Matni rocks!! He is an incredible lecturer who is very clear about the material presented. He is very open to questions and is clear with his answers. Exams are moderately tough but definitely doable if you go to lecture and study the homework well. He's super funny during lecture and truly, truly cares about his students.
This is my second class with him and Matni is great. His lectures are really helpful and likes to do in depth examples. He also has so many resources such as class notes, helpful sections, and actually great TAs/ULAs. The material is difficult, but he wants to help you. The homework can be long and difficult though. Really fair quizzes and final.
Intelligent and caring professor, understandable lectures, but very fast paced, hard labs and hard final. CS32 was pretty great with him but 111 had a weekly quiz that was hard and I felt the final was too focused on small details, but he allows a cheat sheet. Both are fast paced, but CS32 has easier material so putting in the work got me an A.
Really lenient on grading assignments and tests, doesn't curve tests or grade in general but easy to get an A as long as you know lecture material well. Great lecturer, class was always interesting with Matni.
Stay completely still when taking quizzes or exams because he likes to assume you are cheating and make the rest of the quarter unpleasant for you.
I liked him more for CS32. I got bored after week 3 since the topics felt a bit repetitive. He also didn't know how to answer some deeper questions, maybe due to it being in a field that he doesn't have as much expertise in (linear algebra/proofs). I really enjoyed his energy, but sometimes the way he answered questions felt a little condescending.
This class was one of the best organized classes I've taken at UCSB thus far. HW and weekly quizzes directly reflected what was taught in lecture, and they were pretty straightforward as long as you went to lecture. Weekly quizzes were pretty easy plus he drops the lowest one. Final was very fair and had very few (if any) curveballs. Great prof!
He is a nice lecturer. But he is very dogmatic and super strict in grading. Too many unnecessary trick questions in exams and quizzes, which contains a lot of things that is not covered or mentioned in lab, lecture or textbooks at all. Meanwhile, he hate curving or grade grabbing. Even if the final is graded wrong, he will not change your grade.
Professor Matni gives super clear lectures; he even records supplementary videos as further clarifications. He has a perfect balance between teaching and exercising in class, and is really willing to help you learn stuff. Grading consists of weekly quizzes, weekly assignments - worksheets or coding, some can be super long (13 pages) - and a final.
He is one of the great profs in this department. I honestly can say that he made me love CS again.
The content of this class did exactly what it was supposed to. I walked in with little to no CS experience and walked out feeling fully introduced to CS. Matni's lectures were crystal clear and went over exactly what the homework/labs covered. Final project was a culmination of the quarter's lessons. Matni was kind, caring, and super helpful.
Prof Matni was an extremely good professor! Rly helpful during office hours and weekly homework was never overwhelming (multiple attempts). Super engaging during lecture & went over concepts multiple times. Very beginner-friendly class, no midterm. Only difficult assignment was the final project (expected), but he offered help on broad topics etc.
The weekly assignments were on ZyBook and the workload was not too bad. Instead of having a midterm, we had weekly quizzes which were not too difficult as long as you kept up with the ZyBook. Additionally, he was very accessible outside of the class and the TAs were extremely helpful. My only complaint was the final project which was tedious.
Honestly great professor. He was very caring and reachable. Learned a lot for it being an intro class. Lectures were also extremely helpful. Weekly lab assignments were pretty challenging and heavy. Final project was very difficult and was more difficult than an intro class should be. TAs and prof were very helpful during this time though.
I loved this course, it was taught using an online course that was very clear and made learning Python very easy. He essentially repeats what was in the textbook during his lectures. The quizzes are pretty easy and are open note. I would say the last lab and the final were the worst part just because they took very long to complete.
very nice guy!! as someone who has struggled a lot with coding in the past and had no experience in python, I found this class very manageable and not unnecessarily difficult. there is definitely a lot of work but it actually helps a lot
His class is not for beginners.
Professor Matni was really nice, the lecture and the materials are pretty easy, but the final is so so so so so hard..........
One of those professors whose class you're gonna be looking forward to. Very accessible, he cares, he gives helpful feedback, his class is fair and so is his grading. If you have the option then you should definitely take his class.
Prof Matni is my def favorite professor at UCSB. I loved coming to his class; his lectures were engaging in a refreshing way post-covid. Slides are easy to follow & he has this great energy that made class fun and interesting. Plus he is hilarious. Tests are ~fairly~ straightforward but sometimes tricky wording. A lovely man overall. Recommend!
Professor Matni is the best comm professor I had at UCSB. He is funny, engaging, and cares about his students. His lectures are all easy to follow along and understand, and he is clearly very prepared and passionate about the material. Class participation is graded but Matni is great at encouraging it and creating a welcoming classroom environment
This is my 2nd course with Matni since I enjoy his lecture style (similar to D. Mullin). He was receptive to student requests about COVID and his office hours were great. Lectures (always recorded) and readings were engaging and interesting. Grading included attendance, various assignments (including a group project), and a midterm + final exam.
Had him over the summer and thought he was such an amazing professor. I enjoyed his lectures and his assignments are thorough and clear.
Thought this class would be brutal based off the ratings but it was such a fun class. His lectures are so clear and he explains everything thoroughly
