Reviews of professor Rick Barnard

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
He seems like a cool guy, respectful in e-mail etc.  Lectures aren't too bad if you're happy to re-read them.  And then you open the exam and literally none of the questions resemble anything we have reviewed or seen.  Completely unforgiveable in my opinion.  You can study for a full week and fail the exam, while knowing all of the material.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Rick is nice, but has a hard time lecturing. He is often unclear about material and expectations. Lenient grader, but the class material is brutal. Lots of unconnected linear algebra makes tests that need to be studied for for days. He might say you don't need to study for quizzes: Study. Coding projects weren't too bad, material is kind of useful.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Nice guy, but not a very good instructor. Be prepared to not learn anything about the subject from his lectures, yet still be expected to make mathematical models and do very applied homework. This class is very disappointing because the subject is interesting, but he doesn't actually teach anything about it. Avoid this professor if you can.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
I have had Rick for a handful of classes now and he's a good prof. His lectures can be confusing and he tends to get bogged down in equations and formulas. He makes up for this by being very helpful in office hours. He is approachable and is good at answering questions. He also has been very understanding while classes have been online.

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Rick's saving grace: he is a very lenient grader and gives partial credit for almost everything. His lectures are borderline useless; he makes mistakes all the time, gets himself confused, and is very unclear. Makes a subject that probably should be fairly simple extremely convoluted and overcomplicated. Only take if you are ok with some suffering

Rating: 2.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Not the best at lectures, but he has been more than helpful during office hours. He needs some more practice teaching, but otherwise really cool guy!

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Had Rick for 204 last spring (not 410). I applaud him for trying an alt grading system that rewards those who genuinely take time to learn the theory instead of memorizing formulas. I did very few of the "suggested exercises" and just focused on being engaged and asking questions during lecture, worked out well. He's a real nice guy, & relatable.