Reviews for Nelson Padua-Perez
Average Rating:| Anonymous Course: CMSC131 Grade Expected: A January 16, 2012, 2:28 pm | I thought Nelson was a really nice guy, but his lectures weren't really all that good. He makes the class easy tho, so if all you're worried about is your grade, you'll be fine. I recommend taking another instructor (Fawzi Emad or Evan Golub) if you really want to learn something. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC122 Grade Expected: December 15, 2011, 1:44 pm | In all honesty, I don't know why everyone is praising Nelson. Maybe it is because they didn't have him for CMSC122. Seriously, don't take this class. It is just a bunch of unneeded stress. Nelson is the first teacher that I've ever had that actually discouraged asking questions. I asked him reasonable questions during lecture and he not only didn't answer them, he makes an example of me in front of the class. He also teaches the class as if it is a bunch of grad students or something. He goes super fast and will once in a while ask us if he is going to fast. When I told him he was, he proceeded to go at the same pace. He is also very inaccessible. He often ignores emails or sends back nasty messages saying things that frankly, I don't understand. The TA's also don't show up to class so when you go into office hours (which also suck) you don't know who they are. I went to a lot of the lectures, but I found myself learning more from a friend in a 2 hour period than I did all year with him. I noticed that computer science is a thing that comes natural to some and not to others. If you are like me and know nothing, seriously reconsider taking this class. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC122 Grade Expected: A October 11, 2011, 4:36 pm | He's a good professor and will take every single question you have. His jokes are hilarious the first few days, but then he starts to recycle and it gets old and awkward fast. Which is fine because he really does break down the material into manageable pieces for someone like me who has never done a bit of programming in my life. There are quizzes but he tells you when they are. He threatens pop-quizzes sometimes because a few weeks in no one listens to him anymore because he moves on to miscellaneous and useless topics after JavaScript, but he never pulled it. Make sure to ask him questions in class though because once that clock strikes 1:50 (or whenever the class ends), he is outta there. Won't answer your questions and isn't helpful in office hours. Go to the TA's for that, and that's what he tells you. I'm taking this as a programming requirement for my math major so if you need one and want to do minimal work, take this course with Nelson. |
| fma1 Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A+ August 22, 2011, 9:57 pm | I took CMSC132 during the summer and I say he's not a bad professor. Lecture material was kind of boring to me as a lot I already knew, but Nelson tried to connect it to real life examples. The two things I didn't like were that he would make jokes time to time and he would pay too much attention to me. I got 100% on his pop quiz, so I was actually paying attention. I understand why he makes jokes, but I didn't come to class to listen to jokes. I came to learn about OOP. So whenever he did that, I would study something else. |
| Anonymous Course: Grade Expected: May 19, 2011, 12:47 pm | Nelson was funny, but eventually it got really annoying, and was a waste of time. For a DCC class, this class was a lot of work, considering that most of us don't have programming experience. He's nice and helpful though, so if you enjoy a joker and comedian, Nelson might be the professor for you. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC122 Grade Expected: May 11, 2011, 6:12 pm | This is by far the worst class at any level of education I have ever taken in my life. The syllabus did not describe the guidelines in the class at all. It just listed that there would be projects at some time during the semester but students were not informed of when projects were due until they were assigned. The professor also assigned a major assignment each week about halfway through the semester. I never had a break from this class. I was always either working on a project or studying for a test or quiz. I understand that there will be assignments, but I never had more work in any class of college so far and I have taken some 400-level classes. When I had questions about some of the assignments, I would go to both the professor and the TA's office hours. However, once I was there, I received no help. I was told to look over the powerpoint slides again and then turned away. My questions were not answered at all. The lectures for this class were incredibly boring. The teaching style was horrible. At the beginning of the semester, Nelson said he did not care what students did during his class. Yet throughout the semester, he constantly called out students for talking, texting or typing on their computer. His lecture style was not engaging at all. It was so hard to focus and he did not gear the information at all to people who are not great with computers like myself. Whenever students asked questions, his answers were not helpful at all. Worst class ever. Do not take this if you are not great with computers and are not a computer science major. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC131 Grade Expected: B+ May 3, 2011, 6:48 am | Nelson is a very engaging and fun teacher to have. He enjoys to teach and make jokes at the same time which is very entertaining. Even though he said in the beginning that he will teach like you never did programming before, I believe that is not true. Exams are not that difficult and projects are pretty fair, where as if the class is struggling to finish it, he will extend the deadline. Overall, I would recommend him as a teacher 100%. The TA does not explain the concepts pretty well. |
| Anonymous Course: Grade Expected: A February 3, 2011, 11:19 pm | I had Nelson for the first time in a winter course on PHP (cmsc389p). I loved the class. I highly recommend it. Some of the reviews here complained about Nelson's teaching in class, but the problems with these critics are that Nelson teaches such easy topics (CMSC131, CMSC132, CMSC122 for non majors, CMSC198 for non majors), and other ridiculously easy classes that he doesn't have to spend all of class lecturing "int x = 3;" and basic syntax to you. He's funny, approachable, and will be a great teacher as long as (in his words) "they pay me enough". Great guy. Sign up quick, because his classes tend to fill up. |
