| School: | Middle Tennessee State University |
| Department: | Chemistry |
| Location: | Murfreesboro, TN |
| Helpfulness | |
| Clarity | |
| Easiness | |
Powered by
Mailing Address:
Uloop Inc.
306 S. Washington Ave
Suite 400
Royal Oak, MI 48067
Telephone Support:
312.854.7605
Email Support:
support@uloop.com
Post your own housing listing on Uloop and have students reach out to you!
The beginning of class starts with a simple explanation of what you are expected to do. He often disappears for lengths of time during lab. If you ask him questions he will tell you that you should already know how to deduce the answers. He doesn't really care if you use your phone to find the answer to your questions (not a highly recommended source of information, but it will get you through class.)
He isn't passionate about the material or the students, but he exists (which is all you really need if you have a good lecture instructor and access to Google).
Cons: There is a list of things wrong with this professor. The question is, where do I start?
He sounds like a robot when he talks, Does not explain hardly anything in class, and rarely stops to ask questions. He does not care about the class, and he does not care about teaching just talking, and talking. On top of that he doesn't have a power point to go off of he writes on the board and it is really hard to read his writing, and when he talks, not only does he sound like a robot or speaks in a monotone voice, but he speaks at the board not at the class.
Everyone who got up and left, after hey would leave he would then yell at the rest of the class.
I go up to go to the bathroom, and I got about half way down the stairs and he asked where I was going (I did not have my bookbag or coat with me at the time) I told him I was going to the bathroom, to which he replied, hurry back. Now, I don't know about you, but I pay to be here, and if I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of class you bet I'm going to get up and go use the restroom.
Horrible instructor/professor do NOT take this guy, you are setting your self up for failure if you do.
*I did not fail this class, but at the same time i had to work my butt off to pass this class.
Cons: He does not care for his students, no matter how hard they show that they are working. As a group who typically receive As, we tried to discuss materials with him and he was brash, harsh, and just plain rude. He expected everyone to have an extremely high level of understanding of the chemistry field and talked down to those who weren't quite grasping it. The acoustics of the room our class was taught in were terrible and someone would ask him to speak louder EVERY class period without fail. He would always become angry and would only mumble more. He is very monotone and rarely answers any questions asked during class; only replies with a "it's in the notes"... which he hand-wrote in 1992 (the pages still contain the dates) in handwriting that no one can read and that he will not clarify for the students. He is far past having any desire to teach. Class average for the exams were in the 60s.
Cons: Everything
First, he gets several problems wrong during every class, which makes it extremely difficult to understand the material because he doesn't work the problems correctly. Also, the formulas for the tests are very hard to remember because he jams so many different problems into the tests. He posts all his notes, but they are too disorganized to understand. He also posts tutorials, however don't be fooled because the problems are not even close to what is on the test. Dr. Ilsley absolutely will not respond to emails and it is almost impossible to get in contact with him. Please take someone else if you have the chance, he makes this class way harder than it should be.
I've never felt like I've been ripped off with school before, but there's a first time for everything. This man should not be teaching. He's a nice guy and all, but chemistry is typically a difficult subject for most and clear instruction is a must. This man does not provide that. He takes a tough subject and makes it 3x harder.
My suggestion to students...stay FAR away. If this is the only class left, wait. Find another instructor. My suggestion to MTSU...find other (non-instructional) work for this guy or encourage him into retirement. He's not fit to teach. Everyone gets to that point...time to recognize it and stop punishing students for tenure's sake.
Exams: Tests are hard, but I had tests from a previous class and they helped ALOT. Often, the same questions are used year to year. get a hold of some if you can. Whenever there was a grading discrepancy, I always took it to him with an argument for my answer planned out. Sometimes, I would be wrong and he wouldnt give me any points. Other times, I pointed out my meaning and he gave me some credit. ALSO, do not be afraid to question the test. Often, the questions are partly wrong and he will announce to the class that there needs to be a change. (for example: on the final, the description of the problem said the reaction occurred in acid, but the reagents said base. he fixed it)
Homework: If it tells you anything, I used an entire pack of 150 sheets of paper along with a good hunk of another pack. I ran 2 pens dry. organic 1 + organic 2 = a stack of 200pages of paper, front and back.
