Reviews of professor Vasant Honavar

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I really struggled in the first half of the semester because of my math phobia. But once I got over my math phobia (with lots of help and encouragement from Dr. Vasant), things became easier and enjoyable. If you're a freshman and reading this, pay attention in calc 1 & 2, probability, etc. If you want to learn ML, take this course from Dr. Vasant.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
The class was tough. Prof. Honavar expects students to be really comfortable with multivariate differential calculus, probability theory, and mathematical notation. But if you ask questions, he will take the time to explain even the most basic stuff. He is very knowledgeable. I learned a lot, but had to work hard for my grade.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I took this "special topics" course "Data Science for Researchers and Scholars" the very first time it was taught. The course was simply amazing. Dr. Honavar made the material accessible to students with diverse backgrounds. This was one of the best classes I have taken in grad school at Penn State.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Dr. Vasant is encyclopedic knowledge of machine learning. You can learn a lot from him. He will teach you not only the concepts and algorithms but also the history of the main ideas . He is very helpful but you have to make an effort, pay attention in the class, keep up with the readings, work through the math, do the homework and labs

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
This course was taught as a special topics course. The course covered descriptive, predictive, and causal data science methods. I really hope it becomes a regular course soon. I took the course because of Prof. Honavar's reputation as a researcher. I was not disappointed. His lectures are amazing.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Dr. Honavar is amazing. I had to work really hard for my A, but I learned a lot. I am hoping to do machine research with Dr. Honavar and may be apply for grad school.

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
I took this class from Dr. Honavar back in 2018. It was one of the hardest course I had ever taken at Penn State. I struggled through it and managed to get a hard earned B+. The course helped me land my first job. Now as I look back 4 years later, I really appreciate the course. I have gone back to my notes  to brush up on my machine learning.