CHEM 1CL
Michael Nava
2.3
70 reviews
BERNT C M
Christopher Bernt
2.9
69 reviews

139
2.5999999999999996
PSTAT109 . 7 Years Ago

Nava is awful. His lecture slides have so many mistakes, which shows that he is not serious about teaching this class. Be ready to study because this class is not as easy as you may think it is.

0 helpful 2 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

His teaching isn't helpful at all, but you have to come to class to get participation credit. Unless you took stats in high school, I highly recommend getting a tutor through CLAS. Also, Nava's making our final all free response questions (even though we have to take it after break because of the fire). If you can, avoid Nava at all costs.

5 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

Nava is a very nice grader and his tests are fair. His lectures can be confusing at times, but if you attend class, read the book, and do a little CLAS you should be fine. Written repossess on the tests are weighted heavily. He didn't cover all the topics of STATS, but for an intro to stats class he is not a bad choice at all.

1 helpful 7 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

Professor Nava makes easy material confusing. He seems like a nice guy but he cannot teach. He tells stories and tries to make the material interesting, and just ends up making it more difficult. He blames his mistakes on his TAs. I learn more from them and the textbook than I do him. Also, there are weekly quizzes with only 2 questions each.

7 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

Uses an online version of iclicker. Have to attend lecture for the code and to answer questions throughout lecture. I never paid any attention in any lecture but found that the textbook is EXTREMELY helpful, although you dont need it for the class. It explains the material so much better than the professor.

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

tries too hard in general, to relate to the students, to be funny. he glosses over material like nothing and doesn't explain or show his work. Buy the book because your probably gonna have to teach yourself. He is a good guy, but not a good professor. i will never take a course with him again

8 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

Don't take this class with this professor. His lectures are mandatory, but he teaches in a very confusing manner. He just glosses over the material and suddenly you have a midterm that isn't anything like the practice midterms. He tries too hard to relate with the students. By far the worst professor at UCSB I've ever had.

4 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

Professor Nava is a cool person outside of class, but my god he cannot teach. Glosses over the material and then calls it "very easy." I've learned more from the TA sections than from lectures, but that's not enough.

5 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

The course material is easy, but he adds his own difficult twist to it which leaves you confused. We also had to buy an app online (not cheap) to take attendance instead of just using iclicker. He often goes off tantrums on unrelated materials and the practice test does NOT reflect the actual midterm.

4 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

The way that Nava teaches the material is more complicated than any of the calculus classes I've taken so far. He tries too hard to be funny and relatable, which results in using poor examples to show concepts. He also makes his lectures mandatory yet talks about the same concept for weeks! Save your time and wait for a different professor!

6 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

The material is easy, but he makes the concepts more complicate. Don't take his class.

1 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT5A . 7 Years Ago

I lost a lot of respect for this professor due to his constant attempts of putting his students down. Lectures are nearly pointless to attend because of how poorly he explaining the material. He If you take this class the only way to pass is with CLAS. He constantly makes fun of his students for getting answers wrong or taking too long on tests.

3 helpful 0 unhelpful
CHEM221 . Bernt C M 7 Years Ago

BEST PROF EVER!! Hes so fun and helpful in the lab & hes super nice. Would take again any chance I have

1 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT42135 . 7 Years Ago

Professor Nava is a good person but he is not a good professor. All of his his power points are capitalized and very short. We can not understand what he is exactly talking in his powerpoints.

7 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT109 . 7 Years Ago

I had never taken a statistics class before and this one was pretty straight forward. His lectures are not the most helpful but he is a really nice guy and wants everyone to do well.

3 helpful 3 unhelpful
PSTAT126 . 7 Years Ago

Worst professor I've taken at UCSB so far. Really useless lectures and mandatory lectures. Don't take this professor if at all possible. Google will be your best friend if you take his classes.

7 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT109 . 8 Years Ago

The exam is not hard. However, his lectures didn't help at all. To me, what he did in lecture was just going over lecture slides and stuff. He can't explain the materials clearly. I simply got an A because I went to CLAS and read the textbook.

9 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT130 . 8 Years Ago

"Funny guy" in class, "tough guy" over email. He made many mistakes while teaching the material and passed it off as opportunities for us "identify" coding errors. Only upside is extra credit given to those taking a $200 exam. If you're not willing to do so then don't take this class with him.

4 helpful 1 unhelpful
PSTAT130 . 8 Years Ago

Nava turned what was supposed to be one of the easiest classes at school into a class where the average grade on the final was 40%. He gives you an automatic A if you take and pass the SAS Base Exam, so that's pretty nice.

2 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT130 . 8 Years Ago

Nava changed so many things during his (first) time teaching this class. Our first quiz we lost points for wrong answers, then he changed that, among other things. Most of our grade (70%) came from these quizzes. So you really have to hit the textbook and online resources hard to measure up. Offered credit for taking the SAS exam.

1 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT130 . 8 Years Ago

nice guy, terrible class.

1 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT130 . 8 Years Ago

No HW, instead there are weekly quizzes that make up the majority (70%) of the class grade, 10 questions, m/c, 10 pts per question--but you lose 5 pts for every wrong answer. Sucks. He shows us example code and runs it, talks along with it. I'd rather he let us type it up ourselves so we learn better. Admits to "learning with us". Not a fan.

1 helpful 0 unhelpful
PSTAT109 . 8 Years Ago

Worst experience I have had with a professor at UCSB so far (3rd year). Shy in person, tough guy over email. Slides are unclear and littered with mistakes. Isnt proficient at explaining the matieral. Simply not a good professor. Its up to yourself and CLAS to make sense of this class.

8 helpful 1 unhelpful
V012 . 8 Years Ago

This professor connects with his students. He knows the challenges students have trying to pass to the next level of math in order to transfer. Any student with special needs ships take him because he is very understanding. Even though can be crazy and boring, he makes the class fun, especially if he has coffee in his system.

0 helpful 4 unhelpful