Catalin Zara | Student Comments

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2017, Math 458: Made the material engaging. Homework was ''fun.'' Despite material being difficult at times I never felt stressed with the class.
2017, Math 458: Excellent and clear teaching style. Wants what is best for his students. Allows for questions and never makes students feel dumb for asking them.
2017, Math 242: Very involved with the class. His lectures were both passionate and interesting [...]
2017, Math 242: Clear and thorough instruction. Assisted in homework. Timely responses to exams and quizzes.
2017, Math 242: Very informative. Has good notes to look at/use for review. [...] Well paced! Homework was super helpful.
2017, Math 458: Knowledgeable; fair; thorough response to in-class questions; sense of humor.
2016, Math 242: He is very enthusiastic about the material and is able to present it in a way that engages students. His answers to questions are very detailed and easy to understand.
2016, Math 242: The course structured very well, clear and easy to follow. The visuals he gave us are great, help us to understand the abstract side of math.
2016, Math 260: Very good at explaining material, good grasp of what people would have trouble with.
2016, Math 260: Amazing one on one in office hours. Great at explaining questions and problems. [...] Great homework assigned that helps the student practice and learn.
2016, Math 242: The questions on the tests were very challenging. A little less challenging will be helpful but I enjoyed the course. I learnt a LOT. Wish I could have learned much more from the professor. Very sad the class came to an end so soon.
2016, Math 260: Thorough explanation and detail on every concept. [...] It covers everything it promises to cover.
2016, Math 260: Very fair and challenging; wants the students to learn.
2015, Math 260: Treats students with a great deal of respect and challenges them - Able to quickly understand students' questions and answers them in depth - Connects abstract material to real-world applications.
2015, Math 260: Material is presented clearly in a conceptual way at first and then followed up with examples. Really helps to solidify the information.
2015, Math 242: Definitely loves Math, as demonstrated by his enthusiasm for the subject and towards his students [...]
2015, Math 242: Another strong point is that it was definitely important that the instructor was so energetic and happy to teach students Math.
2015, Math 242: Thank you for the reality check. All college courses should be like yours: demanding, challenging, and requiring of the students to put in maximum effort and time.
2015, Math 242: I performed pretty poorly in this course and will likely retake it. That being said, it was my favourite course this semester and I enjoyed every lecture.
2015, Math 242: Engaging class - required us to be involved in every class.
2015, Math 242: Prof. Zara is enthusiastic about the material so staying engaged in class is easy.
2015, Math 242: Makes learning fun and interesting. Always kept my attention.
2015, Math 242: He is very open to questions and willing to help. He goes over numerous examples in class. He thoroughly goes over the reasoning behind problems. He has a great and receptive personality that easily keeps students engaged, and in a non-stressful atmosphere.
2015, Math 242: I will thank the professor for enabling me to be able to solve any single var calc based in my physics textbook - as I was never able to do before.
2015, Math 242: Learned to be responsible for my own learning and self motivation.
2014, Math 390: Teaches you how to think deeply. Deepens your understanding of concepts you know.
2014, Math 242: Professor Zara pushed me to find patterns to problems I would have not seen otherwise. These problems were beyond my comfort zone and I often struggled which resulted in giving me a deeper understanding.
2014, Math 260: He made us reason out the answers for ourselves much of the time, which helped the material penetrate to a degree. He expected a lot, which forced me to give a lot.
2013, Math 242: If you want to learn, by all means take Zara's class. He'll make you learn the subject and all the math you managed to get by without.
2013, Math 242: Makes sure you understand the theory. Uses challenging questions and exams. Learned a lot and enjoyed it.
2012, Math 260: His lectures are good but he isn't kidding when he says that he expects students to put in 3 hrs of work for every hour of class.
2011, Math 140: Don't take Zara's class if you don't want a challenge. [...] Basically created a work ethic in me which I never had.
2010, Math 240: Not easy, but if you love math and really want to learn something, do not miss his classes!!!
2008, Math 140: His class is difficult and he expects a lot but he is great. He wants his students to succeed and will do all he can to help. If you want to truly learn calculus, take it with this professor, but be prepared to work very hard. He is very dedicated, very smart, but also very hard, dont expect easy A.
2007, Math 240: Homework was online, as were the reading assignments. Attendance policy was strict, but you'd want to be there. I couldn't keep up on the homeworks (a lot of other work), and had to drop the class. I would however take it again with him in a second!