Reviews for Karin Hanley Melnick
Average Rating:| zaqu413 Course: MATH430 Grade Expected: A- December 23, 2011, 7:42 pm | First off I must say that people must account for the class she is teaching when thinking about taking her class. I took the upper level geometry course with her and she would occasionally complain about how bad her calc students were. She seemed to like us a lot more. Lecture: Was a little dry, but she gave good examples and explained things very well, things get a little strange when we get to non-Euclidean stuff which is weird. Homework: Was hard. About 85% of the homework problems she made up, which were often pretty hard, if she assigned work from the book it was often pretty easy. There were also three computer projects with Geometer's Sketchpad which were somewhat difficult. Office Hours: Very helpful, in the beginning most people didn't know how to write a proof so she would more or less just do it for us. Tests/Quizzes: Quizzes were fairly easy, just basic test to make sure you are keeping up with the material. The midterm was pretty easy too, the Final was a little harder because it had some crazy hyperbolic stuff. The layout of the midterm and final were something like this: 1) Some true false (no justification) 2) fill-in-the-blank proof 3) Do it yourself proofs 4) Some computational stuff or short answer Grades: 25% = 12 Homeworks assigned on Friday due the next Friday (drop 2) 10% = 3 Geometer's Sketchpad projects 35% = Final 20% = One midterm 10% = 4 In class worksheets and 4 quizzes (lowest dropped) Again this review should only be applied to her upper level classes. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: April 28, 2011, 1:51 pm | Quite possibly the worst professor I've had at my two years at UMD. If a student asked a question in class she would sometimes not answer the question and tell them to see her after class or answer the question and not repeat the question so other students can hear it. She teaches proofs straight out of the book and barely goes over any examples. Her tests are significantly harder than other Calc teachers. She does not curve the class. Avoid this teacher at all costs. I'm sure she knows what she is talking about but it just did not translate well to her students. You know how I know this? All the familiar faces in my Calc class this semester. I cannot stress this enough. Avoid this teacher if you plan on learning Calculus. |
| CB Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B February 17, 2011, 5:38 pm | Do not take her. Just don't. I only passed her class with a B because I had taken AP calc in high school. On every test that I took, there was always one question that I couldn't answer. So I lost 15-20 points automatically. She made everything so complicated and confusing. I only went to class because of the weekly quiz. Seriously, take anyone else. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: B January 23, 2011, 10:37 pm | the person below me pretty much said it all. this was my third year of calculus 1 (2 years in high school and chose not to take the AP credit which i did earn). the way she tests is also harder than other teachers. my section learned everything in discussion from each other and the TA. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 24, 2010, 8:37 pm | I can't let anyone get deceived by the two reviews before me. Melnick is awful. All she does is teach easy material in the most complicated way. She doesn't look at her students and just writes on the board whatever it says in the textbook, then several times during the class will turn around and give a look to the class as if we know exactly what she's trying to say. Everyone I talked about her class with, HATED her. Not one person in my discussion, which was the discussion with the highest averages in the class, said one thing nice about her. I HAD to go to Denny Gulick's lecture in order to give my chance of learning the material. Who cares if she baked us cookies. I'd rather be good at math than eat one cookie on the day before thanksgiving. The reason she doesn't teach well is simple, she goes over proofs but doesn't go over concepts well or sometimes even at all. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A December 16, 2010, 1:33 pm | HAHA. I just read the review before me. Yes, she did bake us cookies for Thanksgiving, although only 40 people (around there) showed up for class. She is a very nice lady. She's very approachable. I have never been to her office hours, but she does emphasize that she has those hours opened for us. Yes, she does try to push the due date back for WebAssign if she hasn't taught the material. I have taken this class before and I will admit, I was pretty lost for the first few classes for some reason. It took me a while to get used to her teaching style. If you don't understand math, it may be a little difficult since everything seems to be definition. That made it pretty difficult for me at first. One person mentioned, "she teaches like a wikipedia page" and in a way, it kind of is. You need to get used to it. If you don't understand math, you really need to take notes. When you look at them later, they'll make sense. I have to admit, if you've never been a math buff, this will be a very difficult class for you. The lowest exam wasn't supposed to be dropped (it was supposed to be half the weight of a real exam), but since the average was so low for the third test, she decided to drop our lowest test grade. The class average on the last exam was pretty high, so you should be okay. Your TA will definitely help you if you need help. Having discussion twice a week is very tedious. You need to put a lot of time into this class. Good luck. |
| Anonymous Course: MATH140 Grade Expected: A? December 15, 2010, 12:21 pm | First thing I'm gonna say: "She baked us cookies." She was a bit incoherent and awkward at the beginning of the semester, but that was probably because she was nervous or something. Anyway, I had already seen this material in high school, where I got a C. From what I've seen, she is incredibly nice to her students. She also tries to learn everyone's names. If you're having trouble, she will try her best to explain the material further. Unlike many other teachers, if she did not teach what was on the WebAssign, she will push the due date back (Ain't that amazing?!). One thing that was a bit frustrating though was that her exams were rather difficult. Everything on the exams is on what she taught, but the format of the exams is more difficult than those from other professors. On the contrary, she does give out practice exams (in the same format as the actual exam) and she did drop the lowest exam grade. Overall, she was a pretty good instructor. |