Textbook: EXCELLENT TEXT BOOK. Janice Gorzynski Smith has written an awesome text. I basically taught myself the entirety of Organic with this book. you NEED it. there is a separate answer book that you will need too
Dr. Ilsley may seem somewhat stern but he is actually a really nice man, is willing to help and will explain things clearly to you in a one on one situation. Don't hesitate to ask him for help during his office hours. I wished I had done this earlier in the semester.
Exams: His tests questions are the standard mix of true/false, definition, and problems. He does put a decent number of questions on his tests so make sure you know the material and can do problems quickly.
Homework: Dr Ilsley will assign optional problems from both the book and from various text sources. The problems aren't graded but doing them will help you on your tests.
Textbook: You don't need the textbook per se but it provides good material for doing practice problems and finding examples. It does a decent job of explaining some concepts that may be confusing in class.
Exams: I basically had to teach myself. He is really bad at explaining things.
Homework: He gives practice problems out of the book... Make sure to do them. Sometimes he will pull the exact question from the practice problems.
Exams: He would put insanely hard problems on the test that we did not even talk about in class and were completely different from what we did in lab
Homework: none just study...and thats plenty
Textbook: he wants you to memorize the book like he has, but the tests cover a lot more than just what was in the book
Exams: Well the test were mostly fair questions they come staight from the notes (if you can read the notes). He graded them fairly sometimes, sometimes no so fairly. And if you want to question him on something make sure it is not within an hour of when he wants to leave and make sure you dont already have a borderline A or he will just walk away from you.
Homework: Well there are suggested problems its up to you if you want to do them. My best advice would be to rewrite your notes (he tends to make more than a few mistakes in class) then write a quiz based off the examples in the notes. If you can to those examples you will be fine.
Textbook: The textbook is great for verifying reagents that you couldn't read in class and to look at a clear version of mechanisms and other diagrams. There are also homework problems in there but they require a seperate book if you want to actually know the answer. However you must focus on the in class notes not the book because his mechanisms, explanations, etc. tend to be different.
I can go on and on, this guy is horrible as a teacher and I took his tuesday/thursday class (85min) He would go over the material in about 30 mins and keep doing redundant examples until everyone who wasnt drinking redbull fell asleep.
If you ask "what chapter are you working out of today?" (because you cant read a word of his handwriting and definitions) his reply would be "somewhere in chapter 5...look it up).
I have to take this class again because its required for my major and I heard that Borden/burden was good. STEER CLEAR OF THIS GUY, HE IS A GPA/LOTTERY SCHOLARS NIGHTMARE.
he will not help you on anything, and he comes to class everyday either sleepy and out of it
TRUST ME IF YOU HAVE A PHD IN CHEMISTRY YOU COULDNT PASS THIS CLASS UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO TEACH YOURSELF.
AND IT GETS WORST...
Homework: no homework but thats not a good thing in his course.
Textbook: you will need the text book to teach yourself.
Exams: Dr. Isley is indeed a scatter brain and it reflects on his exams. He would have mispelled words and incorrect answers to problems and would not correct them until it was TOO LATE!!! The exams were UPPER LEVEL and usually was not all of what we covered...the easiest exam will be the FINAL!!
Homework: NONE!!
Exams: The tests are difficult. You need to know exactly what to study, but he doesn't give a study guide so I hope you're a good guesser as to what is going to be on the test.
Homework: None, just work problems on your own(after you teach yourself how to work them, of course)
Textbook: There is nothing required in the textbook but you need to study it...A LOT.
Exams: Organic chem is not easy! Be prepared to study for the grade that you want. The tests are very, very thourough and cover almost everything in the notes.
Homework: none required but problems in the book assigned that can help with test and studying
Textbook: the text book is fare but you need all the help you can get in this class that way if you don't get it in the notes you can try the text
Exams: I didn't really have a problem with the tests.
Textbook: I used the textbook mainly because he was a boring, disrespectful teacher.
Exams: Tests are mildly difficult, and require that you at least pay attention and spend a short amount of time studying to earn a high grade.
Homework: No homework was assigned.
Textbook: The text, which I did not use regularly, seems to be well-structured. I relied more on previous chemistry experience, but did use the text so study for some tests and the final.
Exams: tests were graded quickly,but fairly.Sometimes he may miss something,but will be fair with you if you can argue your answer
Homework: Homework problems were assigned and recommended,but they were not required
Textbook: there will be times you will need to look at the textbook to clarify certain problems you have with notes and homework