Professor Zhang has a very rigorous manner towards research. He is very caring and wants everyone to succeed. Those who try get an easy A without hard work does not deserve to be in his class. As fas as I know, he also gives final exam that is very similar to HW.
He also taught chem 132 in organometallics sometimes. It was a very useful class and you have to expect to learn a lot of complicated theories. The exams were derivatives of the homework and lectures. Overall it was not hard if you have a strong background in organic chemistry.
Lectures based directly on notes taken from Bruice, doesn't go in much detail. Mandatory lecture only on F (M,W free). No midterm, but quiz for each chapter given each week. Really long and tedious final though (68 MC, 21 FRQ). Def use the Ochem book and answer book (especially during the final)!! The problems from Mastering are all taken from it!
This class was one of the hardest classes yet especially with it being remote. The structure and way this class was taught was god awful and created lot of stress and confusion. He expected students to self teach a whole chapter before lecture while also completing homework from the previous chapter. Lots of miscommunication and self teaching.
I just started taking him for 109C this quarter, but I 100% do not recommend him. He is definitely the worst ochem professor I have had - his lectures are ridiculously unhelpful and he gives unreasonable amounts of mastering chemistry homework. You'll end up studying on your own entirely. If you can, stay away from his class!
liming is a nice guy. He tried to help us learn better by holding weekly review session and lots of office hours. However, his lecturing is not very clear and you need to depend on the textbook and notes he posted to learn the material again by yourself. His exam is okay and he will cover some of them in the review session.
Liming is a nice guy and extremely knowledgeable. You can tell he tries to be a good teacher, but unfortunately fails miserably. Took an honors section so a lot was expected from us but wow... I have never had to work that hard for a class before. Did every practice prob over three times and still really struggled on exams. Thank god for the curve
Zhang is a nice guy, he held weekly review session and extended office hours. He wanted to change you to understand the material. His tests were not that hard if you really studied super hard. He curved at the end. But he was not a better lecturer, you gotta study a lot after lectures.
Zhang is the worst. Don't take his class!!!! I spent a lot of time and effort on this class, but still can't cover everything, bc he only teach a little during lectures. His English is not quite good, sometimes he cannot explain very well and you have to ask a lot of things. He sometimes mixed up words like "most" and "least" which is very confusi
Hardest class I've taken at UCSB. I went to almost every office hours and review session yet still did horrible on both midterms. He doesn't explain the material in a way that people taking ochem for the first time could understand. We were tested on material from the book, not just lecture.
Terrible lecturer
Worst Teacher In The Entire School
Lectures are not useful to better grade in exams. Exams are very hard. There will be midterm problems on Review section on Sunday definitely need to put extra time on this class.
Terrible Lectures. Trying to go thru senior materials and the text book in great depth in very short amount of time. His lectures are confusing and he rushes through everything. I guess he puts too much expectations on us, but this is our first orgo class after all.
Just took the 109B Final today and it was actually the WORST. dont know what everyone else saying about practice tests cuz he didnt give us ANYTHING. midterms have averaged around 50% but im sure this final is gonna be around 40%; promised to make mt 2 easier but the avg was even lower than the 1st.. do not take Zhang!!
Zhang is a terrible lecturer, without a doubt. But he is a nice man, and his tests are very similar to the practice exams. Just read the book religiously, go to CLAS, and do the practice problems -- that way, you'll be fine. Don't need to go to lecture, they're useless. Do your work and you'll be fine.
I'd like to start off my saying that he is a nice man. However, he was a horrible professor. His notes and examples are confusing. Plus his English isn't great and he speaks so softly and ends up murmuring through the entire lecture. His tests aren't too bad in comparison to the others professors but since his teaching sucks the test is hard.
Avoid taking Zhang at all costs, I would have to say the worst Chem professor I have ever came across. He has an extremely hard accent to understand that makes lecture even harder to follow. Lectures are not clear and they way he teaches isn't good for taking notes. no curve. Worst prof I've ever had. AVOID! ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE PROF!
He's clear about what will and will not be tested on, gives you past tests to practice on, and gives pop quizzes for extra credit. Lectures are only semi-helpful, but he's a lot clearer in office hours. definitely read the book and practice a lot! He doesn't curve the class but his grading was fair.
He is a bad lecturer but since he DOES NOT CURVE the class his tests and homework are very straightforward. There are extra credit pop quizes but they aren't until after the second midterm. You must read the book or you will not pass.
he doesn't curve !!!
Teaches through powerpoint and teaches thoroughly. Tests are on what he teaches so just study the lecture slides. He gives out past midterms/finals to study and the actual midterms are very similar to them. Class was relatively easy and he gives out a lot of extra credit points. There's no curve though and you need at least a 93% to get a solid A.
The worst professor for o chem I have had. He did not curve the class. He gave pop-quizzes that were equivalent to a mid term. He emphasized specific topics for final and did not test on them.
Zhang is a terrible teacher. He does not speak English well at all, and his slides are just screenshots of tables from the textbook. It's obvious he doesn't really rehearse or plan out his lectures, which, when coupled with his inability to speak English, yields disastrous results as he stumbles over his words. You will learn very little in class.