Professor profile for John Pearce
Student reviews of John Pearce
Review from a student who took EE 411
Pearce was a pretty good professor. His class was hard, but doable. You have to pay attention and take care of your business. The tests can be difficult, but he's fair. He just expects a lot out of you. He's energetic and he wants you to know this stuff. He will be disappointed if you do not. I seem to remember their being a fair amount of hw... I took this class several years ago.
Pearce was a pretty good professor. His class was hard, but doable. You have to pay attention and take care of your business. The tests can be difficult, but he's fair. He just expects a lot out of you. He's energetic and he wants you to know this stuff. He will be disappointed if you do not. I seem to remember their being a fair amount of hw... I took this class several years ago.
Review from a student who took ee 438
I took Pearce for 438 and 411 and I still don't see what people have a problem with. I left the 5/18/04 comment and then took 438 last Fall and I still got a whole lot out of the course. People are just pisssed because you actually have to learn your material, you can't get by half-assing and copying homework problems to your cheat sheets and do well on the tests. People get pissed because they don't get much partial credit by scribbling down random answers, if you know what are you trying to do and make a small mistake you get only a few points deducted; if you write down a page of total crap you won't get any because you don't deserve any! Pearce MAKES you learn the stuff because that's what his job is to do, not to allow you regurgidate material from homeworks! The workload is fair (6 homework problems a week) but you have.to.know.what.you.are.doing! You can't make an A if you don't! If you want to learn electronics, take 438 with Pearce. If you want to get to the end of the semester and still not know what a common-collector configuration is, take Bostick. He's also a personable guy to talk to, but he definitely doesn't have a tolerance for people that have absolutely no clue what they are doing, lazy people, or people that distrupt his class.
I took Pearce for 438 and 411 and I still don't see what people have a problem with. I left the 5/18/04 comment and then took 438 last Fall and I still got a whole lot out of the course. People are just pisssed because you actually have to learn your material, you can't get by half-assing and copying homework problems to your cheat sheets and do well on the tests. People get pissed because they don't get much partial credit by scribbling down random answers, if you know what are you trying to do and make a small mistake you get only a few points deducted; if you write down a page of total crap you won't get any because you don't deserve any! Pearce MAKES you learn the stuff because that's what his job is to do, not to allow you regurgidate material from homeworks! The workload is fair (6 homework problems a week) but you have.to.know.what.you.are.doing! You can't make an A if you don't! If you want to learn electronics, take 438 with Pearce. If you want to get to the end of the semester and still not know what a common-collector configuration is, take Bostick. He's also a personable guy to talk to, but he definitely doesn't have a tolerance for people that have absolutely no clue what they are doing, lazy people, or people that distrupt his class.
Review from a student who took EE411 & EE438
Oh boy, what to say about Pearce. I had him for 411 and 438. I, like the other person who reviewed him, was supposed to have Cardwell. I should have gotten out of Pearce's class whenever I realized that Cardwell wasn't going to be teaching. Pearce is hard and unfair. You have to teach yourself and he is not a nice person to talk to. I dont know who's worse, Wagner or Pearce. Maybe Pearce..And if you've had Wagner, you know he's pretty bad. Pearce assigns a lot of homework, I think it's one every week. They're hard and dont even bother going to office hours. He doesnt help at all. He's not a professor you can go to for help. The semester I had with him for EE438. He gave out 25% D's and F's. He doesn't think twice about giving you a bad grade. I recommend Grady (for anything, especially EE362L)! I haven't been fortunate to have Bostick or Cardwell, but I have heard many good things about them. If possible, avoid Pearce at all cost! The people who think Pearce is good are geniuses and like to teach things for themselves. Pearce also goes extremely fast in his notes.
Oh boy, what to say about Pearce. I had him for 411 and 438. I, like the other person who reviewed him, was supposed to have Cardwell. I should have gotten out of Pearce's class whenever I realized that Cardwell wasn't going to be teaching. Pearce is hard and unfair. You have to teach yourself and he is not a nice person to talk to. I dont know who's worse, Wagner or Pearce. Maybe Pearce..And if you've had Wagner, you know he's pretty bad. Pearce assigns a lot of homework, I think it's one every week. They're hard and dont even bother going to office hours. He doesnt help at all. He's not a professor you can go to for help. The semester I had with him for EE438. He gave out 25% D's and F's. He doesn't think twice about giving you a bad grade. I recommend Grady (for anything, especially EE362L)! I haven't been fortunate to have Bostick or Cardwell, but I have heard many good things about them. If possible, avoid Pearce at all cost! The people who think Pearce is good are geniuses and like to teach things for themselves. Pearce also goes extremely fast in his notes.
