Professor profile for Dean Neikirk
Student reviews of Dean Neikirk
Review from a student who took EE 325
I pretty much agree with almost everything the post above mentioned. However, there are some things that I didn't like about my experience. I think Neikirk is a good lecturer (as in, he explains things well) but not a good teacher (retention of the material wasn't as good as one might expect from a prof of his caliber). Lots of people slept in his class. Even though the slides he uses are pretty good, I think it's a bad way of teaching something especially math-oriented like electromagnetics (e.g. many steps are outright skipped in lecture). My office hours experiences with him are a bit mixed. He's incredibly intelligent, but he can be rather stubborn and condescending sometimes. I met several other people in the class who saw him then and they agreed with me. Solutions take awhile to get posted, if at all. He didn't post a solution to the second midterm, and reluctantly posted one for the first. Overall, pretty good, but needs to change some things.
I pretty much agree with almost everything the post above mentioned. However, there are some things that I didn't like about my experience. I think Neikirk is a good lecturer (as in, he explains things well) but not a good teacher (retention of the material wasn't as good as one might expect from a prof of his caliber). Lots of people slept in his class. Even though the slides he uses are pretty good, I think it's a bad way of teaching something especially math-oriented like electromagnetics (e.g. many steps are outright skipped in lecture). My office hours experiences with him are a bit mixed. He's incredibly intelligent, but he can be rather stubborn and condescending sometimes. I met several other people in the class who saw him then and they agreed with me. Solutions take awhile to get posted, if at all. He didn't post a solution to the second midterm, and reluctantly posted one for the first. Overall, pretty good, but needs to change some things.
Review from a student who took EE325
I took Neikirk for electromag. It was the first time he taught the course, and he's a physics guy so he teaches a bit differently than most other engineering profs that have engineering degrees. Overall I thought he did a good job teaching the course. He spent a whole lot of time on slides though - the slides were useful for referencing homework questions but didn't help me too much in lecture. The problem is, I like to see a thought process somewhere in the work, and with slides you don't have that. But I commend his effort on teaching the course - I'd say he probably spent 30 hours a week ALONE on coming up with those slides, not counting homeworks, lecutre, exams, and his other class that he regularily teaches, the EE440. His tests were good, I just sucked at the material. I'm probably going to end up with a C or a D depending on how he grades the final, but I can't say I am undeserving of that, I never really liked the electromag part of EE, even though I have a pretty good GPA in everything else. You win some, you lose some I guess. His exams are much easier than the homeworks, so don't overthink the exams like I did. But his personality is pretty great. He is moderately helpful in office hours, he does the answer-a-question-with-a-question approach that some professors have that initally seems frustrating but I think you learn it better that way. He's definitely a guy you could sit down and chat with and feel comfortable talking to. He's probably one of the smartest profs I've had, I'd say, just from talking to him outside of class and out at Pickle (which, by the way, you'll have to visit if you want office hours that are not in the morning).
I took Neikirk for electromag. It was the first time he taught the course, and he's a physics guy so he teaches a bit differently than most other engineering profs that have engineering degrees. Overall I thought he did a good job teaching the course. He spent a whole lot of time on slides though - the slides were useful for referencing homework questions but didn't help me too much in lecture. The problem is, I like to see a thought process somewhere in the work, and with slides you don't have that. But I commend his effort on teaching the course - I'd say he probably spent 30 hours a week ALONE on coming up with those slides, not counting homeworks, lecutre, exams, and his other class that he regularily teaches, the EE440. His tests were good, I just sucked at the material. I'm probably going to end up with a C or a D depending on how he grades the final, but I can't say I am undeserving of that, I never really liked the electromag part of EE, even though I have a pretty good GPA in everything else. You win some, you lose some I guess. His exams are much easier than the homeworks, so don't overthink the exams like I did. But his personality is pretty great. He is moderately helpful in office hours, he does the answer-a-question-with-a-question approach that some professors have that initally seems frustrating but I think you learn it better that way. He's definitely a guy you could sit down and chat with and feel comfortable talking to. He's probably one of the smartest profs I've had, I'd say, just from talking to him outside of class and out at Pickle (which, by the way, you'll have to visit if you want office hours that are not in the morning).
Review from a student who took EE 396K.
The course workload is a bit on the heavy side and it will sometimes frustrate you while you try to meet deadlines. Though you are never penalised for submitting them a day or two late. He does all his grading "himself" (no graders) because he wants to know what his students have understood, which I think is a very good approach and shows dedication on his part towards what he is doing. The grading is very fair and sensible. Homework tips:- start early and spend time with him if you have doubts. He wont answer the question outright, but will give enough hints in the discussion so that you can figure it out from there. Overall he is the best proffesor whose course I have taken.
The course workload is a bit on the heavy side and it will sometimes frustrate you while you try to meet deadlines. Though you are never penalised for submitting them a day or two late. He does all his grading "himself" (no graders) because he wants to know what his students have understood, which I think is a very good approach and shows dedication on his part towards what he is doing. The grading is very fair and sensible. Homework tips:- start early and spend time with him if you have doubts. He wont answer the question outright, but will give enough hints in the discussion so that you can figure it out from there. Overall he is the best proffesor whose course I have taken.
Review from a student who took nzJDhdgTPrZTHykK
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