Yi Cheng

School: Indiana University South Bend
Department: Mathematics
Location: South Bend, IN
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
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Pros: He really knows his stuff
Office hours always open
But all you have yo do is attend class to get a passing grade
Cons: A lot of homework
Quizzes are hard/weekly
A lot of programming
Tons of material
He understood that his class was hard, he tried to tell jokes that's just was not funny and relate topics to everyday things.
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He constantly calls people on the board and picks on them. If you are an introvert, the experience can be nerve wracking. He will find you no matter where you sit. But if he recognizes you that is actually a good thing. Which means even if you do horrible in some quizzes, your participation can make a difference. I only had two good quizzes. I was called on the board in every class. My final was okay.
Grade received:B+
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Pros: a ton of curves, mainly because everyone has a horrible grade... 60% and higher is an A during my class standard. no midterms. one final.
Cons: the curve probably won't help most people since they have less then 30%...jk but that's what it feels like so far (8 week in his class) He doesn't teach well, doesn't care if you fall behind, makes fun of you for falling behind and not understand the basics that he never taught, expects you to be proficient in c++ arrays even though you probably only learned about it from 2-3 lectures in ece 114... only way to get a good grade is to suck up to him imo... (not writing this review formally because I'm busy trying to understand this code cheng gave us...still doesn't make any sense)
I think it would be wise to find another teacher, unless you are a transfer student with at least half a years' worth of programming class(s), a.k.a at least 1 semester or 2 quarters.
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Pros: Basically a free pass
Cons: Scares the crap out of every student, you have no idea what you're doing or what your grade is until grades are posted.
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He's not that great of a professor for 306. He's funny and tries to involve the students by asking any one at random direct questions and making them go up to the board but his teaching is poor. He's very random and unorganized and that makes it very hard to follow along with what he's talking about. 306 isn't an easy class, it's a pretty tough class that takes a lot of studying to learn on your own. The lectures with Cheng don't help at all, so I suggest you go to his lectures just to suck up to him because he will fail you if you don't go to his class and then study the material on your own by using YouTube, or some other opencourseware from other universities.
He gives quizzes every week on Friday that supposedly tests you on what you're supposed to have learned that week which mostly everyone fails. Then he has a final that is ridiculously long in terms of amount of computation. There's no midterm.
Honestly, while he's fun I would not recommend this professor. He doesn't take his job seriously and doesn't seem to care whether the students are really following along in his lectures.
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Pros: You're mind will be blown with the relativity of the material.
Cons: He is FAST! It takes 6 months for material to sink into your brain.
One of the best professors I ever had. He's essentially my mentor.
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Pros: You learn more than you bargain for. Makes your first step into ECE a good grasp of the field.
Cons: None
Things you learn from him in this class carries through to your 400s.
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This guy know his stuff but honestly I really didn't learn much in this class. He did all the work for us. BTW he can seem really scary at first but he is very friendly. Try to answer all his questions don't worry about being wrong. He admires that you try to participate. This class is veryyyyy easy, at least for me I didn't have try and I got an A-. Just go to class, listen, write notes, and participate. I don't know how other professors will teach this so I suggest you take Cheng over any other professor. Good Luck Grade Received: A-
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He is just like how the others reviewers described him. He likes to call on people during class. I had him in the 205 computer lab and he is very strict on computer usage. He requires us to turn off the monitors when he is lecturing. For 304, if he goes over something you need to make sure you know it for the "weekly" quiz. That what he calls it but we only had about 5 total. No homework. I spent two extra hours that he gave us on the final and couldn't get any of the programs to work. I guess because i answered questions in class i was able to pass. Grade Received: B+
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Dr Cheng is a decent professor. He comes across as intimidating but is actually a friendly person. He loves to involve students in his lectures by asking them direct questions. This aspect of the class was somewhat nerve racking for me because he expects you to know the answer and will put you down in front of the class if you don't. He doesn't do this to be mean, he just likes to challenge his students. There was no homework but lots of reading. The reading alone is very time consuming because the material is hard to initially understand. Make sure, however, that you do all the readings or else you won't understand his lectures. Also, make sure you attend all the lectures and take all the quizes. He told us that if we attended all the classes and took every quiz, we were guaranteed a C in the class. The quizes themselves are very challenging if you don't take the time to fully understand the material. His final was not too difficult if you understand timing functions. My suggestion for doing well on his final is to study the programs he puts in the distribution folder. Pay close attention to the programs based on timing funcitons and A-to-D conversion. Grade Received: A
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Nice professor. No midterms, just quizzes every week. He wants you to read the book, which is quite hard to do since the chapters are quite long. If you show him that you are seriously trying, you will do fine. Also, if he picks on you a lot to answer his questions in class, thats a good sign. He sooner or later asks every person in the class to answer a question, and some to come to the board...so you will not get away...he will learn your name....