Review from a student who took EE 411
Loves what he does and definitely knows his EE. Grading style is questionable because he says small mistakes don't hurt you on tests but sometimes they REALLY do. Can go somewhat fast in the lectures but usually is understandable and ok to keep up with. Workload is not too bad. Homework is usually only 5-7 problems a week and they generally reflect the lectures. Overall a decent prof. Take him if you want to actually learn your circuit theory.
Loves what he does and definitely knows his EE. Grading style is questionable because he says small mistakes don't hurt you on tests but sometimes they REALLY do. Can go somewhat fast in the lectures but usually is understandable and ok to keep up with. Workload is not too bad. Homework is usually only 5-7 problems a week and they generally reflect the lectures. Overall a decent prof. Take him if you want to actually learn your circuit theory.
Review from a student who took EE 374K
waste of time
waste of time
Review from a student who took EE 411
I'm honestly surprised that the other reviewer had the same pearce that I had. I thought professor pearce was a really great professor. He does all his notes and examples on the board, which is wonderful because you can see the entire thought process as it unfolds. Some professors just do slides and some just do preplanned examples so you don't really see how or why things happen the way they do. I am not an analog guy, and yet 411 was interesting to me. I slept most days in 302, and not because it was a breeze (I made a B) but because it was boring. Pearce mentions and tries to tie all the stuff in to other courses - 438, 338k, and 325, sometimes overly so, and most students didn't seem to like it but I thought it was nifty how such more complex things have their roots in stuff like 411. Pearce's office hours are moderately helpful. I say so becasue when you go, he won't help you with any problem that remotely resembles the homework problems you can't figure out. So they're pretty worthless in that regard. He'll help you with 'general' questions but with everything, sometimes the generality is so far from what you don't understand that it isn't any help at all. I'd say pearce had the most interesting lectures of anyone I have ever had in ECE. He teaches with enthusiasm, and that really carries over to me - he doesn't have a monotone voice, holding up engineering paper and copying examples slowly onto the dry erase boards that seems so common these days. I think he really enjoys his undergad classes even though most professors take it as a burden. I am taking pearce for 438, even over Bostik and Cardell based upon my experiences with tthis, so I'm not bullshitting you.
I'm honestly surprised that the other reviewer had the same pearce that I had. I thought professor pearce was a really great professor. He does all his notes and examples on the board, which is wonderful because you can see the entire thought process as it unfolds. Some professors just do slides and some just do preplanned examples so you don't really see how or why things happen the way they do. I am not an analog guy, and yet 411 was interesting to me. I slept most days in 302, and not because it was a breeze (I made a B) but because it was boring. Pearce mentions and tries to tie all the stuff in to other courses - 438, 338k, and 325, sometimes overly so, and most students didn't seem to like it but I thought it was nifty how such more complex things have their roots in stuff like 411. Pearce's office hours are moderately helpful. I say so becasue when you go, he won't help you with any problem that remotely resembles the homework problems you can't figure out. So they're pretty worthless in that regard. He'll help you with 'general' questions but with everything, sometimes the generality is so far from what you don't understand that it isn't any help at all. I'd say pearce had the most interesting lectures of anyone I have ever had in ECE. He teaches with enthusiasm, and that really carries over to me - he doesn't have a monotone voice, holding up engineering paper and copying examples slowly onto the dry erase boards that seems so common these days. I think he really enjoys his undergad classes even though most professors take it as a burden. I am taking pearce for 438, even over Bostik and Cardell based upon my experiences with tthis, so I'm not bullshitting you.
Review from a student who took EE 374K
Pearce's lecture was very well organized and helpful. If you go to every lecture (some discussions are quite entertaining), take good notes (not hard since he writes down everything on the board), do the homeworks, and understand every objectives he gives out on the objective sheet before every exam you'll probably do just fine. Yes Pearce is not very helpful in his office hours if you ask him things related to the HW (go to the TA for HW questions) and can be abrasive in his reponses but I don't think he is racist. I'm asian, and a friend of mine is white and both of us got similiar treatments during office hours. You can tell he likes some students over others (nothing wrong with that really) but I don't think he lets that get in the way of fair grading. I get the impression that he doesn't really like me and yes I'm asian, but I got an A.
