Hong Xue

School: Cal Poly Pomona
Department: Engineering
Location:Pomona, CA
Overall Rating
rated by 20 students
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
Rating Comment
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: Class content is not overly difficult. Professor definitely knows his stuff. Homework is full credit as long as you tried. No quizzes. Midterm was "just right" in difficulty as long as you spent the time to review. Grading is fair if not generous.
Cons: Many of the homework problems require data from the CD that cannot be easily found online. I'd recommend forking up the extra cash or making a friend with the CD in class. Nothing worse than being stuck on a hw problem simply because you are missing a constant.
Xue has a certain speaking style that can make it hard to hear what he is saying - but nothing you can't adapt to.
Content of the class isn't necessarily the most exciting for most. Be prepared to drink lots of water / coffee to stay awake.
Xue assigns hw each week and will give you full credit as long as you showed that you did some work. Midterm was not overly difficult but not easy. The hardest part was the time constraint as some of the problems are long and involved.
The lab project is a bit tedious but not hard. It's perfectly possible to finish the lab without having to meet outside of the lab period. There is a presentation and individual report due at the end of the quarter as well as a progress report (worth a decent chunk of your grade) half way through. For whatever reason Xue asks each group member to turn in an individual report even though the entire project is done as a group.
This class is very passable as long as you don't slack off. Pay attention, do the hw, study and you'll do just fine.
Note: I haven't taken the final yet (it's in a few days) but I thought I'd get my critique down before I forget.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 This was my third time taking 301 so I'll share what I learned with you guys. First I had Miller who did way too many examples, didn't explain the material well and his tests were very hard. Then I had Shafahi who was the absolute worst professor in the department and shouldn't be teaching. This past summer I had Dr. Xue and he was way better than any of the other professors.
Here's the grading scale:
10% homework
30% 2 quizzes
20% midterm
40% final
Xue taught at a perfect pace, thoroughly explained topics, and did plenty of examples. The only weird part is that the two quizzes end up being worth more than the midterm which can either be really good or bad.
Overall I highly recommend this professor.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 This is my only time taking Xue. I'm bummed that I missed out taking him for so long. I really like this guy. Sit in the front because he talks softly. He definitely knows the material and he explains concepts well. I want to entry the HVAC industry solely because of this course. The course project is time consuming but not overly difficult. Pick group members who will do their share of the work. Check will Xue to ensure your cooling load is reasonable before proceeding further. The midterm was easy. The final was a bit more difficult but manageable. I personally recommend this course above ME 427.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Pros: No surprises
Very helpful
Lots of examples
Cons: Broken English is often hard to follow
Great professor, he's just a little hard to undersand.
Just do the homework and stay on-top of the material and you'll be fine.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 I had Professor Xue previously for ME 415 and I didn't pass because I didn't pay attention. After taking 312 with him I realized that he isn't that bad. His notes are ok, sometimes he doesn't give you enough examples to do the HW but overall if you pay attention to his lectures the HW IS do-able. His midterm, quizzes, and final were all VERY fair because he never gives you trick questions. He sticks to what he taught you in lecture/notes. However pay close attention to the small, tedious examples in his notes because he might give you the same thing on his quizzes/midterm. I failed both quizzes, got a B- on the midterm, and a 100% on the Final and pulled off a B+ in the class. So he curves at the end of the class. Overall Xue is a great professor and you should take him if possible Grade Received: B+
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 I took Dr. Xue for two courses this Fall, ME 415 and ME 312. He is an EXTREMELY fair and EXTREMELY helpful professor. This was his first quarter teaching heat transfer so there were some hiccups with the material, but overall I think he did a great job. His exams were mostly representative of the homework, the midterm was KILLER but he gave a lot of partial credit on it - as long as it showed that you knew what you were putting down was relevant to the problem.
}In ME 312, which he has taught several times before, it was obvious he knew how to teach the material better. But I could also tell he enjoyed teaching 415 better. I got a B in 312 because of a couple stupid math mistakes on the midterm, but as the other reviewer said, it shouldn't have happened because you can check to make sure the dimensionless problems are DIMENSIONLESS! CHECK IT TO MAKE SURE! If you don't you deserve to get hit bad.
