Johnny Pang
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
AD
3.8
Overall Rating
Based on 155 Users
Easiness 3.1 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 2.9 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.0 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Would Take Again
  • Has Group Projects
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
79.5%
66.3%
53.0%
39.8%
26.5%
13.3%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

48.2%
40.2%
32.1%
24.1%
16.1%
8.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

51.8%
43.1%
34.5%
25.9%
17.3%
8.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

47.2%
39.4%
31.5%
23.6%
15.7%
7.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

34.9%
29.1%
23.3%
17.5%
11.6%
5.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

43.1%
35.9%
28.8%
21.6%
14.4%
7.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.4%
29.5%
23.6%
17.7%
11.8%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

33.7%
28.1%
22.5%
16.8%
11.2%
5.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.5%
29.6%
23.7%
17.7%
11.8%
5.9%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

30.1%
25.1%
20.1%
15.0%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

39.7%
33.1%
26.5%
19.9%
13.2%
6.6%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

32.6%
27.1%
21.7%
16.3%
10.9%
5.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

34.2%
28.5%
22.8%
17.1%
11.4%
5.7%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

28.8%
24.0%
19.2%
14.4%
9.6%
4.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.1%
29.2%
23.4%
17.5%
11.7%
5.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

35.8%
29.8%
23.9%
17.9%
11.9%
6.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

AD

Reviews (130)

11 of 13
11 of 13
Add your review...
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 14, 2010

WORST PROFESSOR EVER. he doesn't know how to teach and his only goal is to fail students.
been to his office hours a couple times and he is just a cold, mean, and uncaring person.
SHOULD NOT BE TEACHING

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 10, 2010

The worst professor I have ever had. He does not explain things. He presents them to you and essentially asks you to teach yourself. You DO need people's old labs simply for this reason. You must scrape together solutions to problems from what varied fragments people know and hope to do well in the class. He will put problems on his midterm/final review packets that have never been discussed in class, thereby nullifying the term "review". Professor Pang needs to re-structure this "course" and make it into a class intended for learning, not a fight for survival.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 9, 2010

Professor Pang is a fine professor. It's the course that's extremely difficult and time consuming. Not curving the class makes it that much more difficult to get the grade you want in the class, but the class is only 3 units. I got an A in the class, but for me lab was nerveracking. 3 hours really isn't enough to set up your station and to run your experiment (especially when half of your materials keep disappearing from your drawer). But lab doesn't end there. You will be up all night doing lab reports that must be hand written on carbon paper. Try to get a lab section near the end of the week, because you will most likely put off the work until the night before, and the last thing you want is an 8AM lecture for lab the next day (equals all-nighter).

Pang is a fair professor. The truth is that Chemistry Lab will be one of the hardest classes you take in college. Take it seriously. PS: learn how to convert molarity to normality the CORRECT way or you WILL get it wrong and you WON'T get points back on your regrade.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 8, 2010

I had heard a lot of bad things about Pang before I took this class, but I have no idea what everyone was going on about. Pang is an extremely thorough lecturer. Since this is an 8 am, not a lot of people want to come to class. To encourage students to show up, he prints out lecture guides for class for you to follow along and fill in the blanks. While it's true he doesn't curve tests, it's because it is very easy to get a good grade in every other aspect of the class. So suck it up and study.

People also told me that you can only do well in the lab portion of the class if you have someone else's notes, but that's not really true. You can do fine if you understand the goal of the labs and read the in class notes. Comparing answers with your lab partners is also a good idea. The final is pretty easy if you review everything and understand the concepts and how to do some basic calculations used in lab. It is multiple choice and on a computer. Some people didn't like it because there was a timer in the corner.

Overall, I enjoyed this class. Pang is an effective teacher.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 3, 2010

I was scared to take him because of all these bad stuff I heard about him but I actually think he was not bad. He does talk fast but it's not to the point you won't understand him. You should know a lot of the stuff anyway because a lot of the stuff he goes over is from 14A and 14B. As for the labs, just get a hold of those old lab reports from previous students because they'll save your butt and time. But don't rely on them too much because you'll need to actually know the material to do well on the midterm and final. His midterm was easy if you did his study guide. His final was reasonable as well. I actually enjoyed labs too!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 16, 2010

Pang is the bane of my existence. Really, really obviously doesn't care about student learning. He's been on probation TWICE for failing too many students! If you can avoid him, avoid him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 12, 2010

Effectiveness: Pang isn't a very good lecturer. He tends to repeat the same statement(s) over and over and over, and after awhile it gets a little irritating. He comes off as a mean, but regardless he is very fair in grading.
Difficulty: I would agree with most that his class is a little too much work for a 3-unit class, but there's not that much he can do to cut down the work load.
Concern/Availability: Pang doesn't show that much concern for his students, but in any case its better to seek help from your lab TA and get to know them, since they are the ones that grade your labs (the bulk of your grade).
Overall: Professor Pang isn't that great, but you could certainly do worse. The professor aside, I would take 14BL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after 14B, since the majority of the class covers acids/bases and kinetics (14B topics).

