Baltimore, Craig  

i'm sorry but this guy was a complete joke. i went to every class and paid attention, yet when it came to homework and test i was so lost. his teaching methods are horrible, and he knows it too (he tried to change his methods for one day when an evaluater was observing the class... so sad) anyways try to avoid at all cost.

arce is an important class to establish a foundation for all other arce classes.... DONT TAKE BALTIMORE TO ESTABLISH THIS FOUNDATION...... he does not describe HOW to do problems.... he skips steps and jumps from easy to really hard problems.... he makes u feel like a dumbass if u try and ask questions for help. over 2/3's of my class had to ask older people for help.... he doesn't do example problems or go over homework. his graders are inconsistant and take off points for really dumb things like putting the page number in the wrong corner. seriously, if u want to learn arce, this is not the teacher to take.

Baltimore has such a limited grasp on English grammar (despite it being his native language) that he tends to communicate one thing while meaning something entirely different, often making it difficult to follow his lectures. If your homework was not graded fairly, he will side with the grader except in the most extreme cases. As sour as his class may be, he is a great guy. That doesn't make up for his class, but it's true nonetheless.

Craig really is a nice guy, and a fairly decent teacher. I just wish he was more consistent with his teaching style. Class handouts are extremely helpful, be sure to make a friend in the class who can pass along notes and handouts to you incase you have to miss. He also gives you the full 2 hours during lab to take his midterms unlike other teachers who only give you an hour. Oh, and colors are key, they make your homework and tests look better and he likes that. Overall he's a good teacher for a challenging course.

I do not understand the rest of these poly ratings. I am by no means a genius and he was able to present the material clearly and in an organized manner. I learned progressively and felt as we moved to the next subject I had a thorough understanding of the previous. The homework is helpful and the in class examples make sense when you follow along. It is very important to attend every class otherwise you most likely will get lost but with dedication and getting what he asks done, you can get an A. If you go to office hours he is more than happy to work through entire problems with you so you understand.

All these reviews are ridiculous, if youre soft dont take craig. He makes jokes yes and he is fucking hilarious by my account, he is such a good guy and really wants you to learn. All these people complaining about lack of clarity probably are just not trying to understand. He literally walks you through everything. My favorite teacher so far.

Despite his corny jokes, Baltimore is a pretty good teacher. For those of you who don't understand the material, it is probably because you don't put in any effort. The reading he provides us is optional, but definitely do it...it will only help you further understand the lectures. Baltimore is a good guy, and you should utilize his office hours when you can...he can explain stuff better there.

Good professor. His lectures are really straightforward. The midterm was not too difficult and the homework is pretty reasonable. Lot of opportunities to do well in his class.

His class is worthless to go to because his lectures don't help you at all on the hw. He does absolutely no example problems so the only way i finished the hw was doing it all in the tutoring on campus. one midterm which wasnt bad and a final which they made into a common final with all the 212 sections so it was a lot harder than it should have been. he also has a serious grudge against cm majors.

Overall, a decent teacher. true he did tell alot of stories, and his homework assignments werent all that clear, but he always went over stuff that we didnt understand, IF it was brought up in class. his grading scheme is beyond me, as the homeworks WERE graded inconsistently, but if you did the homework and asked questions, you should be ok on the exam. the exam definetly was not what i had expected, given previous homework assignments, but i still did well. The final was stupid because it was cumulative and taken as a group final with ALL other arce 212 classes, where each professor was assigned to write and grade 1 problem...some topics which may have been covered in other 212 classes were on the final, so.. it was a bad final.. stupid cal poly.

Baltimore is a very good professor. Regardless of what other ratings say, his lectures are very clear and understandable. He gives you many opportunities to improve your grade and always helps you if you go to office hours. Just make sure you know what to ask (dont just go and say you are lost) He encourages effort. Make sure you read all the readings assigned for they are very helpful for understanding the material covered in class.

Reading the comment below, it appears Craig is writing his own reviews.