}I went to his office hours several times throughout the quarter and he was always very friendly and helpful and was never short with me. He even helped me at times other than his office hours, letting his hot lunch sit. I would definitely recommend Dr. Xue and I would take him again given the opportunity. One of the best profs at Cal Poly, if you ask me. Grade Received: A
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Dr. Xue is a pretty solid professor. He gives a pretty good challenge without bludgeoning you with tangled up concepts on tests. Get ready to here the word "k" and the phrase "of course" about a million times. I thought it was funny but some of my buddies pointed imaginary guns at their heads when he'd say it. He's really helpful and if you do all the homework problems and go over the examples, you'll dominate his tests. Check your answers though. I screwed up a pi number with a stupid error and it cost me 25% on the first midterm and perhaps an A in the class. I would have fixed the problem if I checked to see that my number was dimensionless. BUT I DIDN'T AND I GOT A B INSTEAD! DON'T be stupid like me and DOMINATE this class with DOMINATION and DESTRUCTION! m/(>. Professor rated by: Student on December 23, 2009Helpful Rating?YESNO
This was my third time taking 301 so I'll share what I learned with you guys. First I had Miller who did way too many examples, didn't explain the material well and his tests were very hard. Then I had Shafahi who was the absolute worst professor in the department and shouldn't be teaching. This past summer I had Dr. Xue and he was way better than any of the other professors.
Here's the grading scale:
10% homework
30% 2 quizzes
20% midterm
40% final
Xue taught at a perfect pace, thoroughly explained topics, and did plenty of examples. The only weird part is that the two quizzes end up being worth more than the midterm which can either be really good or bad.
Overall I highly recommend this professor.
I didn't like Xue at the beginning of the quarter because I didn't think his lectures were all that clear. But after a while, I figured that he's actually not that bad. It takes some effort to understand his lectures, but if you pay good attention, you'll see that he knows what he's talking about and his presentation of the material is fairly decent. Homework was assigned daily, collected weekly. Its not too much work and he gives you full points for doing the homework, but if you actually make an effort to do his homework properly, its good preparation for his quizzes/exams. His tests are very reasonable, you're allowed a page of formulas, and they aren't hard at all if you make an effort to study, learn the concepts, and do the homework. He occasionally assigns a trick problem here or there probably to separate the As from the Bs. The main reason why I got the grade I did was because I made some careless and easily avoidable errors. I could have easily gotten a B if I was a little more careful. He's a nice and helpful guy if you go to his office hours or talk to him individually. Bottom line, Xue's an alright professor, it just takes some effort in his class. Study, do the homework, try to avoid careless mistakes, and don't slack off. Follow these rules and you'll do fine. Grade Received: C+
I took Dr. Xue for two courses this Fall, ME 415 and ME 312. He is an EXTREMELY fair and EXTREMELY helpful professor. This was his first quarter teaching heat transfer so there were some hiccups with the material, but overall I think he did a great job. His exams were mostly representative of the homework, the midterm was KILLER but he gave a lot of partial credit on it - as long as it showed that you knew what you were putting down was relevant to the problem.
}In ME 312, which he has taught several times before, it was obvious he knew how to teach the material better. But I could also tell he enjoyed teaching 415 better. I got a B in 312 because of a couple stupid math mistakes on the midterm, but as the other reviewer said, it shouldn't have happened because you can check to make sure the dimensionless problems are DIMENSIONLESS! CHECK IT TO MAKE SURE! If you don't you deserve to get hit bad.
}I went to his office hours several times throughout the quarter and he was always very friendly and helpful and was never short with me. He even helped me at times other than his office hours, letting his hot lunch sit. I would definitely recommend Dr. Xue and I would take him again given the opportunity. One of the best profs at Cal Poly, if you ask me. Grade Received: A
This is my only time taking Xue. I'm bummed that I missed out taking him for so long. I really like this guy. Sit in the front because he talks softly. He definitely knows the material and he explains concepts well. I want to entry the HVAC industry solely because of this course. The course project is time consuming but not overly difficult. Pick group members who will do their share of the work. Check will Xue to ensure your cooling load is reasonable before proceeding further. The midterm was easy. The final was a bit more difficult but manageable. I personally recommend this course above ME 427.
Pros: No surprises
Very helpful
Lots of examples
Cons: Broken English is often hard to follow
Great professor, he's just a little hard to undersand.
Just do the homework and stay on-top of the material and you'll be fine.
Pros: Class content is not overly difficult. Professor definitely knows his stuff. Homework is full credit as long as you tried. No quizzes. Midterm was "just right" in difficulty as long as you spent the time to review. Grading is fair if not generous.
Cons: Many of the homework problems require data from the CD that cannot be easily found online. I'd recommend forking up the extra cash or making a friend with the CD in class. Nothing worse than being stuck on a hw problem simply because you are missing a constant.
