest reason why I lost all respect for him as a person. Criticism from him is more like verbal abuse than constructive criticism. Does this soundlike a man hwo knows how to teach? NO! Honestly, he thinks that 205 is a prerequisite for 205, because when I would try to ask questions to him in his office about anything, he would simply say "You should allready know that." That doesn't give me a clue - it doesn't even help me at all. Students who have work experience similair to the 205 curriculum do well and old-man kearns loves them and gives them special treatment. I always thought that teachers were supposed to try helping struggling students instead of stroking the advantaged students' egos. He even offers money to the really experienced groups, but not to others. This is a fact! How can his grading be fair if he has special interests in groups that he has"hired". I don't even think that this is legal for him to do. Think about it. In summary, I would have to agree with the other evaluation on Kearns - a monkey with a stick would have taught me more about 205. Hell, a dead monkey with a stick would have taught me more about 205!



CSC 365 Junior Grade Earned: B Elective 2:13 am, Jun 16, 2001 Report Evaluation		I took this instructor in Spring'01.He doesnt know a shit about the stuffs he teaches in class.I dont know why he is instructor for this class.He knows only because of his work experience.He will kill you in the exams and he gives so much work to do.

CSC 102 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 3:48 am, Mar 24, 2001 Report Evaluation		I did find it difficult to understand where Kearns was going with certain assignments but he did make it clear once he showed you the solution. All I know is I would not recommend this guy to anyone who did not get a solid B+/A in 101. I know of at least 5 people who either failed or withdrew from my section of 102. I also feel like the long review (its either right above mine or all the way at the bottom of the page, depending on where mine gets put) was written by Mr. Kearns himself as it sounds very much like the way he speaks in class.

CSC 205 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 5:06 am, Mar 18, 2001 Report Evaluation		It's fun to see all the little Freshman and Sophomores bitch about how Kearns doesn't know what he's talking about and how he's a hardass... it's entirely clear that they have no idea what CSC 205/206 is all about. First, Kearns knows what he's talking about; if you ever ask him, he'll tell you about all the software engineering work he did at Bell Labs... and Bell Labs doesn't produce crap software. He's got the experience in this stuff, so if what he he says sounds a bit weird, it's probably because you're thinking about it in the context of games or Word, or any Microsoft operating system, where mediocrity and the 'just-good-enough' mentality are fine. Kearns was out there busting his butt to make sure your phone has dialtone... they're a bit of a different league. Second, everyone complains about how he says he wants one thing, and then grades on another... that's the WHOLE POINT of 205/206. Customers in the REAL WORLD are like this, and they do that kind of crap to you ALL THE TIME. The reason so many students totally crash and burn in 205/206 is because they don't understand this simple fact: it's not so much what you produce or how you produce it, but rather how you DEAL with what Kearns, as the customer, throws you. Everyone says that he doesn't know what he's looking for when he's grading, but the fact of the matter is that you don't know what he's looking for when he's grading... he knows just fine. Most people, I find, who have a problem with Kearns and/or his teaching style are the type of people who think Microsoft software actually works, and they're just in this major for the money. Those people are going to flunk, as well they should. The real world is not Microsoft shitware and stupid investors throwing money at dot-coms that will fail. If, on the other hand, you want to find what the real world of software development IS about, take Tim Kearns.

CSC 102 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Support) 1:12 am, Feb 16, 2001 Report Evaluation		Kearns, so far, has been the best CSC professor I've taken at Cal Poly (and I've taken at least 1/2-dozen others here). But you might want to watch out for 'Power-Point' overload though; he loves bombarding students with 100's of slides each lecture. Point is, I learned how to code in Java from this guy better than (both) my 103 teachers (I withdrew from my first 103 class because I wanted to take csc141). My grade might not show how much I gained from this class, but I do know that if not for Kearn's 102 class, I would've drowned in my csc103 class.

