Reviews for Wesley G. Lawson
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: COMM401 Grade Expected: B April 23, 2013, 10:12 pm | This review is for Professor BILL Lawson in the comm department. Lawson is...interesting. He can be funny and does have an earnest interest in his material, but he has a serious lack of professionalism and has crossed so many lines I don't know if there are any left to cross. He curses like a sailor and makes wildly inappropriate jokes for any circumstance. His sense of humor is caustic and oh boy does this man play favorites. Ego is out.of.control. If you aren't on his good list (the criteria for which is undetermined, but if you're an attractive female it helps) be prepared for an uphill battle. He is purposely unclear on his assignment guidelines (to get us thinking outside the box, so he says) and as a rule does not respond to email. Exams are comprised of open-ended essays and a smattering of jargon definitions for words you will never again use. Expect a B in his classes as a rule, although an A could be possible if you're willing to do some *personal* extra credit for it. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE205 Grade Expected: February 2, 2013, 4:24 pm | He speaks softly and does not articulate sentences well. I am not a native speaker of English and at times I had problems hearing him even though I sat very close to the front row (read: one of the front rows). His lectures were not well organized and not well-paced. He seemed to like to talk about things that were not related to the class during some lectures. However, during other lecture he rushed to cover material that he needed to cover. Dr. Lawson was late to 90% of his lectures (5-7 minutes), which I did not like since I used my own money to pay for the class and I paid in full (100%). |
| dfarias Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A+ January 23, 2013, 10:00 am | One of those professors that really tires you out as the class progresses. In agreement with some other reviews, writing prompts and group projects are too vague. He ends up looking for certain things that are not clearly described, and the grades end up being very arbitrary. I was overall fortunate, and this didn't affect me, but looking at other's grades for exams and group projects, they seemed random at times. In the end, you might need a bit of luck to get the grade you want, which is especially annoying considering he is practically closed to regrades. He seems to think he is extremely generous on grading, when really, he's one of the harsher graders I've come upon. He keeps a fairly interesting class, and is sarcastic at times. Sometimes he starts talking way too quietly for a class of our size. I would probably recommend the winter session, as other people on this page. However, do NOT expect it to be much easier; it's about the same level of difficulty I would guess. Reading the book is not completely necessary, but it certainly helps. He has chapter summaries which are theoretically enough. The case studies are crucial for discussion though. All in all, I would say he does a bad job of teaching this specific course. In my opinion, he fails to catch the heart of the issue of engineering ethics, and further fails to get people interested. I do not regret taking it over the winter, but it was a pain. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE205 Grade Expected: A November 27, 2012, 8:29 am | Knows the material really well and communicates it in an understandable way. He is very sarcastic which I found funny and helpful to shut up the kids who ask too many questions to show off their knowledge. I've heard complaints that he doesn't teach all the material but his exams are pretty much the same as examples he does in class. So far has been my favorite EE professor. People hate on Lawson and say he's rude and unhelpful but those are usually the people who don't put forth their best effort and don't go to his office hours. Lawson is a great teacher especially if you take advantage of his office hours for one on one teaching. Great guy who wants you to get out of UMD with a actual knowledge as opposed to the ability to just pass classes. |
| Anonymous Course: COMM330 Grade Expected: A October 27, 2012, 4:59 pm | This review is actually for William Lawson. OurUMD forwards to this page, so whatever. Overall, Lawson is a decent professor. He's enthusiastic about the material, and he definitely knows his stuff, but I wouldn't say that I learn much from his classes. Lawson is completely fixated on vocabulary. I don't think that memorizing exhaustive lists of communication jargon helps students become better writers, thinkers or speakers. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A- June 1, 2012, 9:27 am | Class is very easy. Took it over winter. Schedule was rigorous, about five hours a day, five days a week, but the material its very comprehensible. Readings are short and easy. Two papers that are short, and two group projects that are pretty easy. Participation is relatively important. Midterm and Final are easy as well. Give effort, and an A is yours. |
