BERNT C M
Easy Chem 1A tests. Okay at lecturing, but just make sure to PRACTICE. Not very accessible via email.
He's a nice person, but I don't recommend him as a professor. Book problems rarely help on the exams and he only gives one practice exam before each midterm, which doesn't cover the actual test material. He does a very poor job at explaining basic concepts and doesn't respond to emails. Focus on lectures for test review and review EARLY.
He is a nice guy but never responds to emails, does not care to give any feedback on tests. Exams were half material we went over in class, difficulty x 10 and half things we never learned. I had a really hard time with him and felt like I was wasting my time in his lectures. The HW/ALEKS never had anything to do with what we were tested on.
My advice is to start studying now because your going to be teaching yourself most of it. Comes off as a nice guy, but not a good teacher. Lectures and textbook problems don't reflect exam material. Does not prepare you whatsoever for how difficult his tests are. Had 3 midterms & final??? Said a 65.99 would curve to a B, etc, did not happen.
Weekly ALEKs is definitely a time sink, but the course material is really interesting. I found every class added something valuable. His demonstrations are EPIC. His tests are definitely pretty grueling, and the grading is ranked which is weird because you don't know your solid grade till the end, but he does make success possible and reasonable.
He cares about the subject, but doesn't care about students. He made jokes about how he purposefully gave us a midterm the MONDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING and told us to make sure we don't enjoy our break bc of the test. He never responds to emails, and I had a family emergency so I was unable to get any help for a midterm bc of this. Don't take him.
It's evident that he is passionate about what he teaches and that he cares for his students. But I found his lectures to be fast paced and the test content were topics you had to learn on your own. His exams were harder than the practice exams he provided,
Lectures were clear and chronological. Would go over practice problems after explaining a concept which was very helpful. The ALEKS was a lot, and not always helpful, but every chem had it so it wasn't unique to this prof. Prof posted lecture videos and slides at the beginning so if you missed or were confused you had excellent resources.
lectures are very fast paced so be ready to learn content on your own. aleks isn't very helpful so don't spend too much time on that, the book problems he suggests are much more beneficial to practice.
Professor Bernt was not as bad as others made him seem. However, unless you're naturally gifted at chem you will not pass without self-studying. Trust you'll be fine, just go to the lib, do your Aleks, join CLAS (emphasis on this), and attend lectures! It's hard but manageable!!
As someone who didn't take AP chem and only took chem sophomore year of high school this class was VERY challenging. The lectures were extremely fast and without having good prior chem knowledge they were very confusing. I spent 10+ hours a week studying for this class and still only got a C. The ALEKS was a lot and truly wasn't helpful exam prep.
Class is difficult especially without AP experience. Lecture moves fast and there is a lot to keep up with. You will have to teach yourself some of the topics outside of class. WATCH THE VIDEOS HE POSTS to recap lecture. Other than difficulty, Bernt is a nice and personable guy and his dogs are cute.