| s8214 Course: CMSC131H Grade Expected: December 7, 2010, 12:18 pm | The first day he had me laughing so hard, i knew it was going to be a good semester. Hes really great at explaining tough concepts, extremely helpful if you go to his office hours, very patient with students who do not understand the material, and very funny. Its rare to have a teacher that can make the class laugh every single lecture. Awesome professor. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC131H Grade Expected: A December 6, 2010, 10:37 am | Great teacher. He is very straightforward and posts all the powerpoints used in lecture online. There are also weekly study sheets on the class website that I found helpful for our quizzes and tests. Nelson also cares about his students, and he is very good at communicating via e-mail and addressing student concerns. He's also a pretty funny guy, and will tell jokes to make class more interesting. Just pay attention, because if he sees you using your phone or going on facebook he will call you out on it in front of the whole class! |
| ashivkum Course: CMSC131H Grade Expected: A November 29, 2010, 7:29 pm | Nelson is an excellent teacher for thsi class if you have programmed before. Otherwise, the pace of the class might be rather brisk. Sometimes he does not explain certain material, and asks you to go to his office hours, which apparently he doesn't give a shit about. On the bright side, he is an extremely funny guy, but he has his days, like some days he is 100% business, and other days he is just cracking jokes and you don't learn shit. He is very understanding in projects, and will give you extra time if you truly need it. Overall, an extremely friendly guy, but if you get sidetracked, he will pick on you in front of everybody. My opinion? Take this dude, for whatever class he teaches. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC131 Grade Expected: October 25, 2010, 8:33 am | Guy says he teaches the class as if none of the students have had programming experience before but that's so false ....... guy sits there and writes code and just gives little explanation. Majority of the class already had programming experience so they understood so the class was clearly catered toward them. Get Fawzi. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: B May 21, 2010, 12:52 pm | Nelson is a great teacher. He's very upbeat and likes to tell lots of really geeky jokes during class. He'll know if you're not paying attention and he'll call you out on it, but it's not a big deal. The class is certainly not an easy one. Make sure you have plenty of time to do the projects. Nelson is very accessible and always there to help. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: May 20, 2010, 4:50 pm | Funny teacher whose ppt lectures are relatively more interesting. Just do not expect him to help you with any personal programming issues. Easy A. Point questions toward TA. Sometimes does not show up to classes for unknown reasons. Does not do anything he doesn't get paid for, I guess. If you have questions just be sure to ask during class so that he will actually give you an answer. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132H Grade Expected: A May 17, 2010, 4:31 pm | Pretty easy class. Projects could get a bit tricky, but tests and quizzes were not a problem at all. Starting the projects early and getting them out of the way is a good idea. Nelson was encouraging and helpful the few times I have approached him outside of class. As a teacher, he did a pretty good job explaining concepts. No complaints here. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: May 13, 2010, 8:49 am | Terrible professor. If you have a backround in programming you will be fine. But if you are taking the class because you are forced to take a programming class and are not a CMSC major and do not spead time programming "just for fun" you will be lost. And he is not helpful. Most of my conversations with him were as follows; I dont understand this.... Well, we went over that in class. Yes I remember, but I didnt understand it in class either. And I still dont understand it. Well why dont you understand it? I went over it in class. I know, but I dont understand it. OVER AND OVER AND OVER |
| tehsage Course: CMSC132H Grade Expected: A May 3, 2010, 7:16 am | I took CMSC132H with Nelson and I am glad I chose him. Nelson is a fantastic teacher. He's always in a good mood and always comes to class ready to teach. He jokes around and makes the classroom a fun place. This doesn't mean he's easy. No. You will be working a lot in this class. The projects are demanding, however, if you understand basic programming and pay attention in class, you will be fine. Nelson is very understanding with problems. For instance, I came late to my midterm and he let me take it later in the day instead of just failing me. (I can't promise this for you, it's just an example) Nelson's a great guy and an excellent teacher who knows what he is teaching. |
| Anonymous Course: Grade Expected: A+ April 7, 2010, 1:17 pm | I took CMSC198J over winter term with Nelson and absolutely loved it! He explained concepts very well and gave us a lot of time to practice programming while he was around to help us. This class was an excellent way to finish my Comp-Sci requirement, and the winter term set-up gave us a lot of face time with Nelson. He was very funny and very helpful and appreciated any student who actually made an effort to do the practice programming challenges. Some of the projects took a lot of time, but I found them fun--like solving a puzzle. Nelson was an awesome professor and also wrote me a great review for study abroad. If you are a motivated student with a sense of humor, I highly recommend his class. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A January 3, 2009, 12:32 am | He likes to joke around a lot in class and its pretty funny at first but really gets old and annoying after about the first week. When asked a question in class, he'll most likely respond "come to my office hours" or "go to the TA office hours". Then when you go to his office hours, he gets irritated and tells you that he already went over it in class. He always emphasizes the fact that he cares about his students and wants to see them successful in class. I really question that... Best advice I can give you for this class is to start the homeworks and projects early and do take advantage of the TA office hours. They help out a lot. Also he posts practice quizzes and exams which are pretty good study material for the real thing. Oh yea, and never go to his office hours asking about a project that is due soon. I went to ask a question about a project three days prior to the due date about a question the TA's couldn't even answer. He spent 10 minutes lecturing me about how "successful programmers" start projects early so that they aren't cramming to do it at the end. Then he told me to go to TA office hours... Overall not a hard class but don't expect too much out of Nelson. |