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Dr. cheng's class is relatively challenging because he makes everybody interact and answer questions. He makes you go up to the board and write down answers to questions also. He will make you come out of your shell for sure! Dr cheng teaches the material very thoroughly. Although he may make you feel like a low life idiot sometimes, he's overall a brilliant man with great teaching abilities. He's an MIT graduate with a broad span of knowledge. I highly advise anyone to stick close to professors like these. His class structure: weekly quizzes, one final, no midterms, no graded homework. Attend all classes and take good notes!
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I have taken Cheng for ECE415 and ECE342. I wish I could take more with him because he is such a dedicated ECE teacher. Make no mistake, this man has a PhD from MIT and has designed stuff for the military.
The things he teach, are sometimes new like MicroBlaze and such and are very challenging. This is good because you have to be up-to-date with technology and be competitive if you want to find a decent job.
Secondly, Cheng remembers many of his students, so he is always willing to help students on any particular topic.
Do not be offended if he picks on you and you don't know the answer. Many people have the same problem. Take him, and you won't be sorry. Grade Received: A-
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I had Dr. Cheng in several of my undergrad digital classes in 1982 and also in my master's program. He had just completed his PHD from MIT when I first took his class. He was very demanding.... BUT I learned a lot in his class. He's well respected in the industry and he knows this field very well. You will not do very well in his class if you don't study. He knows when you're just BS..ing, so don't do it because he'll embarass you. Grade Received: A
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I took him for ECE256, and it isn't an easy class. The book was too technical and the programming was difficult. But Dr. Cheng made the class easy to understand. He is challenging, like he gives one programming assignment every class, he gives projects, and one finals and midterm. Even though you don't understand what is going on, practice in his class helps to understand the subject better. When you start, many people will be like "I don't get this" and "How can I understand this." After some time, you will understand the materials and the procedures of writing program. Also, he curves his class, and he knows which student does his best. So, always go to class and read the book. Try to do the programs at home, and ask during office hours if you don't get something. Also, read the book. It's a pain, but the programming samples help. His midterms and finals are not that hard, because it is similar to the samples in the book, and it is like his class programs. I highly recommend him, even though he is hard. BUt don't worry too much about the grade.
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I took this guy Spring 2004. Much of the lecture was incomplete and his labs are challenging. Verilog is somewhat useful when you graduate but VHDL is industry standard. He's a nice guy but it might be difficult to reach him in his office. Check the cafe and he might be there with his buddy Chi! Most of his classes are programming related. But, most engineering positions require this...especially for DSP and microcontrollers. My advice is for all ECE's reading this to learn as much programming as possible...it will open more doors for employment. Good luck with this guy!
TT
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Best teacher in the ECE department. Highly recommended if you want to learn. He is a very good lecturer so you don't need to read the book. He never fails students who show up to class and try. Don't worry too much about test scores, because if he sees that you try hard, then you can get an A/B.
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Dr. Cheng really knows his stuff. He may seem indifferent to his students at times. However, he is a very busy man and one can not expect him to please everyone all the time. He understands C++ really well and can explain it to anyone who is persistent enough to seek his aid. He may seem irresponsible and hardly punctual but you will learn alot from him. Just be prepared to work a little harder in his class. If you want to learn something useful and like a good challenge then tke Dr. Cheng. I got an A-.
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Does not assign many labs, but the labs he does give are challenging. He is not an easy A. However, he does grade on a curve. Gives 2 midterms and a final which accounts for 80% of your grade. The other 20% comes from labs. Seems indifferent to students sometimes. If you can Ace his class then you really know your C++!
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Big mistake that I took him. Cheng seems like he cares about his students, that's true if you have a vagina. He doesn't know the material, but he has a method that let's him to control the class. He is not good lecturer because he doesn't kmow shit.IF YOU WANT TO TAKE ANY PROGRAMMING OR COMPUTER COURSE, IT IS WISE TO AVOID THIS GUY!!!!! TAKE MY WORD

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