| smhmd0521 Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A February 16, 2012, 1:31 pm | This review is also for ENEE204 with Lawson, as I had him for both. Lawson has a personality as described below, being sarcastic and fairly blunt. He teaches his classes the same way, however it is not as bad as others have described below. The biggest thing about Lawson is you cannot bs your way through the class. He is very knowledgeable in the subjects he teaches, and can tell whether you know the material or are just rambling. He does have a sense of humor, however sometimes you are on the other end of the joke. If you take it personally, than you might not like him, but I don't think he ever truly dislikes a student. All it comes down to with any class he teaches is you need to study. His tests have subtle tricks that catch you if you're not paying attention, but I have never been given a question that was not similar to one we have done before in a homework or class example. He is not 'impossible', unless you don't study |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A December 30, 2011, 7:12 am | Had him for 200 and 204. He expects a good deal from his students. In 204, he emphasized concepts and intuition in homeworks/quizzes/exams but not so much in lecture, which would have been preferable. ENEE200 was a frustrating class since he would often assign rather vague writing prompts for essays and exams, but grade according to specific expectations he had in mind. Grading on exams and essays seemed, to me, very arbitrary. He's a funny guy, but not my favorite teacher. Both of my experiences with him were not the best, but I can see how some might really like him. |
| T3rp Course: ENEE205 Grade Expected: A December 24, 2011, 11:58 am | Very sarcastic, yet he WILL teach you the material. Most of the complaints I heard from my peers was how he didn't teach us anything, but in my opinion, those same students were pretty lazy. If you're not willing to do the HW, don't expect a good grade on exams or quizzes. It's common sense. Overall, he was unprepared at most times, yet I felt like I learned alot about basic circuitry this semester. If you're thick skinned and you're willing to work hard, expect an A |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: BC November 16, 2011, 6:14 pm | Terrible professor. Soft spoken and doesn't care about students. Not be fooled by the grade distribution. The A's is only about 20% of the class realistically for ethics. Looks for specific terms in every answer. Will take off all points if you dont have the specific answer that he has. |
| Anonymous Course: Grade Expected: A July 27, 2011, 10:50 am | I'm not sure what the two people below are talking about. Maybe that was some crazy class but i assure for Comm classes HE IS AWESOME! I just had him for a summer course and it was such a chill class. And this is not just me talking, I asked older students in the class who'd had him before and they loved him. Honestly if you have any motivation to do well you will. He asked us to do a lot of readings but he quizzed very broad because he's a nice guy. I think he is also very insightful and passionate. He's also hilarious and an out of the box teacher in the best of ways. I really enjoyed this class and would definitely recommend people taking him! We watched a lot of good movies and read interesting books. Especially take his summer/winter classes. He is much more lenient with everything then! |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: B July 26, 2011, 6:51 pm | Last semester with Lawson was a train wreck, which is sad considering how misleadingly well it had started. Lawson always seems to be able to brighten your day....you know, that is, right up until he crushes your soul on his exams. I was actually very interested about 204 and, believe it or not, did about 3 weeks of studying before the start of classes. However, Lawson made doing well on tests virtually impossible. Despite my best efforts, I ended up with a B in a class I was very knowledgeable about. I very rarely take time out to rate professors because I find that people often exaggerate and whine instead of giving themselves enough time and doing the work. Lawson is a special case and I sincerely hope that last semester does not reflect what former (and future) students have to go through under him. Otherwise, if at all possible, I would suggest waiting a semester, taking care of cores/technical electives, and then taking Davis in the spring. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: B July 21, 2011, 12:48 pm | I agree with most of what the other people have said, but I think they are being too harsh on Lawson. Cons: His class is hard and you will work around 5 to 6 hours a week on homework. The quizes can be tricky and you can't just do well on them by memorizing. You really need to understand the material to do well in the class. Also the midterm and final are really hard and you will really need to study a lot for both. Pros: His class is really interesting and he keeps the class attentive. I had him at 9:30 and I never was tired during the class. He is constantly calling on people and waiting for students to answer. He doesn't just lecture you till you fall asleep. Overall, if you want an easy semester definitely take Davis. I've heard his class is signficantly easier. You'll learn a lot from Lawson but you will be putting in a lot of hours of work for him. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: D June 11, 2011, 6:13 pm | Terrible professor. Makes the workload much harder and much more time consuming than it has to be. There are very few opportunities to do well in his class as evidenced by the only midterm. His tests are too difficult -- and btw making the final a little more manageable DOES NOT redeem an entire semester's worth of unpredictable quizzes, homeworks and an impossible test. To make things worse, Lawson is very arrogant and condescending; it's ironic that someone with this much experience and knowledge would have such child-like character flaws; a real shame that all of next semester's students will be stuck with him. Overall, a very poor choice for ENEE204 and most likely ENEE205. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: C June 7, 2011, 1:09 pm | Lawson is by far the worst professor I have ever had at UMD. The ONLY good thing I've gathered so far about him is that he's your man if you really want to learn. Let me be clear on this for all of the people who share that view: YOU END UP LEARNING EVERY SINGLE THING THAT HE COULD POSSIBLY TELL YOU!!!! Everything from op-amps to semi-conductors to transistors, to understanding how circuits work in general. This is a 200 level course for God's sake!! It's not a job or an internship!!! There's such a thing as 300/400 levels if you hadn't quite noticed yet. So the late hours doing homework, the impossible midterms and his whole asshole persona make you beg the question: Am I really so dumb that I would let this clown ruin my GPA? And the thing is, there really aren't any redeeming qualities about his class. He doesn't care nor try to help (never shows up to office hrs), his tests are impossible and unfair, and he doesn't like giving partial credit (only does so to keep the average a 50 rather than a 30). As you can see, the overall theme here is you CAN'T WIN! When a teacher both hands you a hard test AND grades unfairly, you're screwed. I've never met a teacher who did both which is why I always managed the A or B. Now I'm stuck with a C for wanting to be an overachiever. I was shocked to see so many good reviews on here for 204 but, then again, most of them were in 08/09 when he was perhaps still sane. All in all, I strongly recommend avoiding him. If you do though, please refer to this page at the end of the semester and reflect on what you did as you read this: YOU HAD BEEN WARNED. IT'S YOUR FAULT. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: C May 27, 2011, 11:21 am | Dr. Lawson is an extremely intelligent professor, but in my opinion he is not a very good teacher. In the class there were weekly homework assignments, weekly quizzes, one midterm and one final exam. He has very high expectations for his students and, in my opinion, only shows respect to those that meet them. The average midterm was 49. He is not fond of partial credit. Supporting what the previous reviewer stated, he relies heavily on conceptual and theoretical analysis of circuits. In my opinion, this made the class much harder. I learn from repetition and there wasn't much of it as far as the practical problems were concerned. He was a very difficult teacher for me in that he discouraged me from asking questions because he would make jokes of them in front of the class, he would not show up for his office hours and when he would make them he would rush your time and make you feel little for not knowing such a “simple concept”, and his exams (only the midterm I should say) were nothing like the previous semester that he would post online. There is no easy A here, nor B, nor C. I worked very hard to earn my C. He has no tolerance for exceptions, make up work, any of that. His final email to the class ended in, and I quote, “The grade you get in this class will be the grade on your transcript until the end of time.” |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: C- May 25, 2011, 4:20 pm | The reviews written by most of the students below (except maybe for the last post) are astoundingly inaccurate. To be honest, I really wanted to fry Lawson for all the evil things he did to us during the semester but for the sake of credibility and actually helping the students who read this, I will try to be impartial. Pros: Lawson is one of the smartest guys you will ever meet. He is incredibly knowledgeable about literally anything circuit-related and, to be fair to him, he's probably one of the better lecturers the Clark School of Eng. has to offer (though the bar is set extremely low in EE). Also, if you suck up to him enough, he will give you marginally helpful advice for quizzes and homework. Lastly, the material he focuses on is very conceptual in nature which helps you learn a lot of interesting phenomena. Cons: This guy is DEFIANTLY lazy, careless, and disorganized. He literally dares you to call him out on his antics just so he can insult your intelligence and give you whichever grade he feels like giving you -- and once he does, he just ignores your pleas every single day onwards. And, trust me, you're absolutely powerless in stopping this -- he is held in very high regard in the EE department and is practically untouchable (seriously, if you think i'm joking/exaggerating, ask around and you'll see) Advice: Unless you are taking 12 creds or less, taking Lawson is suicide. He doesn't show up to office hrs and gives hw that even TA's can't figure out at times. Moreover, there is only one midterm and it is wildly unpredictable - seriously it will crush you mercilessly. The best you can hope for is being above average -- the average on our midterm was a 49 as calculated by Lawson himself. People often see him as a funny, goofy guy which is, I think, why he still has a loyal following -- but ultimately you find that he doesn't really care what happens to you unless he likes you. Don't be a hero. You're EE/CE, you deserve a break. Make your life easier. Pick Davis. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: A May 17, 2011, 1:21 pm | I just finished taking Proessor Lawson's ENEE204 class. He very heavily focuses and the conceptual aspect of the class (explain the physical meaning behind the inductor, capacitor, transients, etc.) which can be very annoying, as he spends no time on this in class. His exams were very hard (class average for the first midterm was a 50, compared to Davis's 85ish averages). He is also kind a dick, and likes to shoot kids down when they ask questions and I'm sure discourages some kids from asking questions. He is also consistently late and does not hold to his promises. Seems very unorganized (didn't upload answers to practice exams because he couldn't find them?) Given all of that, he is a pretty good teacher. He goes by the book (which he wrote, which helps) and his lectures are definitely worth attending. Also, if you see him in office hours, he is MUCH nicer than in class. He will really open up, and you can ask almost any question and he will provide a solid answer. Overall, the class was not a breeze at all, especially when I talked to friends in Davis's class. Looking for the easy A? go Davis. Looking to learn a lot? Go Lawson. |
| ljg13 Course: COMM330 Grade Expected: A December 21, 2010, 8:29 am | Lawson was the best professor I ever had at UMD. If you get the chance to take a class by him, DO IT! Even if the class seems like a boring subject - he will make it fun! He makes you laugh EVERY class. Very fair grader. No final exam, just a group project that wasn't too bad! |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: A+ November 26, 2010, 5:58 pm | Professor Lawson is the most compassionate professor out there. He is an amazing professor for ENEE204. I would 100% choose him over Prof Davis. I saw Prof Davis's ENEE204 homeworks and they were WAY WAY more complicated than Prof Lawson's homeworks. In addition, if you go to Lawson at office hours he will literally GIVE YOU the answers to homeworks. His exams are also pretty easy. A HUGE Plus for Lawson is that he teaches from his own book! Meaning, if you ever need to skip a lecture just go over that section from the textbook! I would def recommend him over Davis. |
| frapis Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A November 15, 2010, 9:30 pm | Ok class, ok teacher, more reading than I would have expected, but it wasn't bad. |
| fma1 Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: B February 2, 2010, 10:56 am | I would say Lawson is a pretty good professor. He's fair and he explains the material pretty well. But he shows up late a lot, which I find stupid because he doesn't give you points and mark you in when you show up late. I was late only once! That, and you have to say, "Good Morning Professor Doctor Lawson." But as a professor, I would say he's not bad. |
| KhaiVan Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: A August 1, 2009, 11:32 am | Lawson is an incredible teacher. Definitely take him for 204. He goes over the material very well and is happy to answer any and all questions that you have. I took this course during the summer, so i expect it to be quite different from the regular semester. His exams/quizzes sometimes require you to think slightly differently from his class examples, so dont take his examples for granted |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: A April 14, 2009, 5:45 pm | Well..he IS a very great prof..but he likes to make jokes during class, and sometimes doesnt have enough time to cover all the material.and those jokes are not funny.it will be even better if he just focus on the lecture. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE200 Grade Expected: A January 28, 2009, 11:23 am | Professor Lawson was amazing. He reviewed all material supposed to be covered in homework and none of his exams or papers were easy. Even the group project was a simple task. However, this is based off of having taken the course in winter. Either way I would highly recommend taking Professor Lawson. |
| Anonymous Course: ENEE189W Grade Expected: A May 24, 2008, 9:37 am | The class was really easy. The prof was really good. He was not a hard grader for HW's and papers. The test were easy and even if you did not do well he curved them. Drawback: there were two group projects that were annoying. I ended up doing a lot of work while the other members slacked on the group projects. Some group members didn't do anything so the group as a whole suffered because during presentations its was clear they didn't know what they were talking about. I barely got an A and it was because of the group projects. IF there weren't any group projects i would have less work and gotten a better grade. |
| pelers Course: ENEE204 Grade Expected: May 23, 2008, 6:54 am | Lawson is a good prof. The class was straight forward, he wasn't sneaky or devious on the exams. I do recommend going to all of the review sessions prior to exams, they are extremely helpful. If he does throw in something rather ugly on an exam he'll usually do something similar to it during the reviews. |