Man. Baltimore was simply the most amazing teacher I have ever had. I mean seriously, not only is he handsome but incredibly intelligent. Seriously,he was so smart I couldn\'t grasp anything he was talking about. But nonetheless, it enlightened my life despite feeling utterly stupid when in his presence. Doing his homework was also amazing because it reflected his glory. I mean, some people would say that it was the lamp shining light off of it...but nay! I saw it was his awesomeness. Mind you, I failed everything...but that was because I was enamored with his very being...I was paralyzed out of fear of being so unworthy. Take him, you won\'t regret it. I didn\'t...and I failed. He makes unicorns look like Obama\'s health care reform. yeah, try to make sense out of that. He is the Chuck Norris of all ARCE professors.

I don\'t know - It seemed like a LOT of work, but when I was willing to put the work in, it showed in the grade. Baltimore has an odd sense of humor, it\'s true - but he\'s not the worst prof I\'ve had by a long shot - maybe I\'ve had really bad luck?! Maybe too much studying for the units, maybe too much time for what the class offered, but the class and the prof weren\'t nearly so bad as I feared after reading previous reviews! But I took it in the 09-10 year. Is he getting better? Who knows?

Craig isn't AS bad as most of theses comments are saying. He constantly says that you should switch majors if you dont know whats going on, but he does answer questions during class (most of the time). I have heard that his office hours are useless, and he has talked about how he kicks students out for them to look it up in the textbook.

If you don't do several of the hw or quizzes he will disregard you and not help you because you aren't willing to put in the full effort. Sorry I was overloaded with classes and couldn't show up to some of your lectures. His midterms aren't too bad, but you don't have enough time to finish unless you know your shit inside and out (they are slightly more difficult than the hw). He has a very condescending attitude and there's nothing he does in class to make up for it. The lectures are dull and you can get a better understanding through tutors and youtube. There are two grading schemes: 1) hw, quizzes, tests are all weighted 2)The midterms and final are the only grades that count towards your overall grade. This guy just sucks, take someone else. Dahlia, Cole the goat, even pamela brady are better professors if they are offering this course. He seems to have a hierarchy system and doesn't give a shit about you.

Craig fills his class with useless lectures and dumb jokes, if you find yourself confused about a point he made in lecture or stuck on a hw problem basically youre fucked. he is the biggest dick in office hours, especially if he is under pressure to get the tests done or graded. he is not fit to be a teacher because his extreme lack of people skills. his homework load is fair, but his tests dont really represent what we covered in class (even though he says he takes the test questions from the homework). i missed 2 points out of all the homeworks and i got an F on the midterm. watch out for those wicked curves he throws at you for the tests.

Craig's class was terrible! The tests were difficult, there was always a catch and he was not generous with the partial credit. I don't know how I got an A, I felt lost the entire quarter and got a D on the midterm. He expects you to read the sections of your mechanics book before coming to class, and if you can make sense of that book then I dont recommend going. Craig is somewhere between a math geek and a frat jock and the combo makes for some really bad jokes, I guarantee at least one day.

Craig comes off really biased to Arce majors, so if you are Arce this is good, not if you area Arch or Cm though. He is on the unapproachable side and tends to make tests fairly hard, throughing a trick in the test usually. All in all, if you have to take him, grit your teeth, its only one quarter.

Some of his homeworks are hard as hell. Others are not bad at all. His quizes are an easy extra points as long as you go to class and pay attention and skim the book. No trouble to that. His homework graders are kind of ridiculous when it comes to grading homework but all in all it's not that bad. He is very helpful in his office hours, and very friendly. His tests are pretty straight forward, and his last problem there is a trick. But if you know your material you can easily get a B I think but at least a C. If you pay attention and actually learn the material not just how to do problems, then you will get that last problem. He is a pretty good teacher, and ya he makes some dumb jokes. But he's not as bad as everyone says

Dont be fooled by his silly jokes, and happy deminer, Baltimore will teach the class like there are only arce's in there, and take whole class periods to go over things that are not going to be on the tests. I could only recomend him if you are an arce. Oh, the book is also really bad.

prof. baltimore really isn't such a bad guy. yes, there are corny jokes. yes, sometimes the lectures can be a little over your head. however, if you put in time to understand the material, the class should not be overly difficult. go to office hours: they help.

since 223 is an ARCE only class I felt he really got into the material and presented it rather well. All the homework was from the book, and he teaches right out of the book, taking what the book says and turning it into what he thinks is English, which some people get it, some don't. At the time, I thought he gave lots of homework, but after taking 302 I've changed my mind. That shit was way easier. I highly recommened you do your homework in pairs or groups. Especially if you don't make it to class all the time, it'll help you understand the concepts.

