Terrible. If I could give negative stars I would. Doesn't respond to emails. Not sympathetic at all. Didn't curve and refused to do so despite being a couple points away from passing the class. Not understanding and doesn't teach well at all. I've had some bad professors but they are saints compared to her.

If you read the assigned chapters and complete the labs early then the course isn't too difficult. The TAs hold office hours almost every day and to help hold yourself accountable you can go sit in the classroom where they're holding office hours to work on your labs (that's what I did). Prof emphasizes topics on tests so you know what to expect.

lectures were not helpful, labs were too hard(on top of homework). She didn't answer to emails. Final was WAY harder than the practice final, with topics which were barely covered in class. on the very last day the grading turned out to be more strict than the usual scale and didn't count the extra credit lab which took us hours to complete.

This class destroyed my interest in programming. The labs (20% of your total grade) take up to 10 hours per week. While it is clear that Prof K is passionate about CS, her teaching can be confusing. The exams are graded quite harshly and many of questions are things not covered in lecture and only briefly mentioned in the textbook.

She is not a good teacher. Everything she says is overcomplicated. She tells you something won't be on the final and then proceeds to put it on the final. She says she will upload lectures then doesn't upload lectures. She doesn't respond to student questions.

too difficult by far

(meant to rate 5 difficulty) $90 online textbook for coding and quizzes insanely hard. self study class with lots of homework and activites takes so many hours per week. doesnt teach and reads off slides. is so paranoid about cheating.

Does not care about her students. Unreasonable expectations for a beginner class.

I've had Prof. K twice now (for CS8 and CS9) and to be honest she is the worst professor I've ever had at UCSB. Especially in CS9, 70% of your grade is based on difficult midterms and finals, and she gives labs (that take 10 hours each) every week on top of homework. Not to mention she rarely gives feedback and the TAs are not helpful either.

Completely disconnected from the students and what we need to succeed. Her lectures are terribly paced and cover very little of what she said is necessary on the exam. Cannot get a good reply out of her outside of class, so I recommend to stay away and take her courses from another professor or from another school

There are terrible quizzes every week. Attendance is required even with replays.

Prof was usually in good spirits and tried to incorporate a pomodoro timer into lectures so students would get breaks. However grade was heavily influenced by broken pop quizzes which would often catch students on semantics or typos rather than ever checking for understanding.

This class completely drained me of my will to live. Teacher is insane for thinking these are even remotely beginner level projects. She spends more time every day in class threatening all of us with failing than teaching anything. Attendance is mandatory but she just reads off slides. Expect to be teaching yourself with the textbook every day.

Overall wasn't bad, just lots of work. As long as you stay on top of things, it is okay.

Terrible, just terrible.

Worst class ever! Way too difficult for a beginner, it will kill your interest in coding. She has a $90 interactive textbook teach you everything and overloads with timed quizzes and weekly homework assignments. Stay away!!!!!

worst class ive ever taken in my entire life..... save urself

Fake positive reviews. Class is unstructured and the material is way too advanced for a beginner class, especially with such an apathetic and distant professor. Don't fall for her scare tactics. Actually, just do yourself a favor and don't take this class at all.

she will make you feel like youre crazy. final project is so difficult for no reason. just dont do it. i wish i had listened to these reviews. please just dont do it.

Don't do it, trust me. I had a lust for life prior to this class. I was young and excited to learn some coding. All of that was sucked out of me.

oh my god dont do it please for the love of everything holy

so much work. worst class ever taken

The fake 5-star reviews with C- and D+ are extremely suspicious and seem like someone is trying to gerrymander the reviews. She will not teach you, she will essentially offload all the teaching to Zybooks and proceed to give the hardest coding assignments to introductory students. You will feel abandoned at sea for you to fend for yourself.

Just an FYI for all future students (especially ones who have anxiety like me). Don't let this "teacher" gaslight you. She will accuse the class of cheating at some point during the course. Unless you literally copy-paste code/actually cheat a ton, you're fine. Don't let her manipulate you. She damaged my mental health bc of this during the quarter