Xue has a certain speaking style that can make it hard to hear what he is saying - but nothing you can't adapt to.
Content of the class isn't necessarily the most exciting for most. Be prepared to drink lots of water / coffee to stay awake.
Xue assigns hw each week and will give you full credit as long as you showed that you did some work. Midterm was not overly difficult but not easy. The hardest part was the time constraint as some of the problems are long and involved.
The lab project is a bit tedious but not hard. It's perfectly possible to finish the lab without having to meet outside of the lab period. There is a presentation and individual report due at the end of the quarter as well as a progress report (worth a decent chunk of your grade) half way through. For whatever reason Xue asks each group member to turn in an individual report even though the entire project is done as a group.
This class is very passable as long as you don't slack off. Pay attention, do the hw, study and you'll do just fine.
Note: I haven't taken the final yet (it's in a few days) but I thought I'd get my critique down before I forget.
I had Professor Xue previously for ME 415 and I didn't pass because I didn't pay attention. After taking 312 with him I realized that he isn't that bad. His notes are ok, sometimes he doesn't give you enough examples to do the HW but overall if you pay attention to his lectures the HW IS do-able. His midterm, quizzes, and final were all VERY fair because he never gives you trick questions. He sticks to what he taught you in lecture/notes. However pay close attention to the small, tedious examples in his notes because he might give you the same thing on his quizzes/midterm. I failed both quizzes, got a B- on the midterm, and a 100% on the Final and pulled off a B+ in the class. So he curves at the end of the class. Overall Xue is a great professor and you should take him if possible Grade Received: B+
Xue provides real life examples in class that professor Shih could NEVER come up with. This makes Xues class particularly useful to ones development as an engineer. His exams are tough, but not much worse than Shihs'. One thing I gotta warn prospective takers of Xues courses; THIS GUY CONDUCTS CLASS IN CHINESE, or so I thought until I asked a chinese student and he told me that he didn't understand shit of what Xue spoke either. His speach is nearly unintelligible, however he provides notes for the course in the form of slides and they are very clear and have examples. Another positive point: He is neither rude nor arrogant, which is more than one can say for probably half the ME professors.
Xue is an allright guy. Not too hard, not too easy. He is very fair. The one thing I will warn people about is that his classes are EXTREMELY boring. I usually love the material taught in engineering classes, but Xue had a way of putting me right to sleep (as well as many other classmates). He is very quiet when he talks and he just copies down what he has on his notes. It was also probably the material that was boring, but Xue didn't help. Other than that he is allright. P.S. the project for ME418L is long and tedious and kind of a headache. I would only recommend taking this class if you are interested in working in the HVAC industry, otherwise you might enjoy ME427 better.
I got an A from Hong in Winter 2005 yet disprove of him very much. He is a very nice friendly guy who is not excessively hard, but he can not teach. He does not answer questions well. He does not explain the concepts well. I've been programming for over 6 years and found the examples/concepts taught by Hong to be very ineffective for other students. He has trouble expressing himself because of his poor english, but his programming abilities are also lacking. He writes terribly inefficent code. He's a nice guy, and you can easily get by in the class if you know computers well... but otherwise you will struggle because you will be teaching yourself.
Its the first class ive ever failed in my life! I am normally an A-B student. I attended every class, but it didnt matter - he has a hard time explaining things in english (his 2nd language). We would get elemetery explenations and I just didnt understand the course. His lectures consisted of WAY too many derivations of equations. I dont know maybe its just me but i learn better by a teacher showing me how to apply an equation rather than showing me how some guy came up with the constants and variables. He was a nice guy but *sigh* that just doesnt cut it when you are a college professor. Grade Received: F
he can't teach for shit. no need to go to class because he goes straight out of the book. homework is a bitch, quizzes are worse, midterms are even worse, and the final...impossible. avoid if you can. dont get me wrong, he knows his shit. he just lacks in conveying it to his students thereby hindering us from getting a good grade when we think we know what were doing according to what he teaches. oh, and partial credit...yeah, he doesnt give much. doing a little mistake at the beginning of a problem got me a 2/20. not cool. so avoid if possible unless you really wanna go for it.