Pearce's lecture was very well organized and helpful. If you go to every lecture (some discussions are quite entertaining), take good notes (not hard since he writes down everything on the board), do the homeworks, and understand every objectives he gives out on the objective sheet before every exam you'll probably do just fine. Yes Pearce is not very helpful in his office hours if you ask him things related to the HW (go to the TA for HW questions) and can be abrasive in his reponses but I don't think he is racist. I'm asian, and a friend of mine is white and both of us got similiar treatments during office hours. You can tell he likes some students over others (nothing wrong with that really) but I don't think he lets that get in the way of fair grading. I get the impression that he doesn't really like me and yes I'm asian, but I got an A.
Review from a student who took EE 438
I took EE438 with Pearce in the Fall of 04. He gave out 25% D's and F's. He doesn't care about his grade distribution. He says he will average the class to a C, but lied. He's a prick. Here's the deal, if you're white, you're good to go. If you're oriental, indian, hispanic, or any race other than white, a B is probably the highest grade you'll be looking at. I am serious. He is racist and sexist. I'm an A-B student, and it felt absolutely terrible to receive the first D of my entire life in Pearce's class. If a class is taught by any other professor, take THE OTHER PROFESSOR. If Pearce is the only one teaching the class, good luck.
I took EE438 with Pearce in the Fall of 04. He gave out 25% D's and F's. He doesn't care about his grade distribution. He says he will average the class to a C, but lied. He's a prick. Here's the deal, if you're white, you're good to go. If you're oriental, indian, hispanic, or any race other than white, a B is probably the highest grade you'll be looking at. I am serious. He is racist and sexist. I'm an A-B student, and it felt absolutely terrible to receive the first D of my entire life in Pearce's class. If a class is taught by any other professor, take THE OTHER PROFESSOR. If Pearce is the only one teaching the class, good luck.
Review from a student who took EE 383L
I am a graduate student who took Electromagnetic Field Theory with Pearce. He is a fairly good teacher, and I found him to be very helpful in his office hours. He is definitely not racist or sexist. His exams are OK too. He had pretty frequent homeworks, but as he left out the worst two grades on the homework, I felt his grading was pretty fair too. He also solved doubts in class, and took students to his office, if he felt the questions were taking up too much class time. Overall, I felt he was fairly good.
I am a graduate student who took Electromagnetic Field Theory with Pearce. He is a fairly good teacher, and I found him to be very helpful in his office hours. He is definitely not racist or sexist. His exams are OK too. He had pretty frequent homeworks, but as he left out the worst two grades on the homework, I felt his grading was pretty fair too. He also solved doubts in class, and took students to his office, if he felt the questions were taking up too much class time. Overall, I felt he was fairly good.
Review from a student who took EE 411
When registering, be assured that Dr. Pearce is a FAIR instructor. Yes, his class is difficult, and yes, he expects you to attend class(10% of grade) and do your homework(20%). If you cannot do this, don't take his class; however, if are attending to college to learn from knowledgeable people, and not to teach yourself, Dr. Pearce is an enthusiastic professor who provides you with a firm understanding of intermediate circuit design.
When registering, be assured that Dr. Pearce is a FAIR instructor. Yes, his class is difficult, and yes, he expects you to attend class(10% of grade) and do your homework(20%). If you cannot do this, don't take his class; however, if are attending to college to learn from knowledgeable people, and not to teach yourself, Dr. Pearce is an enthusiastic professor who provides you with a firm understanding of intermediate circuit design.
Review from a student who took EE 438
Goes way too fast. Doesn't explain much at all. Hard exams. Don't take him.
Goes way too fast. Doesn't explain much at all. Hard exams. Don't take him.
Review from a student who took EE 411
TOO LONG TO BE TRUE ~ The 05/18/04 comment is too long to be true. The comments on GREAT Professors, such as Hallock, Ling and Holmes, are significantly shorter compared to the 05/18/04 comment on Pearce, who is comparably unpopular. This leads to the conclusion that whoever wrote that comment may be a family member or relative of his, or Pearce himself. Anyway, he does suck; try asking other students who had him.
TOO LONG TO BE TRUE ~ The 05/18/04 comment is too long to be true. The comments on GREAT Professors, such as Hallock, Ling and Holmes, are significantly shorter compared to the 05/18/04 comment on Pearce, who is comparably unpopular. This leads to the conclusion that whoever wrote that comment may be a family member or relative of his, or Pearce himself. Anyway, he does suck; try asking other students who had him.
