Reviews of professor Douglas Swanson

Rating: 5.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
CHM 349 was actually a very injoyable course. For the time in the lab, he was walking around asking if anyone needed anything. He checked setups frequently to ensure student success. If you need help on the spectra analysis just ask him. Doug is the lab cordinator and sometimes you can tell he is a bit scatter-brained. The final is tough.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Really great guy, he will extend homework for you if you need it. He'll also give extra days for tests which are online. If you pay close attention in class you can succeed, even if you didn't do too well in orgo 1.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
He just reads off the slides and doesnt explain anything. His hand writing is really bad so even when he shows examples its hard to even know what hes writing. He talks a lot about Nobel Prizes for no reason. He is nice about extending homework if you need it, though.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
Doug is a very nice guy and very smart, but sometimes too smart for his own good. In lecture, he often glazes over things and rambles, which makes it hard to understand what he's trying to teach, but really does care about how his students do. Could definitely tell it was his first year as a prof here.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
To start, Dr. Swanson is a great person and hed be a great advisor. However, truly the worst professor I've ever had in my life. He can't use the projector so he prints slides, you read 100s of pages for exams that dont test what you spend DAYS reading, and his teaching style includes statements like "you already know this". Just take CHM 421.

Rating: 4.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
As a lab instructor, he is very helpful. He clearly explains pre-lab material and helps you through the lab well. I felt like I could ask him questions in lab and he was good if you come prepared and show you are trying.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 4.0/5
A lot of people complained about swanson and how he was a bad teacher, and he could have been better, but at the same time, most of the people just didn't come to class. So like that's on you. Go to class everyday and read the book.

Rating: 3.0/5, difficulty: 3.0/5
Provides helpful hints in the lab. Hard to reach outside class and doesn't respond to emails very quickly. Background lectures make sense but doesn't always cover everything we need to know for the lab. Lab procedure lectures are good and informative.

Rating: 1.0/5, difficulty: 5.0/5
Organic Chemistry II with Swanson was extremely hard. The exam averages would be in the 50%s, and he would not care. In lectures, he reads the slides without explanation and belittles his students by saying the material was all easy. I think he forgets that it is all new to us. I wish he would have worked through problems in class. Avoid if you can