ARCE major (and minor) course. Homework due every class (1-3 problems). Lots of different topics, usually only one lecture dedicated to each topic. Emphasis on detailed drawings, stickler for formatting. Again...formatting. Buy lots of engineering computation paper. Two grading schemes like most ARCE classes (25% on two midterms, 50% final if you never go to class and turn in no homework. This works if you can read mechanics book and do practice problems on your own). Class felt a little frantic sometimes. Expect random quizzes and "extra credit" for knowing random stuff. Recommend bringing book to class to fill in steps from lecture. Be early/on time to lecture for more extra credit. Office hours only helpful if you have specific questions prepared in advance. Be the cool kid who brings a phone book to class. Concurrent 224 and 351 labs for majors. One unit each = 4-8 hours / week on reports each. Not advisable to pack in too many extra classes unless you're already very good at technical writing and report formatting. Do all the extra credit, it makes up for the harsh grading at the beginning of the quarter. Also, Dr. Baltimore brought doughnuts a lot to lab and treated the entire class to Starbucks when we weren't "awake enough". Pretty cool - some people took their midterm while on a department field trip with prior arrangements. One more thing, I got a good giggle out of his Syllabus accompanied with a separate document titled "Syllabus FAQs".

Dr. Baltimore is extremely knowledgeable about ARCE... often too knowledgeable for classes like 211, 212, 223, etc. I had him for 223 and while the reason I failed was mostly my fault, he himself does you next to no favors. The class and material are difficult irrespective of who you have for it, but Baltimore's abrasive style and personality make it intimidating to even ask him questions for fear that he will laugh at you, tell you to change your major, retake a previous class, or just make you look stupid (this is true in both office hours and in class). If, for some reason, he does think your question is good, though, he will thoroughly explain it pretty well. His lecture style is erratic - he will blast through really important information and then let class out early or spend 10 minutes telling some random story instead of slowing down to a pace at which we can actually understand the material as he explains it. Or, he will spend all 50 minutes giving you a quiz about stuff he hasn't covered yet, only to explain it in 5 minutes next class to leave you wondering if there was really any learning experience associated with taking that quiz. Definitely would never recommend this professor, but you will probably have him at some point if you're an ARCE major because there aren't a boatload of professors around. If you do have to take Baltimore for 223, make sure to bring your book every day to class - trust me, it will come in handy. Also, take his advice and read the book ahead of time, and read it again after he lectures. That will probably help you a lot, and if you don't, then write down specific questions about what you don't understand so you can ask him in class or in office hours. Do NOT skip reading the book and go to his office hoping that he will explain it - he will tell you to go back and read the book first and make you feel stupid for not doing what he told you to. The book itself isn't that great at explaining concepts, but if you try to understand it and THEN struggle, he will help you.

Have you ever wanted to be belittled constantly? Do you like being told you are not good enough for your major? Then this is the class for you. I have never walked out of Craig's class feeling educated. If you are wondering what his teaching method is, it is actually very simple: quizzes. The man loves to give out quizzes. There are only two lectures a week and instead of teaching, he gave us quizzes for a week and a half straight. He will say that if you knew what you were doing, the quizzes should take you five minutes, but it usually takes us 40+ minutes. If you ever wanted to feel inadequate, then get ready. Additionally, students don't necessarily feel welcome at office hours. He warns everyone that if he deems your question "lazy" then you will be sent out of his office promptly. Most ARCE professors are close with students by the end of each quarter, but I would never want to get too chummy with this guy. He spent most of the first lecture telling us about formatting and how to address him (Dr. Mr. Professor). He once gave us a midterm review in which he printed student questions and distributed them to the class. I was so excited; it was an actual handout. I was so ready to finally be taught in a traditional manner. However, he then proceeded to read off the questions and give responses such as, "it is what it is," "too bad," and "look it up." Historically, it was the least helpful midterm review of all time. He never does problems in class all the way through and he states that we should be able to do the problems he assigns because, "the only difference between [us] and [him] is 20 years of experience." He doesn't ever acknowledge that 20 years of experience might lead him to have far more knowledge than us. He expects that we should know everything always. Even physics and dynamics professors let students have equation sheets, but even though this is our first exposure to most of these types of problems, we should just have everything memorized all the time. He lacks the ability to understand that we don't live, eat, and breath mechanics of materials, and the textbook, in fact, is not our best and only friend. If you are taking this course with this professor, good luck, and may the curve be ever in your favor. Study with friends, make flashcards, talk to upperclassmen, and you'll probably make it through!