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 30, 2009

Simply put, Pang flat-out sucks. The man has a penchant for confusing his students and ultimately not giving a damn about their learning of the material. I've never been to a lecture where literally NO ONE is communicating except the professor himself. The ONLY voice I have ever heard in lecture is Pang's--and his freaky super-speed rambling. This clearly goes to show that everyone is so put off by him that people don't even bother asking questions. It's quite odd, actually--considering that this is a fast-pace chemistry class where the material can often be difficult to grasp.
And when it comes to his exams, the frustration only intensifies. Sometimes, the most obscure definitions are asked, and it surely doesn't help that the graders are extremely nit-picky about everything. Pang will give you a study guide and all, but trust me, you can study that thing all you want and it won't help too much. I don't even know why he passes out those things, much less calling them "review" sheets. The only positive is that the labs are somewhat fun and interesting. Lectures, however, will probably put you to sleep faster than a sleeping pill combined with CSPAN.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 29, 2009

Professor Pang is a very good lecturer. Many people think he speaks really fast, but it helps you to keep awake. Don't miss any lectures because they will help in both labs and exams. The CPR are stressful at first, but you just have to get a hang of it from the first one and you will do well on the second CPR. His grading scale is fair because it helps to normalize the lab report grades if you have a hard TA. If you go to his office hours, he is very nice and is always willing to explain anything. His exams are not difficult if you go to his lectures and do his review sheet thoroughly. He definitely tests how much you understand the materials and not how much you can memorize. He really isn't as bad as people think. He might be intimidating in class but if you just talk to him, he is a nice professor.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 27, 2009

I will try to give everyone a review based on my biased experience as well as the general consensus.

You have to understand, first of all, that independent of Pang as a teacher, this course is A LOT of work. You will have a pre-lab and post-lab due every single week. Perhaps for some that doesn't sound like much but each of these labs take significant time to complete EVEN if you copy. Every professor knows, including Pang himself, that copying is done on the labs. In other words, save yourself time. Your T.A.'s don't want to grade labs and they're only there because they get their tuition payed for.

So you may ask, why is Pang generally disliked and how do people earn bad grades in a class that is worth 3 units that should be relatively easy since it is a lab?

Here are a few reasons:
Number one, Pang has mixed reviews about his general lecturing ability. I personally believe he has a very bad lecturer. For one, he has an accent that can sometimes be incomprehensible. I don't think he is unable to communicate the message, but I believe that at times he can be a little unclear. Number two, he speaks very fast and changes topics very abruptly. I honestly believe he does this so that it is harder to take notes and thus it is harder to get a good grade in his class since it is 8 am and no one can write notes that fast. Every lecture, he gives a handout. Often times, these handouts do not correspond to his lecturing material even though he claims at the beginning of the year that the handouts are basically his lectures. Make sure you are VERY ready to take notes.

Form a good networking committee. Honestly, the material isn't difficult, but he does make his examinations difficult. You have a time constraint and he tests you on ANYTHING. He is not historically consistent with how he tests. He claims that his tests are mostly conceptual. This may be true to an extent, but certain years, if you see his past midterms, he will have a significant portion of quantitative questions. Furthermore, his "conceptual" questions encompass random definitions; therefore, it is imperative you to look at EVERY single word and concept.

Labs can be a pain or a potential easy A. You will make that decision for yourself. What does that mean? Well, you can look at other people's lab and check your work or you can try and figure our every question and think for about 4 - 5 hours (For something that won't matter too much on the final and midterm since his finals and midterms incorporate only procedural questions while the quantitative questions can easily be practiced through other sources such as textbooks or internet websites).