| MusickVideo Course: CMSC132H Grade Expected: A December 17, 2008, 1:36 pm | Great professor, awesome person. If computer science is not your thing, this is the best professor you can have. He explains every concept thoroughly and tests you only on what he goes over in class. I'd highly recommend going to class because if you don't, the powerpoint slides will seem really disjointed and incoherent, but in class he explains everything. Projects are extremely reasonable and are very relevant to what you're doing in class. Quizzes mimic the worksheets he gives out. If you have a problem in the class, USE YOUR RESOURCES (professor, TAs) because they can immensely help. Makes some funny jokes that lighten the mood of his class, creating a very comfortable environment. The only complaint is that the end of the semester is pretty rushed in terms of material. He goes over many design patterns, sorting techniques, and algorithm strategies very quickly, and you're expected to have a basic understanding of ALL of them on the final exam. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: November 24, 2008, 8:35 am | the only reason im giving nelson any stars at all is because he explains concepts pretty well during class. other than that, if you have to take 132 this semester, take it with fawzi. nelson wastes A LOT of time saying jokes that have NOTHING to do with class. he may seem funny at first, but when you really need help and he doesn't answer your question, it's not funny anymore. when people ask him questions, he either says "ask the TA", "we already went over that", or "come to my office hours". ive gone to his office hours and he just sends me back to the TAs. he also is not considerate of our time. he gave a project AND homework at the same time (homeworks are like mini projects). i also agree with the person below me about EVERYTHING they mentioned. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: November 19, 2008, 9:53 am | i lot of people liked him. but to me he was very annoying and got on my nerves. he tries too hard to be funny, and most of the time isn't funny at all. he also says he does not care if u don't pay attention in class as long as you don't disrupt the class. but he himself disrupts the class every 5 min to yell/joke at some kid for not paying attention when the student wasn't even disrupting the class |
| BriBri013 Course: CMSC198N Grade Expected: A October 27, 2008, 1:57 pm | This is probably the hardest I have ever worked for an "elective" course, but I really did enjoy the class. It says it is for beginners but Nelson covers a lot of difficult material. I had background in some web programming so I did alright, but the people without any experience seemed to struggle. I would take it over again just for him, he's worth coming to class! If nothing else, even if I was so behind I wanted to cry, Nelson made class interesting and fun. |
| pluralfacade Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A May 17, 2008, 2:41 pm | Awesome guy. I've had better teachers, but Nelson keeps class interesting with his jokes, and the way he ran his class really helped me to get a solid grip on the material. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: B+ May 12, 2008, 3:25 pm | I took him a few years back, he is pretty good at teaching, but goes overboard with the jokes every now and then to a point where you feel kind of embarrassed and annoyed. Some days he is on the money with his comedy show, but some days I really felt like telling him to stfu. The only other complaint was that he rushed the end of the semester pretty hard, so make sure you stay on top of the material. During the last week he made us memorize details for dozens of design patterns which were all on the final. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A+ December 16, 2007, 5:53 pm | Quite simply, Nelson is among the best professors UMD has to offer. His class is immensely interesting, he is very funny, and he is a fair grader. The work isn't very hard, but if it is, he is very helpful. No complaints. |
| unitar Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A December 3, 2007, 8:21 pm | I actually took class with Nelson in Fall 2006, but felt that he was such a good teacher he deserved a review now that this site is up. Nelson is an excellent teacher that keeps his students laughing, which keeps the material interesting. Take every class he teaches! |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: November 15, 2007, 4:08 pm | Nelson is a good teacher. Like everyone has said he tells jokes during class to keep the boring subject material interesting. He also does a good job explaining the projects. I got an A in his class. |
| Anonymous Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: November 6, 2007, 1:29 pm | I took 132 with Nelson a few semesters ago, but I did want to mention that he is a great teacher. He keeps class interesting, always cracking jokes and telling stories. My only complaint is that sometimes I was in the mood to just learn what I needed to and leave, and sometimes the jokes were a little too much. Other than that, I learned a lot and had a bit of fun, too. Got an A in his class. |
| mike Course: CMSC132 Grade Expected: A | Nelson is one of the best professors I have had at Maryland. He always keeps his lectures interesting with jokes and stories. He also is great at teaching the material so it's easy to understand. His projects take some time, but he gives a great explanation of exactly what you need to do. Definitely try to take your CS classes with Nelson (everyone calls him by his first name). |