Craig was really not a good teacher and even worse joke teller. He pretends to "teach" but all he does is make things really difficult and more confusing than they should be. Hopefully you ARCEs to follow will not have to take him. Masonry, according to him, is simple; but he has no way of conveying it to the students.

Craig is an interesting guy. He is SUPER smart. And he will tell you how smart he is. He is very funny, in the tacky uncle kind of way. He explains the concepts pretty clearly, but if you have questions, be prepared. When you go into his office hours, you have to know EXACTLY where and how you are stuck. Don't say, "I need help" he will pop off with some sarcastic comment about your mental capacity as a human being. Be specific. If you are specific, he will MORE than gladly help you, but in a constructive manner. Don't expect to have everything handed to you, he makes you come to conclusions yourself. He WILL help you get there, but he won't just tell you. He gives you almost all of the questions for the tests in the notes. So take really good notes. He also has a tendency to say that things will be on the test, if he says so, he means VERBATIM. I liked him. Overall, he really likes coffee....and his own jokes.

This teacher has been one of the most frustrating teachers I'v had at Cal Poly. He was a great teacher in an earlier class I've had, but that was mostly due to me understanding the material, not due to his teaching. In masonry he would often go off on tangents about how he use to ski. The only reason I did even remotely well in this class is because I had taken concrete the quarter prior and was able to code in excel well enough to understand the homework. Also pretty sure everyone failed the final so he curved the crap out of it. He literally put an insolvable problem on the final. He is the least understanding teach in the department. If you have any questions do not go to his office unless you have spent a good amount of time figuring the question out on your own first. I once asked a simple question in his class and instead of being understanding he chose to make me seem like a fool. I nearly walked out of his class. He has no respect for his students but expects the utmost respect from his students. Good luck if you have him. Learn to hold your tongue and ask another teacher for any help you might need.

bad professor ever

Dr. Baltimore knows masonry really, really well, as he has worked with it in his career and has reviewed the textbook we use for this class. He is really good at making certain concepts incredibly clear and easy to understand, if they have something to do with ARCE 223, concrete, or masonry. Other concepts he might have to reference (ARCE 371 for example) aren't his strong suit. His learning philosophy is based around self-learning, assisted by class lectures and office hours, which works well for some but really didn't for me. He wasn't a very motivating professor, and his attitude towards certain types of student questions was discouraging. Also discouraging was the time where one student just wanted to understand what Dr. Baltimore wrote on the board but Dr. Baltimore took offense to it and thought the student was trying to point out his misspelling in a smart-aleck way - when I genuinely believe that was not the student's intention. This was a small thing but it bothered me for the rest of the quarter and eroded much of my respect for him. A couple more notes about the class itself: when I took it roughly a year ago, there was very little difficult homework for the first 7-8 weeks of the quarter. All of a sudden, in weeks 8-10, the amount and difficulty of the workload increases drastically (probably when your 3- and 4-unit classes are also piling you with work and you don't have time for this 2-unit class). The midterm is more conceptual than the final. For the final, be sure you know the homework from weeks 9 and 10 really well. There is also a terminology quiz around week 2 or 3; there will be a lab with a report and possibly a field trip, as well. If you have already taken or are concurrently taking concrete design (ARCE 444), Masonry will probably be easier for you than for those who haven't. All in all, the class itself isn't too difficult, just be careful with this professor and be sure to finish strong!