CSC 205 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 6:58 pm, Nov 28, 2000 Report Evaluation		He knows what he wants. But people rip on him because he doesnt tell you outright. He gives you clues an makes you think about it for yourself. Its my understaning that that is exactly what is supposed to happen in CSC 205. His tests are directly out of the book and his slides. Dont ever fall behind, his due dates may be tenative, but you want him to review your document so he can critique it. He expects something different from each student, depending on the level at which they enter the class, and most students interpret this as him demanding unequal work loads. Its his way of properly motivating you. Give him a chance and in the end you will feel better because you took him.

CSC 101 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Support) 9:18 am, Nov 3, 2000 Report Evaluation		Alright... he seems ok to begin with... but then you actually take the class... he has no clue what he's talking about. If you ask a question, and the answer seems obvious to him, he'll make an ass out of you explaining why you're wrong in front of the class. Then, once he's proved he's right, he keeps going to rub it in. He treated the CSC101 students like dirt. He should have just walked into the class and said "Hello, my name is professor asshole"... save yourself while there's still hope! DON'T TAKE TIM KEARNS!!!



CSC 101 Freshman Grade Earned: D Required (Support) 9:18 am, Nov 3, 2000 Report Evaluation		Only take this guy if absolutely necassary, to be avoided at all costs. A monkey with a stick is better.

CSC 103 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 10:12 am, Oct 31, 2000 Report Evaluation		He was one hard ass on exams but he curved the class as a whole so it really wasn't to bad, i could have sworn I had a C but i came out with B. Only bad part was we had to memorize all the algorithms in the Data Structures book, that was pretty diffiult. Also his labs for 103 were hard.

CSC 205 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:05 pm, Jun 14, 2000 Report Evaluation		Kearns knows a lot about OOP and other CSC 205 topics, but he's very unclear and disorganized about what he wants done. I put a LOT of work into this class (more than any other class I have ever taken) and still got a B. Most of the grade depends on whether or not he likes you (He claims that 10% of grade is based on his feelings, but I would argue that it's more like 70%). He also seemed very biased towards certain groups in class, and I have a feeling that he may be looking to hire them or use their code. How can he give OBJECTIVE grades when he's thinking like that?! I guess that's what happens when cal poly hires someone who spends a lot of time in the actual computer business. I have a feeling that CSC205, in part, is like a recruiting field for hot java programmers for Kearns. That sucks for the rest of us who are there to LEARN something! He also assigned a B.S. Java assignment without giving us a single lecture on the language. hello!

CSC 206 Sophomore Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 6:15 pm, Apr 17, 2000 Report Evaluation		I also had him for CSC 205. Too many people are complaining here about Kearns being unclear in his class format, grading, etc. If you are taking CSC 205/206, expect vagueness, that is the nature of the course, you are supposed to be figuring out how to produce as a group. I found Kearns to be very accessible and reasonable, and I highly recommend him. He has plenty of real world experience and can offer sound advice. He is easy to talk to and will listen, you just have to be willing to speak up.

CSC 205 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:28 am, Feb 3, 2000 Report Evaluation		When I took CSC205 from Kearns it was his first time teaching it at Cal Poly. When I take that into account, I think he did a good job. He knows what he is talking about and is willing to help you out if you need it.

CSC 205 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 12:21 pm, Jan 13, 2000 Report Evaluation		The coursework is fairly easy although sometimes it is unclear what Kearns wants you to do. Grading for this class is a mess since you don't know a major part of you grade (teacher evaluations) till you recieve your report card. Because its a teacher evaluation that mainly determines your grade, make sure he knows your doing alot of work. If your doing outside class work and he doens't know about it, he'll assume you are not doing anything, resulting in a lower grade. Kearns doesn't seem as though he has a clear path laid out for the course. Things seem thrown together at the last minute.



CSC 205 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Support) 5:34 pm, Nov 19, 1999 Report Evaluation		This guy is clueless. He says one thing, and when you do it, he marks you down for it. He doesnt really know a lot, except a bit from job experience. Other than that he just reads what you read and tells you about it. Real learning experience there. Take him only if you have to.

	Home Go Back Professor List Professor Search