Botwin, Mike  

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Though I don't want this to be subjective, I do in fact have personal issues with the professor; however, I will try to keep this objective. He knows the material abundantly, though he does not deliver this clearly and tends to have an egocentric, "sink-or-swim" responce to student's difficulties instead of restating the information more clearly. Furthermore, he tends to give elaborate, lengthy tests that are near impossible to complete on time, which generally results in the MAJORITY of the class failing, or at least scoring very low. From these midterms grades, if below his acceptable mid-range score, he will not award any accumulative points towards the final--in short the quarter grade is almost entirely based on the Final. If one does poorly on final, then he fails them, which he proudly boasts that 60% of his students will not pass his class. The school has miraculously failed to recognize this pattern or has been unable to make any improvements with him due to his tenure. In any event, if you are willing to devote 100% of your time--sacraficing all other classes--you may get a "C" out of his class. He is tough and I believe unfair.

This teacher knows his shit. If you can just ignore the fact that everyone says that you will fail, concentrate and do the homework. You should at least pass each midterm. He explains everything in a very easy to understand way with his foam rubber models. I found the class extremely interesting and would definitely take his class again. He demands a lot out of a student. But just tee it up and hit a hole in one.

You're not going to be able to cruise through a Botwin class, but you're going to learn *a lot*. If you want to coast through a class, take someone else. If you want to learn the material, take Botwin. I've had him for 3 courses and will take him all I can.

I think he delights in seeing students fail. If you want to learn anything, don't take the class. He may know everything about engineering but he doesn't know how to communicate it and he doesn't care if you don't get it.

I had Dr. Botwin in 83/84, maybe even 85. Out of all my ARCE professors, he is the one I remember the most vividly. He really cared about students deep learning the underpinning principles, not the just formulas. His tests were very unexpected and thorough, really tested your understanding. Hope hs is all right these days.....

I am now a 6th year senior and I have gotten A's and B's in every class I have taken at cal poly except for the two D's that I got in Botwin's 222 and 226 class. The first midterm we took 3/4 of the class failed and the rest got C's and D's. He knows what he teaches, he just can't portray it well in a way that students can follow very well. It may be different if you were a ARCHE major, but for a support class it was way over most of our heads. He may have changes since I took him almost 4 years ago, but I doubt it. He's been teaching too long. Don't take him unless you really like the stuff.

Botwin is an incredibly intellignet and talented professor-dont let anyone fool you. He has been teaching this material since before most of his students were born and knows it inside and out. To do well in his classes you need to exert 100% effort in absolutely all the homework assignments. On tests Botwin's approach is to present you with problems more difficult and different than anything you ever saw before. The rationale is "if you sweat over it for an hour, especially if you got it wrong, you shall never again forget your mistake." I reccommend that you take botwin if you are comitted to learning. Your best value in education lies here.

He was great, he was clear and made the class fun. Do bad he is retiring.

The previous two posts are inaccurate (as can be seen by the fact that all the other students who posted passed Botwin's classes, which is much more than 40%). This guy is a little scattered in lecture writing all over the place on the board which makes him kinda hard to follow. This was about the only problem I had with the class. I felt he graded and tested fairly and was always willing to help with any questions you might have. Don't be fooled at first by his "old grumpy man" demeanor. He's a really funny and nice guy when you get to know him.

If you are an ARCE, Botwin is one of the coolest professors who knows an enormous amount of material and can definitely put structural engineering into application. You won't regret taking his 446 class. Ask anyone.