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Ahern, James

Cumulative GPA: 1.41/4.00 with 27 evaluations
Presents Material Clearly: 1.22
Recognizes Student Difficulties: 1.22

Agribusiness Department, Cal Poly, SLO
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AGB 460 Senior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 3:25 pm, Mar 26, 2013 Report Evaluation		Can someone please explain to me how Ahern is still a professor? I had no idea what to do with my topic for senior project and he was absolutely no help. All he talks about is regression lines and go off on tangents on random stories. We ha class 8AM on Fridays which I thought was bad enough but having no help on a class that's supposed to help you graduate makes it impossible to do well. I still have no idea what to do on my project for next quarter...which explains why this course is being dropped. Such a pointless class/waste of my college time and money. Thank god it is the last class I will have with googly eye.

AGB 460 Graduate Student Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 6:37 pm, Dec 21, 2012 Report Evaluation		All I can say is get on his good side. His lecture style is sporadic at best but he gives a lot of constructive information on the papers he returns to you... Make the corrections on future assignments and the grades will improve. It doesn't hurt if you make an effort to get to know him and say hi in the halls; he will remember you and that can help as grading in this class is very subjective.

AGB 313 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 5:46 pm, Jun 14, 2011 Report Evaluation		When I saw the polyratings for this professor I thought he can't be that bad. I was wrong. Ahern is a nice guy from what I can tell, but his teaching is awful. He cannot clearly explain anything and always talks as if you should already know the subject matter. The only reason I actually learned something was because of a few study sessions that a graduate student put on for our class. The material wasn't that hard once the grad student explained it. Don't take it with Ahern, he is an incredibly awful teacher that needs to retire or get fired once his tenure is over whatever is first.

AGB 313 Freshman Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 12:11 pm, May 5, 2011 Report Evaluation		I took this class right after taking MATH221 and AGB212 because they are the prereqs for AGB313, and I didn't struggle with either of those courses. But Ahern has NO structure to his lectures at all. I always had a hard time seeing what direction we were going in with the class. This made it really difficult figuring out what to study, or what the tests would be like. I do not recommend him, and I would avoid taking his class if possible. With that being said, I will admit that he is very nice as a person, but I just can't handle his way of teaching.

AGB 460 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:50 pm, Jul 12, 2010 Moderated Comment		I took Ahern for both my 460 class, and 433 in the same quarter. This absolutely ruined my life. Lets start with 433... this was the first class that I ever actually just completely gave up on. I tried to understand the shit he was talking about, but just couldn\'t. The problem is he is a smart guy, but thinks that he is way smarter than he is. To make himself feel way smarter he really likes to publicly prove that he is smarter than his students. Be prepared for this sort of behavior instead of him actually ever teaching you anything. 460 was much the same, only the content of the class was less foreign. His grading is extremely biased based on the person, and I was not his favorite. The most constructive notes he ever wrote on any of my papers concerned formatting. Other than these it was all shit, including him accusing me of being purposefully vague, throwing in random statistics symbols that I have no idea how they relate to what i was talking about, and telling me that I\'m wasting paper by printing out the stuff he told me to include! The only good thing I can say about this teacher is that I don\'t think he failed anyone, just gave out a shit ton of D\'s. That was the constructive part, now for a rant... ...

AGB 460 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 6:07 pm, Dec 16, 2008 Report Evaluation		First off, as stated repeatedly below, AVOID THIS GUY AT ALL COSTS. Ahern can be compared to an unassuming food you ate. The food first appeared alright, but in the course of eating it you experienced severe gastrointestinal distress. You then vow to never eat that food again and deter anyone else from it. To put it bluntly, Ahern is the most arrogant, sorry excuse for an educator, I have ever come across in my lifetime. How he is still teaching at Cal Poly is beyond fathomable. Don’t bother asking for any help, he gets off on belittling students, and provides you with no help whatsoever. I once walked into his office to ask for clarification on a paper and he completely blew me off! To say he is a biased grader is an understatement; other students in the class share this same fact based opinion. If he does not like the topic of your senior project he will display it in words (in front of the class I might add), and on the scores you get on assignments. I changed my topic a few weeks into the quarter and my scores immediately plummeted (my quality of work did not change). Some say to take Ahern for AGB 460 because MacDougall is so horrible (I didn’t have a choice). After taking the class with Ahern I cannot comprehend how MacDougall can possibly be any worse! Bottom line, Ahern teaching AGB 460 provides an unwarranted slap in the face to hardworking seniors.

