Western Kentucky University / M / Serguei Martchenko

I highly do not recommend this teacher. Your first problem is going to be understanding what he is saying. He has a strong accent but you will eventually get over that. He talks about nothing worthwhile during class and none of what he says will help prepare you for the exam. You do six labs in his class....these are all pretty easy. Attendance is not mandatory but you will end up having 30+ points of in class activity grades and you don't know what days those will be on. His tests are seriously ridiculous! Studying your notes will not help. He tries to make jokes and relates stuff to pancakes and raisins -- odd! Pretty much everyone in my class bombed his exams. The only good thing that I can say about him is that you can get lots of extra credit which will end up saving your grade.

So much extra credit! It really blew me away... he offers extra credit points just about everyday. You won't even need the points if you just go to class though. He's really good at explaining everything. Just go to class, take a few notes, study the night before and you will do great on the tests. The labs are easy too, and sometimes very interesting. He's really funny too, and even though he's foreign, he's really easy to understand.

This man is rediculious. He is very hard to understand and refuses to answer questions when asked. He has his way of teaching and if you don't understand, you're lost. I would recommend taking any course besides this one. He teaches as if it's a 300 level course instead of intro!

This professor is very knowledgeable in his field. He knows his stuff, and he really wants his students to learn. However, he is kind of hard to understand at times considering he is from the Ukraine. The only reason that I got a C is because of an overload of other classwork and because od speech and debate team commitments.

The course is extremely interesting and exciting at the same time. If you have ever studied astronomy before and like astronomy then you should do fine. Most of Serguei's test questions come from either the book or the website that comes with the book. I highly suggest you get the book new, so you can use the website; it is worth it. Serguei does have a strong accent, however if you miss understand something, he is ALWAYS there to answer you questions. LOTS and LOTS of extra credit. You could boost your grade one whole letter if you do this extra credit. I, on the other hand, didn't take advantage of this. The labs are fun and the most difficult part of the entire class was the physics math equations, he even announces that this part is the difficult part.

Other than that Serguei is a really nice guy that enjoys walking most places, because he feels that we are polluting our planet with gas and oil. He also takes part in many campus activities, so you may have seen him before. He likes to tell jokes and has a good sense of humor. He knows his stuff and likes to teach. Take his class.

I went to class only to do the labs (there are 6) and I took ZERO notes. Extra credit is given out like candy, but you only get 40 points, no more. I got those 40 out of the way within the first month. The study giudes are really good and the test are straight out of the book. he talks in class (good luck understanding him), but nothing he says carries much weight. The tests are out of the book so spend your time reading it and using the study guides - not taking pointless notes. The website helps too so if you get a new book you will get the code for that. The book is very mandatory or else you will be flippin lost on the test!! If you go to class regualrly, good for you, but why if you don't have to?!?

How could you not like this guy? He's such a witty Ukrainian-Canadian. The class is all lecture involving overheads, which gets boring but he always throughs in random bits of humor to keep things fresh. Its definitely not the most entertaining class I have taken but its enjoyable enough. The labs are unbelieveably easy and the tests are no challenge. If you have any knowledge of the subject at all, you wont even need to study. Just pay attention in class. He has some really interesting things to say as well. I had to reschedule 2 exams and it was no problem If you have any questions at all, just go visit him in his office. He'll just be browsing the net.

His tests are very hard, the only reason I got an A was because a friend had kept the test from the year before and he changed very few questions. There is a lot of material and its hard to figure out what will be on the test, much of it is things you wouldnt think would be on the test. There is a night lab you have to go to and several labs thoughout the semester. He gives a lot of oppertunities for extra credit though.

I rarely attended this class and still managed to get a C, I imagine that had I tried a little harder I probably could have pulled an A. Class is very boring, except when you go to the planetarium. The tests are all multiple choice and true/false. The final is all questions from the previous tests.

The textbook is not necessary, but it helps, especially if you don't go to class very often or don't take very good notes. A lot of the test questions come from the online practice quizzes from the chapters. He offers up to 60 points of extra credit for the class and extra credit on every test.

Nice guy, BUT, I am not from the Ukraine, therefore could not understand this professor's lecture 95% of the time. Students would try asking questions, and when he'd answer, they'd walk off not knowing if he answered them or not. I just read the chapters on my own to prepare for tests. His tests are difficult, and a lot of the questions come out of nowhere. The labs aren't too bad, thats what kept my grade up. But I'd highly recommend you look elsewhere for a teacher.

I thought this course was a piece of cake, although it wasn't what I had hoped it would be. Dr. Martchenko really knows what he's talking about, but he's really boring. He has an accent, but he's easy to understand except for a few words (took a while to figure out that "southands" meant thousands). A lot of the information was stuff that I'd learned in 5th grade, and I found myself drawing and writing letters in an attempt to stay awake. It is necessary to go to class, especially in the beginning to get the lab assignments, and know when to go to the planetarium, of which there are two trips, which were by far the highlight of the class, at least for me. I barely went to class at the end though. He gives a study guide the week before the test, which lists the pages from the book that the material comes from and stuff to pay extra attention to. If you don't hear a word he says in class, but read the assigned pages in the book and review the diagrams he specifies in the study guide, you can ace the test. There were also a lot of opportunities for extra credit ranging from simply going to a presentation offered in the planetarium to writing an essay over anything covered in class. If you're looking to learn something about astronomy, you might try someone else, but if you just want an easy A, Martchenko's your man.

Dr. Martchenko is a great, funny, nice professor. Some of the information may seem hard to grasp but his test are totally multiple choice and he is easy to talk to. He is a great guy and i found myself laughing at his jokes a lot. Attendance is not required but i recommend not missing class so you don't fall behind in the notes.

Doctor Martchenko is one of the best teachers you could ask for when taking an astronomy class. I could tell starting off that he knows what he's talking about. The tests in there are kind of big, but they're multiple choice and true/false, so it's not too bad. You don't really need the text book, but it helps sometimes. He gives notes in class everyday and there are a few labs here and there. Overall I thought he was a good teacher who really knew what he was doing. He's more than willing to work with you after class to help you out. I missed a test in there and he let me make it up a few weeks later. Also, he was very considerate when I had to take the final, he let me take it with another class so I wouldn't have 3 lumped together in a row. Good teacher, interesting class.

I got a B in the class... I don't know how, but I will take it! Serge is a joke of a teacher... there are about 100 overheads per class (night class), you can't understand him, he makes fun of the class, and he can't dress! He looks like Bozo the Clown to be honest. He is literally a rocket scientist and he expects you to be as well. Only about a third of the class showed up regularly. Take someone else, you'll learn more! Like I said, I got a B and didn't learn a damn thing!!!