Ed Spitznagel
4 courses · 47 reviews
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Spitznagel is your typical tenured professor. He's obviously very interested in the material, but mumbles & is difficult to understand in lecture(I ended up going to 2 lectures max the entire semester). Tests are each work 25% of your final grade, so as long as you self-study from the textbook & know the material, you should be able to get an A
6/28/2018
Very nice guy and good at working-statistics. However, he is a terrible professor. He is absent minded in class, tells random stories, and does not teach the material. If you want an A, you better go to all the help sessions and read the book every night to learn the material for yourself, especially since he tests over things not covered in class.
11/14/2017
Do not take any course with him. I do not think he knows the course materials well and he does not care for his job and respect his students at all.
10/13/2017
Hard to understand, mumbles words, unfair test questions, avoid at all costs.
2/28/2017
tests arent hard. all questions from textbook with the same number so if u solve all questions on textbook you will get an A i got an A on his 3200 class, but self-taught from the first chapter to the last. I personally think he is not a good lecturer, but his class is OK to get an good grade.
1/19/2017
This guy is extremely soft-spoken, doesn't have productive lectures, goes off on thousands of tangents, and has no structure for the class. I personally think the material isn't extremely hard, but his teaching style hasn't allowed me to learn anything (even though I took a stats class in high school that was very similar). AVOID HIM AT ALL COSTS.
12/11/2016
This class was my biggest regret. Stopped going after the first month. I just read 4 chapters on the night before the exam. So yea --- don't take his class unless you hate yourself.
11/3/2016
Don't take his classes. Please don't do that to yourself. He's a nice person, but that sadly does not translate to being able to teach coherently
11/3/2016
Hands down the worst class I've ever taken at WashU.. The lectures were completely useless as Spitznagel consistently went on tangents. Not to mention, he literally changed the material that would appear on the final 3 days before. Definitely avoid taking any courses taught by him.
12/13/2015
Wait a semester and take the class with another professor. Doesn't cover much material in lectures. He just mumbles to himself in lecture and is hard to understand. Also doesn't respond much to emails, so it is hard to get help outside of class. This semester, he also changed the material covered on the last exam 3 days before the actual exam...
12/8/2015
He barely explains anything in class except for maybe going through how to do a few of the homework problems. Other than that he makes no effort to have a lesson for the class and so none of the material from the chapter is explained. He spends most of the time on SAS (which he doesn't even teach well) and hardly any time on the actual material.
12/4/2015
Do not take a class with him. You cannot understand anything he says, and when you can actually understand his words, all he talks about all random tangents. There is not curve and the class is abysmal.
11/29/2015
Yes he does have quite an arsenal of amusing vignettes at his disposal, but no, he does not know how to teach statistics. The problem is that there is far to much material in the book, and he tries to cover all of it, and so only ends up explaining a small fraction in class.
12/15/2013
This man is the stereotypical embodiment of a tenured professor. He has no incentive to teach well, and it shows. Readings cover far too much material to address in class, not that he tries to anyway. Additionally, the homework assignments all use statistical software (SAS, STATA) but he make no attempt to teach the language of these programs.
11/18/2013
Huge fan of his. Some may complain that his lectures are boring - but you really have to listen. He has so many anecdotes and stories and jokes and will drop knowledge on you like no other. He's helpful in office hours and the exam questions come from hw. He loves stats and it shows. Sometimes, I can't help but wish that he was my second father...
12/21/2012
Taking this class destroyed all interest in Statistics for me for fear that I become as useless and boring as the professor. Do not recommend.
11/12/2012
He is a HORRIBLE teacher. I went to class maybe 3 times and I'm getting an A though, because it's completely self taught. Just read the textbook and do the problems. The test questions come straight from the homework.
11/7/2012
Extremely easy. The questions were all taken from previous exams and HW problems. He was quite fair. Not necessary to go to class. Just read the book. The textbook we used was fantastic. I went to three lectures and will end up with an A. He's kind of eccentric and not so politically correct, but I don't have a problem with him.
12/15/2011
I've heard 3200 is real awful, but 2200 is manageable as long as you DO THE HOMEWORK before the tests. You can try to follow him in lecture because he does occasionally say useful things, but for the most part, he is completely unclear. Just learn from the textbook, do the homework, and you should be fine on the tests.