Review from a student who took 438
Yes, he sucks. Yes, hes hard. and NO, don't take him.
Yes, he sucks. Yes, hes hard. and NO, don't take him.
Review from a student who took EE 411
you miss one class, your screwed, you'll get behind on notes and it'll just build up. he goes so fast, and he grades test hard. durring the class he says you'll lose only 2 points for a wrong answer, i always lose a 3rd of the problem. which is 10 points. oh yea, very hard test....do not take this guy
you miss one class, your screwed, you'll get behind on notes and it'll just build up. he goes so fast, and he grades test hard. durring the class he says you'll lose only 2 points for a wrong answer, i always lose a 3rd of the problem. which is 10 points. oh yea, very hard test....do not take this guy
Review from a student who took EE 411
Pearce is a Racist prick. He gives grades souly based on how much he likes you. And this guy gave A's to mostly the white students and didn't give B's and C's to the Asian Students. He seems like a nice guy in the beginning but he really isn't.
Pearce is a Racist prick. He gives grades souly based on how much he likes you. And this guy gave A's to mostly the white students and didn't give B's and C's to the Asian Students. He seems like a nice guy in the beginning but he really isn't.
Review from a student who took ee411
First of all, I don't think Pearce is a racist. I'm an asian, and I made an A in the class. But his class is really demanding, I made an A only through the final exam and I did every hw and lab assignments. He lectures from the blackboard, a welcoming departure from powerpoints. He is useless in his office hours, I had better luck getting help from the TA. I didn't like the conversions I had with him, he seems extremely condesending (he told my friend he's stupid). This class demands the most effort from me in all my classes.
First of all, I don't think Pearce is a racist. I'm an asian, and I made an A in the class. But his class is really demanding, I made an A only through the final exam and I did every hw and lab assignments. He lectures from the blackboard, a welcoming departure from powerpoints. He is useless in his office hours, I had better luck getting help from the TA. I didn't like the conversions I had with him, he seems extremely condesending (he told my friend he's stupid). This class demands the most effort from me in all my classes.
Review from a student who took ee 411
Hes a pretty funning outgoing guy. He is fair, but his tests were hard. HW, and LAB grades make up a large portion of your grade. He didnt seem racist to me, pretty fair to everyone. It is easy taking notes in the class because he writes everything up on the board.
Hes a pretty funning outgoing guy. He is fair, but his tests were hard. HW, and LAB grades make up a large portion of your grade. He didnt seem racist to me, pretty fair to everyone. It is easy taking notes in the class because he writes everything up on the board.
Review from a student who took EE438
NO
NO
Review from a student who took EE 438
Pearce is a decent professor. I've taken him for two classes (unfortunately). I was registered for Cardwell for 438, then I got screwed, because he cancelled and I got stuck with this guy again. Anyway, his lectures are genuine (he really likes teaching apparently) and energetic. Unfortunately, they are extrememly difficult to grasp unless you read the book extensively before hand or you're just a flat out genius. His tests are unreasonably hard. He doesn't think they are, but they are in my opinion. I studied my ass off and still did poorly. His homeworks were fair though, and he definitely knows a lot about electronics. I recommend taking him if you are super motivated and pay close attention in lecture, because you are a Pearce-kind-of-student. Otherwise, I recommend (in this order) 1. Cardwell (for any class for that matter!) 2. Bostick 3. Powers (for any class for that matter!) Pearce won't think twice about giving you a D or F if he sees fit. Sometimes its unfair what he expects his students to know. Not everyone can be an op amp/BJT/MOSFET/everything expert like him.
Pearce is a decent professor. I've taken him for two classes (unfortunately). I was registered for Cardwell for 438, then I got screwed, because he cancelled and I got stuck with this guy again. Anyway, his lectures are genuine (he really likes teaching apparently) and energetic. Unfortunately, they are extrememly difficult to grasp unless you read the book extensively before hand or you're just a flat out genius. His tests are unreasonably hard. He doesn't think they are, but they are in my opinion. I studied my ass off and still did poorly. His homeworks were fair though, and he definitely knows a lot about electronics. I recommend taking him if you are super motivated and pay close attention in lecture, because you are a Pearce-kind-of-student. Otherwise, I recommend (in this order) 1. Cardwell (for any class for that matter!) 2. Bostick 3. Powers (for any class for that matter!) Pearce won't think twice about giving you a D or F if he sees fit. Sometimes its unfair what he expects his students to know. Not everyone can be an op amp/BJT/MOSFET/everything expert like him.