Know this much: I personally believe Pang gets satisfaction from knowing that his students are getting upset about him as a teacher. Pang is probably reading this too. The thing is, some professors know they are a hard time. But this is what keeps them motivated. They like to challenge their students, even when student's believe that it is unfair. Perhaps you have to realize before you take this class, that the more prompt you are about getting your stuff done, the more you will learn from this class if anything else.

As far his personal life, I can't judge him. But I will definitely agree that he made himself unapproachable. I once approached him about a question at the beginning of the year and he continually paced around ignoring me until he gave me a two sentence answer that didn't even definitely answer my question.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 14, 2010

WORST PROFESSOR EVER. he doesn't know how to teach and his only goal is to fail students.
been to his office hours a couple times and he is just a cold, mean, and uncaring person.
SHOULD NOT BE TEACHING

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 10, 2010

The worst professor I have ever had. He does not explain things. He presents them to you and essentially asks you to teach yourself. You DO need people's old labs simply for this reason. You must scrape together solutions to problems from what varied fragments people know and hope to do well in the class. He will put problems on his midterm/final review packets that have never been discussed in class, thereby nullifying the term "review". Professor Pang needs to re-structure this "course" and make it into a class intended for learning, not a fight for survival.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 9, 2010

Professor Pang is a fine professor. It's the course that's extremely difficult and time consuming. Not curving the class makes it that much more difficult to get the grade you want in the class, but the class is only 3 units. I got an A in the class, but for me lab was nerveracking. 3 hours really isn't enough to set up your station and to run your experiment (especially when half of your materials keep disappearing from your drawer). But lab doesn't end there. You will be up all night doing lab reports that must be hand written on carbon paper. Try to get a lab section near the end of the week, because you will most likely put off the work until the night before, and the last thing you want is an 8AM lecture for lab the next day (equals all-nighter).

Pang is a fair professor. The truth is that Chemistry Lab will be one of the hardest classes you take in college. Take it seriously. PS: learn how to convert molarity to normality the CORRECT way or you WILL get it wrong and you WON'T get points back on your regrade.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 8, 2010

I had heard a lot of bad things about Pang before I took this class, but I have no idea what everyone was going on about. Pang is an extremely thorough lecturer. Since this is an 8 am, not a lot of people want to come to class. To encourage students to show up, he prints out lecture guides for class for you to follow along and fill in the blanks. While it's true he doesn't curve tests, it's because it is very easy to get a good grade in every other aspect of the class. So suck it up and study.

People also told me that you can only do well in the lab portion of the class if you have someone else's notes, but that's not really true. You can do fine if you understand the goal of the labs and read the in class notes. Comparing answers with your lab partners is also a good idea. The final is pretty easy if you review everything and understand the concepts and how to do some basic calculations used in lab. It is multiple choice and on a computer. Some people didn't like it because there was a timer in the corner.

Overall, I enjoyed this class. Pang is an effective teacher.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
April 3, 2010

I was scared to take him because of all these bad stuff I heard about him but I actually think he was not bad. He does talk fast but it's not to the point you won't understand him. You should know a lot of the stuff anyway because a lot of the stuff he goes over is from 14A and 14B. As for the labs, just get a hold of those old lab reports from previous students because they'll save your butt and time. But don't rely on them too much because you'll need to actually know the material to do well on the midterm and final. His midterm was easy if you did his study guide. His final was reasonable as well. I actually enjoyed labs too!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 16, 2010

Pang is the bane of my existence. Really, really obviously doesn't care about student learning. He's been on probation TWICE for failing too many students! If you can avoid him, avoid him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
March 12, 2010

Effectiveness: Pang isn't a very good lecturer. He tends to repeat the same statement(s) over and over and over, and after awhile it gets a little irritating. He comes off as a mean, but regardless he is very fair in grading.
Difficulty: I would agree with most that his class is a little too much work for a 3-unit class, but there's not that much he can do to cut down the work load.
Concern/Availability: Pang doesn't show that much concern for his students, but in any case its better to seek help from your lab TA and get to know them, since they are the ones that grade your labs (the bulk of your grade).
Overall: Professor Pang isn't that great, but you could certainly do worse. The professor aside, I would take 14BL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after 14B, since the majority of the class covers acids/bases and kinetics (14B topics).