4/15/2011
MISERABLE. I learned absolutely nothing. I've been in the class for half a semester and know less about stats than when I started it. The homework has nothing to do with the class and the tests have nothing to do with lectures or homework. Save yourself, and pass this one up.
3/7/2011
Extremely difficult tests but a very large curve at the end of class. No use in going to class except to get code for computer programs. Lectures are useless and very confusing. Don't expect to learn anything in them.
1/14/2010
Does NOT teach well. Especially in the 3200 class where you are learning programming languages simultaneously. He will go through examples of code without explaining the how or why of each statistical process. I suggest taking with another teacher. He is fair with grading at the end however. It's all on-your-own bookwork if you want to do well.
12/28/2009
The worst teacher in every way possible. seriously. you'd think that all the comments made about him couldn't all be completely true. wrong. tests are impossible, class is useless, average final grade is low 70s, and he refuses to curve. STAY AWAY.
11/17/2009
Read the book before you go to his class! I actually wanted to drop this class in the first week, but it got better and better once you got used to his way of teaching. Yes, he does skim over the material, but since he is a real statistician, those he touches upon are actually really useful.
2/7/2009
Spitznagel is a pretty funny guy, but sometimes he goes on tangents that don't relate to the material. He's not all that helpful in class because he seems to just skim over the material quickly. However, he is answers questions in office hours. Tests are on the hard side and he doesn't curve, which is very annoying when the final average is a 73%.
1/9/2008
Professor Spitznagel is actually a really funny guy, if you understand his sense of humor. He was extremely helpful in office hours and he really does care about his students. He sits on the bench in the math building and will answer any questions you have, even "What is the meaning of life"? I liked him as a teacher.
12/15/2007
Be warned: This is both a stats class and a computer programming class. The only reason to come to class is to get the programming code for the homeworks. But the exams have nothing to do with that. He doesn't really teach anything for the exam. He assigns too many recommended problems and then puts those on the exam. If you can't finish...
11/26/2007
probably the worst professor ever- not only was he horrible at teaching, but he was it was impossible to contact him outside of class...do not take any class with him
6/8/2005
HORRIBLE I will never again take a class of his. I don't care if he INVENTED stat, he would still suck at teaching it.
3/2/2005
He is a very nice guy and is much more helpful if you go in for help. His teaching is not very clear but you have the second chance on tests which helps you to understand the math and boosts your grade. Work with your friends!!!
1/11/2005
Spitznagel enjoys himself immensely in class, but this should not be mistaken for interest in his students. Be aware that the only funny part of lectures is that he actually thinks he's teaching. It's impossible to teach yourself with the outlines and TAs have trouble with the hw too, so good luck!
1/1/2005
Horrible teacher, horrible lectures, weird topics, don't take his class
12/30/2004
It's unfortunate he was teaching calculus because it is clear that stats, not calc, is his expertise. He truly cares about his students and wants them to do well in the class but he is unable to teach calculus well and to keep his students interested in the subject.
12/28/2004
I didn't learn anything from Spitznagel, and I went to lecture every day hoping that he would teach for once. He never did. He's a bad lecturer, but he genuinely believes he's teaching calc in an innovative way, and he cares about his students doing well.
12/27/2004
Grade wise, it's a easy class. You'll have to TRY to fail. However, the grade doesn't compensate for the ridiculousness of the class. Every Friday lecturer is incomprehensible, and even the TAs admit it. However, Spitznagel does appear to care very much about the class, but he doesn't teach.
12/27/2004
I stopped going to class after day 3. Some of the later homework was ridiculously difficult, but as long as you tracked down a TA to show you, the class was pretty simple. Grading system worked in favor of the students but was really impractical.
12/27/2004
very interested in the practical applications of math... this is hard for someone who is just taking the class because they have to, but he tries hard to get you the best grade possible... i like the way his tests are set up and the lab and recitation help your grade
12/26/2004
horrible class-doesn't teach but goes off on useless tangents.
12/6/2004
The guy is a terrible lecturer. Random tangents. Same thing as the review before, except we are a few weeks from the final and only about 30 percent of the kids show up for lectures. Thats how bad he is. BUT the class is easy, so if you take him don't show up and just do the work.
12/3/2004
Rambles a lot during lectures, almost no real information is conveyed. His exams are impossibly difficult, not representative of the homework, and no partial credit is given the first time around. Last exam, avg score was 47%!
9/30/2004