Professor Baltimore is a professor that requires you to actually think. He doesn't give the straightest answers and requires you to know definitions that he thinks you should know. This is why I think people rated him so low, but if you are an engineering student you need to be hit with reality that you actually will need to think. When I was a stupid little freshman I had him for 212 and I didn't like him at first because of this, but then I got a 100% on the common final and realized he was doing us a favor all quarter. Now I have him for 306 and he still does a good job of making us think. He also tells stories and can be funny to make class more entertaining. I'll admit some jokes are aren't very good, but I think that is funny in itself. Homework is really fair. The problems are easy but take a long time so there is only about 1 problem per 1 or 2 class periods. Midterm was very straightforward but be prepared to know definitions!!

Craig is the biggest jackass I've ever had as a teacher. Basically he spends half the class teaching and the other half talking about Craig Baltimore. I swear this guy thinks he saved california through is engineering or something. Anyways his HWs aren't to bad sometimes they can be long and very tedious. His test aren't bad either but you dont really know what to expect. All the HW's are math problems and it seemed like most of his exams consisted of conceptual questions. Overall I have to say hes one of the worst teachers ive ever had and he might be next years winner for deutsch bag of the universe.

Craig Baltimore...what can I say...at first I was very apprehensive, but to give him credit, he wasn't as bad as everyone predicted! This was a summer course, so that of course changes things, but it really wasn't overly challenging. The HW wasn't too hard, but often missing essential parts and / or numbers which obviously makes it impossible to do. The tests were mostly conceptual multichoice / fill-in / definitions with a few straight-forward calculations towards the end. He gave a lot of extra credit too. We built shear walls and knocked them down with sledgehammers... best ARCE moment I have had (maybe the first). A lot of people have a hard time getting used to him, myself included. His hw format is a little anal and you get marked off randomly and w/o explanation... a little frustrating... and he has an odd sense of humor, which ironically turns out to be pretty hilarious. Teaching ability... somewhere in the middle, he has a lot to offer for real world applicability and some useful rules of thumb. All in all, rather enjoyable at times and at othertimes, you will want to gouge your eyeballs out. It is a rollercoaster ride, but he isn't the worst arce teacher just yet..... give him a try...who knows...

My worst teacher at Poly!! He is very inconsistent & full of himself - the majority of class time he spends telling stories, yet still expects us to learn the scheduled material. The homework load was reasonable, but grading was hard to follow and VERY inconstent between students' work. He is very unorganized and often forgets to bring his lectures & material to class; it's so bad that he'll even test us on concetps he taught in a different class.

As a teacher he is so scattered & unorganized and his teaching methods distract from learning (as in he tells personal stories in the middle of example problems). Exam questions didn't clearly represent our homework assignmnets and he taught as if we were all ARCEs, not CM & arch. The homework load was decent (it tapered off over the term), but seemed to be out of pure laziness to grade. a very unprofessional professor!

So...Craig is an interesting character. I also had him for Masonry, but I think he did a better job with Concrete. Basically, compared to the other ARCE professors, you can expect this from Craig: -- Average workload -- Tough grading system -- Good-natured sarcasm -- Terrible jokes that still make you laugh...a bit I don't know why people hate on the guy. It's not really deserved.

Love this guy. If you can't take a joke, are afraid to get some shit for asking stupid questions, and usually love being the over-achieving teacher's pet then don't take this guy. But if you want a down to earth, PRACTICAL, no bullshit kind of teacher who likes to crack jokes and talk scotch and cigars then go for it, you'll love him. He is very unique for an ARCE teacher, and I'll admit some things about him aren't logical you just have to figure him out and roll with it, but compared to all of my other ARCE teachers this guy was a breath of fresh air. He dumbs things down and speaks in terms that actually make sense to a normal person, not just the 4.0 "engineering is my life" student. Homework assignments are small, but due every class period, perfect to prevent procrastination. He has lots of real world engineering experience, great class.

he succeeds at being ambiguous and ultimately teaching you nothing. he is the biggest and most arrogant jerk i have ever met in my life. avoid him at all costs. ass hole who ruined my life....i'll hate him forever

Missed the first day, went to the second day. Went to the midterm. Went to the Final. Three days of class total. I got a B, easy. This kind of shit gives our school a bad name.