ESE 4170
Introduction to Machine Learning and Pattern Classification
This course provides a broad introduction to machine learning and statistical pattern classification. Students will study theoretical foundations of learning and several important supervised and unsupervised machine learning methods and algorithms, including linear model of regression and classification, logistic regression, Bayesian learning methods, neural networks, nearest neighbor method, support vector machines methods, clustering methods and principal component analysis. Students will also learn to use Python programming language to implement learned models and methods to solve pattern classification problems.
Instructors
Reviews
Prof. Zhang clearly tries his best to teach but the overall course policies need to be restructured. Grading criteria are unclear, midterm exam worth 30% has very little opportunity for partial credit, and instructions for the final project are very vague and easy to lose points.
5/11/2026
Numerical calculation matters the most. I'm pretty sure he'll give full credits even without any step by step solution as long as you get the "correct final answer". He doesn't give credits for understanding i.e. set up equations the correct way but make calculation mistake? -30 points.
4/17/2026
Punitive grader and very unforgiving of any mistakes. Small mistakes can cost 20–30 points and late policies are heavily penalised. Because assignments with penalties can't be dropped, missing even one can significantly impact your final grade.
4/15/2026
The midterm carries a very heavy weight but contains very few questions, meaning that making a mistake on a single problem can destroy your final grade. The final project's grading is based completely on the professor's personal preferences rather than any clear or transparent criteria. Expect attendance right before/after breaks or final class.
1/21/2026
I wish the professor can read the comments about him and make some changes. I respect his passion in the subject, but the class has been a disaster to take. Consider carefully before enrolling.
5/10/2025
He is very knowledgable about the topics however, he extremely unorganized and does not stick with the syllabus. It is very difficult to keep up with the quizzes and the quizzes are weighted heavily.
5/8/2025
The previous exam and quiz were both okay, but the final project score for the group was very unclear and heavily compressed. Our group completed the task according to the description provided, but still deducted a lot of points in the end, and he didn't have a chance to argue with you. Don't come to his class!!!
12/22/2024
I recommend taking CSE 417 rather than Zhang's ESE 417. Zhang gives droll, useless lectures. He gives frequent in-class quizzes that are graded strictly, he does not tolerate notation that does not match his own. Additionally, he times attendance checks just before breaks to ensure students can't go home early. He is an unkind, unhelpful teacher.
11/7/2024
Terrible lecturer and an extremely harsh grader. Will take 10 points off your quiz for a single notation.
10/29/2024
Terrible lecturer who does a horrible job at explaining concepts. Extremely harsh grader who will take points off based on grading criteria that were never specified.
10/15/2024
I can tell he really tried at the beginning, and it turned out that the first few lectures were great. Then he ended up literally reading off the slides.
9/12/2024
So many unanswered Piazza posts. He put in some effort and tried to explain the concepts but just ended up reading from the slides. Open book/notes for quizzes and exams and you can get most answers from following the slides examples.
7/1/2024
Dr Zhang is a strict grader and all of his quizzes don't have any reference to what is taught in his class. His lectures can get boring because he reads off of the lecture slides.
5/18/2024
Seldom answer students questions on piazza Tough grader on quiz
5/15/2024
He simply doesn't care about his students. He rarely answers Piazza questions and assignment instructions are vague. TAs also aren't helpful. Programming sessions are useless.
5/14/2024
Seldom answer the students' questions on piazza. Give the marks according on his mood and distribution line. A liitle bit of stubborn on his teaching level. In summary, do not choose him except no choices.
5/12/2024
Prof. Zhang needs to work on two things. 1) Fixing his lecture slides so that they are readable and let alone understandable. You spend most of your time in class trying to decipher the information on slides rather than learning any ideas and connecting them. 2) Figuring out more relevant ways to test us on machine learning concepts.
4/23/2024
Prof. Zhang needs to work on two things. \n1) Fixing his lecture slides so that they are readable and let alone understandable. You spend most of your time in class trying to decipher the information on slides rather than learning any ideas and connecting them. \n2) Figuring out more relevant ways to test us on machine learning concepts.
4/23/2024
Lectures left much to be desired as he read off slides, and if the projector died, he wouldn't fix it. Little to no examples were provided during the lectures, making the quizzes and homework challenging. There were sparse guidelines for the final project but a lot of expectations for style, content, etc.
12/19/2023