The worst teacher I've ever had and also the first F I've ever recieved. If you ask him a question not only you don't get an answer but you will be more confused. Never go to his office hours to ask a question. Once I went to his office because I was working on a homework problem and I kept getting the wrong answer. When I asked him to explain what I was doing wrong he said algebaic mistakes and nothing is wrong with my solution. Then I went to prof. Gate and he explained everything for me b/c I was doing the problem totally wrong. Stay away from this guy. Grade Received: F
This is a tough class and Xue doesn't make it easier.. But his tests are MUCH easier than others. Do the sample probs a few times, attempt the homework, go to China town and buy the solutions manual. Xue reads from the book so attendance is not vital.. Nice guy, good on partial credit as long as your work is clear! Make it easy for him to understand your logic while you work a problem and you'll be fine when asking for partial credit. Draw lines through your brainstorming scribbles so he doesn't take them into account. His quizes usually come from Sample Problems!
Dr. Xue may be hard to understand but he's one of my favorite teachers. He's very nice and can be helpful if you want him to be. Don't ask dumb questions because he won't understand what you mean. And people will ask seriously dumb questions that don't even pertain to the lecture and he will become confused. I didn't put much work into the class and got away with a C+. His quizzes are usually straight forward and he's willing to work with your schedule for tests and lecture times. I recommend. Grade Received: C+
Xue is the greatest professor ever. He's got the strangest mannerisms I've ever seen. People have a tendency of asking him completely ridiculous questions to which he will respond by a prolonged stare and a "huh...?" He's seriously the nicest professor ever. His emphasis is strongly towards understanding the material. If you can show that you understand what's going on he's very generous with your scores. Just sit in the front because sometimes he speaks quietly. I'll gladly take him again. Grade Received: B
If you aren't that good with computers or this is your first programming class, do not take him!I have talked with other students and they all tell me that this class is easy. Of course they took the class with someone else. I do not recommend this instructor at all.He is not helpful and if you learn you learn on your own. His lecture is not helpful and consist of nothing but slides but he does no programming examples. If you can take someone else I recommend you do.
Xue at times has a strange way of talking (Yoda accent?). At times his voices level drops down so you can hardly hear him. He is not a teacher that I will run to take, but he is also not one to run away from. His lectures are not usually half bad. Quizzes can be a bit challenging, but he typically has an easier final.
}Oh yes, this will help your confusion if you take him for 312... When he says "Mah-ha" number, he means Mach number. Grade Received: C
My major gripes with this teacher are that he doesn't speak clearly as well as sometimes not speaking loud enough. And he has a tendency to start rambling on, focusing on a minor issue of what he's trying to teach instead of continuing forward. Because of that I had a very hard time staying focused and not falling asleep. I think I made it only ONE acutal class without falling asleep...and this wasn't a morning class. Grade Received: B-
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Xue is an allright guy. Not too hard, not too easy. He is very fair. The one thing I will warn people about is that his classes are EXTREMELY boring. I usually love the material taught in engineering classes, but Xue had a way of putting me right to sleep (as well as many other classmates). He is very quiet when he talks and he just copies down what he has on his notes. It was also probably the material that was boring, but Xue didn't help. Other than that he is allright. P.S. the project for ME418L is long and tedious and kind of a headache. I would only recommend taking this class if you are interested in working in the HVAC industry, otherwise you might enjoy ME427 better.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Xue is the greatest professor ever. He's got the strangest mannerisms I've ever seen. People have a tendency of asking him completely ridiculous questions to which he will respond by a prolonged stare and a "huh...?" He's seriously the nicest professor ever. His emphasis is strongly towards understanding the material. If you can show that you understand what's going on he's very generous with your scores. Just sit in the front because sometimes he speaks quietly. I'll gladly take him again. Grade Received: B
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Xue at times has a strange way of talking (Yoda accent?). At times his voices level drops down so you can hardly hear him. He is not a teacher that I will run to take, but he is also not one to run away from. His lectures are not usually half bad. Quizzes can be a bit challenging, but he typically has an easier final.
