He is a good lecturer but his quizzes are too long for how much time he gives us. The final is heavy on theory for a class that is a "Lab".
I had Professor Gainer for 109A and did alright. I felt like he was way behind in grading in 6AL and that he wasn't super accessible outside of class. I also had a very strict TA who was tough on grading but not super helpful in the actual experiments.
My boy Gainer was a king, but if you do the work, and put effort in you will succeed. This is technically an upper-division class, so it shouldn't necessarily be a walk in the park. Everyone has said it, but DO THE READINGS and ALL the book problems. Seek him in office hours if you didn't understand something in lecture or in the book. He will help
Gainer is fantastic - if you read the textbook (ALL of it), you will get a fantastic grade. Due to most people not reading, curve is massive. Makes the class easy.
Gainer does his best to make this class as bearable as possible. He's a decent teacher who definitely has a passion for teaching. CHEM 6BL is seriously the most difficult and time consuming class I've taken. I highly recommend taking a light course load with this class, cause it's seriously a time-sink. Go to TA office hours and ask for help.
This is my 2nd time taking Gainer. I lost my A+ this time because there's a super knowledgeable student in my section. He gave fair quizzes and lab final, and made them as college-level as possible. TA was super helpful that she proofread my lab reports every week in the office hour and offered helpful comments on how to improve. I liked Labflow.
To be honest, this professor is pretty mid. I thought he would be better, as he only teaches and doesn't do any research. Honestly, I thought the quizzes/examinations were pretty fair if you did your readings/watched the lecture videos, but I didn't really feel engaged in this class. Gainer isn't bad by all means, but he's not the best either.
Tough class obviously, Gainer's lectures are pretty good though and the quizzes reflect the material. Class is still a pain but could be very much worse.
Very disorganized. Very charismatic person who is very fun and love to help his students.
mid. but if you have to take ochem lab you dont have much choice lol just hope you get a TA that grades generously.
Super disorganized, errors on every quiz, and labs are ran by TAs (given too much power and grade horribly) The curve was definitely nice but if class was more organized and wasn’t set up to fail people, it wouldn’t be needed. The professor also only gives 25 min for quizzes so make sure you make no mistakes on them. Harder than necessary…
This class was way more difficult than it needed to be.The expectations for each experiment changed on a dime with no announcements. The prof ran out of time and could only spend one day teaching us mass spec, and said "because I didn't get to quiz you on this, it's going to be featured heavily on the final".
I had a good time in the class, but expect the material to be hard! It's similarly difficult to non-honors ochem but the curve is phat (my 89.2 went to an A+.) Quizzes/final were difficult but manageable if you read the textbook and do extra practice beyond what's assigned. Overall had a good experience and excited to have Gainer again for lab.
Gainer has given fair quizzes and final, which was adequately challenging to give me some incentive to put in effort while not ruining my grade. His curve was surprisingly PHAT - got an A+ with an A- raw score. Forming a study group is kind of important in this course.
Lectures are OK, I wish he would put in like 1% more effort into giving recommended book problems to guide us. Quizzes and exams are super tough but the curve was great (in person my 89 was an A+). I just got the sense that he didn't care as much as other professors. Funny guy though. Use the organic chemistry tutor on youtube, textbook is trash.
Gainer is really great at explaining confusing topics and making ochem as accessible and easy to comprehend as possible. His notes are hard to understand without attending lectures. He is also helpful during office hours. This is a difficult class but Gainer doesn't assign busy work and his worksheets/quizzes are straightforward.
Tests were every other week and were fair. Gainer is good prof but the class goes very fast and can be difficult to follow. If you miss something in class its also hard to go back as his notes are very confusing to understand.
Gainer is good at making things clear. He's very patient cares every individuals.
Gainers tests were very fair, although this is to say that they werent difficult. For honors ochem, he was a very good professor and explained the material very well. He makes sure you actually understand what you are learning rather than just memorizing.
Everyone gives Gainer a bad rating. OChem is just a really hard class, and they are mad they are struggling. Gainer is a great teacher, incredibly approachable and knowledgable. He won't give you anything you didn't earn. If you read the suggested readings, do the end of chap problems, and attend lecture, you will most def get an A.
Took this class in 2014. Lost my best friend and roommate during the Isla Vista Shootings. Went into Gainer's office to plead for accommodations and sympathy, he failed me and I had to retake this course.
Professor Gainer does not care about his students. Your entire grade and experience will depend on which TA you get which is really sad. The TAs will take off points even if you're right to maintain a curve. Professor Gainer looked over my reports and promised me points back for things I got right the first time. He never fixed my grades or replied
If it wasn't for the curve, I'd have failed. This class made me rethink my chemistry degree. It was like he wanted to make things difficult on purpose, shortening testing windows, never giving rubrics for assignments, and overall adding rules that only make online learning as awful as people imagine.
man is on a power trip
