Byrne, Rob  

Professor Byrne may is a cool guy but a horrendous teacher. He missed 6 out of 20 lectures and rarely taught. His PowerPoints explain little and it is a guessing game what will be on his quizzes/ tests.

This guy is great for an introductory chem class. He understood that almost all of us in that course (chem 110) weren't going to be chemists, and didn't expect us to rise to that level. He was very clear with what he wanted, and the workload was more than reasonable. He's hilarious and made an 8am class not so bad. A very understanding and flexible professor and I would definitely recommend him.

Basically Dr. Byrne is a super cool guy but a horrible teacher. If you are prepared to learn everything on your own and never know what is on tests and quizzes then he is the teacher for you. In order for me to do well I had to read and outline every chapter like twice and do extra stuff on the internet and Khan academy saved my life. For lecture he uses slides that he didn't even make himself and will just read straight from the slide and kind of scribble on them. He posts the slides online but a lot of them really arent that helpful because you need someone to explain the diagrams and pictures to you. Byrne is a cool guy though and talks about Star Trek and warp speed a lot so if you're into that then take him. I know that most of the Chem professors for this class aren't the best but if you can get someone else then take someone else!!!!

Byrne really sucked at teaching material, always had us do labs before we covered the material in lecture, and was terribly laid back and unorganized. 3rd worst teacher I've had so far, made me hate chemistry with a passion. He also may be a drug dealer (or does drugs, maybe both)

Told the class the first day of class that he hates chemistry and only does it because it's something he's good at. Super laid back and casual, which at first I thought was good but it was not. I didn't even know until week 3 that we had a quiz every Friday. He's often take chunks of class time to answer students random questions. A lot of time spent on talking about the connections between Star Trek and real science. Some of it was interesting but overall it seemed like he was just killing time while he was too lazy to teach. To do well I eventually learned that you have to read the powerpoint slides that he posts on polylearn. This is enough to do well on the quizzes but not the tests. The tests had more complicated problems that we hadn't seen before. Feeling hopeful that I got at least a C on the midterms I somehow ended up with an A on both, so he didn't have the TAs grade too hard. On the multiple choice part of the final we had 30 minutes left and he decided to give us the decision to use the 30 minutes to ourselves or 15 minutes in groups. Probably helped my grade a little but kinda weird and unprofessional if you ask me. Overall if you do the labs and study the powerpoints you'll do fine in the class, but I would not say that Byrne is a good teacher.

If I had the opportunity to fire 1 teacher at cal poly, this guy would take the cake for sure. He literally TAUGHT ME NOTHING. Go take an online class at foothill college if you want a worthless education. I might as well have taken his final on the first day of class and walked out (like he boasted in about himself in his undergraduate studies). If you want to be stress free in the classroom, learn nothing, and waste your tuition $, then take him.

Rob was an alright professor. He has interesting things to say. I took CHEM 124 with like 60 other people and it was immediately followed by the lab section, so we stayed in the same room with the same people. We had to sit around octagonal blobs of computer desks, so about half of us had our backs to the professor. I also had the class in the afternoon. Rob did a good job of presenting the material clearly, and he has the voice of a radio announcer. With all that being said, it was a struggle to stay awake for many of us. Because most of our chemistry classes in high school were mediocre and/or a long time ago, chemistry was difficult. So make sure you start off the quarter watching khan academy because the school textbook doesn't contain review material unless you buy an online package. Work hard outside of class especially in study groups or formal study sessions. You get out what you put into this class. Go to office hours. I didn't and from what I heard, he was extremely helpful there.

He needs to be fired

I understand chemistry. It's really easy for me and I pick up on material pretty quickly, but I still got a B in Byrne's class. He DOES NOT teach. Yes, he lectures straight from a power-point with a bunch of useless pictures straight from Google for like 2 hours, but he literally does NOT ever really explain a concept. He will just spew random facts about it and then talk about his college glory days at Michigan or Ohio or Iowa state or whatever. I highly suggest NOT taking him. His quizzes are REALLY hard. His midterms are definitely a lot easier, but he is one of the only Chem 127 teachers who does not give a formula sheet on the tests. He makes you memorize part of the periodic table and the formulas. He gives quizzes around every other week and there are 2 midterms and a final. If you are already amazing at chemistry and would like a challenge, then take him. But if you really want to try and learn something then go take a great teacher, like Bush, Scott, or Gragson.

Rob is the man! I love that guy! The key to this class is to ask questions and go to office ours

he sucks. doesnt teach. im so confused.

wow what a horrendous professor. He is very smart himself but talks down to you if you dont understand the material the first time. His quizzes are very hard and he doesnt teach the material until after quizzes you. DOnt take him!!!!

Ok where do i start. His ego is as big as the room and when he introduces a subject he goes very quicly and if you ask him to go over it he gets annoyed and doesnt expound at all. His midterms were not too bad i got B's on both of them but his quizzes are death. He actually teaches the material after he quizzes. Going to office hours are helpful but he ended up talking more about his glory days playing high school sports than teaching chemistry. He really doesnt like teaching and it shows. Overall i would avoid him at all costs, he really makes it difficult to learn the material and doesnt care if you learn or not.

turrible. absolutely turrible. AVOID HIM.

I had Rob for chem 127 and it wasn't too bad. He himself was not a good teacher but his tests and quizzes were fair. I made the unfortunate mistake of signing up for him for chem 128. he did not teach the material and just kept surprising our class with labs without any notice and then got mad when we weren't ready for the labs. His quizzes and tests are extremely hard compared to what he tells us is on it. When the class average is a 12/27 on a quiz, theres the big possibility that its not the students fault but the teachers. and essentially this quarter, he just became a douchebag.

He is a very nice teacher and is very helpful in office hours. The quizzes are hard but if you put in the time and study beforehand you will do fine. He also gives extra credit if you volunteer to do a problem on the board even if you dont do it right. He genuinely wants to help you learn and I recommend him.

Rob seems like a cool dude, but in all reality he lacks the ability to teach the material. He never lectures and never writes anything on the board. He leaves 90% of the material to be learned outside of class.

He's not as bad as some of these reviews say. He's really a pretty cool guy, and he's very helpful in office hours. If you're having difficulty understanding something, visit him and he'll clarify. If you're having trouble with labs, he'll sometimes give you an extension on them. Chemistry is a tough subject, but if you study hard and ask questions you'll be okay in his class.

Rob is the homie! I was so surprised when I saw that his rating was so low! I had Rob for CHEM 127 and also CHEM 128, and I received an A in each of these classes. He makes it really hard to earn an A but it is not impossible, by any means. I must admit that Rob's quizzes are challenging but other than that he is very reasonable. Rob is very approachable during office hours and also reserves the class before the midterm date in order to review and prepare for the test. Not to mention, he has a great personality. I highly suggest taking this professor.

Rob is the worst teacher i've ever had. Ever. He acts like he's super cool and friendly on the first few days of class, but then he turns into a terrible teacher. He doesn't explain anything and is so vague. He tells you he'll grade things easily then doesn't whatsoever. I got a B-/80% exactly and I went to so many office hours, studied for hours, read the book, went to every lecture and lab. It was ridiculous. Don't take this class.

What the guy/gal below said. Amen. I too took this class and have long since graduated from Poly, but I was cruising Poly Ratings for a kick and thought that I should pipe in and let you know how much of a joke this prof is.