Dr. Gainer seems friendly, but truly does not care deep down. Wifi was down and he wouldn't give me an extension for a quiz. The course has many weird "rules" and the instructions for labs are unclear. Way too harsh grading on labs. Reverse curve; grades down (idk why). As whole, he makes the course unreasonably hard just because it is online.
He makes a LAB hell. I don't know how its possible that he's made the lab quizzes so difficult that they are more difficult than the chem series itself. My section's averages range in the 60s for quizzes and lab reports and that just goes to show how the class is. I have never felt like such an idiot elsewhere, like I do when I take his quizzes.
Definitely worthless person in the Chem department here. Quizzes are unreasonably difficult, maintained a 4.0 throughout first 2 years, yes A in ochem, and 6AL is just a whole beast. Impossible to understand the criteria, does not respond to emails, least caring professor I've met. Wish they could change the instructor. Good luck all you pre-meds
I have dysgraphia and he would not let me type up my lab reports. I ended up changing majors because I could not get past the 6XL series due to this. I really wish the administration would do something about this.
Took gainer for 6AL and 6BL online during COVID. I would recommend taking him during COVID as the web final is less scary (only worth 6-8% of your grade). There were weekly quizzes (6-7 quizzes). Quizzes are moderate difficult, need to study well and you will do well. Lab report were a lot of work, GO TO YOUR TA OFFICE HOUR AND ASK WHAT THEY WANT.
So many things wrong with this professor and class. Curves down (people were curved down entire letter grades), not empathetic yet makes several mistakes himself, isn't clear about assignment requirements or grading criteria, never answers his email, quizzes are too difficult, does not explain the material enough. I could go on for ages.
Gainer is a great professor overall, his content is simple and he makes the class easy to understand. The notion of Ochem lab being a really hard class kinda dies down with him lecturing and hes really helpful and caring which was shown throughout this pandemic. The only downside was the terrible TA I had and his silence on the issue
W20 Quizzes and the amount of work you have to put in (6AL & 6BL) make it difficult because he really wants you to learn the material in depth. Your grade is dependent on your lab section average so as long as you get higher than that you should be okay. Really need to understand the material well tho and put in the work!
Lectures informative and straightforward. Weekly quizzes are quite tough, make sure you watch the Techniques videos he provides! Your grade in the class is mostly dependent on the TA you get. Did a lot to boost grades this quarter. Gave a short and cumulative final, worth much less than a normal quarter. Good and generous guy.
Disclaimer: This review is only for the ochem lab classes. He makes the quizzes unreasonably difficult and also makes the TAs grade lab reports extremely hard. On top of that, TAs tend to give you grades back really late so you don't receive feedback. Unfortunately, this class is required for the bio/chem major so good luck lol.
Gives clear, easy-to-follow lectures. Explains things without overcomplicating them. The videos he posted on gauchospace were very helpful for studying for quizzes, which were pretty hard but manageable once you get a hang of what type of question likes putting on there.
Dr. Gainer was super helpful and gave very clear lectures. The labs were also well-organized, and I can tell the purpose of what I was trying to learn from each lab. The quizzes, lab reports, and lab practical were all very fair but the final was super hard. You are graded based on your section, and the average is curved to a B.
He makes this class a complete weeder class. You must not only get every single detail and the experiment and you must get higher points than your lab class, no matter your raw score. The class prioritizes memorization highly in quizzes and he seems like a person who will get upset easily if a slight mishap happens.
Great professor, makes you really understand the fundamentals of ochem lab. However, your final grade is curved according to your section, which makes it more stressful if you have a smart lab class. Make sure to go over the conceptual side of all the labs for the final!
This class is way harder than it needs to be. Most of the difficulty stems from the TA you have. The lab reports are graded unfairly I think. So many things I would do differently in this course. Gainer is a pretty tight dude and he definitely does a better job teaching this class than any other professor would.
Midterm exam was so much easier than the final exam. The class is not as scary as everyone makes it seem. The labs are very easy and repetitive and the class is graded on a heavy curve. Quizzes are pretty difficult, but there are a lot of components that comprise of your grade (quizzes, lab reports, miderm, final, lab work, lab practical).
You have to go to lecture because all the quizzes are based off of what he says. He is very enthusiastic and helpful though.
He is a pretty good professor but his tests and quizzes are pretty tough. He is extremely handsome. Those blue eyes are to die for ;)
Not a great professor. The only good thing is this class as well as his 109A/B/C classes are really curved. If given the choice between taking the class with him or Bruice (or any other ochem professor) definitely choose the other professor, you will learn a lot more from any other professor else.
His lectures are ridiculously confusing. He is disorganized in both his material and has unacceptably sloppy handwriting. Learned everything from Sarah in CLAS. He has no enthusiasm for the subject, which makes it more dreadful. I'd recommend Bruice over him any day.
A horrible teacher. The material is tough but Gainer makes it that much more confusing. Don't expect to learn anything from lecture or follow anything he writes on the board. Reading helps but there are no solutions for Mohrig. This course and prof need major improvement.
Has interest in students doing well and is nice but he is new and inexperienced so his quizzes are difficult and cover material taught in the same lecture. The best way to learn is to read the textbook.
One of the worst lecturers I've ever witnessed. Quizes especially toward the latter half of the course see very low averages and the tests are written poorly. The Labs themselves were not bad as long as you have a good TA.
Gainer is a chill and approachable guy--I went to office hours just once but should have probably went more. The labs themselves are straight forward and simple, but quizzes were difficult and midterms were okay. Definitely read the associated text (both Mohrig and Bruice) to do well on exams. Overall not a bad class.