}Oh yes, this will help your confusion if you take him for 312... When he says "Mah-ha" number, he means Mach number. Grade Received: C
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 I didn't like Xue at the beginning of the quarter because I didn't think his lectures were all that clear. But after a while, I figured that he's actually not that bad. It takes some effort to understand his lectures, but if you pay good attention, you'll see that he knows what he's talking about and his presentation of the material is fairly decent. Homework was assigned daily, collected weekly. Its not too much work and he gives you full points for doing the homework, but if you actually make an effort to do his homework properly, its good preparation for his quizzes/exams. His tests are very reasonable, you're allowed a page of formulas, and they aren't hard at all if you make an effort to study, learn the concepts, and do the homework. He occasionally assigns a trick problem here or there probably to separate the As from the Bs. The main reason why I got the grade I did was because I made some careless and easily avoidable errors. I could have easily gotten a B if I was a little more careful. He's a nice and helpful guy if you go to his office hours or talk to him individually. Bottom line, Xue's an alright professor, it just takes some effort in his class. Study, do the homework, try to avoid careless mistakes, and don't slack off. Follow these rules and you'll do fine. Grade Received: C+
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Dr. Xue may be hard to understand but he's one of my favorite teachers. He's very nice and can be helpful if you want him to be. Don't ask dumb questions because he won't understand what you mean. And people will ask seriously dumb questions that don't even pertain to the lecture and he will become confused. I didn't put much work into the class and got away with a C+. His quizzes are usually straight forward and he's willing to work with your schedule for tests and lecture times. I recommend. Grade Received: C+
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 My major gripes with this teacher are that he doesn't speak clearly as well as sometimes not speaking loud enough. And he has a tendency to start rambling on, focusing on a minor issue of what he's trying to teach instead of continuing forward. Because of that I had a very hard time staying focused and not falling asleep. I think I made it only ONE acutal class without falling asleep...and this wasn't a morning class. Grade Received: B-
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 The worst teacher I've ever had and also the first F I've ever recieved. If you ask him a question not only you don't get an answer but you will be more confused. Never go to his office hours to ask a question. Once I went to his office because I was working on a homework problem and I kept getting the wrong answer. When I asked him to explain what I was doing wrong he said algebaic mistakes and nothing is wrong with my solution. Then I went to prof. Gate and he explained everything for me b/c I was doing the problem totally wrong. Stay away from this guy. Grade Received: F
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Its the first class ive ever failed in my life! I am normally an A-B student. I attended every class, but it didnt matter - he has a hard time explaining things in english (his 2nd language). We would get elemetery explenations and I just didnt understand the course. His lectures consisted of WAY too many derivations of equations. I dont know maybe its just me but i learn better by a teacher showing me how to apply an equation rather than showing me how some guy came up with the constants and variables. He was a nice guy but *sigh* that just doesnt cut it when you are a college professor. Grade Received: F
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 I got an A from Hong in Winter 2005 yet disprove of him very much. He is a very nice friendly guy who is not excessively hard, but he can not teach. He does not answer questions well. He does not explain the concepts well. I've been programming for over 6 years and found the examples/concepts taught by Hong to be very ineffective for other students. He has trouble expressing himself because of his poor english, but his programming abilities are also lacking. He writes terribly inefficent code. He's a nice guy, and you can easily get by in the class if you know computers well... but otherwise you will struggle because you will be teaching yourself.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 he can't teach for shit. no need to go to class because he goes straight out of the book. homework is a bitch, quizzes are worse, midterms are even worse, and the final...impossible. avoid if you can. dont get me wrong, he knows his shit. he just lacks in conveying it to his students thereby hindering us from getting a good grade when we think we know what were doing according to what he teaches. oh, and partial credit...yeah, he doesnt give much. doing a little mistake at the beginning of a problem got me a 2/20. not cool. so avoid if possible unless you really wanna go for it.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 Xue provides real life examples in class that professor Shih could NEVER come up with. This makes Xues class particularly useful to ones development as an engineer. His exams are tough, but not much worse than Shihs'. One thing I gotta warn prospective takers of Xues courses; THIS GUY CONDUCTS CLASS IN CHINESE, or so I thought until I asked a chinese student and he told me that he didn't understand shit of what Xue spoke either. His speach is nearly unintelligible, however he provides notes for the course in the form of slides and they are very clear and have examples. Another positive point: He is neither rude nor arrogant, which is more than one can say for probably half the ME professors.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 If you aren't that good with computers or this is your first programming class, do not take him!I have talked with other students and they all tell me that this class is easy. Of course they took the class with someone else. I do not recommend this instructor at all.He is not helpful and if you learn you learn on your own. His lecture is not helpful and consist of nothing but slides but he does no programming examples. If you can take someone else I recommend you do.
Overall
Helpfulness
Clarity
Easiness
 This is a tough class and Xue doesn't make it easier.. But his tests are MUCH easier than others. Do the sample probs a few times, attempt the homework, go to China town and buy the solutions manual. Xue reads from the book so attendance is not vital.. Nice guy, good on partial credit as long as your work is clear! Make it easy for him to understand your logic while you work a problem and you'll be fine when asking for partial credit. Draw lines through your brainstorming scribbles so he doesn't take them into account. His quizes usually come from Sample Problems!

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