AGB 460 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:37 pm, Mar 20, 2008 Report Evaluation		Overall he is MUCH better than MacDushebag!!! Enough said. Easy class, but you have to stay up to date. Most of his lectures are pointless because he talks about material that is irrelevant and not helpful to your project. You DO NOT need a project going in, so relax. He tries to stress it the first few weeks, but make sure you get one fast. The final paper is graded very hard so make sure you have a decent grade going in!!



AGB 303 Sophomore Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 1:41 am, Mar 18, 2008 Report Evaluation		I can't provide my grade because I'm taking the final this week. To say this man is a teacher is a misnomer. I don't believe this man has even the slightest idea what teaching is. Just because you're too old to be in an industry any more doesn't mean you're fit to teach. He frequently deviates from the topics at hand(most of the time its a struggle to even figure out what you're supposed to be learning) during his lectures and seldom makes notes on the board to help you follow his skewed logic. Unless you are born and raised in the horse industry or are an equine major don't even consider this class. His tests are completely biased to people already familiar with the topic as evidenced by their questions regarding in depths analysis of topics he mentioned briefly(if at all) in class. This can further be seen by the fact that the equine majors of our class all scored 90's while us normal folk struggled to beat a 50. Overall, this class is the biggest regret I have at Cal Poly. I probably could have just saved my time and money and slammed my head against a wall several times and accomplished as much as I did while taking this class. Everyone else is saying he should retire, but I think he should be fired plain and simple. I would have said the same regardless of my poor grade, this class is an utter waste of time.

AGB 460 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 11:27 pm, Sep 8, 2007 Report Evaluation		Ahern is pretty crazy, he often goes off on random tandems and you can very easly get lost is his class. It was about the third week of senior project before I figured out what he was trying to say and what we were trying to do. He does have softer side and will help you if you make an effort.

AGB 460 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:37 am, Dec 20, 2006 Report Evaluation		Ahern is not bad at all. Although he isn't the best at explaining things, that's what his office hours are for. Besides, having senior project at 8am, you might want to blame your hungoverness for possibly not comprehending his explanations of weekly assignments. The guys is also understanding if you leave out stuff from assignments and will let you add to your papers before turning them in. Peer edits are a huge part of the class so take em seriously. Overall, get to know the guy and you can probably get at least a B in the class. I did and was either shitfaced or hung over as hell every class. Kind of a hard grader, but do what you can and you'll be alright

ZOO 420 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: Credit Required (Major) 3:16 pm, Oct 30, 2006 Report Evaluation		This teacher is siq.

AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: A Required (Major) 2:27 pm, May 25, 2006 Report Evaluation		For those of you who ACTUALLY want to learn something in this thing called COLLEGE I would greatly encourage you to take Ahern. If you are a whiny student who thinks they're still in highschool and wants nothing but to joke around with professor, make them hold your hand, and waste your parents hard earned money then look somewhere else. I've had Ahern for AGB 303, 433, 460, 461, and he's my student advisor. He has a great sense of humor and an extremely rigid teaching style. He knows what he's talking about and if you don't understand then you probably shouldn't have passed the prerequisite courses for his classes. I encourage you to go to his office hours and ask him questions in class as he can explain things well if you pull your heads out of your asses and listen. I was terrified of taking 433 because the last statistics class I had taken was 2 1/2 years prior, but he really makes you understand/remember things. His statistics quiz is online and he gives you three weeks to do it and three chances on top of that, piece of cake and if you failed it then you're a moron. Midterms are difficult, but he gives study guides and review sessions, so if you study you'll be fine. If you all want to grow up and become a real college student someday who'll be successful in the real world then challenge yourself people!

AGB 303 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 1:23 am, Mar 20, 2006 Report Evaluation		lecture is sooooooooooooooooooooo boring but you have to go because sometimes he gives out assignments. there is a call fieldtrip though



AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 7:32 pm, Jun 8, 2005 Report Evaluation		Ahern rocks the house. All you guys are mean! I had Ahern for both AGB 460 (I got an A) and 433 (B+). If you complete every assignment, and go to office hours when your lost, you will end up with a good grade. He offers tons of extra credit, and he remembers faces. His grad student Roland does most of the grading and is extreemly helpful at explaining things. Ahern may be dry and sarcastic, but he teaches you to be resourceful. Part of Cal Poly is "learn by doing". Ahern pushes it to the edge by challanging you to figure it out for yourself. He simply doesn't baby you along. I love his humor!

AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: D Required (Major) 3:51 pm, Dec 15, 2004 Report Evaluation		Professor Ahern although a nice guy, does not know how to teach. Again he needs to RETIRE. He starts off with a stats quiz that everyone fails and through the course no one has any idea what they are doing. When it comes to labs rowland a former student helps you, not Ahern. Ahern has no idea how to teach minitab which is used in labs for class he just knows how to lecture to death. He also says that the book is not needed but later takes midterm questions from it. The material is dull and outdated and know one wants to learn something they can't understand. Watch out for his trick questions and ridiculous pop quizes and going to his office hours just makes matters worse as he rips into you or makes you feel small. Over all don't take agb 433 unless you want to bust your ass on something thats confusing you the whole time just to get a horrible grade in the end.

AGB 213 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 12:26 am, Sep 27, 2004 Report Evaluation		Again...Ahern please do the students a favor and retire!

AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 2:24 pm, Jul 30, 2004 Report Evaluation		He is an AWESOME instructor who is a little older but he loves his students and wants them to do well.

AGB 405 Junior Grade Earned: C Required (Major) 12:14 pm, Mar 3, 2004 Report Evaluation		It is Professors (which he shouldn't be one) like Ahern that make you feel like you are wasting your money here at Cal Poly. By far the worst teacher ever. I agree 100% with all the comments written bellow. Someone should inform him of this website maybe he doesn't realize what a horrible teacher he is and how terrible he makes it for his students.

AGB 460 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 6:25 pm, Mar 2, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dear Professor Ahern: Will you please do the students within the college of agriculture a huge favor and RETIRE, it is your time to go!!!! WARNING: Avoid this teacher at ALL costs. WORST teacher I have had at Cal Poly in four years.



AGB 460 5th Year Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 5:31 pm, Feb 29, 2004 Report Evaluation		Dear Dr. Ahern: You should try getting off your ass long enough to pull your head out of it. Your system for getting students ready for senior projects is broken, but you're too lazy to fix it. I'm sitting here trying to work on my final paper, but all the research I've done all quarter is worthless because you were so rigid with the weekly assignments that I couldn't do anything useful. Why don't you and McCorkle get jobs watching paint dry, and quit being a burden on society.

AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Major) 3:36 pm, Jan 22, 2004 Report Evaluation		Someone needs to work on their people skills and gain some insight on the "educating" that should be taking place here. It seems as if Dr. Ahern is so incredibly smart that most of the time he speaks, it sounds as is it were in a foreign language. Not very approachable or helpful.

AGB 213 Sophomore Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 5:10 pm, Jul 22, 2003 Report Evaluation		Dr. Ahern is a pretty layed back guy who has a personality and jokes around with the class. However he is a horrible lecturer who is all over the place. The class only has a midterm and a final that were impossibly hard but he gives homework to help your grade. Luckily he curves so everyone in the class ends up with a decent grade. However at no time in his incoherant lectures did he get his point across and I didn't learn anything.

AGB 213 Junior Grade Earned: N/A Required (Support) 8:14 pm, Nov 9, 2002 Report Evaluation		Ahern is one of the worst teachers I've ever had. He was very unclear in his lectures and failed to notice or help when students were struggling with the course material.

AGB 433 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 9:35 pm, Aug 6, 2002 Report Evaluation		I think that I speak for everyone that took AGB 433 last spring when i say that no one had a clue as to what was going on. his lectures were scattered and his tests were really hard. pretty much everyone did poorly, but he does curve A LOT which helpled out my grade.

AGB 315 Junior Grade Earned: B Required (Major) 2:36 pm, Jun 17, 2002 Report Evaluation		This professor was probably one of the worst professors I've ever had. He does not lecture on material that is relevant to the course, and he draws confusing irrelevant graphs for everything that he talks about. He seems to favor the students he's had in class before. I would avoid taking this professor at all costs.



AGB 433 Senior Grade Earned: Credit Required (Major) 10:33 am, May 1, 2002 Report Evaluation		this guy is kind of a jerk. If you ask him a question in class, he sometimes rips on you. Don't take him for agb433. He starts the class off in the begining of the year with a stats test. this questions on this test make no sence, and just about everyone fails it. He also assumes everyone knows minitab, but in my stats class, i didn't do anything with this program.

AG 124 Junior Grade Earned: C General Ed 12:23 pm, Feb 13, 2002 Report Evaluation		I did not actually have this professor for anything. I am testing the website

AGB 213 Junior Grade Earned: A Required (Support) 1:45 pm, Nov 23, 1999 Report Evaluation		Ahern is a decent teacher. On occation his lectures are hard to follow and sometimes he doesn't seem to understand what students are asking. For the most part he presents the material in a clear manner and is easy to understand. Ahern goes through the information at a slow pace so it is easy to keep up. He usually only tests on things he talked about in class which is nice (there are no midterms, only biweekly "mini exams"), there is about 1 homework assignment a week, and he offers a lot of extra credit. Take Ahern for AGB 213!!

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