Christopher Dolan

Homework 25% Midterm 25% Final Exam 35% Higher of Final Exam and Midterm 15% 5-10 hours a week, including lecture. overall fairly light workload.

Simulation (IEOR 3404): We were given coding assignments on a nearly biweekly basis. They were not extremely difficult. On the other hand, they tested just the right aspects of content taught and were not at all impossible to complete. Homework was given in the format of python code completion given a scaffold and a prompt relating to simulative modeling. The exams were also nothing to be terribly afraid of because you will feel very well prepared if you do the work. Statistics (IEOR 4544): We had coding assignments similar to simulation but on a greater scope of moving parts. These are more comparable to mini-projects in my head, but to another person they may be the equivalent of an assignment. Nonetheless, these, while a bit harder, were absolutely doable. Exams questions in this class were one of my favorite parts about it. They test your conceptual ability to metabolize the critical nuances of statistical decisions as opposed to churning out number on paper. Prof. Dolan also will prepare you very VERY well for these exams. Spoiler alert: you are basically told exactly what will be asked of you on the exam. Prof. Dolan also required us to complete weekly review questions which were graded in a large part on a completion basis as opposed to accuracy. However, this does not mean you just get an A if you did it. If you did the work, and it shows you put thought into your answ…

Assignments every 2-3 weeks. 1 of them was very tough, the others were pretty straightforward and didn't take too long. Two exams, multiple choice/fill in the blank. Done online.

This class was taken online due to covid restrictions, so some observations might not apply during usual class setting. He's a nice guy, and he puts an effort into the class. I disagree with the other reviewer that his exams are the same as the practice exams - they were not! This class covers material that would otherwise usually be covered by two undergrad classes, so everything was kinda rushed. He did try to explain the concepts well, but most of the time they just didn't get through. He would go back and explain things again if you had questions, and there, I guess, he did a better job explaining concepts. He tells a few jokes, and most of them aren't bad. The grade was calculated using exams and HW, with a fair weighting scheme that he modified to help students' grades a bit more, and he dropped the score of two HWs. While teaching, he makes quite a few mistakes. While most professors do make mistakes, you will notice that he makes them more than the average professor. This can make the material confusing at times. He does catch most of his mistakes in class, though, and sends clarification emails. I never went to office hours or asked him questions after class, but based on some interactions in class, it seemed like he was available for answering questions during office hours. Overall, nice guy, puts an effort into the class, but you'll need to read the textbook or look…

Took this course spring 2024. TLDR: You should for sure try to avoid taking this course with Dolan. Too bad you have no control over this because the IEOR loves to box their students into a rigid schedule where they must take x y z classes during the exact semester they want you to take it, and even if you wanted to diverge from this plan, you couldn’t since, they only offer those specific classes during the specific semesters they want you to take them in. Dolan’s lectures are boring. I guess they are straightforward and understandable, but there’s also a chance you won’t understand anyways since you’ll stop paying attention halfway through. And the notes he writes are not easily decipherable, so going back after lecture and reading his posted notes is difficult as well. His homeworks are quite tangential from the material taught in lecture. In fact, reading up on the lectures would only marginally benefit you in completing the homeworks. This is because his homeworks are ALL programming based, while he doesn’t touch on any programming until the end of the semester. - In fact, I’d say that a better guide for the HWs are Professor Yi Zhang's notes, which actually include tie-ins to programming. Dolan gave us access to Zhang's course notes which are much more helpful for the homework. On top of all this, his exams ARE on his own lecture notes (i.e. more heavily theory-based rat…

I had Prof. Dolan for two classes: Simulation (IEOR 3404) and Statistical Methods for Analytics (IEOR 4544). While I was scared at first of the rigor and pace of the material, I can now hands down, say Prof. Dolan is the pinnacle of educator essence at Columbia. Despite the intimidating nature of the subject matters as well as the overall Zeitgeist cohesive to behavioral tendencies and empathetic incapacities of the IEOR department, I felt seen by my instructor. I was not the smartest, nor the most quickly abstractive, or even the most nuanced in class, but I always tried my best to be able to ask questions during class and be able to give answers to what was asked of us in parallel. I entered both classes having faced academic setbacks previously, and was predisposed to deficient academic self-image, but Prof. Dolan did not form a prejudicial approach to me due to the aforementioned. I was given the same expectations as anybody else would have been given, and I know its shocking that this was a revelation to me, but this is what I'm used to in IEOR. I expect to sit in class and be intrinsically ridiculed by my classmates and instructors alike for my unconformity. I felt insecure in IEOR and SEAS for a long time, but Prof. Dolan's pedagogy changed everything for me. Prof. Dolan places great emphasis on being able to engage in dialogue with his student audience during lecture.…

I'm not sure what's up with some of the other reviews. I really enjoyed this class. Chris was very friendly and helpful, and he made a pretty heroic effort at having people get involved. He learned everyone's name and told some pretty decent jokes and stories. If you thought the class was boring, maybe you're studying the wrong subject. Some of the homeworks were tough, and much more coding based than the lectures/exam, but if you actually paid attention he explained why he did this and why the exams were different. They were also graded very easily.

20%: 8 homework assignments during the semester 40%: Midterm 40%: Final

Homework 25% (5 of them on Ed) Midterm 25% Final Exam 35% Higher of Final Exam and Midterm 15% Notes: - Very generous grading for the homeworks - Exams were both online using Proctorio - Possible grade boost of 1/3 of a letter grade (ex: B+ --> A-) if you participate enough in class!

Chris can't teach for his life. Yes, the course was pretty easy. Yes, the exams were very much like the review sheet, but I can't really say that I learned statistics in the process. Chris stops regularly to ask if people have questions and encourages student participation, but he always seems exasperated. On the first day of class, he said to us: "when you raise your hand and ask a question or make a comment, make sure to tell me your name so I can judge you when you say something stupid." I have a pretty strong math background - I've done well in both Calculus and Chemistry thus far in college. But, for some reason, it is very difficult to understand the material when Chris lectures. I think the problem is that he doesn't provide an overview or even say what topic we're covering, he'll just write some numbers on the board and forget to say which test statistic it is, what formula we're using, what assumptions we're making, and the general purpose of the test. If you have to take statistics, I'd choose a professor who uses a powerpoint. At least the lectures would be somewhat standardized...If you're a Barnard student, take psych stats for goodness sakes. I thought regular stats would be fine, but it's honestly just been a hassle...