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 30, 2009

Simply put, Pang flat-out sucks. The man has a penchant for confusing his students and ultimately not giving a damn about their learning of the material. I've never been to a lecture where literally NO ONE is communicating except the professor himself. The ONLY voice I have ever heard in lecture is Pang's--and his freaky super-speed rambling. This clearly goes to show that everyone is so put off by him that people don't even bother asking questions. It's quite odd, actually--considering that this is a fast-pace chemistry class where the material can often be difficult to grasp.
And when it comes to his exams, the frustration only intensifies. Sometimes, the most obscure definitions are asked, and it surely doesn't help that the graders are extremely nit-picky about everything. Pang will give you a study guide and all, but trust me, you can study that thing all you want and it won't help too much. I don't even know why he passes out those things, much less calling them "review" sheets. The only positive is that the labs are somewhat fun and interesting. Lectures, however, will probably put you to sleep faster than a sleeping pill combined with CSPAN.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 29, 2009

Professor Pang is a very good lecturer. Many people think he speaks really fast, but it helps you to keep awake. Don't miss any lectures because they will help in both labs and exams. The CPR are stressful at first, but you just have to get a hang of it from the first one and you will do well on the second CPR. His grading scale is fair because it helps to normalize the lab report grades if you have a hard TA. If you go to his office hours, he is very nice and is always willing to explain anything. His exams are not difficult if you go to his lectures and do his review sheet thoroughly. He definitely tests how much you understand the materials and not how much you can memorize. He really isn't as bad as people think. He might be intimidating in class but if you just talk to him, he is a nice professor.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: N/A
Grade: N/A
June 27, 2009

I will try to give everyone a review based on my biased experience as well as the general consensus.

You have to understand, first of all, that independent of Pang as a teacher, this course is A LOT of work. You will have a pre-lab and post-lab due every single week. Perhaps for some that doesn't sound like much but each of these labs take significant time to complete EVEN if you copy. Every professor knows, including Pang himself, that copying is done on the labs. In other words, save yourself time. Your T.A.'s don't want to grade labs and they're only there because they get their tuition payed for.

So you may ask, why is Pang generally disliked and how do people earn bad grades in a class that is worth 3 units that should be relatively easy since it is a lab?

Here are a few reasons:
Number one, Pang has mixed reviews about his general lecturing ability. I personally believe he has a very bad lecturer. For one, he has an accent that can sometimes be incomprehensible. I don't think he is unable to communicate the message, but I believe that at times he can be a little unclear. Number two, he speaks very fast and changes topics very abruptly. I honestly believe he does this so that it is harder to take notes and thus it is harder to get a good grade in his class since it is 8 am and no one can write notes that fast. Every lecture, he gives a handout. Often times, these handouts do not correspond to his lecturing material even though he claims at the beginning of the year that the handouts are basically his lectures. Make sure you are VERY ready to take notes.

Form a good networking committee. Honestly, the material isn't difficult, but he does make his examinations difficult. You have a time constraint and he tests you on ANYTHING. He is not historically consistent with how he tests. He claims that his tests are mostly conceptual. This may be true to an extent, but certain years, if you see his past midterms, he will have a significant portion of quantitative questions. Furthermore, his "conceptual" questions encompass random definitions; therefore, it is imperative you to look at EVERY single word and concept.

Labs can be a pain or a potential easy A. You will make that decision for yourself. What does that mean? Well, you can look at other people's lab and check your work or you can try and figure our every question and think for about 4 - 5 hours (For something that won't matter too much on the final and midterm since his finals and midterms incorporate only procedural questions while the quantitative questions can easily be practiced through other sources such as textbooks or internet websites).

Know this much: I personally believe Pang gets satisfaction from knowing that his students are getting upset about him as a teacher. Pang is probably reading this too. The thing is, some professors know they are a hard time. But this is what keeps them motivated. They like to challenge their students, even when student's believe that it is unfair. Perhaps you have to realize before you take this class, that the more prompt you are about getting your stuff done, the more you will learn from this class if anything else.

As far his personal life, I can't judge him. But I will definitely agree that he made himself unapproachable. I once approached him about a question at the beginning of the year and he continually paced around ignoring me until he gave me a two sentence answer that didn't even definitely answer my question.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
11 of 13
3.8
Overall Rating
Based on 155 Users
Easiness 3.1 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 3.9 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 2.9 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.0 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (18)
  • Would Take Again
    (15)
  • Has Group Projects
    (17)
ADS

Adblock Detected

Bruinwalk is an entirely Daily Bruin-run service brought to you for free. We hate annoying ads just as much as you do, but they help keep our lights on. We promise to keep our ads as relevant for you as possible, so please consider disabling your ad-blocking software while using this site.

Thank you for supporting us!