Kang Xia

School: Mississippi State University
Department: Chemistry
Location:Mississippi State, MS
Overall Rating
rated by 13 students
Helpfulness
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Easiness
Rating Comment
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 Not great, Not awful either. If you have had chemistry in high school or just have a basic knowledge of the subject, the class is extremely easy. If you know absolutely nothing about chemistry, you may have problems by taking Xia. She does not explain the material very well. She only says what is on her powerpoint slides and she flies through the math. There are only 3 tests and you get to drop one if you don't have more than 2 absences. The second test is the worst--all math, only 50 minutes to work it. Basically, Xia is an okay teacher. Don't change your schedule to avoid her.
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 You must pay attention in class because she does not post the powerpoint on my courses. Though a book is required, you will only use it maybe twice. The important thing in this class is do the owl homework. She is a nice woman and will take the time to explain something to you if you ask. She gives a drop grade on one the exams if you miss less than 3 days.
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 You could barely understand Dr. Xia. She has a very strong accent. And she moves very fast. She gives you powerpoints to follow along with, but she doesn't explain the notes well at all. The book isn't necessary unless you want extra practice problems. The tests are hard! if you get behind in this class it's pretty much impossible to catch up. And she takes attendance. She doesn't punish you for missing class, but she rewards you for good attendance.
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 I would say out of my first semester at college that this was the worst teacher I had. All she does is read off of all the powerpoints prepared by the textbook company. Either you print out a million and twenty pages of notes per week or you end up reading the boring text book to prepared for the test.
The tests are. Hard. Her tests were the hardest ones I took during the year, and there were few of them, making your grade revolve around them and the final. There was a lot of online homework and it was aggravating and nit picky.
She is a very funny person, and I enjoyed the first few days of class even though there was a lot more than 200 hundred people in the room. But given the curriculum, all she can do is read straight off of a powerpoint.
Take my advice: I would never have this class with her again. Nothing is on a personal level with the teacher, which makes it even harder. She is a great person but you have to work very very hard to make an a, and I know few people that did it. I studied late nights before exams and tried very hard.
And if you've never had a chemistry class worth anything prior to this (like me), you get behind and almost can't catch up.
Stay away from any chemistry I class she has.
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 Dr. Xia knows her chemistry and her tests come pretty much from the OWL homework and her powerpoints. She isn't the best at explaining the material in class if you have a question, but if you go see her afterwards she is always willing to help. You don't really need the book, just study her powerpoints, which you print off mycourses and fill in during class. OWLs are important and so is class attendance, she does a clicker question every day and its pretty much free points, plus the clicker question is how she takes role. Overall, not that hard of a class as long as you do the OWLs and show up. Plus if you miss 3 days or less you drop a test grade. I failed her second test (the hard one) and still made an A in the class thanks to the drop.
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 Dr. Xia is a good teacher, but you have to do the work and pay attention. OWL homework is very important and clicker quizzes are a big part of your grade too. She is funny, and I enjoyed being in class.
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 Dr. Xia is an awful teacher. She reads directly off her powerpoints and knows no other way to explain the material. She blows over complex math problems, but spends way too much time on simple problems like balancing equations. If you spend a lot of time on your OWL homework, you should be fine, but don't expect much help from her lectures.
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 Dr. X is a good teacher. She uses powerpoint slides and has practice material online to prepare you. Good stuff.
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 Though Dr. Xia does not work many problems out in class, she is great at presenting the material in an interesting way. She works entirely through PowerPoint, but often shows movies of fun experiments to keep the class entertained. The tests are pretty easy, and the OWL homework ensures you know how to work out the problems.
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 She used interesting props to explain the theories. She was fun to listen to. Yes, she read straight from the powerpoint but you have to remember, she was more fun to listen to than the average teacher. She let us watch videos of explosions then explained the chemical process behind it. On the first day of class she gave her brief background which made the entire class crack up. I believe the class size is what keeps her teaching straight off the powerpoint. She can't make it as personal because there isn't enough time to get to know all of us. I think she would be willing to. I have emailed her several times and she answered back with helpful information several times.
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 She literally read straight from the powerpoints. She provided a review and a practice test for tests, but the material provided did not nearly prepare you for the tests.
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 Stay away, she doesn't explain anything. She teaches strictly off the powerpoint.
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 Powerpoint Powerpoint Powerpoint. That is really all that there is to this class. Dr. Xia will read what is on the powerpoint, but not really explain in detail anything other than what is listed. Also, we had to use clickers to monitor our attendance (and they didn't work half of the time). The only benefit of going to class is that if you don't miss more than three times, your lowest test grade is dropped. Other than that, I found that there was no real point to go to class. She posts the review online, and honestly, almost all the test material comes from the homework. If you can do the homework and understand it, you can pass the test.
I gave her three stars because she isn't a bad professor; then again, she isn't a great one either. She's okay. She gives you the material, but you are expected to teach it to yourself.
She listens to student's concerns and responds to e-mails very well. Also, you can understand her accent just fine...but still you have to teach yourself.

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